Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 4 June 2023.
The Holy Trinity in visual Art
• First Reading: Isaiah 40: 12-17, 27-31 (Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not be grow weary, they shall walk and not be faint)
• Epistle: 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13 (Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace)
• Gospel: Matthew 28: 16-20 (The Great Commission: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit)
I would like you to think of a book. The text has its theme and word by word, line by line that theme develops and expands. There are paragraphs and chapters but the basic principle is that we read from one word to the next. It is slow but is deliberate.
Now think of a painting or photograph. The sense of one word at a time, which is very much a matter of going in a straight line, is replaced by two dimensions.
We take in the shape and size of the picture, its colours and sense of light and shade. It could still describe what we were reading just now, but the sensation is quite different. We see the picture at once and then pause to take in its details, the artistry, its overall impression. But it is still now only in two dimensions, even with all the techniques of perspective.
Now think of a film. This is a picture – but with time added. The picture changes and the theme develops. Now we have three dimensions: the screen is only one plane, even with 3D technology. The added dimension is time.
The book may be the bible, the pictures may be 2000 years of religious art, the films are more recent but we have all been part of worship: a meeting with God at one place and time but with colour, movement, reading and singing, the exposition of ideas, and the whole centered on the Glory of God and the way we are drawn to meeting Him.
With all this in mind we can start thinking about the Trinity. A word by word explanation of what is a reality in 3, 4, 5 dimensions and maybe more.
Given to help us and not to confuse us – even when its very idea is strange, complex, but beautiful and sublime.
The idea of God goes back to the most primitive of communities and yet the self-revelation of God to Abram goes back some 4000 years or so.
But then a personal relationship began, as Abram believed in God who saw him as acceptable – as righteous before Him. And so there were instructions, conversations, promises, commitments and a deeper sense of worship than humanity had ever known.
God was taking the initiative to work His purposes out, and we are still engaged in those plans.
Now start thinking about how God willed things and they happened, His purposes were given verbal form, and inspiration came to sinners who despite themselves were willing to follow God’s leading.
The will of God as expressed in the 10 commandments and the laws of Israel. The worship of God as expressed in the Psalms. The teaching and instruction of God, together with reproof and criticisms in the Prophets.
Now the expression of God was with His people, and in every generation there were those few willing to hear Him and desiring to receive Him. Not many but enough.
The Spirit of the Lord with the writers of the laws and histories of Israel, the prophets and the psalmists.
Enough for some but not for others. Certainly not enough to change the face of the world or to form a new kind of community.
More was wanted, beyond the texts of the laws and histories and songs of Israel. This time it would be flesh and blood. A baby on a manger becoming a man hanging on a cross. Finally, an empty tomb and rumours of life beyond life, glory beyond wonder.
This time is was a man, wholly God and yet wholly human. By sex, a man. By nation, a Jew. By nature, God. And even when He had been gloriously ascended into heaven, He would be in every place and every time-zone, ready and waiting.
Now we have the glory of the Trinity. The whole purposes of God expressed so that we may worship with wonder but not confusion.
Beautiful and intricate, drawing us into Himself so that we may be filled with His person and character.
Now the Trinity is not just a nice idea for postgraduate and post-doctoral studies. He is for all who will believe in His Name.
He is approached as our souls seek Him in the spirits we all have and in the inspiration and leadership of the Holy Spirit.
He speaks into our spirits so that our hearts may be formed by Him. He forms our hearts so that our wills may be directed by Him and our actions may follow Him.
This is the quality of our faith. Not just for the literate and those blessed by books and learning. Not just for the lovers of art and the critics of artistic technique.
Rather, He is there in all His three persons so that we may know Him more deeply in the dimensions of our own lives and in the dimensions of our time here on earth.
To be worshipped and adored without having to resort to analysis or criticism. To be led into the wonder of His purposes for us where beauty and subtlety inform our prayers and the practice of our lives.
For He says, I am with you, to the very end of the age. And indeed, beyond it as well.
