Sermon for Trinity Sunday 2026
Sermon preached by Mr John Temple, retired Lay Reader in the Diocese of Southwark, at St Barnabas on Sunday 31 May 2026
Please pray that the words of my lips and the thoughts of our hearts may be acceptable to God, our strength and our Redeemer
Were you here when Fr Christopher preached his two sermons on the Nicene Creed last autumn? I thought they were brilliant.
They are entitled “Faith from Nicaea I and II”. The first talks about why there was a need at the time (about AD 325) to stop heresy and dissension, and to state what Christians believe especially about the nature of JesusChrist, both God and man.
His second sermon is about why it matters today.
When he told me, about a year ago, that he had planned the talks, I mentioned that I had outlined a talk on the structure of the creed and I described another idea I had, on the structure of the Lord’s Prayer. But he didn’t take me up until much later, just before Christmas last year in fact. He asked if I would preach on one of them.
You see, I think that if you know the structure of a piece, it helps you to understand its meaning. More, it helps you to remember it.
Let’s look first at The Lord’s Prayer.
“Our Father who art in Heaven” is just an introduction like “Dear Sir”, or “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” or “Hi Fred”. After that there are two main parts. The first is about God and the second about us. Each part has three sections. God’s part is:
· 1. Hallowed be thy name
· 2. Thy Kingdom come;
· 3. Thy will be done… etc.
“Hallowed be thy name.” How that is abused! How often do we say something like “Oh my God” without thinking. There is even, in computer speak an abbreviation for it – “OMG”. The other two in this, God’s part of the prayer are more straightforward. “Thy kingdom come” and “Thy will be done”. “Thy will be done”.
Our part of the prayer is:
· 1. Give us this day our daily bread; that’s quite simple. No need for explanation.
· 2. Forgive us our trespasses…etc; that’s simple too until we add “as we forgive those who trespass against us”. That makes it hard! Really hard!
Do we really forgive them?
· 3. Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil. Maybe we actually mean Do not let us be led into temptation.
What have I left out?
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever.
Somebody has suggested that the last sentence of the Lord’s Prayer may have been added by a scribe, making the prayer change from two threes up to seven. In some Christian services that last sentence is left out altogether: “For thine is the kingdom…” etc. When you think about it, that last add-on is a bit meaningless, isn’t it? Not like the rest of the prayer.
Well, that’s how the Lord’s Prayer is structured. Three phrases for God and three for us and then an extra phrase, making seven.
There is some significance in those two numbers, three and seven.
The number three seems to crop up often in our Christian Faith. Can anybody give me an example? Apart from in the Lord’s Prayer?
Open for discusion
Via Veritas Vita; Faith, hope, Love; 3 Magi, 3 gifts;
Jesus 3 days in grave before resurrection;
Peter denies Christ 3 times; Samuel is called by God 3 times;
What day is it today? – The Trinity;
*******
So what about the other number, seven? Can you think of any examples?
Open for discusion again
7 sacraments; 7 days to build universe; 7 days of the week; 7 times you wash in the River Jordan to be cured of leprosy;
7 deadly sins; 7 virtues; 7 colours in rainbow;
7 continents; 7 seas; 7 dwarfs (& Snow White)
Let’s turn our attention onto The Nicene Creed
Its structure is not unlike the structure of the Lord’s Prayer. It has three main sections. Three again, notice. The first is what we believe about God the Father, the second about The Son, Jesus, and the third is about The Holy Spirit. After that there are three other things that are included in our Faith.
In the Book of Common Prayer, the structure of the Creed is demonstrated by its division firstly into three paragraphs about God:
· I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
· The Son who, while being at one with the Father and the Holy Ghost, became a man and through sacrifice, totally got rid of all our sins,
· The Holy Ghost, who gives us life and inspiration.
And those three sections are followed by three more sentences expressing our belief in three more things:
· One Catholic and Apostolic Church;
· One Baptism for the Remission of Sins;
· The Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the world to come.
Note that the word Catholic means world wide. It is not the same as Roman Catholic, although it includes Roman Catholics. Apostolic means that our bishops and priests are like the apostles of the early church, appointed by Christ through the laying on of hands. Our clergy have authorization going all the way back to Jesus Christ himself. Think of that!
I wish that structure could be shown on our own service sheets. Never mind.
(There is irony in the fact that the Nicene Creed was written to eliminate dissension and yet it actually causes some conflict. It does for me. But we need to remember its main intention was to unite Christians not to divide us.)
I hope that understanding the structure of the Lord’s Prayer and the Nicean Creed helps you to understand their meaning. It does for me! And maybe if anybody asks you about your Faith this might help.
Finally, thank you for your prayers. Amen.
