Trinity Sunday: A Celebration of Divine Hospitality

Hey Mission Friends, 

Rev. Bobby here. As one who has spent almost three decades preaching, I have been thinking about the upcoming Trinity Sunday.

Here's something beautiful about Trinity Sunday — it's really a celebration of the ultimate hospitality. 

Think about it: the Trinity is God's perfect community of love, and on this special Sunday in our church calendar, we celebrate how that divine household welcomes us in. 

I recall this hospitality extended to me in Wisconsin, soon after seminary. 

That was when my then mentor, Rev. Dr. Rodger Patton, was introduced me to the joy of following the Revised Common Lectionary as a spiritual practice for preaching and prayer life. 

Every Tuesday we would meet with a group of pastors at the restaurant to study and pray.

These were Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and some other denominations. 

I met with them for 7 years. It was a great learning experience on this journey.

If you are not yet part of a community of pastor friends, I urge you to consider this possibility. 

Being friends to your colleagues is a beautiful spiritual practice and part of our ordination vows.

I experienced this hospitality again in Niagara Falls, and again with great abundance in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Today, I can tell you that Mission Presbytery has welcomed me with warm and open hearts. 

The Presbytery staff has been absolutely marvelous. I seem to understand their quirky humor, and am settling in with a feeling of being welcomed home. 

How can we extend such wonderful hospitality to others who walk into our sanctuaries for worship? 

People need to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of warm welcome. 

The mystery of the Trinity extends such hospitality to us, we who were once lost, but are now found.

You know how Trinity Sunday comes right after Pentecost? That timing is no accident. 

We've just celebrated the Spirit coming to dwell with us - God literally moving into the neighborhood! 

The Revised Common Lectionary readings each year show us this incredible pattern: 

God the Father calling people into relationship, Jesus the Son eating with tax collectors and sinners, and the Spirit breaking down barriers at Pentecost to welcome everyone.

Here's what gets me excited for our Presbyterian congregations—the Trinity isn't just theology to figure out, it's hospitality to experience. 

When we welcome the stranger at our church door, we're reflecting the God who welcomed us when we were strangers. 

When we make room at our tables, we're echoing the divine table where Father, Son, and Spirit have made room for us.

So as we prepare our folks for Trinity Sunday, let's help them see that our Triune God isn't some exclusive club - it's the most welcoming household in the universe.

And we get to be part of extending that same radical hospitality to everyone who walks through our doors, just like Abraham welcoming those three mysterious visitors under the oak trees.

I may not be Abraham, but I sure appreciate your love and hospitality, which you have given without reservation.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Presbytery meeting on June 20-21, 2025 at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, Texas.

Pray for me, because I will be on the spot, preaching my very first sermon at Mission Presbytery. 

I will be praying for you and your families as well!

May God bless you!

With gratitude,

Rev. Bobby Musengwa, Transitional General Presbyter