PREACHING AND THE HOLY TRINITY:

DWELLING IN GOD
Jennifer L. Lord

Henri Nouwens book, Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons, begins
with these words, How can we live in the midst of a world marked by fear,
hatred, and violence, and not be destroyed by it? He continues: To live in
the world without belonging to the world summarizes the essence of the
spiritual life. The spiritual life keeps us aware that our true house is not
the house of fear, in which the powers of hatred and violence rule, but the
house of love, where God resides. Nouwen wrote these words in the early
1980s. He had made repeated lengthy visits to the lArche community in
Trosly, France, where a hospitable staff member placed icons on the table
of the room where he stayed. First it was Andrei Rublevs icon of the Trinity
(see this issues cover). On the following years visit, it was the icon of Our
Lady of Vladimir, then, on later visits, he brought two icons he had selected.
The book is his meditation on these four icons.1
Describing the icon of the Holy Trinity, Nouwen explains that Rublev did
not paint it only to pass along spiritual insights, but as a gift to fellow monks
at the monasterya way to keep their hearts centered in God while living in
the midst of political unrest.2 Nouwen describes the icon as a place to enter,
a holy place to visit and stay. He invites us to see the icon, and therefore the
Holy Trinity, as the house of love. Nouwens approach to the Holy Trinity
orients us for exploring this question: What is preaching in relation to the
Holy Trinity? What is preaching in relation to the mystery of God, Three in
One? To be inside the Holy Trinity is to be inside the house of God, the place
where Gods wordwhere preachingagain and again invites us home.
John Baggley, reflecting on this same icon, writes about the intricacies of
this house:
In this composition the most obvious geometrical forms that are used are the
circle, following the forms of the three angels (Ouspensky claims that traces
of a circle are visible); the triangle (formed from the head and torso of the
central angel and extending down to the lower corners); and the Cross
(formed by the central axis of the iconwhich includes the tree, the central
angel, the chalice, and the aperture in the front of the tableand the heads of
the outer two angels). The circle may be associated with divinity and eternity;
the triangle has obvious associations with the Trinity; and the Cross is at the
center of the Christian revelation. At the lower level of the icon Rublev uses a
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Liturgy, 30 (1): 1117, 2015 Copyright # The Liturgical Conference ISSN: 0458-063X
DOI: 10.1080/0458063X.2014.952592

system sometimes known as inverse perspective in the depiction of the

footstools and the seats; the lines which we would expect to converge as they
recede in fact open out away from the front of the icon; this has the effect of
drawing our attention up into the circle of the relationships between the
three angels, inviting a certain participation by the viewer. The lines of the
seats and footstools at the lower corners are balanced by the shape of
the building and the mountain at the top corners; thus the four corners of
the icon have been used in ways that enable us to discern an octagonal shape
as well as a circle within the structure of the icon. The octagon, seven plus
one sides, is seen as suggesting the eternal glory of the eighth day, the
endless Sabbath of the heavenly kingdom.3

By addressing the stylistic conventions of this icon and how they convey
theological content, Baggley shows that an icon is not just an illustration.
Through the faithfulness of the scribe, it is Holy Scripture in visual form, a
vision of the divine world in lines and color. We are truly invited in to the
life-giving presence of the Holy Trinity.
Baggleys observations about the icons detailed geometrical forms deepen an invitation to pay attention to what Nouwen and so many others have
come to know through its forms and symbolism. I want to explore preaching
in relation to the Trinity not as an attempt to define, describe, and argue for
the Trinity but rather as participation in the life-giving work of the triune
God. What does it mean to preach in a way that consistently invites us to
know we live in this house of love, this eternal glory of the eighth day? I offer
two ways that preachers can think about preaching in relation to the Trinity:
Naming God and Keeping Perspective.

Naming God
To think about trinitarian preaching is to think about the meaning of this
name for God. Christians use a variety of names for God such as: Mother,
Father, Holy One, Holy Three, Redeemer, Son, Spirit, Creator, Sustainer.
The way we name God shapes our faith; our beliefs, in turn, influence the
names we choose. Orthodox Christians keep a trinitarian focus in their
prayers. Pentecostals emphasize the Holy Spirit. Evangelical Christians prioritize Jesus. Persons across Protestant traditions hold on to the name
Father-God. Some Christians wish for a constant use of a variety of names
for God according to the many names and images for God in scripture such
as God who is Abba, Son, and Spirit or God as gate, bread, and water of life,
among others. Through the testament of our Jewish brothers and sisters, we
know that Gods name is sacred. Through the centuries Christians have
disagreed about names for God and how the persons of the Trinity are to
be seen in relationship to one another. The different names for God represent
theological distinctions across Christian traditions and the variety of names
chosen to describe and address God shapes our beliefs.
Preachers use different names for God, and the way God is named in sermons also shapes our beliefs. Sermons in some traditions prioritize the gifts of
the Spirit, some stress conversion to Christ, others stress faith in the Creator.
The ways we name God in the churchs preachingalong with our praying
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and reading, baptizing and meal-sharingis a theological act shaping

