The Work of the Holy Trinity
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ!
You have likely heard
these words before, the so-called Great Commission of the Church where Jesus
declares the Church’s mission until He returns. Many sermons have been preached
on this text, usually about evangelism and the need to make disciples. We will
speak a bit of evangelism today as well. But first, dear friends, we have some
even better news from this Gospel lesson: The Holy Trinity is at work. In this
text, the Lord Jesus Himself declares the identity of God as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit; and you can’t find a better source for this than He.
So, on this day, we
celebrate who God is: The Holy Trinity, one God composed of three persons. We
do not worship three gods, but one. We do not worship one God who puts on three
different masks to deal with us; we worship three distinct persons of the one
God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It may well strike you
as a strange sort of celebration for a couple of reasons. First, we usually
celebrate an event in someone’s life, like a birthday or a promotion; however,
we rarely celebrate the person of someone—you likely haven’t had a party held
for you just because you’re you. Similarly, at Church, it makes sense to
celebrate what God has done, as we do with festivals like Christmas and Easter;
but it seems a bit odd to celebrate who He is.
Second, we usually
celebrate things that we can understand: I, for one, do not celebrate the latest
development in quantum physics because I do not understand such things, nor do
I realize their significance. It may be important; I just don't know. So also,
it is with the Trinity: Today we celebrate what we cannot comprehend—the persons
and identity of God. We know He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for He tells
us. But beyond that, His being defies our logic.
And that’s the Festival
of the Trinity: We celebrate God for who He is, even though we cannot
comprehend Him.
However, there is good
reason that we celebrate today that we believe in one God—the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Human beings are always tempted to set aside what we cannot fully
understand: How terrible it would be if we set aside the very identity of God.
You see, if we do not believe in the Trinity, we declare that the Word of God
is wrong; and if the Word of God is wrong, we can no longer trust that our
salvation is secure. If we do not believe in the Trinity, then we believe in a
false god: God the Father is a god out there somewhere, and Jesus was just some
guy; therefore, the price has not been paid for our salvation. If we do not
believe in the Trinity, our prayers go unanswered, because there is no other
god except God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we do not believe in the
one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—then we are not Christian. The Trinity
is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith.
However, I do not wish
you to misunderstand. The point of the Festival of the Holy Trinity is not a
threat; it is not, “Believe that God is three in one or else.” Rather than a
festival of ultimatum, there is great cause for joy: Even though we cannot
fully comprehend, God tells us who He is. And God tells us who He is because He
wants us to know Him, to trust Him, to pray to Him. Especially, God tells us
who He is that we might be comforted in His three-person love for us.
The Trinity has many
different attributes like “eternal” and “all-powerful.” I ask you to consider
one attribute today: servanthood. Among the Trinity itself, the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit are busy at work serving one another. Jesus, the Son of God,
submits Himself to the authority of the Father (John 10:30). God the Father
give His Son all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). The Holy Spirit
proceeds from the Father and the Son to fulfill Their will. What do the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit do as almighty God? They serve one another.
But They do not serve
one another as an example to us before getting back to their more godly duties.
They serve one another because that is who They are by Their godly nature. By
nature, They are servants!
But even more
surprising is this: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit don’t just serve each
other: They serve you! For you, God the Father provides all good things for
this body and life, as well as for eternity. Especially, He has sacrificed His
Son for your sins, and continues to shower all sorts of blessings upon you. For
you, God the Son has gone to the cross and died for your salvation and
continues to give you forgiveness by His means of grace. For you, God the Holy Spirit
continues to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify you with the forgiveness of
sins, that you might remain a member of the one, holy Christian Church.
Dear friends, there is
enough right here to leave us stunned, in awe, for a long, long time. The all-powerful,
all-knowing, all-present Holy Trinity is all at work in service to you. Not
like a genie in a bottle, to do the bidding of your Old Adam; but to save you
from your sin and raise you to everlasting life!
It is therefore not
surprising that, when Jesus speaks of the Trinity, He does so as He speaks of
forgiveness and evangelism. As He is about to ascend into heaven, He tells the
eleven how people will be saved throughout the ages until He comes again. The
Church will be His instrument, and they will make disciples by baptizing and
teaching.
Make disciples by
baptizing: Not just any old washing with water, but “baptizing in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Behold the miracle when even
an infant is brought to the font. God the Father, that child’s Creator,
recognizes that one-among-eight-billion as His own. God the Son washes away his
sins, declaring, “Now you have died My death with Me, and I will raise you from
the dead.” God the Holy Spirit is there, sanctifying and giving faith, to keep
that child in the one true faith. In Holy Baptism, the Holy Trinity is at work,
personally serving one poor, miserable sinner for the sake of his salvation.
Make disciples by
teaching, says Jesus. Not just any teaching, but teaching “all that I have
commanded you.” Faith comes by hearing the Word: Christians become Christians
by hearing the Lord’s Law and Gospel. In hearing God’s Law, they hear of their
sins against Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In hearing the Gospel, they hear
that God the Father so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.
Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life; and whoever believes
in Him, believes because the Holy Spirit is at work through the Word to bring
about repentance and faith.
Thus, in evangelism, in
making disciples, the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is at work. By
Baptism and by the Word of God, the Trinity is at work to forgive your sins and
grant you eternal life.
