Festival of the Holy Trinity - Sermon Text and Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 

The Festival of the Holy Trinity    

Genesis 1:1-2:4a  
Acts 2:14a, 22-36  
Matthew 28:16-20

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

The festival of the Holy Trinity is the only feast of the church that is based solely on a doctrine. If there is a Sunday in which the congregation can leave more confused than when they came in, this is the Sunday. The reason for the confusion is because words do not adequately express the mystery of God. Nor do our finite minds, have the capacity to understand the mystery of His being. In God’s infinite wisdom, God chooses to tell us only what we need to know for our salvation. The essential components of what is revealed to us in the Bible are articulated in the three summaries of faith that we use to confess our faith together: The Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. 

What God chooses to reveal about Himself is that God is one and at the same time is three distinct persons. In Matthew 28, Jesus says to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Athanasian Creed is that it instructs us how to be clear about the distinctions between the three persons. We may not confuse the three persons. Nor may we glob the three persons into one person. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is not one person that is manifested to us in three different forms at different times in history. All three persons of the one God exist in harmony. 

Out of respect for the one who creates us, sustains us, and saves us, we attend to these divine details as we contemplate God. The Athanasian Creed states that “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.” Each person shares the same attributes. Each person is uncreated, infinite, eternal, almighty, God, and Lord.

We know and experience each of the three persons in different ways, yet it is the same God. Our response to the revelation given to us is to adore and worship God. 

While we cannot understand the mystery of God’s being, we can understand some things about God. The first is that God desires company. Not just any company, but mortals. God desires that we, you and me, be in his company. Long before we learn about the angelic host of heaven, we learn of the great care that God made to create a world in which we can live and flourish. He created a world that is dynamic and endlessly interesting. He provides for our every need. Even after Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s clear command to not eat of that one tree, the Lord provides abundantly. 

Not only does God desire company, but He desires intelligent company. We are created in the image of God. 

God is powerful and imaginative. God is also merciful. God let Adam and Eve live when they sinned against God. He provided them with everything they needed to live. Life is not easy outside the Garden of Eden. Yet, despite disobedience, God’s merciful character permits human life to continue. God even provided a way for people to make atonement for their sins through the sacrifice of animals. Then, in the fullness of God’s time, the Son became incarnate and dwelt among us. He became the last sacrifice. Jesus, the Son made visible and in human flesh, died on the cross for our sins. He bore our sins upon himself so that all of humanity can receive forgiveness for their sins. The Holy Spirit creates faith in us through the Word. Our faith trusts God’s promises to us.  

God’s mercy abounds. God creates us. When we betrayed Him, he chose to save us. When we trespass against God and our fellow human travelers, he chooses to forgive the repentant for the sake of Son. God provides every opportunity for us to be with Him in heaven for eternity.  

When the resurrected Jesus commanded the eleven Apostles “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He added the command to teach. To be a disciple of Jesus is to enter a lifelong pattern of learning. A disciple is a student. We need God’s instruction of the Law because it reveals our sin. The law directs us to the mercy of Christ Jesus. We need God’s Word to shape our minds and hearts because we struggle with the lure and the deceptions of the old Adam.  We need the grace of God’s doctrine because the world misconstrues God and God’s desire for us. 

As we contemplate God’s being, we admit that God is indeed a mystery to us. Yet, God has also revealed to us his love and care for us. For the revelation we have through His Word, we are moved to gratitude and worship.  

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. 


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