our faith.
To think about trinitarian preaching frequently means preaching about the
Trinity. We deal with theologies of the Trinity, and we rehearse our preparations for Trinity Sunday (called by Protestants and Roman Catholics, the
Sunday after Pentecost; by Byzantine Christians, Pentecost Sunday). This
usually means we remind ourselves of different theological emphases for
trinitarian speech. We might speak, for instance, of Gods interrelatedness
(the immanent Trinity) or of Gods work and mission with humanity and
the whole world throughout history (the economic Trinity). We spend time
with the history of these theological developments, refreshing our memories
about certain ideas that were either condemned as heretical or nuanced as
displacement (the Trinity comes into being in stages through history), subordinationism (the Son and Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father), tritheism
(the Trinity is really three gods), modalism (God has aspects like creating,
redeeming, and sanctifying but is not three persons of one nature), and
accumulation (the revelation of persons of the Trinity are added at different
times in history). Current scholarly emphases move to Gods innercommunity, relationship, and communication.
It is always a good thing for those of us who preach to immerse ourselves
in history and theology and refresh our thinking on doctrinal matters. This
review helps us know that theologies of the Holy Trinity are complex but
indispensable because they underscore that it is not enough, in Christian
preaching, to speak of one person of the Trinity. There might be exceptions
but they should never be the rule. If sermons only speak of God or Jesus or
the Spirit, a great imbalance is communicated. A quick cautionary list
includes sermons emphasizing God as creator in a way that describes a
god who is distant and uninterested in our daily lives. Jesus can be preached
in such a way that we have no need of God who names him the beloved Son,
or of the presence of the Spirit of the risen Christ, or any understanding that
his titles, like Messiah and Lord, take their meanings from the Old Testament.
The Holy Spirit can devolve into one of many spirits, spirituality without
relation to creation, covenant, death, and resurrection. The ways we tell the
names and stories and actions of God in our sermons demonstrate the eternal
interrelatedness of God in three persons. Of course we cant preach everything in one sermon. But we can review our preaching with some helpful
questions: Even if we prioritize one name for God, are we speaking the
fullness of the Trinity? Do our sermons over time proclaim the nature, work,
and purposes of God the Holy One, Holy Three?
I want preachers to think of trinitarian preaching more broadly than
preaching that is about the Trinity. It is not enough to think we only preach
the Trinity once a year, on Trinity Sunday. Every Sunday, whether it is a feast
day (holiday) or a standard (ordinary time) Sunday, is not just about the
theme of the day but about the theme in relation to the paschal mystery,
the entire revelation of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Who is this triune God? It is the God we know in the Crucified-Risen One. It
is the God who created the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land,
and who gathered a covenant people. It is the Spirit of God who is a treasury
of blessings, ever life-giving for the healing of the nations. The one-day festal
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celebration reveals again, in our present day, the nature and purposes of our
God. As I have written elsewhere:
[R]ecalling that Trinity Sunday is held in relation to Pentecost which in turn
is itself the fiftieth day of the pasch, then there is something more to be said.
There is a direction for these feast days . . . . They have a telos, a direction,
which is the cosmos so that all creation shares in the fruits of redemption.
The direction is the awakening to liberation. It is insistence of this according
to the liberating power of the risen Christ at every level of life.4

Here are the sermonic cautions for Naming God in relation to trinitarian
preaching:
. preaching on the Trinity is not the same as trinitarian preaching;
. parsing the Trinity does not equal proclaiming the fullness of our lifegiving God;
. trinitarian preaching is more than defining God and more than using the
word trinitarian as an adjective for God while still only preaching a portion
of the nature of God; and
. trinitarian preaching does not occur only once a year.

To preach in a trinitarian manner is to preach the fullness of Gods revelation.

The church itself, as it stands before the creator of all in company with the
words and signs of this Jesus, believes it is enlivened by the very presence of
God, called the Holy Spirit.5 We preach the fullness of Gods revelation in
relation to our lives. This is the second aspect for exploration.

