The Trinity, Community, and Prayer

Matthew 28:16–20; 2 Corinthians 13:11–13

Today is Trinity Sunday. And today is also the last Sunday of our May prayer series. So today, I want to bring three words together: Trinity, community, and prayer.

At first, those may sound like three separate topics. Trinity sounds like doctrine. Community sounds like church life. Prayer sounds like personal spirituality. But in the Christian faith, these three belong together. Because prayer is not only something we do as individuals. Prayer is the way we are drawn into the life of God. And the God into whose life we are drawn is not a lonely God, not an isolated God, not a distant God. The God we worship is Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is communion. God is love. God is relationship.

So when we pray, we are not simply sending words upward to heaven. We are entering the life of the Triune God. We pray to the Creator, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. That is not just a formula. That is the shape of Christian prayer. We pray to the Father, because God is the source of life and love. Before we even speak, God already knows us. Before we ask, God already cares. Before we seek God, God has already been seeking us.

We pray through the Son, because Jesus Christ opens the way for us. We do not come to God because our faith is perfect or our words are beautiful. We come because Christ welcomes us. Christ prays with us. Christ intercedes for us. Christ brings us near. And we pray in the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is the breath of prayer within us. When we do not know how to pray, the Spirit helps us. When our words are weak, the Spirit carries them. When our hearts are tired, the Spirit joins us to God and to one another.

So Christian prayer is always Trinitarian. The Father loves us. The Son gathers us. The Spirit makes us one. And this means we do not pray alone.

Even when we are physically alone, Christian prayer is never only “me and God.” When Jesus taught us to pray, he taught us to say, “Our Father.” Not only “my Father.” Not only “give me my daily bread.” Not only “forgive my sins.” But our Father, give us, forgive us, deliver us. Prayer begins with God, but it immediately opens us to others. That is why prayer creates community.

A church is not just a group of individuals who happen to worship in the same building. A church is not just people who share a schedule, a newsletter, a budget, or a sanctuary. The church is a community gathered into the life of the Triune God. We are loved by the same Father. We are reconciled by the same Christ. We are joined by the same Spirit.

This is why Paul’s blessing in 2 Corinthians is so beautiful: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” Grace. Love. Communion. That is not only a nice way to end a letter. It is a picture of the Christian life. It is also a picture of the church. The church lives by the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

So if God is communion, then the church cannot be only a collection of isolated individuals. If God is love, then prayer cannot remain only private concern. If God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then the people of God are called to become a community of prayer.

Community prayer does not mean everyone has the same feelings. It does not mean everyone is always strong. It does not mean everyone knows exactly what to say. Matthew tells us that when the disciples saw the risen Jesus, “they worshiped him; but some doubted.” They worshiped, but some doubted. That sounds very honest. And honestly, that sounds like church.

Some come with strong faith. Some come with questions. Some come with joy. Some come with grief. Some come ready to sing. Some come barely able to pray. Some come with hope. Some come with fear. And Jesus does not reject them. Jesus does not say, “Come back when your faith is perfect.” Jesus does not say, “I will send only the confident ones.” Jesus does not say, “Only people without doubt can belong to my mission.”

Instead, Jesus comes to this mixed, imperfect, worshiping and doubting community and says, “Go.” “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Notice that Jesus sends the church in the name of the Trinity. The mission of the church is not simply to get more people into an organization. The mission of the church is to invite people into the life of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Into grace, love, and communion. And then Jesus gives the promise: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So the church is sent by Christ, in the name of the Triune God, with the promise of Christ’s presence. That means prayer and mission belong together. Prayer is not an escape from the world. Prayer is how God forms us so that we can be sent into the world. Prayer makes us more loving, more patient, more courageous, more peaceful, more connected. A praying church becomes a sent church. And a sent church must remain a praying church.

Because we cannot carry Christ’s mission alone. We need one another. Some days you may have faith when I am tired. Some days I may pray when you have no words. Some days one person carries hope for the whole community. Some days the whole community carries one person. That is community prayer.

Community prayer says, “You do not have to pray alone.” When you are grieving, we will pray with you. When you are afraid, we will pray with you. When you are sick, we will pray with you. When you are unsure, we will pray with you. When you have no words, we will sit with you before God.

This is not just kindness. This is Trinitarian life. Because the God we worship is not isolation. God is communion. And when we pray together, we are being shaped into the image of that God.

So today, as we end this prayer series, we remember: prayer can be a cry. Prayer can be silence. Prayer can carry the names of others. Prayer is helped by the Holy Spirit. And prayer makes us a community. We pray to the Father who loves us. We pray through the Son who sends us. We pray in the Spirit who makes us one.

And then we go. We go to bless. We go to serve. We go to welcome. We go to forgive. We go to make disciples. We go as a community shaped by grace, love, and communion.

So let our church become prayer. Let our welcome become prayer. Let our listening become prayer. Let our singing become prayer. Let our silence become prayer. Let our tears become prayer. Let our service become prayer. Let our life together become prayer.

And may the world see in us a small sign of the Triune God: the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

We do not pray alone. We pray in the life of the Trinity. We pray as the body of Christ. We pray by the power of the Spirit. And we go with the promise of Jesus: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Amen.