Trinity Sunday
So today, well during this
month of May actually, but today in this church we celebrate graduations. Graduations
are one of the things that happen primarily in the springtime so we invite our
graduates, those who are graduating with various degrees in the schools to come
today to celebrate with them and to bless them in a special way. So, would the
graduates please stand up a minute? How
many of you are graduating today, or not today but how many of you are
graduating, or have graduated during this past year? Okay, we have a nice group. Thank you. Please
be seated. (Applause) We’ll invite you
up after Communion for a blessing. And yes, the applause is appropriate because
we applaud your success. We applaud; we’re happy and proud of you making the
grade, so to speak. Graduation—it’s the same word. Graduation—you made the
grade and you graduate to the next step, to the next level.
And then you begin again,
all over again more or less. After you graduate it’s not like you’re finished,
it’s like that’s it for this part but you start and you start again almost at
the bottom and then move ahead once again. When we think of graduation or
graduating or the grades we think of grades or levels. So we think of it often
in terms of lower and higher, climbing, that we are climbing during this time
as we move toward graduation. When we graduate we have reached a certain level.
I personally prefer to think
of more as a journey. Not so much the climbing but as moving along, moving
ahead. Perhaps more as a milestone. You reach a certain point, a certain goal,
a certain place that you wanted to come to, that you needed to come to and then
you move on.
And so you know it begins
with kindergarten into first grade, and eight grade into high school, then high
school into university or into the work force and then even in university in
college perhaps graduate degrees going further in those studies.
But it’s not only about
school. Certainly we think of education in terms of school but only a part of
our education comes through school.
And actually as we move
through life, as we journey along in life we continue to graduate into new
places. Into new levels if you will.
After school is finished,
when you move into the work force very often or sometimes before school is
finished people move from being for instance individuals, bachelors or
individuals into being married people. That’s a whole new step. That’s a whole
new level and that’s a whole new responsibility.
And then with children comes
another whole new step and another whole new responsibility.
And then as you go on you
move into that other step which some people call the ‘empty nest’ when you have
to let go of those children and you let go of those responsibilities.
Then finally as we move into
old age we really let go of all responsibilities and put them in others’ hands
once again.
One thing I want to say is
that as we move forward like that whatever was here you leave behind. That’s
kind of the hard part. Sometimes you leave friends and acquaintances behind. Places
that you’ve been and things that you’ve experienced you leave behind as you
move ahead. In a sense you have to let go. That whole process is a continual letting
go of what was so that you can move forward to accept whatever is coming,
whatever awaits.
That is the whole process. That
is what we celebrate in graduation today, not only for our graduates who
receive their degrees in our schools, but for all of us as we move forward,
move ahead in life.
Now here’s the big question
though—where are we going on this journey?
Where are you going on this journey?
See usually we have a destination in mind. You know usually if we are
moving somewhere or journeying we have a goal, we have a destination. Where are
you going? Where are we all going? And that is the important point today. And
that’s the point I can speak on in relationship to what we celebrate today
which is the Holy Trinity. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Yet in a sense some people
would answer that very simply, where are we moving toward? Toward death and toward a new life, toward
heaven. Yes. That’s it in a nutshell. But that’s too simplistic. Actually what
we are moving toward is a deeper relationship at all times with God and with
one another.
You see when we celebrate
this feast of The Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, what we
celebrate it that God was not satisfied to be alone. God is three persons in
one. Why? So that there could be
relationships. And why relationships? So
that there could be love. That’s really what God is all about. And that’s
really what we are moving toward at all times.
So graduates, as you
graduate from, the graduates today I’m talking about, as you graduate let’s say
from high school or college. What is your goal?
Is you goal to make a million dollars a year? Is that success? To have the kind of job that everybody is
going to look up to you and very important or with prestige, is that
success? I would say it’s not wrong to
have certain goals in regard to careers and regards to making money, etc. But
is that really what’s central or most important? I would say no. I would say what’s most
important, and the most important goal is relationships. That as you move
ahead, that as we all move ahead in this life, that we learn to form good
relationships. Loving relationships. That relationship is what it is all about.
And after this world, after this earth, when we go to heaven I’m sure that
relationship is what it is all about.
Why would Jesus tell us to
love our enemies? Why would Jesus tell
us to love everyone? That was Jesus’
whole purpose in coming to this earth, to show us what life is all about. And
in God it is all about relationships and love.
To today as we think about
journeying in life let’s think about our relationships, the ones we’ve had, the
ones we have, the ones we don’t have yet but we’ll make. And then to realize
that we are really in relationship with everyone and everything even though we
don’t recognize it and are not conscious of it. But let us try to be more
conscious of building good, healthy, relationships. To really work at that. That’s
really what God wants for all of us and that’s really what brings happiness,
and that really will be our ultimate graduation. Graduate into full
relationship with God and everyone.