Keeping Perspective
On many Sundays I am standing with my spouse in his assembly, hearing
these words at the very end of the liturgy, The Holy Trinity keep and protect
you. I like those words a great deal. Somehow they sound different than the
trinitarian blessings Im familiar with: The Lord bless you and keep you, the
Lord be kind and gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor and
give you peace (Numbers 6:2426) or the Presbyterian use of 2 Corinthians
13:13 at the sending rather than at the gathering, The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with
you all. In these and other familiar benedictions, the Trinity is worded by
naming each of the three persons of the Trinity or by naming God in three-fold
action (e.g., bless, be kind, look with favor). But the priest at the Antiochian
Orthodox church, after all other standard dismissals have been said, adds that
simple sentence: The Holy Trinity keep and protect you. One Orthodox
friend, who is a priest in the Slavic practice of the tradition, has never heard
this particular wording, making it all the more interesting to me.
This trinitarian blessing describes God who stays near and envelops us.
By these words, I envision us in the midst of the Three in One, the One in
Three. I imagine that the spatial relationship between God and humanity is
not only vertical, from heaven to earth, or only horizontal, side-by-side
accompaniment, but is God with and around all. I envision the Trinity as a
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good and pleasant fence that borders us, keeps us, and protects us. But the
words mean more than that, for the Trinity is not simply a static object fixed
in place to keep and protect us. Rather, this wording for the Trinity evokes a
sense of God keeping watch. We are accompanied and surrounded by the
living, active, loving triune God who is paying attention to us all. And these
words seem big enough to mean that the triune God is paying attention to the
whole cosmos. The fence encircling is very large.
This large circle raises a second exploration regarding preaching and the
Trinity: the scope of our words. Do our sermons name both the everyday
news of our lives in the world and the expansive presence and promises of
God who is in and beyond our time? Can we speak of both the quotidian
and the mystery, the immanent and the transcendent, the now and the
not-yet? Trinitarian preaching means that we must.
Sermons are Gospel proclamation that honestly names the commonplace
of our lives, even the commonplace that Nouwen refers to as our false house
of fear, hatred, and violence. Yet sermons also repeatedly awaken us to the
love and work of the life-creating TrinityGods presence and promise:
Gods very word over and against what seeks to mutilate the life God gives.
A sermon is proclamatory speech, witnessing to the biblical God, addressing
the reality of our lives through the language of the texts, but also announcing
through those same texts the purposes and ways of God-for-us. Preaching
does not circumvent what is going on in the world and in our daily lives;
it speaks to those realities, naming Gods life-giving self alongside those realities. The scope of our speech means that our human efforts and joys, our
fears and griefs, are held in the breadth of majestic power, making the intimacy of divine attentiveness even more profound because we also know
the vastness of God.
But that does not seem to be the direction for many preachers. Too much
preaching participates in popular rhetoric with short and easy answers,
shaped to compete with the glut of words in our information-saturated world.
Preachers grasp for what will catch our attention, giving us a bylineoften
about happiness or prosperitythat turns preaching into one more resource
for an easier life. Or we hear how we need to do more, be better, and work
things out by our own labors. The Gospel becomes imbalanced because weight
is placed on our efforts. These are examples of reduced speech: deep unrest
and sorrows go unnamed, Christianity is packaged as nice or prosperous,
and the new life of Gods reign is entirely up to us. Walter Brueggemann
blatantly refers to this as reduced speech and mourns the fact that it continues as a prominent preaching trend.6 We forget how to think deeply,
how to admit our questions and laments, and what it is to walk in mystery.
Filmmaker Terrence Malicks movie The Tree of Life prompts reflection on
the current state of preaching.7 The film holds together common human
experience and the cosmic reach of God. The visual frames for the scenes
establish and evoke a sense of spatial and chronological perspective. In this
film (as with his others), Malick works with themes of water, grasses, leaves,
and sunlight.8 The camera angle has us crouch in tall grasses, float amidst tree
tops and waving branches, squint through water fights and sprinkler spray,
and view nebular space. The viewer is set both in chronological time and
space and moved beyond it.
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Malick situates human events through this same spatial and chronological
framing, introducing us to a family and a sorrow that will permeate the life of
that family. We are placed alongside them and beyond them: the audience member is inches away from the fathers and mothers tears and yet also positioned as
if hovering above them, above ground, and even into outer space in order, it
seems, to experience the God to whom we pray as familiar yet beyond, intimate
yet surpassing, synchronistic with human joy and grief yet mighty and majestic.
The viewer is transported between particular events in the lives of these family
members and simultaneously presented with scenes evoking timelessness.
Trinitarian preaching keeps this same temporal and eternal perspective. It
is the Holy Trinity keeping and protecting us. And it is the Holy Trinity keeping
and protecting us. The personal is always placed in the larger view of Gods
loving expanse. How are we to do that in our sermons? One way is to reflect
on our sermon focusespecially whether it is concerned with the individual
or the community. In the United States weve tended to individualize faith
and belief; sermon language shapes and reflects this. Preachers easily use texts
that speak of nation, community, and corporeality to speak, instead, to the individual believer or the aggregate of individuals on a Sunday morning. In this
way preachers avoid the cosmic, international, national, and corporate perspectives and how those biblical claims interpret us as members of the body
of Christ in the world today. In addition, preachers commonly privatize texts,
and therefore faith, rather than showing us that the corporate, international,
and cosmic language witnesses to God and Gods people at work in all spheres
of life. Trinitarian preaching keeps perspective: individually we are members
of one body, we are in the household of faith, we are participants in the work
of God, which is for the sake of the world, indeed of the cosmos. Any speech
directed toward us individually is also placed in this larger perspective.
Another way to keep perspective is to be certain that our preaching
names our worrisome houses along with Gods house of love, our true house.
Malicks movie does not make light of that familys anguish. It depicts a continuous flow between individual family members reactions and thoughts
and the pervasiveness of Gods presence and fencing. So, too, in terms of
the texts, our sermons name all of our losses, laments, injustices. These are
our deaths, including those that come to us uncontrollably and those we systemically perpetuate. Naming the life of God with and for us now, closer than
our own breath and as mercy beyond measure, we are held in the telos of
God who has trampled down death.9
Preachers pay attention to what names we use for God and what we say
theologically by the choice of names. Preachers work to keep perspective, holding together present angst, confusion, and grief with the merciful presence and
promise of God for the whole world. Preachers honestly name both houses but
preach the truth that keeps and protects us all. Preaching, alongside reading and
praying, washing and eating, continually invites us to life in the Holy Trinity. It
invites us again and again to see that we are kept and protected by God the Three
in One. Just as the icon, through its lines, color, and other stylistic conventions,
invites us into the presence of God, so preaching, as a verbal icon, does the same:
If one were to search for a single word to describe this icon, it is the word
love. The Holy Trinity itself is a community of love so perfect that Father,
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Son, and Holy Spirit are one. All creation is a manifestation of Gods love.
The Incarnation of Christ is an act of love as is every word and action that
follows, even if at times it is what Dostoevsky calls a harsh and dreadful
love. Christs acceptance of condemnation and execution witnesses to the
self-giving nature of love. His Resurrection is a sign of the power of love
to defeat death. Christ invites us each to participate in the love and mercy
of God.10

