It’s Trinity Sunday but I’m not going to say much about the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Today I want to focus on the fourth person of the Trinity. You might be thinking, “That makes no sense. Four persons in the Trinity? How can that be? The Trinity is by definition three.”

You are right, so let’s not define. Let’s experience. Let’s participate. Let’s allow for some uncertainty and doubt. That’s what the disciples are doing in today’s gospel (Matthew 28:16-20). They worshipped and they doubted. Besides, if three can be one and one can be three why can’t there be a fourth person in the Trinity? It’s never been about the math anyway. It’s always been about becoming a part of something larger than and beyond ourselves. That’s what today is about. 

So, are you ready to meet this fourth person? Some of you may already know her, many of you may not. Here she is. The fourth person of the Trinity, the one I want us to see, focus on, and be with today, is Quinn. She’s a year and seven months old. Today we will baptize her and immerse her into the life of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

What are your best wishes and prayers for her today? Take a look at Quinn and name them aloud. Tell her. Let them also be your best wishes and prayers for your neighbors and yourself. 

Quinn is my visual aid and what I’m going to say is directed to her, and through her to you. So I hope when you look at her and hear her name you will also see yourself and hear your name. I hope you will recover or perhaps for the first time discover yourself to also be the fourth person of the Trinity. 

Quinn, you are never too young to hear Jesus’ gospel for the first time and we are never too old to hear it again for the first time. And today’s gospel is perfect for what we are about to do. You need to hear it and so do we. 

No matter where you go in life, Quinn, no matter what does and does not happen, no matter what you do or leave undone, and no matter what you do or do not believe, the promise of Jesus to you is this: “I am with you always.” It is a truth you can count on. You have been chosen. You are, always have been, and always will be enough. You are “marked as Christ’s own forever.” (Book of Common Prayer, 308)

There will be days, however, when you doubt that. I’ve had days like that. I suspect everyone here has had days of doubt, even your mom and dad. We’ve all had times when we felt insufficient to meet the demands of life. We’ve watched what was familiar, comfortable, and secure slip away and leave us questioning ourselves. We’ve wondered if we’ve got what it takes, if we’re up to the challenges of life and faith. I think that’s what is at the core of the disciples’ doubt in today’s gospel. 

When that happens, Quinn, you’ll probably feel afraid and vulnerable. Most of us do. It’s neither a pleasant nor an easy time but it’s going to be okay. “Doubt is the necessary fuel for change, and therefore growth.” (Hollis, Swamplands, 56) Some will tell you to have more faith and like many of us you’ll grasp and struggle for certainty. But remember this Quinn. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, certainty is. 

Your doubts are a form of humility and honesty and the world sure could use some more humility and honesty. Let your doubts give birth to imagination, curiosity, and better questions. They reveal how seriously you take your life’s journey and express how deeply you care. (Ibid., 58) 

Certainty will keep you skimming the surface of life, doubt will take you deep to the ultimate concerns: love, peace, justice, compassion, human dignity. Go deep Quinn. The world does not need smarter, harder working, or more beautiful people. We need people of depth. Dive deep into the waters of your baptism. 

Certainty closes and narrows life. It’s isolating and creates conflict. Doubt, however, is a form of resistance, an unwillingness to settle or be boxed in. It opens and enlarges. It makes room for something new to arise. It’s a doorway to freedom, meaning, and dignity.

Quinn, your doubts reveal your limits. And we all bump against our limits. Your doubts also invite you to grow beyond those limits. Doubts set a choice before us and we must all make a choice – to stay where we are and settle for life as it is or to take responsibility for our life and grow beyond our limits. Don’t limit yourself, Quinn. And don’t let any one else ever limit you. Accept the invitation to grow, for your sake, ours, and the world’s. 

Quinn, the world needs good doubters. We need faithful doubters to ask the hard questions we often avoid, to declare the inconvenient truths we don’t want to hear, and to change the world even when others doubt it can happen. 

You are not alone in this Quinn. Listen carefully and you will hear every one of us here today say, “We will.” We will do all in our power to support you in your life Christ. He is the faithful doubter we all follow. 

The water with which you are baptized today will dry but our “We will,” our support, presence, and love in your life, will never run dry because it originates in the one who said, “I am with you always.”

The disciples worshipped and they doubted. That’s what I want for you Quinn, for everyone here today, and for myself – that we might all be faithful doubters. The question, however, is, “What do you want?” It’s a question we all must answer again and again throughout our lives.