A lot of conspiracy theories have been doing the rounds at the moment. Some of them try to persuade us that COVID 19 is a humanly manufactured virus sent from China to destroy us. Others inform us that the end times have come upon us and the prophecies concerned with a one world government in the Bible are about to take place. These theories engender fear and to some extent are irrelevant. Humans have always lived in dangerous times.

Jesus reassures us that whether we are near the end or not, he is with us always, “even to the end of the age.” Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians, in the words of the prayer we now call “The Grace,” that God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, loves us and that we are invited into that love. We do not deserve his love. We receive it because of his grace shown to us when our Lord Jesus Christ died for us so that we might have a relationship with him. When we trust him and invite him into our lives we come into fellowship or communion with him through the work of the Holy Spirit who makes us one.

Each member of the Trinity is involved in our salvation. Our Father sent Jesus his only Son, Jesus willingly lived among us and died for us and the Holy Spirit works within us and in the world making God known. They work together to lift us up into fellowship with God and the whole company of saints in heaven and on earth.

It is from this position, in relationship with, (as Isaiah reminds us) the creator of our beautiful universe that we are called to participate in God’s work.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven and left his disciples he commanded them to go and make disciples of all nations, to baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and to teach everything Jesus had commanded them. This commission was dangerous, difficult and impossible, yet the disciples were obedient and the world was changed because Jesus was with them in the power of the Holy Spirit.

At the moment we cannot go anywhere and we cannot physically baptise anyone because it would require us to be too close. We can, however teach and continue to meet online. We can also invite friends and family into the spiritual transformation that is symbolised in baptism, in which we are plunged into the love of God and become part of the community of heaven.

We can also live out our baptisms, so that become more and more like our God who loves us so much.

In the past we have expressed the Church’s beliefs about the Trinity in our creeds. When we recite the Nicene or Athanasian creed on a Sunday, we often do not understand the theology behind them. They were formulated by the best theologians and doctors of the church of their time to counteract heresies. Sadly in the past they have been used, not as a way of sharing God’s love but as a means of persecuting those who think differently. Instead of lifting up the faithful, they have sometimes placed a heavy burden upon them.

Today many theologians see the relationship between us and the Trinity as understood best through experiencing God’s fullness at work in our lives and in the world. They see in the Godhead a dance going on that we are invited to join, or table fellowship we are invited to share. They see the love each member of the Trinity shows towards the other and the way in which each works together as creating circle of love we are invited to enter.

It is from within this place of being lifted up into an ongoing relationship with Christ that we are enabled to communicate and share God’s love for his world. When we wait upon the Lord, and pray, Isaiah reminds us that we shall renew our strength. Even if we are elderly, sick or vulnerable, we will mount up with wings like eagles. We shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint. May God give us strength to counteract theories that instil fear with the overwhelming, uplifting, powerful love of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Holy God,

faithful and unchanging:

enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,

and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,

that we may truly worship you,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen