The Circle Widens
a sermon for Trinity Sunday 2026
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 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 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”The historic Athanasian Creed describes the Trinity in this way:
We worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another. But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit. Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit. The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite. Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit: And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal; as there are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated and unlimited. Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit: And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty. Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God: And yet there are not three gods, but one God. Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord: And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.
As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords. The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten; the Son was neither made nor created but was alone begotten of the Father; the Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son. Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.
And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal; and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three persons. Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity.
There are some Sundays in the church year when many preachers quietly panic.
Trinity Sunday is one of them.
Because how do you explain the Trinity? One God in three persons. Three persons in one God. Not divided. Not confused. Coequal. Coeternal.
The word Trinity is not even in the Bible!
I’m sure many have heard children’s talks trying to explain Trinity with water, ice and steam. Yeah, let’s not go there.
For centuries, the church has wrestled with language to describe what ultimately stretches beyond human comprehension.
And perhaps nowhere is that struggle more visible than in the ancient Athanasian Creed, one of the historic creeds of the church. In my work with the Victorian Council of Churches, and especially in conversation with Orthodox Christian sisters and brothers, I’ve come to appreciate the depth and seriousness with which the early church wrestled with these questions.
Listen to part of this ancient confession: “We worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being... And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three persons are in themselves coeternal and coequal.”
It is beautiful. Dense. Careful. Reverent.
The early church was trying to protect a mystery: that God is both unity and relationship. Not lonely singularity. Not chaotic division. But communion.
The line “none is before or after, greater or less than another” becomes almost prophetic when spoken into a culture of hierarchy, nationalism, and suspicion. Use the lens of ‘none is before or after, greater or less than another’ to look at a leader who has a gold statue of himself, who bombs other countries but doesn’t have money to fund the most vulnerable in his country.
And perhaps that is where Trinity Sunday matters most for us today. Because we are living in a time when division has become a kind of currency. Fear is marketed to us daily. Suspicion is cultivated. Difference is weaponised.
We see some politicians getting political mileage from denigrating migrants and refugees. We see racism dressed up as “common sense.” We see antisemitism and Islamophobia rising. We see people reduced to stereotypes and slogans. We see whole communities blamed for society’s anxieties.
We are standing on the precipice of a slippery slope - if we continue the public discourse that weaponises and demonises others, our beautiful multicultural and multifaith society will continue to fracture. Our nation has been shaped by many peoples, cultures, languages and stories - and yet here we are, increasingly tempted to retreat into tribes rather than build communities.
But the Trinity offers us another vision.
Not sameness. Communion.
Not uniformity. Relationship.
Not exclusion. Belonging.
At the heart of Christian faith is not an isolated God standing far above the world, but a relational God whose very being is love shared and given. Many in our global community are longing to hear that Christianity is not fundamentally about fear, exclusion, or boundary-policing, but about the widening life of God’s love. There are so many wounded by exclusion – by race and ethnicity, by gender, sexuality, different abilities, disease and dis-ease… They are longing to hear good news about a place to be welcomed, a place of belonging. This is a time for the church to find the courage to become more fully what it is called to be.
The Athanasius creed says:“None is before or after, greater or less than another.” This is a profound vision for human community. The Trinity tells us that difference is not a threat to unity. Difference can actually deepen communion. The image of God is not reflected in sameness, but in the beautiful diversity of creation itself.
Different languages. Different cultures and ethnicities. Different histories. Different personalities. Different experiences. Different sexual and gender understandings. Different ways of seeing and understanding the world. Different theological understandings. Different family histories and lived experiences. Even the era in which we were born. All of that makes each of us a unique expression of the divine.
We celebrated Pentecost last week, where difference and diversity were an intrinsic part of God’s Spirit being poured out on people from many places and languages.
This diversity is not a problem for God to solve.
It is part of the richness of God’s creation.
The church has not always understood this well. Too often Christianity has confused unity with conformity. Too often the church has tried to colonise rather than listen. Control rather than liberate. Exclude rather than embrace. Too often Christians have drawn circles that Jesus himself never drew.
And so Trinity Sunday can also become a day of repentance. Repentance for racism. Repentance for exclusion. Repentance for the ways the church has harmed First Peoples. Repentance for sexism, homophobia, ableism, classism, and all the ways human beings have decided who belongs and who does not.
Because the movement of the Trinity is always outward toward inclusion. The love of God is never self-contained. The circle widens.
This is the pattern we see in Jesus again and again. Jesus touching those considered untouchable. Eating with those labelled sinners. Speaking with Samaritans. Welcoming children. Healing outsiders. Crossing boundaries others considered sacred. Again and again Jesus tears down dividing walls. Not because differences disappear, but because dignity is restored.
The church at its best reflects this Trinitarian life. A community where people are honoured, not erased. Where every person is seen as bearing the image of God. Where diversity is received as gift, not threat. Where hospitality becomes holy practice. Where justice and compassion are not optional extras, but signs of the Spirit at work among us.
And perhaps this matters now more than ever. Because the world does not need more fear. It does not need more manufactured outrage. It does not need more walls.
It needs communities that show another way is possible. Communities where people who are different from one another still belong to one another. Communities where mercy is stronger than suspicion. Communities where love is practised concretely. Communities where no one needs to earn their dignity.
That is foundational to our calling as the church.
Not merely to explain the Trinity. But to embody it. To become people shaped by the relational love of God. To widen the circle. To resist every voice that says some people matter less. To stand against racism and hatred in all its forms. To defend the dignity of migrants, refugees, and minorities. To become practitioners of radical hospitality. God wants us to view each other as being valuable, worthy, indispensable, and irreplaceable gifts to one another.
And to remember this:
The Trinity is not a closed club in heaven.
The Trinity is the divine life of love into which the whole world is being invited - now.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit - Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer - eternally opening space for others. For us. For all.
And perhaps the deepest truth of Trinity Sunday is this: At the centre of the universe is not power. Not domination. Not exclusion. But relationship. Love shared. Love given. Love making room.
May we become people who reflect that love in the world. Amen.
Prayer
May the God who is communion - Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
draw us ever wider into the circle of divine love.
May Christ break down every dividing wall within us and around us.
May the Holy Spirit teach us the sacred work of welcome,
that we may honour the dignity of every person
and delight in the diversity of creation.
And may we leave this place
to embody in the world
the justice, hospitality, mercy, and belonging
of the Holy Trinity. Amen.