Trinity Sunday Sermon

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

We have reached Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday marks a change in the Church year. For the past 5 or 6 months, with Christmas and Lent and Easter, we’ve really been looking at things Jesus has done – events in His life. But now, entering the Trinity season, our focus through November will be on teaching, Christ’s teachings, what we need to know about God. And so celebrating Trinity Sunday we start off at the beginning with the most important and basic thing – We see the Holy God and our relationship to Him.

We see and learn in our Gospel that our God is Triune – that the One True God has three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father Almighty sends Christ Jesus, the Son, to win salvation. The Holy Spirit takes people and has them born anew, gives them life, so that by believing in the Son, they might have salvation. This is what God does, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what the Apostles’ Creed speaks to, this is what the Nicene Creed speaks to, and this is what the Athanasian Creed speaks to at length – that we were created and are saved by a Holy God who is One God in three Persons, and Three Persons yet only one God. This God is righteous and good. This God is Holy and loving and merciful.

And so the question becomes what is our relationship with this God. How do we, we human beings, interact, relate, deal with God Almighty? For this, let’s start with our Old Testament lesson. Isaiah is a priest, a highly ranked priest. He is in the temple, and he is doing the one yearly sacrifice in the Holy of Holies. For that year, Isaiah is the top of the tops, the highest of the high. Humanly speaking, it doesn’t get better or higher than Isaiah. And Isaiah enters the Holy of Holies, and there, something unusual happens. Isaiah beholds not just the earthly temple in Jerusalem, but He beholds the heavenly courts, beholds God Himself. And what is his reaction? “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah knows that at this moment, his life is forfeit. By rights, he should be obliterated. Gone, done away with. Why does Isaiah know this? Because Isaiah knows that he is a sinner.

Sometimes I think we don’t really think about what it means to be a sinner. We will pay attention to specific sins, to actions which are bad. Actions which are naughty. Stealing is bad. Murder is bad. And that is right. But Isaiah points to something bigger than just sinful actions. Sin isn’t just something you do – it is a description of who you are. You are a sinner, and that is part and parcel of everything you do. Here is Isaiah, and what is he doing? He is serving God in the temple. He is doing the things of a priest. He is doing the highest, the most holy service a person could do. If anyone could ever point to what he is, what he is doing, and boast about it, it would be Isaiah right here. But he doesn’t. Isaiah beholds the LORD, and he fears. I am unclean. My lips are dirty. Everything that comes out of them is corrupted. Even there, even there doing the highest worship, Isaiah sees that he is a sinner, and that everything he does is sinful.

That’s what the word sinful means – it means full of sin. This is what you are, this is what I am. Full of sin. Everything, everything we do is tinged and tainted with sin. Everything falls short. Now, when we look at the person next to us, we might strut out our chest – oh, I’m not as bad as this person. We can get all full of pride when we think we are better than our neighbor. And you know what? You might be better than your neighbor, so what? Here in this place, before God, that all goes out the window. You are a sinner. Period. Plain and simple. Compared to God, judged by His standards everything you do, everything you have ever done is flawed, lacking what it should be. Nothing you’ve done is perfect – rather it is sinful. This is what Isaiah sees in this text.

This is the same thing that Jesus says in our Gospel. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” What are you like? You need to be born anew. You need to be born. In front of God, by yourself you are as good as dead. And we get this all over in Scripture. We hear this over and over again. Paul in Ephesians. “You were dead in trespasses.” Dead. Not alive. What we do, our sinful acts don’t impress God. Hear what Isaiah says in chapter 64. All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Oh, I’m so good – no you aren’t, you’re a mess in your pants. Scripture is blunt on our condition. By nature, there isn’t a good thing about us, and we are rotten through and through. We have sinned, and we fall short of God’s Glory, and if you think otherwise, you are simply lying to yourself. There is nothing in you which earns or deserves God’s respect or God’s love. That’s hard and harsh, and we don’t like to admit it, but when we compare ourselves to God, when we view ourselves in light of God’s Holiness, this is what we see.

This is what God sees as well. He sees our lack. He sees our shortcomings. The flaws we work so hard to hide, the sins we try to cover up, the problems we pretend we don’t have – God sees them. And this is the wonder. Although by rights God could wipe us out, toss us into the trash can – He doesn’t. For God so loved the world. God loves the world – God loves you, and this is how God loves you. When we hear “God loves you” – it’s not just a matter of God thinking you are nice. It’s not a matter of God loves you so He puts up with you. This is how God loves you – He gives His only Son, gives Jesus Christ over to death, sheds the blood of Christ so that your sinfulness might be covered, cleansed, and washed away. Everything about you that is wrong, that is lacking – the fact that you are a sinner, through and through, is covered by Christ Jesus. Just as you are completely a sinner, Christ Jesus is completely and totally righteous and good, and upon the Cross He sheds His blood so that you would be made righteous and good and brought into God’s presence.

