Sunday, May 26, 2013: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

I was raised in a region heavily influenced by the Baptist Sandy Creek tradition, so I didn’t hear the “Gloria Patri” sung in a Baptist church until I was the pastor and included it in worship. The tune to this “new” doxology was unfamiliar to most in our little congregation, but the words affirmed the long-standing Baptist doctrine of the Trinity: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

I’ve always found it challenging to explain in a sermon or in writing how God revealed God’s self as one God with three manifestations. The triune mystery tends to overload my capacity to comprehend. Jesus knew this. When he explained his impending departure to his disciples, he told them, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear” (NIV). This encourages me to assimilate spiritual lessons gradually.

Shortly after I moved to Florida, I read about a Burmese python in the Everglades that tried to swallow a six-foot alligator. The photo revealed that as the python attempted to swallow the gator, the python actually exploded.