Sunday of the Holy Trinity
30th May 2010: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church – Collinsville
Blessed be the holy Trinity and undivided Unity!
Our Christian faith is fundamentally Trinitarian. That’s clear from the ecumenical creeds – the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and also the Athanasian Creed. They affirm this central base of Christian faith. The central article of faith concerning the holy Trinity forms the basis for the Lutheran Confessions in the Book of Concord. That’s what it starts off with, only to reaffirm this time and again as the confessors believe, preach, teach, hold and confess their faith before kings and princes. Dr. Martin Luther affirms this in the Smalcald Articles, which he wrote on invitation to clarify the confessional stance of the Lutherans at the church council planned by Pope Paul III in Mantua 1537 – 20 yrs after the publication of the 95 Theses and the formal start of the Reformation in 1517. [By the way we’re just short of celebrating the 500th birthday of the Lutheran Church in 2017 i.e. 7 years on]. To start off with Luther elaborates the basic tenet concerning the holy Trinity. He writes:
The First Part of the Articles deals with the lofty articles of the divine Majesty, namely:
1. That Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons in one divine essence and nature, is one God, who created heaven and earth, etc.
2. That the Father was begotten by no one, the Son was begotten by the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
3. That neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son, became a human being.
4. That the Son became a human being in this way: he was conceived by the Holy Spirit without male participation and was born of the pure, holy Virgin Mary. After that, he suffered, died, was buried, descended into hell, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God, in the future will come to judge the living and the dead, etc., as the Apostles’ and the Athanasian Creeds and the common children’s catechism teach.
These articles are not matters of dispute or conflict, for both sides confess them. Therefore it is not necessary to deal with them at greater length now.
Well, today this Christian faith is not commonplace. The Muslims – as a post-Christian sect - deny this first and basic article of faith, but so do Unitarians, Jehova’s Witnesses, Mormons and African Traditional religions like the followers of another false prophet Shembe. Faith in a divine being might be quite common around the world, but the true Trinitarian faith is still marginalized and not common faith. That was not only in the days of the notorious heretic Arius in the 3rd Century, who gave Jesus Christ a subordinate role in the holy Trinity and caused entire nations in Africa and consequently most of Europe to deny the true Trinitarian faith.Today some plead for unity amongst followers of the Abraham’s covenant, believing that could unite believers of Jewish, Muslim and Christian convictions – but because that does not encompass all and still excludes some, Noah’s covenant is propagated as truly universal and all inclusive. However looking at this common denominator more carefully, we will realize that this is a reduction to a very shallow and not very sustainable foundation. Believing in a common humanity or being and life does not give a lot of support for faith in this life, never mind coming death. Christians can never support a faith excluding Jesus Christ – or the Holy Spirit for that matter. That would give up their very essence of being. There is no other way to the father than via Jesus Christ. On the other hand nobody can recognize or come to Jesus Christ by his own means, power or insight except through the gracious workings of the Holy Spirit, who pulls, enlightens, sanctifies and preserves us with Christ in the true faith using his holy gifts of Word and Sacrament. In this matter it is either all or nothing. No half measures will do!
At the Seminary Pastor Glenn Fluegge preached on the “Shema Israel” from Dt. 6,4 on Monday. It is the daily prayer and confession of the true Israel. It rehearses the Churches faith in one God only: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deu 6:4 ESV) And there is none besides him. That preaches loud and clearly against all the many deities on the Greek Olympus or Nordic Valhalla and the Hindu subcontinent of India. This not only disqualifies the tribal deities of the Canaanites of old, but also the African traditional religions where every town and village has its own effigy, localized godheads and leagues of family idol. The one holy God who spoke by the prophets and who was incarnate [became human/man] in Jesus of Nazareth is God not only of Israel, but all people and the entire world and cosmos. He is the creator and preserver – yes, Father – of all. There is no other God besides him. He is truly the one and only! That is one of the reasons, why it is possible for a Pastor like Wally Hischke to come to SA and preach/teach there. He’s not proclaiming the faith of some old traditional faith only relevant on the Indian mounds outside of Collinsville – but rather stands under the obligation of the preexistent one, who said of himself: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore don’t be afraid, but make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything I commanded you. That’s also a reason, why a student from Sudan – or Liberia – or even from SID for that matter [like the student of theology Jacob Mueller] can come and study theology at the LTS in Tshwane. Theology is not just about a tribal, localized God, but rather the word, teaching, dogma of the one and only God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The one God is also a guarantor of the one, holy Christian Church – because there is only one Father in heaven, who lets it rain over good and evil, who sent his only begotten Son to be the savior of all people – there is no other savior, way or truth or light besides him and he is the one, who wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth [cf. 1.Tim.2,4] It is as the apostle Paul writes to the Church in Ephesus: There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. (Eph 4:4-7 ESV)
The Trinitarian blessing from St. Pauls 2.Cor.13,13: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2Co 13:14 ESV) show that this God is three persons in undivided unity. How this works is not said. It is a mystery. It is to profound to fathom. That is why Philip Melanchton writes in the first Lutheran dogmatics [The Loci communes]: The divine mysteries are to be adored rather than investigated/experimented [due to their profound intricacies and because in their pursuit even the most learned men can easily lose track of the true faith]. So we might not know and understand how the holy Trinity is essentially put together, but because this God has revealed himself in this way and thus given overwhelming proof we together with the entire Church remain convinced of this pillar of truth and confess: Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity! As I said before – this holds true in Ghana, Uganda, Botswana as in Illinois or Alaska for that matter.
