The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 12, 2022
“This Is the Catholic Faith” (Athanasian Creed)
Did you know that we Lutherans are catholic? We are! In fact, you just said so. You did, just now when we all confessed the Athanasian Creed. Don’t worry. I’ll explain. And so our theme on this Holy Trinity Sunday: “This Is the Catholic Faith.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, May 30, 2021
“Born of Water and the Spirit” (John 3:1-17)
On this Trinity Sunday, our Gospel reading, from John chapter 3, tells us of the work of the Holy Trinity–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–in bringing us to a new birth and the new life that flows from it. And this is where Jesus goes in his conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be “Born of Water and the Spirit.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 7, 2020
“The God of New Beginnings” (Genesis 1; Acts 2; Matthew 28)
Today is Trinity Sunday. It is on this day every year that we call special attention to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. This teaching is true every day of the year, of course, but on this particular Sunday, we call special attention to it. The Scripture readings for today bring out the nature of God as being triune, that is, one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The hymns we sing on this day are trinitarian in their content. And Trinity Sunday is the one day of the year when we read out loud the Athanasian Creed, the creed that goes into the most depth and detail on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Now when I say “doctrine,” maybe some of you, your eyes glaze over. You think of “doctrine” as “boring” or “academic” or “unrelated to life.” But no, that is not so! The word “doctrine” simply means “teaching,” and what the Bible teaches about God is anything but boring! And while Christian doctrine can be taught and studied in an academic manner–and there is great value in that–that does not mean it is “unrelated to life”! Indeed, doctrine is life! What God’s Word teaches us gives us life! God’s Word guides our life, and guides us all the way into eternal life, life with God, life forever.
And then when we talk about the doctrine of “the Holy Trinity,” again, our eyes may glaze over. How can we understand this great mystery, that there is only one God, yet there are three distinct persons in this one God? How can this be? We have trouble wrapping our heads around it. Our little brains can’t comprehend it. The circuits start to fry out.
Well, today you don’t have to figure everything out. Instead, I want you to relax and just take it in, who this God is whom we worship and adore, who God is, and especially, who he is for you. Today I want you to know God, more than just to know about God. Because today in his Word, God reveals himself to us. He shows himself to be “The God of New Beginnings.” And we could all use that.
The Holy Trinity
May 27, 2018
“In the Presence of the Holy God” (Isaiah 6:1-8)
What would it be like if you knew you were in the presence of the holy God? Try to imagine. Would it be cool, casual, awesome, inspiring, overwhelming? What would your reaction be? “Oh well, just another day in the park. Nothing to see here. Ho hum.” Or maybe you’d think: “Oh wow! I must be pretty special to be given this kind of revelation of God. Yay me!” Or would you be terrified and frightened, shaking in your boots, to be in God’s presence? Well, today on this Holy Trinity Sunday, we’ll find out what one man experienced. Because today we’re going along with Isaiah as he gets to be “In the Presence of the Holy God.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 11, 2017
“The Athanasian Creed: Incomprehensible?”
Today is Trinity Sunday–or, more properly called, the Feast of the Holy Trinity–and as such, this is the one day in the year when we confess the Athanasian Creed. Actually, we believe, teach, and confess the Athanasian Creed 365 days a year; it’s just this is the one day in the year when we speak it aloud in church during the service.
You see, the church confesses three ecumenical creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. They are called “ecumenical” creeds, because they are held all across Christendom.
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 15, 2014
“The Living Room of Peter’s Pentecost Sermon” (Acts 2:14a, 22-36)
Today is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. On this day we sing hymns emphasizing the Trinitarian nature of the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On this day we say that really long creed with the funny name, the Athanasian Creed, which goes into the most detail on the relationship of the three persons in the Trinity. Today we are celebrating, not some dry doctrine with no connection to life, no, rather we are celebrating a living reality–the reality of who God is, as he is, as he has acted to save us and give us life, as he has revealed himself to us in Holy Scripture. Today we are confessing the truth of the Holy Trinity, over against all heretics that have arisen in history, from the Arians of the fourth century to the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses of our day. The living reality of the triune God and the true and saving doctrine concerning the same–that’s what this Holy Trinity festival is all about.
