“Christ-Centered Confession of Faith Proclaims the Holy Trinity”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord [Amen.]
“The band of the apostles in glory sing Your praise;
The fellowship of prophets their deathless voices raise.
The martyrs of Your kingdom, a great and noble throng,
Sing with the holy Church throughout all the world this song:
‘O all-majestic Father, Your true and only Son,
And Holy Spirit, Comforter—forever Three in One!’”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
941:2)
Second
Reading...................................................................
Acts 2:14a, 22-36 (esp. 32-33)
32This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33Being
therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you
yourselves are seeing and hearing.
Prologue: [Tomorrow’s / Today’s] Treasury of Daily Prayer
devotional reading contains the following about “The Holy Trinity”: “Having
celebrated the greatest event in God’s history of salvation, the death and
resurrection of the Son of God, we pause a bit at the Feast of the Holy
Trinity to consider the essence of God. Certainly the essence of God is
beyond our weak comprehension, but He has graciously revealed Himself to us
as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we want to summarize all the Holy
Scripture says about God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, we call
Him the Holy Trinity. Even beyond the glorious summary of the persons and
work of God found in the Creeds, to speak of God as the Holy Trinity says at
one time all the many things that the Scriptures say about God. Our worship
never ceases confessing our faith in the triune God and giving glory to the
Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is
now, and will be forever. Amen.” (Treasury of Daily Prayer. Scot A.
Kinnaman, Gen. Ed. Copyright © 2008 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis,
MO. Page 352.)
The Old Testament prophet Moses, whom the Holy Spirit inspired to
write the first five books of the Bible, first introduced the triune God to
us. He did so in the first two verses of Genesis that are a summary of the
divine creation of all things and was part of today’s long Old Testament
Reading: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:1-2
ESV) In the next 33 verses that contain the detailed account of God’s daily
creation activities over six 24-hour days Moses wrote the phrase “And God
said” seven times followed by the phrase “Then God said” once. The uniquely
peculiar Hebrew word that’s translated with our English word “God” is
“Elohim”. What’s uniquely peculiar about that noun is that it’s a plural
word that in the strictest sense should be translated as “Gods” … but
because the verbs that are attached to it are singular it’s translated as
“God”. In addition, near the end of chapter one Moses wrote: “Then God
said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he
created them.” (Gen 1:26-27 ESV) The word “God” is consistently plural but
the verbs attached to it are all consistently singular and the personal
pronouns are sometimes plural and other times singular, all of which
indicates one divine essence with, what’s revealed at other places in
Scripture, three distinctly separate persons.
Among the many things the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther wrote and
spoke about the Trinity is this gem that began his Trinity Sunday sermon
in1535: “Now if this article seems foolish, what do I care? For if
criticism were in order, I, too, would be able to offer it very well,
better, in fact, than any [Muslim] or Jew. But I thank my God, who has
given me the grace not to dispute about the truth and reasonableness of this
article. Since I see that it is so distinctly contained and grounded in
Scripture, I believe God more than my own thoughts and reason and do not
worry about how it can possibly be true that there is only one Essence and
yet that there are three distinct Persons in this one Essence: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. To argue about the truth of
this doctrine is out of place. To determine whether this doctrine is
grounded in God’s Word is indeed in place. If it is God’s Word, do not be
frightened, God will not lie.” (What Luther Says: An Anthology. Volume III:
Prayers-Zeal, Appendices and Indexes. Compiled by Ewald M. Pless.
Copyright © 1959 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 1388f.)
Although some people wrongly criticize prepared or so-called
“canned” prayers as inferior to prayers that are made up on the spot, they
actually provide well thought out instruction. That’s the case with today’s
Collect of the Day that said: “You have given us grace to acknowledge the
glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to
worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in
this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever.”
In like manner, there’s much spiritual benefit to be gained from
the treasure chest of prayers in each edition of the Portals of Prayer daily
devotional resource that’s composed for personal and family devotions. The
current issue has this Holy Trinity Sunday prayer: “Dear God, while it is
impossible to comprehend how a three-in-one God is three Persons yet one
God, help me simply to know and believe that all of You loves all of me:
body, mind, and spirit. May I never fail to trust, obey, and confess You as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As long as I live, may Your Spirit move me to
love to seek to understand You as my triune God and Lord. Amen.” (Portals
of Prayer. Vol. 77, No. 423. Copyright © Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, MO. Page 111.)
So, as we on this annual occasion formally do what we actually do
every Lord’s Day, namely acknowledge Jesus as Lord over all and Savior of
all, let’s realize and affirm that …
“Christ-Centered Confession of Faith Proclaims the Holy Trinity.”
A major emphasis of the Athanasian Creed that we confessed a few
minutes ago is that “in this Trinity none is before or after another; none
is greater or less than another; but the whole three persons are coeternal
with each other and coequal, so that in all things … the Trinity in Unity
and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped.” However, …
I. Christ’s Death and Resurrection Accomplished Our Salvation. (14a,
22-31)
14Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, …
. 22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to
you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him
in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according
to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by
the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death,
because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25For David says
concerning him,
“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that
he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Being
therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that
he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31he foresaw and spoke
about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh see corruption.”
