While it is the first Sunday after Pentecost, this is also Trinity Sunday.  Before we get into the texts, we should be aware of such a theme that is likely to run through the Scripture.

Here’s what the lectionary has for us this week:

• Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
• Romans 5:1-5
• John 16:12-15
• Psalm 8

I will always smile when I see a reading from Proverbs.  It became my go to book of the Bible when I was young, simply because the Good News Bible had funny pictures along the top of some parts of proverbs highlighting some of the verses.  Typically, I do not like partial readings, but I understand the move here is to help us understand who is speaking in the bulk of the text, so we need the first four verses to set up the whole thing.  There’s certainly some exegetical and Bibel Study stuff to say about Wisdom, but perhaps knowing the theme of the week, I am more struck with the reminder we are getting of the Alpha and Omega part of God and the sheer majesty of his ability to create this wonderful world in which we live.  Maybe I was a week early on having us sing, “For the Beauty of the Earth.”  I also appreciate the very end of the reading.  We like to beat our world and ourselves as human beings up sometimes when we talk about our relationship with God.  The final verse is a reminder that God delights in us…we are still part of that very good creation.

Psalm 8 is the Route 11 to Proverbs Interstate 81, running parallel to one another.  We get another dose (spelled out this time) of God’s majesty and the wonder of his creation.  At the same time, we get a little more, along the lines of what we finished talking about in Proverbs.  I love David’s musing, what is a human being that you would remember and look after him?   We are his creation as well.   Sometimes we can forget the wonder of the human body…easy to curse when things start to break down or disease sets in, but hard to remember to be thankful for every other day of our life when we effortlessly rise from bed and go about our day.  This Psalm, along with the Proverb has me thinking about Stewardship.   The Proverb mentioned the Oceans staying within their bounds and the Psalm reminds us that God gave us a pseudo-dominion over creation.  Some might scoff at the idea, but I couldn’t help but think about the alarms being sounded regarding rising sea levels.  What’s a hurricane season without images of yet another house in the Outer Banks being swept into the ocean?  Perhaps that’s another lesson about building our house on the rock and not the sand.  Either way, we do have a responsibility to protect and cherish the world in which God gave us.

The final two readings will be just like the first two and run alongside each other, both giving us a taste of the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The Epistle is a short little reading where we get a mention of Paul’s theology of justification, a reminder that Jesus is Lord and then a lesson in hope and how the Holy Spirit plays into that.  In between is a pep talk about how difficult times can help or instruct us.   Obviously, there is a lot more to it than that, but you get the gist of the quick and dirty first look.

The Gospel lesson leaves me wanting a bit more.  I know there’s a lot to chew on in these four verses, but whenever you get the words in red and see that they extend much further, you likely want to read/hear more.   Christ has instructed all that he can, although we are told there is much more for the disciples to learn.   When He says that they cannot bear that instruction or knowledge at that time, we can be left to wonder the nature of the knowledge and why it is that they would not be able to process it.   The Spirit of Truth guides us now as it guided the disciples post ascension.  My concern is just how many people claim to speak the Word of God and the truth but are instead false teachers.  We get warned that many will come falsely in his name and I pray that I am in touch with the Spirit of Truth to know which is which.

There’s a lot to study and to think about this week as we dig into and truly work to understand the Word we have been given this week.  Join me over these next five or six days and spend time with each reading, unlocking the power and wisdom it has to impart in our lives.  See you Sunday!