I Bind Unto Myself

TRINITY SUNDAY

"I bind unto myself, the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three. Of whom all nature has creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word; Praise to the Lord of my salvation. Salvation is of Christ the Lord."

One of the greatest and most beautiful Christian professions ever uttered by a sinner-made saint, St. Patrick, the missionary bishop who gave his life for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Patrick gave himself in love, but God... God was the first Giver. St. John tells us in his 1st Epistle that true and genuine Christian love is responsive: it responds to Divine Love, "In this is love, (writes the apostle) not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 Jn 4:10). God so loved Patrick that he sent his only Son to die for his sins, for the sins of the whole world.

We could say that the God of Heaven graciously bound himself to Patrick; therefore, Patrick bound himself to God. Grace stirred the truth of the Gospel within his heart and his mind, and he believed. His mind and heart ascended and grasped true truth: that the Father of Creation sent his only begotten Son from heaven to take humanity upon his divinity; he came in the flesh to keep what rebel sinners and law-breakers couldn't; he died, in the flesh, upon a cross, while bearing the weight of the punishment due every single person save himself; in the words of the Psalmist, Christ came to "restore that which he did not steal" (Ps 69:4).

Then, on the third day, Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, and then the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven some fifty days later to take his rightful place of authority at the Father’s right hand. And from heaven, the Son asked, and God the Father poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to "fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (Hab 2:14). The Spirit indwelt and empowered the Apostolic proclamation of the Gospel; the Good News of how a Holy God would step down from heaven to redeem such miserable sinners by the outstretched arm of Divine Love.

So did this Divine Love come to a poor sinner such as Patrick; the knowledge of God’s love captivated his imagination; the magnitude of the thing apprehended his heart. So, he turned from the world and to a savior, Jesus Christ. And through Christ he was returned to his heavenly Father; and these two, the Father and the Son, took up residency in his heart by the indwelling Holy Spirit. "Eternal Father, Spirit, Word; Praise to the Lord of my salvation." Salvation, redemption, new life... all-mighty works of the Trinitarian God: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Because all things come from the One True God. Everything comes into being through the working of the Divine Trinity. Think of creation. In the eternal mind of God, the Father has always existed a desire to create and bring all sorts of things that never were: even before time, when "the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep" (Gen 1:2).

Moses also tells us that before the world was formed, the Holy Spirit was hovering over the chaos. And St. Paul says it was in Christ (the eternal Son and 2nd person of the Trinity) "that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him" (Col 1:16). And St. John, "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being" (Jn 1:3).

The Father wills (that which he decrees and desires), through the Son (who is the means or instrument through which the will of the Father is accomplished), by the power of the Holy Spirit (that which the Son accomplishes by the power of the Holy Spirit): this is Trinity.  The Father desire for all men to be saved, through faith in His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit: this is Trinity. And this is the salvation Jesus offered Nicodemus as they met in the cover of night.

To the esteemed Rabbi Nicodemus Jesus declared: “you must be born again by water and Spirit.” In other words, our Lord was saying "Nicodemus, the Father in heaven loves you, and he has sent Me the eternal Son of God in the flesh to stand right before you (right here, right now) to testify to the truth: that I am the Son of God given for the life of the world. Even yours my dear Nicodemus. Just believe; turn to me through the waters of regeneration and be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit: by water and the Spirit. And then my beloved friend, enter the joy and blessing of the Divine life. Abide in the life and love of the Triune God all the days of your life."

Tradition holds that Nicodemus heard Jesus, responded in faith and was saved by the loving Trinity. In fact, this tradition finds its basis in Holy Scripture, in the 19th chapter of St. John’s Gospel that after the death of Jesus, “Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So, he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews” (19:38-40).

That glorious and merciful Trinitarian work of Divine love which saved both Patrick and Nicodemus from the abyss of sin and shadow of death is the same love with which we beloved have been loved by God. Just like Nicodemus, we too heard the Gospel believed and were born again by water and the spirit; in turning to God, we bound ourselves to Him who left the riches of heaven to bring us into Himself. This was the beginning. And we now have eternal life, the Holy Spirit living within us. By whom we enjoy fellowship also with the Father and the Son.

Not only do we have eternal life, but also, an unshakeable hope. Through St. John’s Revelation, God has provided a glimpse into the eternity to come, the promised land, that far and great country where all who are faithful will one day go, when the last trumpet sounds and our bodies raised and reunited with the soul forever to stand in the presence of God: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost saying “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And we will cast our crowns before the throne of God saying, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For thou hast created all things, And for thy pleasure, they are and were created.”

And so, in today’s readings, we find both the beginning and the completion of our salvation. Like Nicodemus, by faith, we are born again by water and the spirit. From Revelation, we see (though dimly) our final victory in Christ over the world, the flesh, and the Devil. And all of this is yours because the Trinitarian God first loved you to the extent that he willingly died for you. But there is an entire Christian life that takes place between Nicodemus and John’s Revelation, between baptism and perfection. This ‘in-between’ is exactly the focus and concern of this new liturgical season of Trinity-tide.

And today, Trinity Sunday, is the day in which we restart and rededicate ourselves to abiding in the Triune God, we bind ourselves to him in love: which means we esteem him above all things and joyfully obey.” Remember, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Trinity-tide is all about growing in love of God and charity towards our neighbors which is why these upcoming 20 plus weeks of Trinity-tide fixes our eyes firmly on growing in virtue and persevering in holiness.

To do this we must embrace faith and love which are two sides of the same coin. We must believe the Faith deposited to us: that God in Christ became man to save us from sin. And through faith in Him, we will be raised again on the last day. We must Know who it is and why it is we love. Faith, then, is the foundation of love. But love is the evidence of faith. It compels the Christian to love with a divine love, not as the world loves, but as Christ Jesus loves, as generously as the Father, and as comforting and assuring as the Holy Ghost.

So beloved, surely, we need Trinitarian grace if we are to grow this Trinity season in love of God and neighbor. Certainly, we must pray, as we did in today’s Collect, that by grace, “this holy faith may evermore be our defense against all adversities” which come from within and without. Only by the Divine assistance will we find patience in temptation, humility in all things, wisdom to pursue peace and reconciliation, the courage to seek justice for the oppressed and equal treatment of the poor; to take hold of the necessity of a faith that produces good works; the control of the tongue; the curbing of lusts; tolerance to guard against the danger of material riches; a hunger for the beauty and use of prayer; and above all grace towards all men. In short, to bind ourselves once again to the name, the strong name of the Trinity. Praise and glory forever be to the God of our salvation: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the blessed Trinity. Amen+