Sermon on June 15, 2025
“The Holy Trinity”
By: Kimo Kimokeo

Good Morning. Just in case you don’t know me, my name is Kimo Kimokeo. I’ve been part of the flock here at St. Martin’s for a few years now. With a name like Kimo you’re probably wondering or guessing, yes, I am Native Hawaiian, born in Hawaii, on the Island of Kauai, when Hawaii was still a territory of the United States -not a state- so that can give you an idea of how old I am. For any of you who have ever traveled to Hawaii, you know it is indeed another world.

For a Native Hawaiian what is, indeed, another world is Milford, Pennsylvania, tucked away in the extreme northeast corner of the state right on the Delaware River, the heart and center of the Pocono Mountains. How or why I was there is a story for another time.

In the 10 years that Deborah and I called Milford, PA, home … one of my favorite things to do on Sunday mornings early was signing onto the audio stream, WHRB 95.3, Harvard Radio Broadcasting, and listen to the Sunday Morning Service of Memorial Church at Harvard University and hear the preaching of Rev. Peter Gomes, the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School and Pusey Minister at Harvard Memorial Church. He’s been described as erudite, brilliant, thoroughly schooled in theology, with a fun side. He had a strong New England accent, a rich baritone voice that was said to be a blend of James Earl Jones and John Houseman.

In one of his sermons that was so memorable for me, Rev. Gomes said there will be times in our Christian faith journey when the parables, narratives and writings of our faith just don’t fit together— there are events and situations we cannot comprehend. In these situations Rev. Gomes’ advice was to, “Celebrate the mystery!”….”Celebrate the mystery!” And, dear friends, if there was ever a day, ever a time to celebrate the mystery, it would be today!

Our Lectionary designates this first Sunday after Pentecost as Trinity Sunday. WOW ! The Holy Trinity. God the Creator, God the Savior and God the Holy Spirit, where in the divine heavenly math where 1+1+1 =1! Go figure! There are several handy illustrative explanations to help us grasp the concept of the Holy Trinity, such as water being liquid, vapor, or ice, yet still be H-2-O. Or another example, an apple has three parts, skin, flesh and seed, but remains one apple. However, for me, and I suspect for many of us, it’s difficult to actually understand. Let’s just marvel, let’s just ponder, let’s just “celebrate the mystery”.

As an interpretive naturalist for the USDA-Forest Service on the Oregon Coast for almost a decade, I had many opportunities to just marvel and ponder at all the wonders of the natural world, where the work of God the Creator, that First Person of the Holy Trinity was on full display everyday. Even though I spent time explaining and identifying things for visitors, I also had lots of moments of just going, “WOW,” whether seeing the annual migration of Grey Whales just off shore on their 5000 mile swim, one breath at a time, from Alaska to Mexico, or seeing “the green flash” as the setting sun drops below the horizon.

Today’s Gospel reading in the 16th chapter of John is full of “WOW” moments of a different kind. The chapter starts out with Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, briefing his disciples. It seems Jesus is giving them the “things are gonna get worse before they get better” talk. For example, in John 16:2 we hear Jesus saying, “An hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they were offering worship to God”, and later in the chapter Jesus says in John 16:5, He is going away, WOW! Wait ! What?! Finally, we get to our gospel reading for today, beginning in John 16:12. Jesus is telling them he has many things say them but they are not able to bear them— but, it is here we see that Jesus doesn’t just leave them with thoughts and prayers.

Jesus is promising the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, that Third Person of the Trinity, who will come and this Spirit of Truth will guide them into all truth. Jesus goes on to say this Spirit of Truth will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you and to complete the circle. Finally, Jesus says, all that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Now as you connect the dots of what I just read to you, hang on to this, and add this to our mystery celebration tea. This same Spirit of Truth, also called Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Comforter is here right now, today, in you, in me, here in St. Martin’s. How do we know this? I like to think we can see evidence the Spirit of Truth in our own lives and the lives of others in our church and in our community.

I invite you to take a moment today to reflect how the Holy Spirit has made his presence know in your own lives. in moments and situations you’ve experienced. A testament for me of the power of the Spirit of Truth and mystery is that 6 or 8 months ago if you would have told me I would be preaching on Trinity Sunday. I would have said, ”Ah, you’ve got the wrong Kimo!” That was something I would’ve said 6 or 8 months ago, something I, like the disciples, definitely could not bear.

A passage of scripture that has helped me, is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter or epistle to the Church in Galatia, it is here Paul actually lists in Galatians 5:22-23, what he called the “fruits of the Spirit.” He listed them as evidence of the Spirit at work in our lives and they are, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” WOW. Theologians tell us that as these qualities are not something to be forced or to strive for, but will occur naturally in our lives as we are guided by the Holy Spirit. WOW.

So, as we all continue to plug along in our daily lives on an ever warming planet, amidst political turmoil, shaky prices at the grocery store, as wars and famines continue in our world.

Let us fully embrace GOD the Creator, GOD the Savior and GOD the Holy Spirit as this HOLY TRINITY! The Holy Trinity loves us, cares and transforms us and comforts and guides us during these the difficult times that seem to surround us! Amen.