From all this, it is
clear: The Church is the Lord’s. It is He who has created her, redeemed her,
sanctifies her, keeps her. Evangelism is the Holy Trinity at work; and we are
unworthily honored to be used as His instruments to baptize and to teach. It is
here that we must warn of sinful dangers and dangerous sins. Throughout
history, those within the Church have gotten the idea that the Church is the
result of their efforts, their works, their strategies, and their plans.
Consider, for instance,
the Church at the time of the Reformation. Baptism and the Word were still
somewhat present, though terribly obscured by the schemes of man. The bishops
of the Church had gotten the idea that the Church was the result of their
muscle-flexing. Rather than point people to the means of grace for forgiveness,
they created other ceremonies and programs instead. Go to a pilgrimage here,
send a contribution there, don’t eat meat on that day, etc. When Christians
objected, the bishops would take action against them, sometimes resulting in
exile, imprisonment, or death. Far too many churchmen had apparently concluded
that disciples became disciples by following their rules. Or else.
Martin Luther responded
with our Gospel lesson today. He reminded such church leaders that Jesus did
not tell them to make disciples by pilgrimages, contributions, and eating fish
instead of meat. The Lord told His disciples to make disciples by baptizing and
teaching His Word. The bishops were therefore wrong on a number of counts. They
were claiming that Jesus had given them authority to enact these ceremonies and
punish dissenters with the sword. Jesus had done no such thing (cf. Tractate:31).
Furthermore, in creating their own methods of making disciples apart from the
means of grace, the bishops were rejecting the means of grace that Jesus had
given. We might add as well that, by rejecting the means of grace, the bishops
were effectively pushing the Holy Trinity aside and saying, “We don’t need Your
help. We’ll do it our way instead.”
We must beware today of
the same sinful temptation to set aside the Trinity and trust in our methods
and strategies instead.
Today, many approach
evangelism as a business proposition. In business, the customer is always
right, and you must package your product so that it “grabs” the customer right
away and doesn’t turn them off. Too often, this principle is applied to church:
The visitor is always right. Therefore, the worship service must grab them
right away. The Gospel must be packaged in a way that doesn’t offend, perhaps
rearranged into a message of “things to do,” rather than sin and grace.
But there is a great
problem in applying these manmade business principles to the Church. Businesses
survive by changing to meet the customers’ needs or desires; the Church lives
on by not changing—by remaining faithful to the Lord’s Word. The Church
declares eternal truth to those who do not know it; and, as one not familiar
with Christianity, the visitor is not the best one to determine what is right
and wrong in Christian worship.
Furthermore, far from
proclaiming it attractive to the world, Scripture declares that the Gospel is
an offense (Romans 9:33) to those without faith. By the time one “re-packages”
the Gospel so that it no longer offends the non-Christian, it is no longer the
Gospel. A “church” that follows a business philosophy and adapts everything to
draw people in may well be packed on a Sunday morning. But if it no longer
proclaims the saving Gospel, it has shouldered aside the Holy Trinity in favor
of manmade efforts; and man cannot save.
Now, let us be clear:
If we offend visitors with rudeness or unfriendliness, we repent of such sins.
If the visitor is offended by the preaching of sin and grace, however, we
continue to preach the same in hopes that they hear and believe.
If not a business
model, many approach the Church as a therapy group. The task of the Church is
to meet the “felt needs” that the people, what they perceive their deficiencies
to be. If it is depression, then work to cure depression. If it is loneliness,
work to overcome loneliness. If it is poverty, then work to end poverty.
Furthermore, the real work of the Church takes place in the sharing at
facilitated small group meetings, not unlike group therapy sessions.
Again, we must be
careful. We do not deny the benefits of therapy and counseling. There is a need
to help those who are poor and lonely, and Christians are set free to do so by
the forgiveness of sins. Nor do we deny the benefits of Christians talking to
one another. But once again, there are problems. If a church follows a therapy
model, it relies on affirmation, positive thinking, and human activities for
making disciples. When these manmade efforts replace the Word and the
Sacraments, the Holy Trinity has been set aside. Such a church may well help
people out of depression, loneliness, or poverty but if it does not declare
Christ’s death and the forgiveness of sins, it leaves them lost in their sins.
Am I being a bit
nit-picky today? Consider this: how many church bodies today still acknowledge
the Bible to be the Word of God, where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are at
work for your salvation? Sadly, very few. How many teach that Baptism is a
means of grace by which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bring sinners to
salvation? Even fewer. And if one sets aside the means of grace by which the
Holy Trinity works, he sets aside the work of the Holy Trinity. He has
exchanged the service of the one true God in favor of the futility of something
else.
So, we rejoice this day
in the Holy Trinity, and we gratefully acknowledge that the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are still at work to make disciples through Baptism and Word of
God. We confess those times when we are tempted to push the Trinity aside and
trust in our own efforts instead. We give thanks that the Lord has made us His
through our Baptism, and that He continues to strengthen us by His Word and
Supper. If we are criticized for being a bit old-fashioned, we respond with a
cheerful, “Thank you! By the grace of God, we do indeed try to stay true to our
Lord’s command to make disciples His Way.”
This, dear friends, is
your cause for rejoicing: The all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present Father,
Son, and Holy Spirt have made you Their disciple. They have washed away your
sins and declare your salvation. The works of man cannot save you, but the work
of the Holy Trinity can; and this is why I rejoice to announce to you this work
of the Holy Trinity: You are forgiven for all your sins.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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