“EXOUSIA, DUNAMIS, AND THE GOD WHO DRAWS US INTO DIVINE LOVE”
Beloved in Christ, today we celebrate the greatest and most beautiful mystery of our Christian faith: the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
And let us be honest — the Trinity is not easy to explain. A priest once visited a children’s class and asked, “Can anyone explain the Holy Trinity?” Little Tariro raised her hand and said, “The Holy Trinity means there are three persons in one God.” The priest, struggling to hear, asked, “Can you repeat that?” And little Tariro replied, “Father, you are not supposed to understand. It is a mystery!”
That child may have given the best answer of all. Because the Trinity is not a mathematical puzzle. It is not “one plus one plus one equals one.” It is not something to solve — it is something to experience, something to enter, something to live. One priest joked that Trinity Sunday is the perfect day to invite a guest preacher because no matter what you say, someone will accuse you of bad theology afterward! And perhaps the problem begins when we think we must fully explain God. If we could completely understand God, then God would not be God.
There is a beautiful story of two men walking along the beach discussing the mystery of God. They saw a little boy scooping water from the ocean and pouring it into a tiny hole in the sand.
“What are you doing?” they asked.
The boy replied, “I am trying to put the whole ocean into this hole.” The men smiled until one said, “That is exactly what we are trying to do with God.” Our minds are like little buckets trying to contain the ocean of God’s mystery. And yet even though we cannot fully understand God, we can truly know Him. A child may never understand electricity, but the child can still enjoy light. In the same way, we may never fully understand the Trinity, but we can live in the warmth of God’s love.
THE TRINITY IS LOVE
Before the world was created, before mountains rose, before rivers flowed, before Canada itself existed, God was already love Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living in eternal communion. The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. The Holy Spirit is the living bond of that love. God did not create us because He was lonely. God created us because love always wants to share itself. “For God so loved the world…” Not feared. Not judged. Loved. Sometimes we imagine God as distant — sitting far away in heaven waiting for us to fail.But the Trinity tells us the opposite: God the Father creates us. God the Son walks with us. God the Holy Spirit lives within us.
THE TRINITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
My grandfather told me a story about a farmer from Gokwe visiting Harare for the first time. In the noisy streets, he suddenly said, “I hear a cricket.”
His friend laughed. “How can you hear a cricket with all this traffic noise?”
But the farmer walked toward a shop window — and there was a tiny cricket chirping.
Then he dropped a few coins on the pavement. Immediately, people turned around. “You see,” he said, “people hear what their hearts are tuned to hear.”
The Trinity teaches us to tune our hearts to God’s presence: To hear God in laughter. To see God in kindness. To recognize God in forgiveness. To discover God in family, community, and love. Because the Trinity is not only something we believe. It is a way we are called to live.
THE TRINITY DURING THE PANDEMIC
And Church, when I speak about the Trinity, I cannot ignore what God taught us during the pandemic. We were suddenly worshipping from our homes — and the Holy Spirit had to work overtime.
Some of you remember:
- Cats meowing loudly during the prayers
- Children shouting, “Mummy, I’m hungry!” during the Gospel
- Dogs running in front of the camera like they were the new lay readers
- Someone forgetting they were unmuted and saying, “Is this thing even working?”
- And that one parishioner whose camera was always pointed at the ceiling fan And yet — God was there.
The Father didn’t say, “I only show up in a church building.” The Son didn’t say, “I only speak through stained glass.” The Spirit didn’t say, “I only move when the microphone is working.”No.
The Trinity moved into our homes.The Father sat with us at the kitchen table. The Son stood with us in our fear. The Spirit filled our living rooms with peace. We discovered something holy: The Church was never closed — only the building was. The Trinity cannot be quarantined.
THE TRINITY IN MY OWN JOURNEY
Someone told me recently, “Father, St. David’s is so hidden. I drove past twice. I thought maybe God was testing my faith.”
I laughed and said, “My friend, St. David’s is like the mystery of the Trinity, before you understand it, you are confused, but once you grasp it, you are filled with joy. And once you finally find St. David’s, what awaits you is the best hospitality, love, and joy.”
And truly, that is who we are — a community of warmth, welcome, and wonder. In my 23 years as a priest, I have learned something simple but life‑changing: Alone, I can’t. By ourselves, we doubt. But together with God — we can.
The Trinity has taught me that God delights in doing new things.
I never imagined I would become the first African priest to serve this beautiful community of St. David’s — and yet here we are. And yes, sometimes a few of you may struggle with my accent! I suspect that after the service, some of you compare notes:
“What exactly did Father say?” “I think he mentioned the Holy Spirit.” “No, I thought he was talking about lunch!”
But we smile together. We laugh together. We worship together. That is the Trinity for us, always crossing boundaries. The Church is made of different cultures, different stories, different ages, different backgrounds — and yes, different accents — yet we are one in Christ.
THE WORLD WE FACE TODAY
We live in a world where:
- Churches are declining
- Families are under pressure
- Nations are divided
- People are exhausted
- Many whisper, “Lord, can we still make a difference?”
Into this world, this very world, Jesus speaks the words that changed history: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me… Go… and I am with you always.”
This is not a suggestion. This is not a motivational speech. This is a commissioning backed by the full weight of the Trinity.
EXOUSIA AND DUNAMIS: THE TRINITY’S GIFT TO THE CHURCH
Jesus begins the Great Commission with:
“All authority has been given to me.” The Greek word is Exousia — rightful authority, legitimacy, the divine right to act.
And the Spirit gives us Dunamis — divine energy, strength, the ability to accomplish what God asks of us.
Without Exousia, power becomes dangerous. Without Dunamis, authority becomes empty. But in Christ, we receive both.
This is the life of the Trinity:
- The Father sends
- The Son commissions
- The Spirit empowers
- And the Church goes
The Church has survived emperors, persecutions, wars, plagues, revolutions, pandemics, and countless predictions of its demise. Not because Christians are extraordinary. But because Christ remains faithful. The mission of the Church does not depend on our strength. It depends on the One who says: “All authority has been given to me.” “I am with you always.” And Jesus says to St. David’s: “Go — because I am with you till the end of time.” Amen.