The early church came up with the word, &8220;Trinity&8221; to express what they heard and saw in the ministry of Jesus and in the teaching of the apostles. Jesus talks about his oneness with the Father and the Spirit, yet he can talk about each of them individually.

He ascends to the Father, he tells his disciples, and he sends the Spirit. So how do you talk about three and one at the same time?

Well, one way is to take &8220;tri,&8221; meaning &8220;three&8221; and &8220;unity&8221; meaning &8220;one&8221; and blend them together into a new word, &8220;trinity.&8221;

It&8217;s obviously not perfect science, and it&8217;s very possible to second-guess the people who came up with the word, since it appears nowhere in our Bible. But they were struggling to express something that was crucial about God, about Jesus and about the Spirit.

Namely, that in their distinctness, they never tear away from each other. There is no selfishness among them. They choose to live their lives with, in and through each other.They do not compete for first place or seek the limelight by outshining the others. Rather, they serve to honor each other.

That&8217;s something even harder to express than anything to do with numbers.

God is at the very core a God of relationships. Indeed, somehow God is a relationship that exists among three persons, a relationship closer than the three strands of rope. In short, God is living the life of love and community that we are called to experience by being part of the body of Christ, being filled with the Spirit and calling on God as, &8220;abba, Father.&8221;

The greatest evils are evils that seek to destroy relationships, relationships between God and people and between people and people.

Be strong in the relationship that God has given all of us in the power of the Spirit and the Risen and coming Jesus.

Robert Montgomery serves as preaching minister at Cahaba Valley Church