The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

12 June, A+D 2022 

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

All Christians should spend a little more time each year becoming familiar with the Athanasian Creed.[1] It is the most simple and clear explanation of the Holy Trinity we have and yet we generally confess this Creed only once a year. Within this simplicity, the Athanasian Creed gives great detail about the doctrine of the Trinity.

 Like me, you probably know the doctrine of the Trinity is important to the Christian faith but struggle to see how it impacts you and your faith directly. According to the Athanasian Creed, there is nothing more fundamental to the Christian faith, for we explicitly confessed, “whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.”[2]

Unless they repent, all who deny the Trinity will be damned. This includes all who belong to the Mormon church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, or modern Judaism. It also includes all who refuse to make a confession of the Trinity, including the Freemasons, who insist on the vagaries of the Great Architect such that all members can claim to be united in their Freemasonry, even if they are divided in their memberships on Sunday morning; and all other groups who require adherence to a doctrine of a vague god but refuse to name him. By their silence, they deny the Triune God.

There are more in danger. Those who are spiritual but not religious; those who claim to have their own spirituality but do not find that spirituality in the gathering of God’s saints around Word and Sacrament; those claiming to be agnostic or who recognize a god but question who or what he is; and those who believe there is one god but many roads to reach him and many names by which he is called—all these deny the True God. They will be damned unless they repent of this idolatry. They have cut themselves off from the saving work of God, His atoning sacrifice for their sins, and the grace by which He delivers this salvation to man.

 Ignorance and denial of the Holy Trinity damn a person, whether the ignorance is willful or not, whether the denial is implicit or explicit. That sounds harsh. You may not like it. It feels wrong because God is Love. How it sounds or feels to you or me is not what establishes the character of God. The Word of God describes who God is and what God does. “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?”[3] Our God is a “jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him.”[4]

Because God is Love, He will never force Himself upon man. Forced love is no love at all. It is the result of force, enticement, or deceit. The one who gains love in this way does so from a covetous heart, a sin which God forbids in the tenth commandment.

Along with Love, God is Just. He will not tolerate rejection and blasphemy. Those who reject the Trinity, reject the work of the Trinity. They receive the just punishment of their sins. Salvation is gained only when the work of the Trinity covers the sinful nature into which man is born. To reject the Trinity is to reject salvation.  “Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.”[5]

It would be beneficial for us all to spend more time contemplating the Athanasian Creed and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Not only is this doctrine fundamental to your salvation but spending time contemplating it will teach you humility. You will be humbled by the fact that you do not understand it. The Trinity is not a mathematical formula or even something to make comparisons to.

For centuries, Christians have made similes to help in understanding the Trinity, but they all fall short. The Trinity is like the sun having heat, light, and radiance. The Trinity is like an herb having odor, taste, and effect. The Trinity is like water, which is a solid, liquid, and gas. Yet there is only one sun, one herb, and one element of water. These similes may be a place to begin understanding the Trinity, but they quickly introduce as many false doctrines as teach the true.

In contemplating the Trinity, you will be forced to acknowledge your humility before the mystery of God, but this should not make you stop confessing the Trinity. If you could comprehend the very essence of God, He would not be God. If you could understand the Trinity, it would not be a mystery. If you knew everything concerning the plurality of Persons and the Unity of the Godhead, you would then be superior to God Himself. Spending time thinking on the Holy Trinity ought to draw you deeper into the mystery of your faith, rather than be cause to abandon it. Remember, whoever desires to be saved, must confess the Trinity.

For this reason, do not be discouraged as you realize you cannot comprehend the Trinity. The desire to know God in His fullness is the desire to draw closer to God. This is a good, pious desire, driven within you by the Holy Spirit. It is difficult. It may frustrate you and make your head spin. It is not something to be conquered. It is something to be fostered. A little frustration and a little head-spinning is good for you. It is how you grow as a person and as a Christian.

To this point, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity seems like strict, condemning Law, or at least an academic pursuit required of all Christians. The Athanasian Creed is helpful in our contemplation of the Trinity because it gives us useful language to express the teachings revealed by God concerning Himself. It also gives us categories for organizing our knowledge of God. The Creed gives clear definition of what is acceptable regarding the Trinity and what is damnable; what is in and what is out. There is no multiple-choice test necessary for entering heaven. Faith is not a test of memory or formulations.

Faith, in the end, is a relationship. Such language is often mocked by doctrinal Christians, but it is true. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity reveals God’s love for us in Christ. It also reveals that the Three Persons of the Godhead, united in One Divine Essence, are a family. The Persons are defined as Father, Son, and Spirit. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. A Father cannot be a Father without a Son and a Son requires a Father. There is a bond between them, Love which proceeds from both and returns to both. This is the Spirit. The Father loves, the Son is loved, and the Spirit is Love.

