Sermon for Trinity Sunday: "The Triune Name"

+ Trinity Sunday – May 31^st, 2026 +

Series A: Genesis 1-2:4; Acts 2:14, 22-e36; Matthew 28:16-20

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

 

There’s a beautiful moment in Disney’s Toy Story when the toys are given a boy's name upon their feet. The boy takes a sharpie and inscribes his name upon each of them, carefully, personally. You see, like most young boys, Andy loves his toys, so much in fact, that he writes his name on the foot of each one. To be one of Andy’s toys, to have his name written upon their foot, means they are loved, they are treated more like family than toys; and above all, they are Andy’s own prized possession, they belong to Andy and no one else. 

 

Although it can be difficult to imagine the mystery of the Holy Trinity on this Trinity Sunday, this gives us a picture. A glimpse. 

 

It’s all in the name. No, not Andy’s name. Not a fictional name of a cartoon created by man, but the true name above all names of the Creator of man. The Name who names everything and everyone. Who redeems. Who hallows. Who rescues and saves and names.

 

The Name: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We worship the Trinity in unity and the unity in Trinity, neither confusing the persons, nor dividing the substance, as we confess in the creed.

 

So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord;

And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.

 

There is many a great mystery here to be sure. But there is also a depth of grace just as unfathomable. For by God’s grace, His name is also yours. For he has placed his name upon you.

 

With his word - the same word with which he spoke creation into being - and water - the same waters he called forth into their places, he places his holy name upon you. 

 

This is what our Lord promises in Matthew 28, to his disciples, to his church, to you:

 

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  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 (to guard, cherish, treasure, hold fast to) all that I have commanded you. 

 

With something far more permanent than a black sharpie, our Lord inscribes his holy name upon you. 

 

For unlike all other so-called gods, the one, true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, loves you. And not because we are particularly lovable. No, anything loveable in us or about us comes from him. The Holy Trinity loves us because that is who he is.

 

And he loves us in a particular way. The Father sends his Son. The Son lays down his life. Dies. Rises. Ascends. And the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son to bring us back through the Son to the Father.

 

Behold what manner of love the Trinity has given unto us, that we are called children of God. washed. Cleansed. Hallowed. Rescued. Saved. Forgiven. And given a new name.

 

God makes us more than creatures. He calls us his children. Members of the family of God. You belong to God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You are his prized people. You belong to him and to no one else. God writes his name – not on your foot – but upon your forehead and heart with the blood of his cross to mark you as one redeemed by Christ crucified. You are God’s own chosen people; you belong to him and no one else.

 

I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

 

Baptize and teach.

 

These are the gifts Jesus gives his church. Baptize in Jesus’ name and teach Jesus’ Word. Receive Jesus’ baptism washed over you. Hear Jesus’ absolution declared to you. Take, eat and drink, Jesus’ body and blood given and shed for you. Everything else we say or do in this place exists to serve, support, and deliver God’s gifts.

 

Today, Jesus gathers us to receive his gifts in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This Name by which we enter God’s family is the Name by which we enter his house. We’re called to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures as his inspired Word, to confess the doctrine of the Scriptures summarized in the Small Catechism, to receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully, and to suffer all even death rather than fall away from Christ’s church.

 

To do this faithfully means to confess that we have all been unfaithful. To believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe, but only by the Holy Spirit. As we heard our catechumens confess a few weeks ago…I do, by the grace of God!

 

Like the disciples, the first catechumens, we live in a world full of doubts, fears, and anxieties. There will be days when we do not live up to the name that we confess today. 

 

For days when darkness surrounds. When sin overwhelms. When guilt, shame, and sadness would silence our praise, that is why there is a Trinity Sunday. To remind us again and again, that there will never be a day that Jesus forsakes us. That the love of Christ crucified is with you always. 

And that the Holy Trinity who reveals his name to you.

Who places his name upon you in those holy waters of Baptism

Will also keep you in his name

Now and forever.

A blessed Trinity Sunday to each of you.

 

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