Now there is much about the mystery of the Holy Trinity that is hard for us to understand. How can there be three persons and yet only one God? How can this triune God have always been, uncreated, from eternity? I suppose that if we could fully understand God, we would have to be God!
But while there is much that remains hidden to us mortal creatures, there is also much that has been revealed. God wants us to know him, in a living, vital relationship, and to know what we need to know about him in order to be saved. And that’s where our Scripture readings today come in.
Today I want us to focus on one of the readings, the one from Acts chapter 2. This reading picks up where our reading from last week left off. It’s Peter’s Pentecost sermon. Last week we heard the first part of his sermon, the introduction, what I called the “front porch” of his sermon. Today we continue with the main part of that sermon, what I’ll call “The Living Room of Peter’s Pentecost Sermon.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, May 26, 2013
“We Are Baptized for This Moment” (Acts 2:14a, 22-47)
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, the day in the church year when we most give attention to the great biblical doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the truth that the one true God is the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For example, on this day we confess the Athanasian Creed–like the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene, a trinitarian creed and one we believe, teach, and confess all year round, but we speak the Athanasian Creed aloud on this day, since it goes into the most depth and detail on the doctrine of the Trinity.
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday. But really, every Sunday is a Holy Trinity Sunday, since we are gathered here, as we say at the start of the service, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Indeed, for the Christian, every day is a Holy Trinity Day, since each of us has been baptized in the name of the triune God, and we live in our baptism daily.
And that brings us to our message this morning, namely, “We Are Baptized for This Moment.” This is picking up on the theme of our synod’s national convention coming up in July, which is, “Baptized for This Moment.” And in that connection, we will be having a five-part Bible study by that title, starting this Wednesday. I hope many of you can come.
And so, for right now, we consider as our theme today: “We Are Baptized for this Moment.” Briefly now, I want us to focus on these three points: 1) We are baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. 2) We are baptized into a life of repentance and forgiveness. And 3) We are baptized for this moment–for witness, for mercy, and for life together.
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 3, 2012
“Born of Water and the Spirit” (John 3:1-17)
Do you know what day your birthday is? I do. My birthday is September 10. “What?” you say. “Pastor, I thought your birthday was in March.” Oh, you mean that birthday! Yeah, that birthday was March 7. But my other birthday, my re-birthday, was on September 10 of the same year. That was the day I was baptized. The first birthday was my birth according to the flesh. The second birthday, the day of my baptism, was my rebirth according to the Spirit. And, like me, what you really need is that baptismal rebirth, to be “Born of Water and the Spirit.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 19, 2011
“All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Has Been Given to Me” (Matthew 28:16-20)
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” If you had to vote on “What is the most puzzling statement in Scripture?” this might be it. What in the world is Jesus saying when he says, “All authority has been given to me?” “Given”? I mean, didn’t we just confess in the Athanasian Creed: “The Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal”? “And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or lesser than another”?
So how can the Son be “given” anything? “Authority”? He already had it, didn’t he? But Jesus says it’s been given to him. By whom? Why? For what purpose? And what does that have to do with us? Why is this good news? And so today, on this Trinity Sunday, we look at Jesus’ puzzling yet profoundly hope-filled and peace-giving statement: “All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Has Been Given to Me.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, May 30, 2010
“A Trinitarian Pentecost” (Acts 2:14a, 22-36)
Our text today is the second reading, from the second chapter of Acts. Now if that sounds familiar to you, it should. We said the same thing last week, when our text likewise came from Acts 2, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the beginning of Peter’s Pentecost sermon. Today our reading continues on with Peter’s sermon. But wait a minute: Last week was Pentecost. Today is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. What are we doing with a Pentecost text on Trinity Sunday? That’s seems odd. Well, not really. And the reason is, as our text will show, this was a very Trinitarian Pentecost.
“A Trinitarian Pentecost”: What do I mean by that? I mean that in the event of Pentecost itself and in Peter’s preaching on that day, there is a very strong emphasis on the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And not as just some abstract doctrinal concept, a theory. No, this is reality going on here, a most blessed heavenly reality that is, at the same time, entirely down to earth. This is God in action, acting to save sinners, the likes of you and me. Today let’s find out more of the God who saves us, the God in whom our salvation rests and in whom we can have complete confidence. Today it’s “A Trinitarian Pentecost,” on Holy Trinity Sunday.
St. Matthew Lutheran Church 