Sermon and Service for Holy Trinity Sunday
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2024 Trinity Sunday – Isaiah 6:1-8 Romans 8:12-17 John 3:1-17
O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Concordia Publishing House published an updated set of questions and explanations for the Small Catechism in 2017. As it leads the reader through the Apostles Creed, a number of preliminary questions are asked with an answer provided along with supporting Scripture texts. We Lutherans believe that our teaching of the faith is founded on the Bible.
The questions begin with question 103 Why does the Creed follow the Ten Commandments? Most of us probably give no thought to why the Small Catechism is organized the way that it is. The catechism just simply is. I can assure you that there is a deliberate pattern here. By beginning our instruction in the Christian faith with the commandments, we immediately must address our shortcomings, limitations, and, to use the biblical word, our sin. God’s Law accuses us of our sin before it becomes a guide to faithful, God-pleasing, living.
We are humbled by the ugly and unpleasant fact that we are sinners who do not measure up perfectly to the Lord’s expectations of us. And, as those who are around us and know us best will also attest, we are not exactly perfect around them either. We trespass against God and neighbor. Our study of the Ten Commandments leads us to acknowledge our fallenness before God and one another before we begin to reflect upon God.
Hence, the answer to question 103 Why does the Creed follow the Ten Commandments? The commandments are written on the hearts of all people by virtue of their creation. They reveal our sin and prepare us to receive the gifts of salvation confessed in the Creed. “The Commandments teach what we ought to do. But the Creed tells what God does for us and gives to us” (Large Catechism II 67)
The next several questions provide questions and answers about the creed and the Bible. After this, the questions address the focus for today.
109 Why do we use the Apostles’ Creed in the Catechism? It is the creed commonly used in Baptism. It tells us the most important truths about God: who He is and what He has done. God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the Holy Trinity. The Creed’s three simple articles summarize divine work associated with each person: the Father (creation), the Son (redemption), and the Holy Spirit (sanctification).
110 What does the word Trinity mean? It means three in one. The Church has used the word “Trinity” to maintain the Bible’s witness that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct persons and yet are one God. This is the greatest mystery of the Christian faith.
111 What distinguishes the Father, Son, and Spirit from one another?
A: In their relationship to one another, they are distinguished by their interactions with one another. The Father begets the Son from eternity; the Son is begotten of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit from eternity proceeds from the Father and the Son.
B. In their relationship to us, they are distinguished by their works for us. The Scriptures ordinarily speak of the Father as creating us, the Son redeeming us, and the Holy Spirit sanctifying us.
112 What unites the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God?
A. In their relationship to one another, the three persons find their unity as one divine being called God. The Father, Son, and Spirit are alike almighty, alike Creator, alike Redeemer. Note: For this reason, we can pray to any of the three persons of the Trinity.
B. In their relationship to us, the three persons find their unity in the Father as the source and goal of their work. Out of love, the Father sends the Son, and together they send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings us to Christ, who in turns shows us the Father’s love. Note: Trinitarian teaching is often reflected in Christian prayers to the Father, in Jesus’ name, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
After this last question, the Q & A format begins to focus on the First article.
Our contemporary, technical, analytical, and psychologically aware minds, want to delve deeper into the essence of God. We want to understand more thoroughly who God is and how God is put together. We want to learn how exactly it is that there can possibly be three distinct persons but one God. It is our modern temptation and desire to demystify the mystery of God. Perhaps God will reveal more of Himself when we are in heaven, but for now we must be content with what we do know about God. We should actually rejoice that we know as much as we do about the LORD God.
We are told by God’s Word that God is love. Out of love we are created. Out of love we are saved. We know from the Bible and from our own experience that God is exceedingly patient and kind. Our Lord has standards and judges the world by them. And, at the same time, He has immeasurable amounts of grace.
As the Lord has chosen to reveal Himself to us, he wants us to focus on His work among, to, and for us. In the course of his conversation with Nicodemus we learn about the distinctive work of each person of the Trinity.
Despite the significant barriers that humanity puts up between itself and the Lord, our heavenly Father has decided that we are worth saving. As Jesus tells the story, the fact that we have faith and a true hope of God’s everlasting salvation is because of the Father. It’s not the Son’s idea to become incarnate and give his life for the sake of the world. And, it is not the Son’s idea to create faith in us. No, it is the Father’s idea. The Father has decided to send the Son and together the Father and Son send the Spirit. And, the Father sends the Son and the Spirit to us because He loves us. It’s not out of guilt or boredom or lack of imagination or a dysfunctional sense of obligation. No. Love, heavenly, holy, Godly, parental love is the motivation.
Jesus explains to Nicodemus and us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Our heavenly Father wants what is best for us. Ultimately, what is best for us is to be with Him. So, he provides the means of grace to connect us to Him. Jesus is sent to us. The Holy Spirit is sent to us. The Father does not wait for our invitation to come. He acts upon us. If He waited until we asked Him, our sinful nature and pride and spiritual and moral confusion, would prevent us from ever properly identifying the one true Lord and to have the humility necessary to ask. The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. He sends us help long before we recognize just how desperately we need Him and His help.
The best help he can possibly give us is His very own Son. The Father sends the Son. The Son of God becomes incarnate in the Virgin Mary and is born for our sakes. Christ Jesus is born for the explicit purpose of dying on the cross for us. Every aspect of His ministry, including his teaching and healing ministry, lead up to the cross.
Jesus explains, “No one has ascended into heaven except him who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” In Jesus upon the cross, we see the fullest extent of God’s sacrificial love for us. Jesus is lifted up on the cross so that the poison of sin will not drag us down into death and damnation. Rather, looking upon Jesus and believing that He is on the cross for our sakes leads to God’s continuing gracious care. The righteousness of Jesus is conferred upon us in Holy Baptism, and we are forgiven of our sins. The effects of the poison are removed, and we have peace. We return regularly to the gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper so that are faith is strengthened as we receive Christ’s forgiveness and assurance of His love for us.
There are a couple of Greek words that are connected to the English word “sin.” One of which is hamartia. Hamartia means to err or to miss the mark. Our Lutheran understanding of the pervasiveness of our sinful nature means that we will always place our trust in something or someone other than the one true God. Left to our own devices, we will always have a better idea. So, the Holy Spirit is the one who creates faith within us. The Holy Spirit brings about the rebirth through the Word and Baptism. In Holy Baptism are born again. It is the Holy Spirit at work in us that births us into faith in the one true God. Jesus explains, “5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[b] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit gives us faith to enter God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit’s gift of faith enables us to look upon the gruesomeness of the cross and perceive God’s loving sacrifice for our sakes. Through faith, we see the Father’s love for us shining through all of God’s actions in our behalf. In love we are created. In love we are saved. In love we have the promise of eternal life in heaven. This is what is revealed to us.
As we confess our faith using the Athanasian Creed, we observe that it describes the limits of our knowledge of God. This should not be a frustration, but an occasion for praise. That the mysterious God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit knows us and provides for us and chooses to save us from certain damnation is our opportunity to recognize his gifts and return with adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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