The apostles were on fire with the Gospel message that Jesus had
lived the holy life God demanded of them … and us… but they were … and we
are … unable to accomplish; suffered inhumane treatment that He didn’t
deserve from Roman soldiers and others because of sins that not He but they
and we committed; was crucified unto death on Calvary’s cross where He shed
His holy innocent blood that washed away their sins and our sins; proved His
power over sin, Satan, and death itself by rising from the dead on the third
day; and ascended back to His heavenly throne of glory 40 days after His
resurrection from the dead. After all, “That is the content of all
Christian preaching: Jesus Christ, true God and man, crucified and
resurrected, our Lord and Savior.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular Commentary
of the Bible: The New Testament Volume I. Copyright © Unknown Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 543.)
The message that Peter proclaimed on that first New Testament
Pentecost day was not only one of God’s mercy and grace but also of His
righteous judgment of sin. The raw fact of the matter was that the people
in his audience “had rejected and killed God’s Anointed One. Peter was
preaching the law to convict them of their sin.” (Richard D. Balge in People’s
Bible Commentary: Acts. Copyright © 1993 Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, MO. Pages 29f.) Further, the raw fact of the matter is that you and
I are just as guilty. Our many sins of committed or omitted thoughts,
desires, words, and deeds that transgress God’s holy Law pounded the nails
into His holy body that attached Him to Calvary’s unholy cross where He hung
in public humiliation unto a slow, tortuous death. It was a death that
should have consumed us … a death that should have eternally separated us
from the triune God, who created us, redeemed us, and sanctified us. But
the blessed irony of it all is that His death that our sins caused is the
death that atoned for our sins that caused His death. The even greater
irony is that “The men who crucified Jesus were responsible for what they
did. They were not helpless, mindless robots. But their actions served God’s
purpose, which was to offer his Son for the sins of the world. God willed
the cross because it was an essential part of his plan of salvation.”
(Richard D. Balge. Page 29.)
In fact, our Savior’s resurrection “was the heart of the message
the apostles preached to all of the world and the one they recorded in the
pages of the New Testament. It is the foundation of our faith. Jesus’
death was the sacrifice for our sins, and God raised Him to life to declare
that the sacrifice was accepted. His death was there for our forgiveness,
and God raised Him to life to declare that we are forgiven. He died to
destroy the devil, and God raised him to life to declare that hell has been
defeated.” (Ibid. Page 32.) And 40 days after His death-defying
resurrection …
II. Christ’s Ascension Back to His Heavenly Throne Assures Us of Our
Glorification. (34-36)
34For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
35until I make your enemies your footstool.’
36Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made
him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
You see, Christ’s “ascension and exaltation was a necessary
consequence of the resurrection.” (Paul E. Kretzmann. Page 542.) We and
all who trust Jesus alone with Spirit-given belief for forgiveness of sins,
salvation, and eternal life receive great comfort from His ascension. We do
so because “We know that as the exalted God-man, Christ A. as our Prophet
sends people to proclaim the saving Gospel by the power if the Holy Spirit;
B. as our Priest pleads and prays for us before the Father; [and] C. as our
King rules and protects His church and governs over all the world especially
for the benefit of His church.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation.
Copyright © Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 141f.) Our
appropriate response is one of joyfully declaring what we said in today’s
Gradual, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is
unsearchable.” (Ps 145:3 ESV) In addition, we thank almighty God for the
mercy and grace He showed us through Jesus by prayerfully, personally, and
financially encouraging the carrying out of the evangelistic marching orders
He gave at the time of His ascension to His apostles then and called
ministers of the Word today: “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (St
Matt 28:19-20a ESV)
So, on this day when we formally celebrate the doctrine of the
Holy Trinity, let’s unite our hearts and voices in declaring with the words
of today’s Introit antiphon: “Blessèd be the Holy Trinity and the undivided
Unity.” (Liturgical Text) Let’s do so with the full firm realization that …
“Christ-Centered Confession of Faith Proclaims the Holy Trinity.”
After all, “there has been only one Person of whom these words [of today’s
sermon text] could be truly spoken—Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore Jesus of
Nazareth, crucified by men, raised from the dead by God, is the true
Messiah … . But Jesus not only died and rose; He also ascended into heaven;
Peter and his companions had seen Him go up.” (The New Bible Commentary:
Revised. Edited by D. Guthrie and J. A. Motyer. Copyright © 1970
Inter-Varsity Press, London. Page 975.) The blessed result of such is that
I. Christ’s Death and Resurrection Accomplished Our Salvation. (14a,
22-31)
and
II. Christ’s Ascension Back to His Heavenly Throne Assures Us of Our
Glorification. (34-36)
Let’s faithfully acknowledge those Spirit-inspired truths by
regularly reading and hearing God’s Holy Word, daily recalling our Baptism,
basking in the healing balm of Holy Absolution, and frequently partaking of
the Lord’s Supper.
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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