Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hey, guys, we're celebrating Trinity Sunday. Okay? I'm not gonna talk about what the Trinity is for too long because if I talk for more than two minutes about the Trinity, I'll probably accidentally trip into heresy. But I'll show you with my hands. The Trinity is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three persons. Watch carefully. One God. One God, three persons. How does he do that, man? This guy writes books and gives talks and does magic. Whoa. Okay, now.
[00:00:23] Sorry, I'm a nerd.
[00:00:25] We don't believe in three Gods, but one God in three persons. Now, that God we can know just by thinking about it who God is.
[00:00:36] We can only know because he revealed it to us, because he wanted intimacy with us into me. See, now, to break this apart a little more, we don't believe in Jesus and God. I'm correcting you little Aryan friends who are watching right now because Arianism is a heresy that was condemned in the early church where we thought that Jesus is a creature, the first and most magnificent creature created by God, and that God created all things through this creature. That's Arianism. We believe Jesus is God, God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit. So if you ask any person of the Trinity who they are, they'll tell you, I'm God. There it is. Jesus is God, the Father is God, the Holy Spirit is God. The fact that God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit means the Trinity is a communion of persons. Now, here's one of the beautiful things about seeing God in this way. Not only because it's true, but. But because this shows us, this reveals to us that God, in who he is, in his very nature, is utterly complete. Now, the other monotheistic religions run into a little bit of a problem. You see, they believe in one God, just like we do. But their God, their one God, you can almost imagine it being alone in the midst of the cosmos. And in some way, in order to be loved back, in order to have anyone notice him, He. He'd have to create a universe. Otherwise he'd be this, not only one God, but also a solitary figure. Within the Trinity we have a one God who is not solitary, who, because he's a communion of persons, is utterly complete and didn't need to make creation to have communio to have completion.
[00:02:09] Isn't that awesome?
[00:02:11] But the perfect summary of who this God is of his inner nature, this one God is that God is love.
[00:02:19] God is love. And that's revealed in the Sunday gospel. It's John 3:16. Everybody knows John 3:16. Even, even non Christians know John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.
[00:02:31] This cuts to the inner nature of what the Trinity is all about.
[00:02:34] That there's a communion of persons, that is love that the Son proceeds from the Father. The Father loves the Son and didn't proceed at one particular time. We believe that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, God, from God, light from light, true God from true God. He said this in the Nicene Creed, which corrected Arianism. So the Son proceeds from the Father, the Father loves the Son that proceeded from him.
[00:02:57] And that love between them is the Holy Spirit.
[00:03:01] We see an image of this imprinted on the human family.
[00:03:04] That the love between the man and woman is so real that that love becomes wah, the baby. Now we see that in a finite way, in time.
[00:03:14] But that's an imprint of the inner nature of Almighty God, who is a communion of persons. Now here's where this cuts to for today, guys. I want to talk about loneliness.
[00:03:26] Loneliness isn't just a problem because it doesn't feel good. Loneliness cuts against our nature. It rubs against the grain of what we are as creatures made in the image and likeness of Almighty God. You see, the fact that God's a trinity reveals something about us. That he is a communion of persons. He met us in his image and likeness. We are made fundamentally to be communal.
[00:03:48] We need community to live. We need community to be what we are. Which means that the loneliness epidemic that's spreading right now, it's not just sad, it's evil. It's actually a demonic attack, I believe, on the image of God in creation. You see, God loves to see us living as family. And he loves to see us living as community because he rejoices. He delights to see the beauty of himself stamped so perfectly on creation in our love.
[00:04:15] The evil one hates the image of God. He does war against it. He does that by leading you into sin. But I'll tell you what, he also does it by isolating you and leading you into a lifetime of loneliness.
[00:04:26] And we have to work against this epidemic because I use that word. I don't use it flippantly.
[00:04:31] All right? According to recent studies, that epidemic is getting worse, not better. Cigna's Loneliness in America study uncovered recently that 57% of Americans said they feel lonely. And this kind of blew my mind. So that's over half of Americans saying they feel lonely. This blew my mind. Gen Z, which you'd think is the most tech connected generation in history. I mean, they are constantly connected, right?
[00:04:53] By a long shot, they're the loneliest.
[00:04:56] 71% of Gen Z says that they feel alone, compared to 44% of boomers. Loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, premature death. There were studies done in 2010 and 2015 that confirmed that loneliness surpasses the health risks associated with obesity. What? Why?
[00:05:17] Because it goes against the grain of what we are made in the image and likeness of God. And we feel that. I want to offer a few antidotes so we can be true to what we are as human beings. What we all know we need is community.
[00:05:32] Guys, one of the dumbest things we do, I call this out all the time, is we reinforce awful feelings that we have that we don't want to have.
[00:05:40] Look, you feel lonely, so what do you do? You start feeling tweaked out in your loneliness. What do you do?
[00:05:45] You want to be alone because you don't feel happy and you feel lonely. So then you go isolate.
[00:05:50] What?
