Triune God and Death

This term I took a class on Ministry with Young Adults. My professor is a deep theological thinker and therefore loves to delve into complex and often troubling theological questions. In our discussion last week on how the Church needs to be a community, Dr. R lectured on how God is a community. God is a community within the Trinity, the unity of the Father God, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Dr. R spoke on how the Trinity is held together not by obligation nor even by choice, but by LOVE. The basis of the unity of the Trinity is love. The ultimate expression of the love in which the Trinity is based is seen on the cross where the crucified Christ died. Therefore, the cross exists at the very heart of God's community with God's self.

God has overcome Death by bringing Death into the community of the Trinity through the cross of Christ.

However, the perfect community that was the Trinity was lost, destroyed on the cross. The Son, of the unity of the Trinity, DIED. In Christ's death the unity of the Trinity ended.

But now, we must remember that the LOVE of God cannot and will not be defeated. Not even Death of the Christ can stand against the love of God. The love of God defeats Death in the Resurrection. That is why Easter is so important that we celebrate the risen Christ every Sunday in particular, though the power and truth of Easter is with us every hour of every day. Sundays are meant to be little Easters, little celebrations of the Resurrection. Alleluia!

As much as it hurts to admit, from Death springs forth Life. Through the Love of God, the basis of the Trinity, the Trinity is brought back, Resurrected with Christ. But now the Trinity, which is always and forever based in Love, surrounds and in intertwined with Death.

Out of Death, through Love, the Trinity is regained.It is made perfect in Death through Love.

So now where do we see God as concretely as possible? We can see God in beautiful things of life, like the smile of an infant, the laughter of old friends, a warm embrace of a loved one, a sunrise on a cloudless morning, in the refreshing rain and the warming sun.

But we can also see God in Death. Throughout nature, we see new Life spring up out of Death. It is in Death we see God, because Death is at the heart of the Trinity because of the Crucifixion and is brought to perfection through Love in the Resurrection.

So what then is the role of the church? To build itself around Death, as the Trinity surrounds Death with Life in Love. God is found concretely in Death. So the church must find itself concretely in Death.

Death renders us, as fragile human beings, alone. Often we can feel completely alone at the Death of a loved one, regardless of the expectation or lack thereof of Death. By speaking about Death, pain, and suffering, we engage in what Dr. R calls the "horrible sacrament of shared life."

As we near the Crucifixion and the Resurrection (Alleluia!), we celebrate that the Trinity is grounded in Love, was broken on the cross, and was redeemed through Love in the Resurrection. In our world we see Death and brokenness more often that we like to admit. But, in the midst of the darkness of Death, God is there. God has experienced Death, has brought Death into God's self, and has made Death a part of God because of God's LOVE.

The Love of the Resurrection defeats the Death of the cross. Every time.

Alleluia!