The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Sound familiar? Where have we heard those words before? This is the greeting we use at the beginning of worship throughout most of the year. The Easter season being the one exception. Otherwise, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Communion services, funerals, weddings, any and all worship gatherings begin with this same greeting. In fact, it is so familiar and comforting a blessing that we often close out our meetings with these same words.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
We heard these words in our reading today. It can be neat when that happens. We hear the words and think – ah that’s where that prayer comes from. In this case, these are the final words in the second letter to the Corinthians, the final blessing the author gives to the community.
What is a blessing? (a prayer asking for gifts from God, however God is understood). This blessing provides insights into how the author and community understand God and the gifts God can provide. This blessing is a final reminder about who they are and who they worship. This makes it a perfect tool for exploring the Trinity on this Trinity Sunday. So, let’s break it down:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Who is Jesus and why would we be blessed to receive grace from Jesus? (Christians are Christians first and foremost because we are followers of Jesus, the One who is Redeemer of the world, the One whose grace has helped us see a better world is possible.)
“and the love of God”. Who is God and why would the blessing offer love from God? (John 3:16 For God so loved the world… we know the verse. We know God is love. We know Jesus as an expression of God’s love.)
“and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. Who is the Holy Spirit and why would the blessing invite fellowship from the Holy Spirit? (The Spirit has moved through the world since the beginning. We heard that in the Genesis Creation reading. The Spirit moved in a special way in the Pentecost story we heard last week which established the foundation on which we connect one to each other as Church.)
The community sees God as Jesus, God, and Holy Spirit, Three in One, each providing a different connection and gift to humanity as articulated in the blessing. This is the wonder of the Trinity, God present and available to the community in different yet meaningful ways. Christian blessings typically use some form of a triune blessing to connect to this understanding and celebrate the different ways God is present in our lives.
What a blessing it is to know a God who can be so flexible in how God relates to us. What a blessing it is to be continually reminded of this flexibility. May we continually remain open to God’s presence in that wonderful diversity and share that love with the diversity of God’s wonderful Creation. This we pray as we sing: How Great Thou Art.