This is Trinity Sunday

Maybe the most compelling and well-known depiction of the Holy Trinity is an icon by Andrew Rublev, a fourteenth-century Russian monk. It depicts three divine figures seated around three sides of a square table.

The fourth side of the table is left open by Rublev, signaling an invitation…and also a clue about some of our deepest desires.

Last week we celebrated the Ascension: Jesus leaves.

But Pentecost means that Jesus’ work—the redemption of everything—isn’t over. In fact, it’s really just begun.

Pentecost is the shot from the starter pistol.

But the movement of Acts—fueled by the Holy Spirit—doesn’t end with the conclusion of Luke’s letter. Not even close. The end of the book isn’t the end of the race. It goes on.

Which is why Pentecost matters still today.

Ascension Day is the 40th Day of Eastertide (the season of Easter to Pentecost). As a community, we’ve been commemorating it for millennia, but in the 21st Century, no other festival in the Christian year is more important and less emphasized than the ascension of the Lord. Many grew up in faith traditions where it's not talked about much, if at all.

So Jesus went back to heaven. Duh. What’s the big deal?

Athens was new territory for Paul. A university town, a seat of great learning, sophisticated philosophizing, and insatiable religious curiosity. He wasn’t reticent to challenge Athenian philosophies or pagan practices, but he did so with his own remarkable and sophisticated sensitivity to the audience there.

And yet, from a human perspective, he failed. Just as he’d failed at Thessalonica and Berea immediately before coming to Athens.

Except he hadn’t. Not from the only perspective that matters.

Jesus made some stunning claims about himself. This one may be the most...and the hardest one for some to hear.