It is this same Spirit that is sent by the Son from the Father to witness to man concerning the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Son. In this way, the Spirit being love, the Love of God is made manifest in us. We are not the natural sons and daughters of the Father. The Son is the Only Begotten of the Father. But we are born again, born from above, begotten of the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

We must never forget that Holy Baptism is an act of the Trinity, not just one Person within the Trinity. The clearest revelation of the Three Persons is at the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan. The Son rises from the waters. The Spirit descends as a dove. The Father opens the heavens and proclaims, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Although not marked by such a spectacular visual miracle, your own baptism was attended by the Holy Trinity in the same manner. You were washed in the blood of the Son, flowing in the font. The Spirit descended upon you in the Word spoken through the lips of man but emanating from the Love of God. The Father looked upon you and declared, “This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” You now have the right to call God your Father and to come to Him in prayer.

The Holy Supper is also an act of the Trinity. Christ has provided His own Body and Blood as the feast. The Father has accepted the sacrifice of the Son and declared the food to be worthy of His children for all eternity. The Spirit delivers to you the gift of faith by which your sins are forgiven, and this divine meal strengthens your soul.

Nicodemus sought the truth when he came to Jesus by night. He confessed that God was with Jesus, but he lacked clarity. Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel and yet he did not contemplate the mysteries of God. He was content with the simplicity of a vague God. He was content to have his vision clouded by the veil of Moses, the weight of the Law hanging heavy on his eyelids. In other words, he believed in a god but did not know Him.

Christ was a bit harsh with Nicodemus, shaming him for his lack of faith and knowledge of the Word of God. Christ also comforted him by speaking concerning the work of the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit have worked together since the foundations of the earth were laid for the salvation of man. This was accomplished when the Father “gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”[6]

The doctrine of the Trinity has direct implications for the daily exercise of your faith. It is the foundation and substance of your faith because it is the family into which you have been adopted. To know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is to know your Father, your Brother, and the Love which flows from them to you. “Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.”[7] 

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This sermon is based on a sermon by Rev. David H. Petersen, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, available at https://cyberstones.org/sermon/trinity-2021/, accessed 2022.6.10.

[2] Athanasian Creed 26 (acc. to LSB versification).

[3] Romans 11:36

[4] The Small Catechism, What does God say about all these commandments?

[5] Athanasian Creed 26 (acc. to LSB versification).

[6] St. John 3:16.

[7] Athanasian Creed 26 (acc. to LSB versification).

The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

 The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity – October 24, 2021

Psalm 119; Genesis 1-2:3; Ephesians 6:10-17

St. John 4:46-54

In the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The account of the healing of the nobleman’s son is all about faith. The word “faith” is repeated three times, as is the consequence of faith – life. While we are accustomed to focusing on the object of faith, this portion of Scripture is focused on the development of faith. The nobleman approaches Christ in faith. He hears Jesus has come down from Judea into Galilee and so he quickly travels from Capernaum to Galilee to implore the Lord to heal his son who is on the brink of death.

The nobleman approaches in faith but it is undeveloped faith. He comes with the faith of an adult, not the faith of a child. He trusts that Christ can heal his son. He trusts that Christ desires to heal his son. He is also insistent that Christ travel to Capernaum to perform the healing. This reveals the weakness of his faith. He insists Christ follow his commands in the manner and timing of the miracle.

We might compare this nobleman to the Canaanite woman, who likewise was insistent that Christ answer her prayer.[1] Jesus seemed to ignore her pleas, but the woman was insistent that he exorcise the demons from her daughter. Although both the Canaanite woman and the nobleman approach Christ in faith, the woman did not dictate the time or place in which she expected the blessing to occur. She only expected her Lord to be faithful to his promise to care for her daughter in body and soul. The nobleman expects the Lord to fulfill his promises, but he is insistent that it be done on his own terms – “Come down to my house and heal my son before he dies!” Thus, Christ commends the great faith of the Canaanite woman and rebukes the nobleman.

That is not to say the nobleman is without faith. He certainly looks to Christ for the salvation of his son in body and soul. Yet his is an undeveloped faith. How then is his faith developed? How does he go from the milk-faith of a stubborn adult to the meat-faith of a newborn child?

This development does not come from praying harder. It does not come from introspection. It does not come from additional time in nature with God nor from intellectual pursuits of Scripture. It does not come from singing louder or mission trips. The faith of the nobleman is developed through suffering.

Perhaps faith was born in the nobleman at the wedding at Cana, where our Lord turned water into wine. Perhaps he heard Christ preach or witnessed the teaching of John the Baptist and the Baptism of our Lord. Sometime after faith was born within him, the son of the nobleman fell ill. His beloved son was thrown down by an invisible disease and brought to the point of death. When the Beloved Son of the Heavenly Father returned to the region, the nobleman sought him out and expected the Son of God to obey his demands for the sake of life. Then Jesus rebukes him.

“Unless you see signs and wonders, you will absolutely never believe!”[2] Of all the rebukes of our Lord, none is perhaps as complex as this one. One the one hand, he is rebuking the nobleman for demanding something of God which has not been promised, namely the temporal healing of his son.