This is what God does with us. He takes us sinners, and He forgives and purifies us so that we can be with Him. We see this in the Old Testament. Isaiah is there before God, and Isaiah knows His life is forfeit. The wages of sin is death, and Isaiah is expecting to get paid in full. But what happens? Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And He touched my mouth and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” God wants Isaiah to be with Him, so what does God do? He sees that Isaiah is forgiven. The Altar, the place of sacrifice, that applies to Isaiah, that is done for him. Who is God? Do you wish to know what God is like? This is what God is like – He is the God who forgives sinners.

This is what Jesus teaches in the Gospel. You must be born again. You must be given new life. And this isn’t something you can do by yourself. You didn’t choose to be born of your parents – and likewise you don’t do anything to be born again. God does this, and God did this when He took you, and brought you to His font, and taking Water and His Word, washed you clean in Baptism. God did it when by Water and the Word He poured His life giving Spirit into you. And you are now born of the Spirit. God dwells within you. The blood of Christ covers you. You are now completely and totally holy. You are now a saint. Just as the Angel brought a coal from the altar and touched it to Isaiah’s lips – what do we get? Christ Jesus brings us Himself, His own Body and Blood from the true altar, the Altar of the Cross, and He places His own Body and Blood on our lips, and we are clean, we are righteous. All that Jesus is, all that He has done, overwhelms us, and we are forgiven. What Isaiah foretells in chapter 1 is brought to completion in Christ – though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. By yourself, by your own nature, apart from Christ you are a filthy, bloody rag – but Christ Jesus has won your forgiveness, and God has washed you, cleansed you, purified you so that you are white as snow, like clean fresh wool.

When God sees you, He sees you as completely righteous and holy. Why? Not because of who you are or what you do. Because when God looks at you, He sees Jesus. The Father sees His Son when He looks at you, He sees you as His New Creation, that you have new life in Jesus. This is the entirety of our lives as Christians. By nature we are completely sinful – and if we look to ourselves, if we trust in ourselves, if we persist in justifying ourselves – sinners is all we will ever be – and we will be damned. But the Triune God comes into our lives, calls us to repentance, and makes us holy and righteous. And now, in this life here on earth, we see both. We see the sinner, worthy of damnation; we see the saint given heaven. This is the struggle in your life. This is why your life is difficult. Because you are both sinner and saint. This is what we see in Baptism. “What does such baptizing with water signify? It signifies that the Old Adam in us,” that is our sinfulness, “should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts and, again, a new man,” the righteous saint we are in Christ, “come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” While we live, we have both – we are at the same time sinner and saint. And as God’s people, we struggle against our sin and confess it. We don’t ignore our sin, we don’t puff ourselves us, we fight temptation and confess our sin, because God makes us righteous; God makes us holy, God washes us clean and gives us forgiveness as often as we need it – and since we are always sinners, that’s often, that every day. He gives us this forgiveness in His Word, in His Sacraments – bringing us ever closer to Him, and making us look more and more like Christ.

Dear friends in Christ, marvel and delight in the God whom we Worship. God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit beholds us sinners, but because of His love for us, He wins for us salvation in Christ Jesus, and He makes us Holy by the Working of the Spirit. Our God wishes to be with us for all eternity, and He does all that is required to see this happen. Our Lord gives us heaven, He gives us Himself. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost Sermon

 

Pentecost – May 22^nd and 23^rd, 2021 – John 14

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

      The Holy Spirit has an incredibly important job, although it's a job that we probably don't think all that highly of, certainly not like we ought. In fact, sometimes Lutherans will be told by other folks that we don't focus enough on the power of the Holy Spirit, all the wild and amazing things that He can do – that we should be talking up the Holy Spirit every chance we get. And, I suppose there's a point to that, but the problem is when we start thinking in terms of power and possibilities we can go off into wild flights of fancy and get distracted from the utterly profound and mysterious wonder of what the Holy Spirit actually does. The Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, has the most amazing task and job, the most amazing impact upon your life. He gets to work... with words.

      Words. Specifically the Word of God, but words. If I were to ask you to write a list of the most awesome, profound things in human existence, how many other things would you have put before you got to “words”? This is perhaps why folks want to focus on fire or earth shaking wind, things that seem powerful or unusual, but there are few things more profound than words. And as Jesus teaches us, the Holy Spirit is in charge of the Word, how you hear the Word of God and how you speak the Word of God. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you.

      Do you realize how drastically important this is? That the Holy Spirit teaches, that He brings Jesus' Word to your remembrance? I want you to think about something for a moment. How many words did you hear in the past week? How many words were there shouting for your attention? And not just conversation – how many words did you hear on the TV and radio? How many did you read? How many billboards did you see, how many advertisements? How many people were trying to teach you and instruct you about what you need to do and how you need to act and what you need to believe? We are bombarded by words. And there are some words of wisdom and beauty that we hear, but then some words are down right evil and wicked – you might have had some of those unleashed upon you this week. Most words we come across aim towards a good goal, but they are lost and wayward and have no foundation. They drive at justice, but don't know what justice is. They aim at freedom, but they don't know in Whom we have freedom. They call for order, while adding their own chaos. They speak of love, but instead of service to the other freely given they speak of greedy desires. So many words that miss the mark, that fall short of their target – and the world spirals further and further into the anger and discontent that Satan and his corruption brings. This world is full of twisted words.

