Reflection on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

This is Trinity Sunday.  I first became aware of the concept of the Trinity at an overnight Girl Scout camp when I was around 9. The girl who led grace before dinner said, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, who eats the fastest gets the most.” I later repeated this at home. My mother said she doubted this was an official Girl Scout prayer. 

To be truthful, I didn’t think much about the Trinity for many years even though it is a central doctrine of Christianity — the belief that in God there are Three Persons, the Creator (traditionally called “the Father”); Jesus, the Redeemer or the Son; and the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal, co-eternal but different, one from the other. 

When we think of the differences among Christians, we often name Catholics and Protestants, as though all Catholics had the same beliefs, and these beliefs are significantly different from all Protestants. Of course, there are major differences among Catholics and among Protestants, which makes this distinction of little use. But there is a distinction that doesn’t get much attention and that is between most Christian denominations and the handful that do not believe in the Trinity, the most famous of which are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Mormons and Unitarians. These denominations (which each have their own reasons for not believing in the Trinity) would say they are the true monotheists, like Jews and like Muslims, and that those of us who believe in the Trinity are not really as monotheistic as we think. They point out that the concept of the Trinity is not explicitly in the Bible and was not actually codified until the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.  

Some of you are thinking “Who cares? What is the big deal?” Some people do care very much and, in fact, some early Unitarians lost their lives over the Trinity. The earliest one is Michael Servetus. He was a Spanish theologian, physician and cartographer, who lived from 1511 to 1553. He studied Hebrew and Christian Scripture in their original languages and found no scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, so he wrote a scholarly book called “On the Errors of the Trinity.” 

Servetus believed that if he showed the authorities of the Catholic Church the scriptural evidence he had found so they could see it with their own eyes they would thank him. He had heated written debates with John Calvin, (the founder of Presbyterianism) about this issue. But neither the Catholic nor the Protestant authorities were glad to have their errors pointed out to them.  

The Catholic Inquisition convicted him of “anti-trinitarianism.” Calvin argued that he should be given a merciful death by beheading, but the Council insisted on burning him at the stake. He was 42.  

When I read about this, I think why wouldn’t they just let Servetus have his opinion and his book? He had harmed no one. Very few people could even read at that time, and if you worked hard all day, would you really come home and read “Errors of the Trinity” by candlelight? I think we would all agree that this was a grave abuse of power in the name of God. I cannot help but think of our situation today, where the authorities use their power to arrest and deport people who have done nothing, who are no threat whatsoever. Or the focus on Medicaid fraud, when, in 2024, 78 million people were on Medicaid and the government accused 113 of them of fraud? Or any number of other examples. The price being paid by individual people is way too high. 

This story of Michael Servetus raises the questions, “What are we to focus on? And what price will we pay?” The prophet, Micah, says, “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” Jesus is very clear: “Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

May this Trinity Sunday cause us to refocus on what is worthy so that we can “rejoice in our afflictions because we know that affliction produces perseverance, and perseverance character and character, hope. And such a hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”  

Whether the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune God is not that important. That we can pour onto our hurting world the love of God, which has been poured into us, is an appropriate focus. And the price we will pay is summarized again in our reading for today: “because of our faith, … we confidently and joyfully look forward to the day on which we will become all that God has intended.”  May it be so. Amen.