[00:05:52] Dude, you gotta learn how to lonely proof yourself. You gotta do the opposite of what you're feeling. If you're feeling isolated and alone and tweaked, you need to do things urgently to get out of that space. Cause it is not good for you as a creature made in the image and likeness of our triune God.
[00:06:08] Three persons, one God. Sorry I had to do that again for you.
[00:06:12] Boom. Okay, so here's a couple simple antidotes. I'm gonna rip through them. Number one, the secular wellness world is recognizing the lack of third spaces, I.e. gathering spaces outside of your home as one of the big contributing factors to the loneliness pandemic that we're facing today. Now, one of the biggest, no brainer places that's a third. A third space for humanity to meet is the church, the nih. That's the National Institutes of Health. This is not like your local parish committee. They published this study that uncovered that weekly church attendance adds on average up to 14 years to your life expectancy.
[00:06:48] Did you follow that? You don't necessarily have to eat kale every day. No problem with kale. Or rub essential oils all over yourself every day. Hey, if you wanna do that, great.
[00:06:56] But you want the ultimate superfood.
[00:07:00] Go be with people in a setting where you transcend yourselves and you bond around that transcendent end.
[00:07:08] Literally increases your life expectancy.
[00:07:12] Cool. So there it is, guys. Real simple. Go to church.
[00:07:15] Keep going. And I'll tell you what. If you find yourself grappling with loneliness, even if you're thinking like Chris, obviously go to church. But I'm still lonely. Okay, get more involved in church. Try that. I'm serious. Go more than just on Sunday mass or go help with something at your church. Do what you don't feel like doing and get out of your head.
[00:07:33] Go to church more. Number two, look for your personal third spaces.
[00:07:39] Now, that doesn't just have to be church, though. I recommend that highly. But maybe somebody's house, like, if you're feeling lonely, call them up and say, can I come over?
[00:07:48] And maybe you're married, but like, you as a married couple might be feeling lonely, go hang out with another married couple. I'm saying really basic things. But guys, I'm saying these basic things. Cause I look at the stats and we're dying here. We're forgetting these basic things. Look, you're not putting people out by calling them and saying, I'm lonely. What you're doing is honoring them. What you're doing is creating relationships where there's vulnerability and you could be yourself. And that gives the person that you've asked for help from permission to be vulnerable right back. Cool. Three, I want you to proactively provide that third space for other people generously. Because sometimes people do inconvenience you or bust into your day. But I'll tell you, that eternal soul that just walked into your house, that person who's gonna go on forever long after the stars have burned out, is more important than your day's to dos. I love Saint Alphonsus Liguori. He made a habit of no matter what he was doing. And the guy wrote tons of books. I mean, he was so active in ministry, he would drop everything for the person who came into his door. He became that third space for someone who needed to talk.
[00:08:50] Be intentional about being that today. And if you don't get all your to do's done, that's okay. Because God's to do list has more to do with people than your tasks. I know that's hard. It takes sacrifice. But dude, you can literally push the kingdom of darkness back in this world. The kingdom of darkness that's intent on destroying the communal image of God in this world simply by making yourself available to people. Number four. If you're lonely, this is really simple. If you're really feeling lonely, I want you to get out of your head. Find someone who you think might be more miserable and more lonely than you today and call them.
[00:09:24] And you don't have to be eloquent. You don't have to know what to say. You don't have to have the solution for that person, you could just say, hey, look, I'm just calling to check in. How you doing?
[00:09:32] Do you know that when you do that, you're activating the image of God inside of. You're showing out who God is. He's showing up and showing out through you.
[00:09:43] Look at me, he says, I'm a communion of persons. God is love. Wanna see that? Look at my people.
[00:09:49] You're showing them the face of God and you're busting into someone else's loneliness in that moment. But guess what? As you do that, you're also lonely. Proofing yourself by reaching out to somebody else in need. And there's always somebody in more need than you. And then finally, guys, number five for lonely proofing yourself. And I want you to do these things even if you're not feeling lonely today, because we all need to be lonely proofed. Amen. Look, before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised to send the Holy Spirit. And promised us that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, would live within us. So the Father sent the Son, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Son promised us the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't leave us orphaned, that he teaches all things, that he'd be with us throughout life. He promised that he'd live within us. That he said he remains with you and will be in you when you feel alone. I want you to rely on that promise, frankly, before you do steps one, two, three and four, go to number five. Close your eyes and think about the life, the love shared between the Father and Son that is living on the inside. Take a deep breath and just say, come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart.
[00:10:56] Come, Holy Spirit, remind me of your nearness.
[00:10:58] Come, Holy Spirit, show me that I'm never alone.
[00:11:02] Guys, he's there.
[00:11:04] And if you're a Christian, alone, alone is a lie.
[00:11:09] Because the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, that communion of persons is inviting you in to that communion. And then to be intentional about showing that communion and that love to the world. Rest in that and spread it to everybody. You know, Happy Trinity Sunday. I love you guys. It.
