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.”
“St. Patrick’s Breastplate: I Bind unto Myself Today”
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! “What??” you’re saying. “Pastor, have you lost your mind? St. Patrick’s Day was back on March 17. This is now May something. What’s up with this ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day’?”
Well, alright, I’ll tell you, since you asked. This day is not really St. Patrick’s Day. But it is a day on which St. Patrick can teach us something about what this day really is about, and that is, it’s Trinity Sunday. Yes, today in the church year is the Feast of the Holy Trinity, a day on which we focus on the biblical doctrine of the Holy Trinity–on the divine reality of the Holy Trinity and how absolutely essential this reality is for our life and faith and salvation. The Holy Trinity, the one true God, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–this is the only God there is. This is the God of our salvation.
On this one Sunday in the year, we call special attention to this truth. On this day we speak out loud one of the three ecumenical creeds of the church, the Athanasian Creed, which goes into the most detail on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. On this day, all of our hymns are particularly Trinitarian, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” “We All Believe in One True God,” and so on.
It is in that context, then, that I can say to you this morning, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” For St. Patrick–yes, that St. Patrick, the missionary to Ireland–wrote one of the hymns that we’re using today (or at least it is attributed to him). And this hymn–you heard the choir sing it earlier–this hymn is profoundly Trinitarian and most fitting for our instruction, inspiration, and edification today, on this Feast of the Holy Trinity. And so our theme for this morning: “St. Patrick’s Breastplate: I Bind unto Myself Today.”
The Holy Trinity
Sunday, May 31, 2015
“The Loving Father, the Lifted-Up Son, and the Life-Giving Spirit” (John 3:1-17)
The triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for our salvation. That’s what this Feast of the Holy Trinity is all about. This is not an occasion to strain our brains to try to figure out what for us, with our finite reason, is ultimately incomprehensible, namely, how there can be one God in three persons and at the same time three persons and only one God. That would blow out our circuits, if we even could comprehend it. Rather, the thing to do on this day is simply, with childlike faith, to receive the saving truth of the Trinity and to rejoice in the reality of the triune God. Which is what we will do now, as we rejoice in “The Loving Father, the Lifted-Up Son, and the Life-Giving Spirit.”
St. Matthew Lutheran Church 