Jennifer L. Lord is the Dorothy B. Vickery Professor of Homiletics

and Liturgical Studies at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
and a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Notes
1. Henri J. M. Nouwen, Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria
Press, 1987).
2. Rublev was a monk of the Holy Trinity Monastery founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh and was
influenced by St. Sergius spirituality and theology. St. Sergius (c. 131492) lived during the time of
controversies about the doctrine of the Trinity and of the Tartar oppression of the Russian people
. . . [when] the Russian people were struggling under external attacks and internal disintegration as
the various principalities vied with each other for prestige. Many believe Rublev intended the icon
to be placed over the tomb of St. Sergius. John Baggley, Festival Icons for the Christian Year (Crestwood,
NJ: St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2000), 15052.
3. Ibid., 15354.
4. Jennifer L. Lord, Preaching and Trinity Sunday: Preaching and Teaching New Creation, in
Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 66 (January 2012), 37.
5. Gordon Lathrop, The Pastor (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 99.
6. Walter Brueggemann, Finally Comes the Poet (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989).
7. Terrence Malick, Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, film, 2011.
8. See for instance Terrence Malick, The Thin Red Line, Fox, film, 1998.
9. For authors who speak to preachings naming of our deaths and Gods mercy, see Gordon Lathrop
(see n. 5); Melinda Quivik, Serving the Word: Preaching in Worship (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press,
2009); and Paul Scott Wilson, The Four Pages of the Sermon (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999).
10. Jim Forest, Praying with Icons (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001), 99100.

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