At the same time, this rebuke is intended to teach the nobleman. There is a temptation within the flesh of man to think faith is an internal matter, as though it exists entirely apart from the physical, external world. This is the origin of that terrible phrase, “I’m spiritual but not religious.” Those who hold to this creed believe their faith is a private matter between themselves and an ambiguous god. Such enthusiasts raise their own thoughts and desires above the external Word of God. They deny the Sacraments or treat them as magic rituals in which blessings of their own imagination are imparted.

The weak faith of the nobleman fits this creed. He has faith in Christ but has not submitted himself to the external Word of God. Through this rebuke, Christ is pointing him outside of himself. It is as though our Lord is saying, “Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth? Where were you when I formed your son in your wife’s womb? Do you presume to tell me how I am to love you and your son? Do you presume to know better the salvation of man than I, the Son of God, who has taken on flesh for this exact purpose? Do not look inside your own thoughts, desires, or imagination for a sign of the love of God. Look to me. Look for the sign of Jonah, the three days in the earth and the coming of the Dawn on the third day. Look for the sign and wonder of your salvation found when I come into my own kingdom, enthroned on a cross and crowned with thorns. Look to the sign of your salvation in me – my blood, my flesh, my washing, and my Word.”

The nobleman’s response shows a growth in his faith. The Word of God has worked on his heart and developed his faith. “Lord, come down before my son dies.”[3] While it is unclear if the nobleman understands the fullness of the Incarnation, the Holy Ghost is certainly teaching us through these words how it is the Lord saves us all from death. The Son of God came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born of the Blessed Virgin, and was made man. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity descended from the Father so that he would be raised up in the sacrifice of the Cross in our place. The Incarnation is the beginning of the work of salvation of our Lord.

The nobleman likely doesn’t understand what he is saying and yet he is confessing that by coming down from the Father into our flesh, Jesus will save his son from death, eternal death. By coming down from the Father into our flesh, Jesus will raise the nobleman’s son on the last day in the very flesh which was thrown down by illness. By coming down from the Father, the Son of God will cause the son of this man to live life eternal.

It is at this time that Jesus tells the man his son lives, and the man believes the word of Jesus. He has not yet seen the sign and wonder and yet he believes. His faith has developed. His faith is strengthened. How did this happen? By the Word of God. By suffering. By crying out to the Lord for salvation and then trusting that the Lord is good and will answer. Jesus pressed the nobleman into a corner to force him to rely on the Word of God and trust that the Lord would hear his prayer.

When the servants of the nobleman report that the son was healed at the very hour in which Jesus said, ‘he lives,’ the nobleman’s faith is again strengthened. This is the sign and wonder which he sought, but it is not the sign or wonder which confirmed his faith. How else could his entire household believe if the nobleman had not preached to them the Word of God? He must’ve returned home with the psalms on his lips and cried out to them that the Son of God has come down that we all may live. The milk-faith by which the nobleman was barely clinging to life and now become a feast of meat-faith by which he is able to provide for his family, his man-servants and maid-servants.

The Son of God comes to you today in the same way. The Lord sends you affliction. You have children who have left the faith. You have sinned and are ashamed. You look around and see “perfect people” in the church and believe you don’t belong. You beloved faces life-threatening surgery. You face illness unto death and worry for the sake of your loved ones. These afflictions are sent to you for the strengthening of your faith. Repent of your little faith, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”[4]

Like the nobleman, demand that the Lord come down to be with you and then look for the sign. Not the sign of miraculous healing of a tumor or a bird suddenly appearing in your window. “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, [perfect health, wealth, children, and home,] and loses his own soul?”[5] Look to the sign of the cross. Look to the Body of Jesus, exalted on high for your sake. See the miracle of your salvation in the chalice. Hear the Word of God as it enters your ears and strengthens faith. “God is superabundantly generous in His grace: First, through the spoken Word, by which the forgiveness of sins is preached in the whole world. Second, through Baptism. Third, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Fourth, through the Power of the Keys. Also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren, ‘Where two or three are gathered…’”[6]

These are the signs and wonders given by God for the strengthening of your faith. Faith is not an ephemeral, intellectual, or strictly “spiritual” possession. It is given and strengthened by things external to you, objectively present in the world. Faith is then displayed externally. First by driving you to continually seek the Lord. Faith desires to see the signs and wonders given by God. Faith drives you to the Church where you receive the things of God and gather for the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren in the flesh. Our God is not virtual. Faith is not virtual. Faith never drives you to be alone. Faith gathers you into the bosom of Abraham, to be gathered with all the saints around and within the Body of Christ.

Faith then springs forth in external works, just as the nobleman preached to his family. If you have seen and tasted that the Lord is good; if you know salvation is in his flesh; if you know the Son of God lives and by his life you have life; you will desire this same grace for all whom you love.

In T Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 15:21-28.

[2] St. John 4:48.

[3] St. John 4:49.

[4] St. Mark 9:24.

[5] St. Matthew 16:26.

[6] Smalcald Articles, III IV. Reader’s Edition.