God: The Original They/Them

June 4, 2023 + The Holy Trinity + Pr. Michelle Sevig

Happy Pride month everyone. I don’t usually make a big deal about pride month. I participate in the parade every year, but that’s about it. When Deaconess Claire asked me a month ago what we planned to do at Holy Trinity for pride this year, I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “Same as last year? March in the parade?”

But then, within a few days, a fun opportunity came from Illustrated Ministry to order limited edition stickers. They arrived this week and we are so excited.  Holographic, trans supportive, super cool stickers that acknowledge the trans community, especially trans youth, who need the backing of their faith communities more than ever, because of all the anti-trans legislation being passed throughout the United States.

God:the original they/them I immediately put one on my computer and Deaconess Claire put one on her water bottle. 

Maybe you’ve noticed that there has been more focus on pronouns in recent years; people sharing theirs on the Zoom screens or as introductions are made at meetings. Yesterday at the Metro Chicago Synod Assembly, our name tags included our pronouns as well as our names. Mine are she/her/hers. Pastor Mueller’s are he/him/his. And we have a few people in our HT community here, both teens and adults, who use they/them as their pronouns. 

Gender neutral pronouns such as they are often used by non-binary people who do not associate themselves with the genders of girl or boy, man or woman. So why get so excited about a sticker identifying God as they/them, Pastor Michelle?  A couple of reasons. First, because God is neither a man or a woman. 

A few years ago on a confirmation retreat with the Holy Trinity 7th and 8th graders, Vicar Noah and I were discussing with the kids the gender of God. I don’t remember how it came up or why it was an issue, but it was a lively discussion! In the end the group was excited to use non-binary pronouns for God. They/them seemed appropriate for prayers, songs and discussions. The youth thought they were being edgy and radical, perhaps funny even,  as they shouted “they” whenever the camp song was supposed to use "he” to refer to God. We may have even annoyed the camp counselors and other pastors with our “radical” ideas. 

But God:the original they/them, is not a new, or even radical idea. Which brings me to the second reason I’m excited about this new sticker. I bought them because of pride month, and because I want to encourage others to stop using gendered pronouns for God. But what I realized is that these stickers are also perfect for the feast of the Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity Sunday, the day we celebrate the great mystery of God, three in one and one in three. The day we sing with great gusto “God in three persons, blessed Trinity,” as we gather in the worship space, even if we don’t fully understand what it means.

You see, one mistake that we often make is that we refer to God as that someone in the sky, Jesus as that person down here in human flesh, and the Spirit as the one who is everywhere. But that’s heresy, because God is all three, not just the being up in the sky. The Triune God–THEY are God the creator, whom Jesus intimately called Father, and THEY are God the son who was named Jesus, and THEY are God the Holy Spirit. Three in one. One in three. Divine mystery. 

And this divine mystery has been with us since the very beginning of creation. In Genesis 1, God the Creator, God the powerful Word, and God the life-giving Spirit form the earth and its inhabitants. The scripture says, “Let us create humankind in our image, according to our likeness. 

The idea of Trinity casts a vision of God as deeply relational: the one God is made up of three ongoing relationships, intimately interwoven and connected with one another. And if we take Genesis 1 seriously, and human beings are created in the image of God, then in our own way we must be fundamentally relational too. 

In our world that is too often dominated by individualism, loneliness, racism, patriarchy and other forms of division, we must continually strive to build relationships with God and one another. God-who is up there, down here and everywhere- even in the shadows of grief and violence, calls all of us toward justice and love. And Trinity reminds us that relationships–even and especially relationships across differences– aren’t just something we do. Relationships are who we are. 

Relationships are one of the things we stressed in our confirmation program with the Lakeview Lutheran Parish these past two years. This group today is the first to affirm their faith after the two year process of meeting with youth from the other churches in our neighborhood.  The first year we met in person, but socially distanced, wearing masks and name tags (with pronouns) so that we could get to know each other from different communities. Confirmation classes of years ago were about memorization of the Commandments and Creeds and Bible verses. Students maybe even had to write an essay about their understanding of the Holy Trinity. But not these kids; no, Pastor Kelly and I wanted these kids to build a deeper relationship with God, strengthen their relationship with their faith communities and each other, and see themselves as part of God’s beloved creation connected to the whole world. 

Do these confirmands have Luther’s Small Catechism memorized? Nope. Do they have the mystery of the Holy Trinity all figured out? Absolutely not. Do you? But they have been nurtured in this faith community by their relationships with each other, with their pastors and with you. They have been reminded again and again that they are beloved children of God, called to care for themselves, one another and all that God has made. They have been challenged to see God in their neighbor, to serve all people, and strive for justice and peace in all the earth. 

We are created in the image of God, and God is, well…they are relational. They are always in a co-equal relationship with each other, they are in a constant love relationship with us. They love us beyond measure. They love us unconditionally. They have named us and claimed us in baptism as their very own beloved child and they send us out from this place ready to be in relationship with their creation to the end of the age. 

Originally the sermon was meant to end right here with an Amen, but at yesterday’s synod assembly at the open worship we received a blessing that I want to share with you now. 

May we know the fullness of the Holy One.

As God lives in Triune community,

so may we live in communion with God and each other.