Join in the dance of mystery

By Deacon Timothy Siburg

Revised Common Lectionary reflection, Holy Trinity Sunday, Year B
May 26, 2024

Key Verse: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” -Romans 8:14

There I was. Late on a Friday night/early Saturday morning. Staring up to the heavens over my head and to the horizons in all directions. The Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, were dancing in their many beautiful colors and I was overcome with awe. Yes, there are scientific explanations of the magnetic field and solar flares and storms from the sun. But to see them in such vivid array so far from their usual geography, and right overhead in Nebraska was a gift and a surprise. One that invited me and so many others around the world to look up with wonder, awe, and hope.

I start here, because even with the science involved, there is mystery and wonder that comes in witnessing such majestic signs of nature and God’s creation. That seems like a good place to start when thinking about Holy Trinity Sunday. I may not remember as much from seminary as I would like to admit, but I do remember one principle: “Don’t fall for the trap of trying to explain the Trinity. It’s a trap!” So, with that in mind, I am going to do my best to not fall into that and rather wonder about how the Triune God might be inviting us to join in the dance of mystery and grace.

The Triune God is perfect community and relationship. Some have even described it as perichoresis – an eternal “circle dance.” The Trinity exemplifies living with one another, leaning on one another, and giving and taking with one another. It is a relationship that words cannot describe, and where we are best to admit that God is God, and we are not. This might well be where faith and mystery come in.

In that faith and mystery lies a promise of grace that the Triune God models so well and then invites us to be a part of. Paul writes, “for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:13-14). Perhaps at its best, the Sunday on which we celebrate the relationship and promise of the Holy Trinity is one that also helps us more deeply to remember who God is, whose we are, and then by extension who we each are as beautiful and beloved, individual, and unique, children of God.

At times it seems to us a mystery why God does what God does. Jesus touches on the mystery in describing the Holy Spirit. “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Regardless of the wind and the Spirit, God makes clear the reality and promise of God’s love, which Paul explains is like “a spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15). Adoption is something we might particularly picture in baptism, where one is “born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5), and through which a new Child of God is claimed, marked, and sealed, forever. When through God’s promise, a new child of God is made a very heir of God’s promises, “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

Through baptism God and invites us into the dance of discipleship. It’s a dance of mystery and grace, modeling the mystery and grace that the Triune God abundantly shares and provides. One that embodies Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus’ questions. Jesus helps point to the “why” behind all of this mystery in explaining, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). The average person in a congregation probably knows John 3:16 very well, but what they might not realize is that verse 3:17 might be even more important. That’s where grace shows up. Jesus is making clear his mission is not one of judgment, but of life-giving and life-saving love. It’s one of grace. And not for a few, but for all of God’s beloved, so that “the world might be saved.” Not just you or me. But all of God’s beloved creation and world.

we’re invited into this. We’re invited into this dance of mystery and grace. Invited to receive it as a gift, but also as trust and responsibility. To join in with God in some of God’s on-going work. To witness to God’s creative activity all around us, and to respond as stewards of God’s love. Showing through all that we have and all that we are to neighbors near and far, that God’s love is given freely and is for you.

In Worship

If the image of a dance resonates for your context, then a great sermon hymn  might be, “Come, Join the Dance of Trinity.” Richard Leach’s beautiful text set to the familiar English folk tune of “Kingsfold” is dance like. I particularly love the first and last verses which are, “Come join the dance of Trinity, before all worlds begun the interweaving of the Three, the Father, Spirit, Son. The universe of space and time did not arise by chance, but as the Three, in love and hope, made room within their dance. Within the dance of Trinity, before all worlds begun, we sing the praises of the Three, the Father, Spirit, Son. Let voices rise and interweave, by love and hope set free, to shape in song this joy, this life: the dance of Trinity.” The mixture of rhythm, melody, and text helps bring to life the image and idea of a dance not just within the three persons of the Trinity, but the dance that God invites all of God’s people to be a part of together with God. It’s beautiful. It’s full of mystery. But also full of joy and hope. (To see more of the hymn, it can be found in many hymnals, including Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), hymn #412.)

Worship with Youth and Children

Two great options for a children’s message or Sunday School time this week: 1) Invite the younger saints to lead a song or hymn in worship with the permission to dance or move freely. They might be willing to model this a bit more than certain other generations of the faithful, but by doing so, they might in essence give permission to the whole congregation to move as the Spirit invites and perhaps be freed up a bit to dance and move as part of God’s dance that we’re all invited into. 2) Ask the younger saints to share what they think mystery means. Ask them what’s something mysterious to them. Invite them to name those things. Offer encouragement and share how even the ways God acts sometimes are mysterious. But God’s love is always real. Let the mysteries be named, honored, and affirmed. And then close in prayer. Such an act could be powerful for the younger saints, but also provide a springboard for others in the congregation to surface some of their own mysteries they are wondering about. If willing, perhaps share post-it-notes with the congregation and invite the congregation as a whole to write down any of those mysteries that they might have. They might just be good fodder for future Sunday School lessons or even sermon topics to think about.

Here are previous reflections for Holy Trinity Sunday, Year B.
2021 – What of God
2018 – All in the family
2015 – How can these things be?
2012 – A Holy, wholly relational God