Preaching Paths 15 June 2025  Trinity Sunday, Year C

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

Today’s brief gospel reading, John 16:12-15, powerfully conveys to the Church the promise that fuels its witness:  today, as from the beginning, the Father and Son continue to accompany, teach, and lead Jesus’ followers through the Holy Spirit. Preaching preparation can include reviewing chs 14-16. The Father will send the Advocate to accompany Jesus’ followers in his absence (14:16-18), confirm Jesus’ teachings (14:26), testify to Jesus’ true identity (15:26), and guide disciples to grasp and practice the will and ways of God (16:7-11).

Tempting as it may be to delve into the challenging logic of trinitarianism, the text this year does not lend itself to that sermon. Jesus’ concern is practical, and ours should be, too. For over three chapters, Jesus has been repeating a piece of devastating information: he will soon leave for a place to which his disciples cannot follow. This is shocking. Following is all his disciples have known for three years. Jesus responds with promises about the arrival of the Holy Spirit, who will mediate to them the power and love of Father and Son they have come to know. The Spirit will be their “Paraclete,” a living presence walking alongside them.

Wherever we stand to preach this Trinity Sunday, the congregation whose gaze we meet  is likely feeling, on the whole, a level of anxiety more intense than at this time last year. In the US and among its allies, long-trusted stabilities, both diplomatic and material, are suddenly more brittle. Programs that provide income and healthcare for seniors and persons  with disabilities are at risk. Fear is palpable. Our first preaching task this Trinity Sunday is to proclaim that the Spirit of God, sent from the heart of the Father and Son,* is among us.

Second, we need to speak of the Spirit not simply as a comforter, but as an activating presence. Knowing that Jesus has not left us orphaned (14:18) can indeed settle a racing heartbeat in the dark of night. Yet, in stable times and unstable times, God’s Spirit stirs us to imagine creatively and act boldly, showing up and speaking up on behalf of the vulnerable.

Third, the presence of the divine Spirit is a communal experience. In our text, references to “you” are consistently pluralized. It is in company with one another that we  discern how the Spirit is prompting us to advance the mission of God in our time and place. We indeed will seek and sense the Spirit in our prayers and sanctuaries; but the passion of Father, Son, and Spirit for the world will press us into the street to feed hungry bodies and souls, to confront abusive powers, and to raise up those that others scapegoat and vilify. And in the name of Father, Son and Spirit,* we must declare God’s inclusive, redemptive love for all of us, kin or neighbor, newcomer or stranger. To this end: Come, stir and embolden us, Holy Spirit!

*Here, I have preserved John’s language. This is not to say that that the divine Three may not be named differently.