Go Deep in the Summer

Michael W. Arnold — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:12:40 -0600

If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, nether will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

Do we live as if Jesus really rose from the dead? Do we live as if Christ reigns? Do we live as if the Kingdom of God is already among us? These are the big questions of the “ordinary time” Sundays after Trinity.

You see, reading the Athanasian Creed once is not enough. It defines the boundaries of what we believe about God, but it is not sufficient for us to know God. We know God to be one God of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost not just because that is who is clearly presented to us in the pages of Scripture, but because the experience of the saints and teachers of the Church are further witnesses to this reality.

We serve one God, who is three persons, whose persons are still the one unified God. Not persons like us, but not not persons. God the Son, is 100% God, unified with the Father and the Spirit, one God, but also not the Father or the Spirit, but the Son. And, he’s also 100% human with a 100% human mother. The math doesn’t math, but the riddle of God that is clear in scripture and clearly experienced by God’s people over millennium is true and real. God alone holds the answer to this riddle that seems impossible to solve or fully understand. But, in that we can take great comfort. It’s good to have mysteries we don’t understand. It’s good to trust God with hard questions and simply to accept in faith. It’s good to be open to the impossible; to allow space in your heart, mind, and life for a God without restrictions or boundaries. A God of miracles and limitless power, might, love, grace, and mercy.

Today is the first Sunday of the season of Sundays simply labeled as “after Trinity.” Often, this season is labeled in the modern era as the season of “ordinary time.” From now until the start of Advent we pause from the great cycle that follows the life of Christ and reset. We’ve come through Lent, we’ve celebrated the weeks of Easter, we’ve pondered the ascension of Christ, we’ve marveled at the sending of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, and we’ve studied the great mystery that is our three-in-one God.

We’ve been busy, the days are growing longer, the weather is nice; it is no wonder that so-called ordinary time becomes a sort of “church break” and “theology break.” Sermons lighten, attendance drops, and we day dream a bit until John the Baptist calls us back into the game from the wilderness in November as the church cycle starts again.

But, this is not the way of the ancient church. This is not the way of the English church. In our ancient calendar — the calendar we follow at St. Andrew’s — there is no ordinary time. We have Sunday’s after Trinity. Now, this is often seen as us English being pedantic. Materially, it hardly matters. Whether ordinary or after Trinity, the readings are all over the place and presumably don’t have anything directly to do with the nature of God.

But this is where I will, probably unsurprisingly, stand with the English fathers of the faith. I think framing our summer and fall not as “ordinary” but as days “after the Trinity” frames the next twenty-ish weeks in am important and potentially transformative way.

You see, the reason we study the life of Christ, the reason we retell over and over again the story of God’s dealings with humanity, is not so we can really “know” the story on a factual level. A great many scholars have spent years studying the Bible and can tell you facts, details, and background information that me or even our dear bishop do not know. But, this knowledge brings them no closer to “knowing” the God of the Bible, “knowing” as a friend the Scriptures and the God who breathes them. They know facts, sure. But, the Christian feels the story of Scripture, is in relation with the God Israel; these things transcend the facts of Scripture and uncover truths no scholar will find by hours of study into artifacts and histories. (As important as that work can be for our understanding of Scripture.)

For the last eight months, we’ve recounted and pondered the mysteries of God. We’ve been through the Exodus, we’ve heard Isaiah’s call, we’ve heard from Samual and watched Saul, David, and Solomon. The Messiah came as a baby, God took on our flesh, He lived among us, he suffered and died on the cross, and then He rose again from the dead. The Church was founded, the Spirit came, etc., etc.

We’ve gone deep, we’ve pondered and reflected on the great things of God. And, we ended it all reflecting on what it means to worship, serve, love, and adore a Triune God.

Our calendar tradition doesn’t leave Trinity Sunday with a “well, that was hard and confusing, let’s not talk about it again for another year”, but instead invites us to spend our summer and fall actually trying to come to know Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in the only way we can; through a life with Him, dependent on Him, and among His people.

This is our call during this season after Trinity Sunday. We’ve been given longer days, nicer weather, and the freedom for more fellowship and feasting not so we can escape the complex mysteries of God, but so that we can enter into to them and explore the vastness of God. The calendar says you need about four weeks to get a grasp on having a Messiah, but you need twenty-ish weeks to even start to explore who God is.

So, I return to my earlier question: Do we live as if God is more than an idea? Do we live as if Christ really rose from the dead? Do we live as if Jesus is more than a prophet or moral teacher, but God the Son who took on our humanity? Do we live as if God creates and sustains all things?

King David knew God, not as an idea, but intimately as friend, defender, and judge. And, while he wrote a great many Psalms pondering the deep things of God, he didn’t stop at theory. David stepped out in faith and lived as if the things of God were true. Giving away vast sums of money and land in an unstable political system, is not the best choice on the face of things. While Jonathan’s son wasn’t a threat to David, his children, nephews, and cousins who would now have safety, stability, and a good bit of free time at Saul’s restored estate sure would. David says he wants to show Saul’s people “the kindness of God.” What he means there is not just the unnecessary, extravagant kindness that restores a fallen family’s estate, but the faith in God’s kindness that allows David to trust that his throne has been established and that it is God who will maintain it, not vast sums of money or land. David lives as if God is real and lives his life in risky ways because he trusts the Lord.

St. John teaches us the same in his epistle. He says that “whoever loves” knows God because “God is love.” St. John isn’t just referring to loving kittens, babies, and our families. These are (sometimes) pretty easy to love. No, he calls us to love our neighbor. He calls us to step outside of fear. He is calling us to love in word and deed, to step out in faith and do a risky thing like King David. He is calling us, again, to live as if this is really all true. In doing this, he says we’ll come to truly know God, to understand him better.

I have observed and served this parish for about two years now. I have seen your heart. I have seen the many times you’ve sacrificially given in faith. I’ve seen the care and compassion you’ve offered to those in need. I’ve seen the choice to be patient, slow to anger, and generous with your time. I’ve seen the many acts of silent, hidden service that goes on in this parish. When I look out, I see a parish that lives as if what the Bible and the Church say about God is true.

My prayer for St. Andrew’s is that God continues to give us the faith to live in ways the bring us deeper and deeper into the mystery and love of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Continue to serve. Continue to give. Continue to make time and space for the poor, sick, crazy, and lonely. Continue to pray. Continue to be patient, kind, and loving. Continue to stand firm against a world that wants us to be “reasonable” and step away from the “risky” and “foolish” acts of faith.

If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

For the last eight months we’ve heard of Moses; the Exodus, God’s law. We’ve heard from Isaiah, Daniel, John, and Mary; the Messiah came, He Redeemed the world in a way we can’t even come close to comprehending.

Take eat, this is my Body, He says. Drink this, all of you, this is my Blood, He tells us. — Go into all the world making disciples of the nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He gave us our work to do.

For weeks we proclaimed “Alleluia Christ is Risen, the Lord is risen indeed!” I pray God writes these words on our hearts and empowers and emboldens us with His Holy Ghost to live as if these words are true. I pray we stand firm in the faith and serve our God so that we might celebrate with father Abraham, Lazarus the beggar, and all the saints beside our Risen Lord upon His throne of Glory.

Love your neighbor and take the risk to go deeper into the mysteries of God.

David on Marmanold.com

Go Deep in the Summer