+ Trinity Sunday – June 7th, 2020 +
Series A: Genesis 1:1-2:4; Acts 2:14, 22-36; Matthew 28:16-20
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
It was the summer of 1961. The Green Bay Packers had lost the 1960 NFL championship to the Philadelphia Eagles. A new season was on the horizon. And Vince Lombardi began their training camp with five memorable words. “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
The message was simple, clear, and effective. To win, the Packers had to go back to the basics. To the essentials. To the core. To the fundamentals.
Trinity Sunday is one of those kinds of days for the Christian Church. A day of fundamentals.
It is a day where we confess one of the fundamental mysteries of the Christian faith, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity. It is a day where we rejoice in God’s saving name placed upon us and in us as we are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is a day when Jesus calls us, as he called his 11 disciples in Galilea, to continually go back to the basics, to the essence, the core, the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And yet before Jesus does anything, before he says anything to his disciples, notice how he finds them in Galilea. They worshiped him, but some doubted. Now, Matthew doesn’t tell us what they were doubting. And maybe that’s intentional. Left open ended for our sakes. Whatever their doubts were – whatever our doubts are – Jesus comes all the same. Jesus came to his disciples to keep them grounded in what is fundamental: Jesus’ authority, Jesus’ gifts, and Jesus’ presence.
It is the same for the church today. Jesus comes and joins us in our doubt-filled minds, our despair clouded hearts, our diseased bodies, our broken world, and he grounds us in what is fundamental, what is the heart and life of our life in Christ: Jesus’ authority, Jesus’ gifts, Jesus’ presence.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned these past several months it’s how little control we actually have in life. And this is a painful lesson to learn. After all, we like to be in control. In charge. Like Frank Sinatra sang, we like to do it my way.” We’re no different than our first parents, Adam and Eve, foolishly thinking we have some kind of rule and authority and wisdom that is our own, apart from God. And yet Scripture reveals that so-called human authority and control is one painful, sad episode after another. Cain murders Abel. Abraham passes off his wife Sarah as his sister. Jacob steals the birthright from his brother. Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery. Israel fashions a golden calf for an idol. David kills Uriah and takes his wife for his own.
What’s truly remarkable in all of this, however, is not the depths of sin to which our sinful use of authority has fallen, but the far greater depths of God’s mercy in Jesus. While we use our authority selfishly, Jesus – the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth - uses it not for his own sake, but for ours. Jesus teaches and forgives sin with his authoritative, life-giving word. Jesus places himself under the earthly authority of Pontius Pilate to take on our punishment, sin, and death. Jesus is given the authority to lay down his life and take it up again, not for himself, but for you. Jesus exercises his authority in his love for you.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Jesus’ authority gives way to Jesus’ gifts. Baptism. Teaching. Holy Water. Holy Words. His holy gifts for his disciples, for his church, for you. Jesus’ gifts are fundamental to who we are as his people. We are baptized into the holy name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is of course a profound mystery – that the eternal God, the Holy Trinity, would work for and save and promise to dwell with us in a very personal way in baptism. And yet that’s precisely what he does. When you are baptized in that holy name, you are baptized into everything that God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – has done for you. The Father’s merciful creation and sending of his Son Jesus. Jesus’ birth. Jesus’ perfect life. Obedience to the Father. His life laid down for you. His rising from the dead for you. His ascending and ruling at the right hand of God for you. His sending of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s life-giving breath that fills you and makes you a new creation. It’s all there in that holy name into which you are baptized.
This is also why we take time to confess the Athanasian Creed today. For the life of the baptized is a life of being taught our Lord’s words, receiving and confessing his words. Living in his words that we would love others has he has loved us.
I’m sure when the disciples heard Jesus’ words they wondered…how are we going to do all this? It all sounds so overwhelming
And yet Jesus’ promises: I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus promises his presence along with his gracious authority and his life-giving gifts. As the disciples went from Galilea to Jerusalem to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. As they faced persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom. Jesus’ words remained. I am with you. Always.
Jesus promises the to us as well. I am with you. In the face of a pandemic and lockdowns. In the face of racial injustice and civil unrest. In fear and uncertainty. In doubt and despair. In sin and death. I am with you always.
Despite all appearances to the contrary, the risen Christ is Lord over all. You have his authority. His gifts. His presence. His promise. I am with you always.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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