Preaching Paths 4 June 2023

​Sally A. Brown

Elizabeth M. Engle Professor of Preaching and Worship Emerita

Princeton Theological Seminary

For Trinity Sunday the lectionary fittingly pairs two NT texts that contain early trinitarian formulas. In each case, the closing sentences of an entire NT book name the Godhead as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Matthew 28:19, we find a trinitarian baptismal formula, in 2 Corinthian 13:13 a trinitarian benediction. [Notably, the formula in Mt is widely considered a later addition to the gospel, perhaps influenced by Pauline writings and emerging liturgical formulas.]

A further similarity is that both these texts convey promises of divine presence : In Mt 28, “I am with you always” (v. 20), and in 2 Cor 13:11-13, two such promises: “the God of love and peace will be with you” (v.11) and “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit  be with all of you” (v. 13).

Homiletical possibilities abound in these texts. First, one might reflect theologically on the  implications for understanding our own personhood, as well as the life of the church, that flow  from the trinitarian, “social” description of the Godhead in these texts. Social-trinitarian theologies (see J. Zizoulas [1985], C. LaCugna [1993], and S, Grentz [2007]) helpfully explore such implications and challenge overly individualistic understandings of personhood and spiritual experience.

Second, one might choose as one’s point of departure the striking and often-overlooked phrase in Mt 28:17: “When they saw [Jesus], they worshipped him, but some doubted.” Jesus commissions all present to go into the world, making disciples and baptizing. Evidently there was room on that mountaintop for doubt mixed in with faith; is there room for doubt in our pews? Might we take doubt seriously as a significant, even necessary, human experience in the journey of faith?

A third option would be to explore imaginatively what it may look like in our time and place if we allow Jesus to model for us what  “making disciples” means. Jesus did not put up a tent and hang out a sign. Jesus moved through public space for close to three years, showing his followers what the patient work of disciple-making requires. Perhaps disciple-making means demonstrating in word and deed what the reign of God is like—its disruptive challenge to our self-serving assumptions, its costly sacrifices, and its immeasurable joys.

In some contexts, the preacher may find most fitting the straightforward appeals that are the capstone of Paul’s Corinthian correspondence. The verbs are strong and direct: “Put [things] in order, listen . . . , agree. . . , live in peace.” These need to be understood as the appeals of an invested, loving pastor, not overbearing, authoritarian directives. Crucially, they are coupled with a strong promise of divine presence: “And the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Cor 13:11).

Finally, listeners wrestling with trouble in its myriad forms, personal or communal, may benefit most from a pastoral reflection on the trinitarian benediction of 2 Corinthians 13:13. Amid pain or illness, rejection or loneliness, sorrow or fear, we need reassurance that the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the communion of the Spirit enfold us still.