There are just too many stories in the Bible telling us about the concurrent appearance of all three persons: God’s visit to Abraham before the destruction of Sodom/Gomorrah; when St. John baptized Jesus Christ and the voice of the Father was heard and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove; when Jesus bids his disciples farewell and tells them that he is going to the Father and that he will ask him to send them the Holy Spirit. Paul Gerhard’s hymn “A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth” [LSB 438] illustrates this wonderfully by the inner Trinitarian dialogue as we know it from verses 2 and 3: “Go forth, My Son,” the Father saith, “And free men from the fear of death, From guilt and condemnation. The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, But by Thy Passion men shall share The fruit of Thy salvation.” “Yea, Father, yea, most willingly I’ll bear what Thou commandest; My will conforms to Thy decree, I do what Thou demandest.” You see, if we look at God himself and as he is in relation to himself then he is always distinguished into three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However if God acts and get’s busy outside of himself then he is always acting in unison with himself – one God! [opera dei ad extera sunt indivisa, sed opera ad intera sunt divisa.]
In the Apostolic creed we hear of this triune God creating heaven and earth [Creation: 1st Article]. We learn about him saving mankind in Jesus Christ [Salvation: 2nd Article], but also confess him as the giver of life and the sanctification of the Church [Sanctification: 3rd Article]. That’s how Luther explains the Trinitarian work of the triune God: creation, salvation and sanctification! Before his time the Apostolic Creed was divided into 12 parts giving each Apostle credit for a section. This is not wrong, but emphasis something different than Luther’s explanation. It is one God, who creates, saves and sanctifies – the one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This Trinitarian set-up of our God helps us human beings to realize more and more how great our God is and how all-encompassing his works. Everything that was, is and is going to be boils down to him and his doings. The entire Church year assists us to remember the wonders and miracles of our God we are well advised to not reduce this to just some sectarian abbreviation of our God’s being and doing, but rather worship the triune God who reveals himself even today as constantly pro-active and absolutely godly in his works of creation, salvation and sanctification.
Due to his faithfulness, we trust that he who was so creative, saving and sanctifying like that from the very beginning and throughout the history of his church will continue to be as creative, liberating/redeeming/justifying and sanctifying like that even in future – creating a new heaven and a new earth, bringing to wonderful completion the work of salvation when he returns in glory and also allowing us to see him fulfilling the perfection of his church triumphant in the sanctified bliss of his eternal presence. To him be all glory and praise and so we sing with Nicolaus Decius [1485-1546]:
All glory be to God on high, Who hath our race befriended!
To us no harm shall now come nigh, The strife at last is ended;
God showeth His goodwill to men, And peace shall reign on earth again; O thank Him for His goodness!
We praise, we worship Thee, we trust And give Thee thanks forever,
O father, that Thy rule is just And wise, and changes never;
Thy boundless grace o’er all things reigns, Thou dost whate’er Thy will ordains; ’Tis well Thou art our Ruler!
O Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, Begotten of the Father,
O Thou Who hast our peace restored, And the lost sheep dost gather,
Thou Lamb of God, enthroned on high Behold our need and hear our cry; Have mercy on us, Jesus!
O Holy Spirit, precious Gift, Thou Comforter unfailing,
Do Thou our troubled souls uplift, Against the foe prevailing;
Avert our woes and calm our dread: For us the Savior’s blood was shed; Do Thou in faith sustain us!
Yes - Blessed be the holy Trinity and undivided Unity!
Amen.
Wilhelm Weber
Bishop
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