And yet, there is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father has given to you – Whom the Father has attached to Jesus' Word. And the Holy Spirit was poured upon you in your Baptism, and the Spirit accompanies the Word of Jesus, and the Spirit works upon you to make you remember Jesus and His Word, even in the midst of all the braying out there. Justice and Righteousness – behold Christ Jesus who obeyed the law completely and who took up all your punishment in your place. The Spirit makes you to remember this. Or freedom – you are free in Christ – it is for freedom you have been set free, return not again to a yoke of slavery. You aren't defined by what they say you must do to fit in or signal what side you are on – you are forgiven and free in Christ Jesus, bound for everlasting life. Or order – God Himself has created a wondrous order, and He has Himself instructed us on how to tend to that order, to tend to each other – indeed, this is love, is service, is charity. Having been forgiven by God we forgive others and strive to be charitable to them – this is how God brings about order and love in His creation – we love because He first loved us and because in utter charity with no worth in us Christ Jesus redeemed us by His death upon the Cross.

     This truth of Jesus is a simple truth. And when the world would distract us and try to have us forget it, to set up idols of our own, the Spirit uses the Word to bring Jesus back to the forefront of our mind. And this truth is a deep truth. And so the Spirit will teach us. Whenever you are in the Word, the Holy Spirit works upon you, teaching, revealing to you what you need to know. It doesn't matter if a text is familiar, if you “know” it – the Spirit teaches it anew. I do not know what points, what aspects of today's texts and sermon and hymns will resonate with you – I don't know what you will see (or rather what the Holy Spirit will reveal, will teach to you). I don't even know for myself – rarely do I end up writing the sermon I intended to write, and often things strike me unexpectedly in service. This is the Spirit at work – teaching us, reminding us of Christ Jesus, each as we need, and it happens when we are in the Word of Jesus. The Spirit accompanies the Word of Jesus with truth and power so that we understand.

      And this is why I would encourage you to be in the Word – not just for an hour on the weekend if you can make it, and not just at bible studies (which are quite fun here, and Jesus has promised that He Himself will be present wherever two or three are gathered in His name). Be in the word. Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.” What a fantastic promise from Jesus! What access you have to God Almighty. The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all promise to be with you, to make their home with you whenever you are keeping, treasuring, tending to Jesus' Word. The Word of Holy Scripture. The thoughts and meditations upon the Scriptures that are the core of our hymns and songs, the ideas the Spirit brings. Even the prayers that you pray – because that is something else the Spirit does – Romans 8 - Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. You don't have to go on some quest to find God – God makes Himself to be found precisely where He has promised – in the Word of Jesus. And the special and unique job of the Holy Spirit is to see that this Word is brought to you and delivered to you and that you hear it, that you receive it.

      And this is the most simple and ordinary thing. Too often when we think of the Holy Spirit acting in power, we think of, we want something dramatic like what we see in Pentecost. Tongues of fire, a mighty rushing winds, speaking in tongues. But that's not the amazing thing. Rather this – And they were amazed and astonished, saying - “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in our own native language?” How is it that we hear – that's the miracle, that's the wonder... and it is the most simple, ordinary thing we hear. Daily you live in God's Word, daily you are directed and guided by the Word and Spirit away from sin and wickedness. Daily you receive the forgiveness of Jesus, for in this Christian Church [the Spirit] daily and richly forgives my sins and the sins of all believers – because that's what the Spirit does with God's Word. And that forgiveness is how the Spirit gives you life – life where you are freed from the constant blather of guilt and shame that are dumped upon you. Life where you are free to forgive and free to be forgiven. Life where you are free to take the gifts you have received from God and to use them in service to your neighbor in accordance with God's Word has He gives you opportunity. Life filled with peace.

      Jesus said, Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Oh, the words of the world so often have strings attached – traps and snares all designed to manipulate you, threats to pull the gifts away from you at the drop of a hat. That's not how the Spirit works God's peace through His Word. Over and over the Spirit takes Jesus' Word and gives you Jesus, gives you access to the Father in prayer, gives you forgiveness and life and salvation – and never based upon what you do, never conditional or hinging upon you. Jesus' Word is secured by Jesus Himself, it hangs upon Christ and Him crucified. It is finished and it is for you.

      There will be many words you hear this week, some important and some quite frivolous. I hope you enjoy them rightly and safely – but know that there are words that are vital, words of vitality and life that you hear – the Words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit brings these to you whenever you cling to and focus upon and keep His Word. God grant you to enjoy His Word this week and be strengthened there by. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.