Today
is the one Sunday in the church year when we do something just a little
different. Instead of hearing about Jesus’ teachings, healings or miracles, we
talk about one of the mist difficult Biblical concepts to explain let alone
understand-the Trinity. In fact, one running joke among those of us who preach
is that when Trinity Sunday comes every year, we take that Sunday off!
This
year’s Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday is Matthew’s version of the Great
Commission. The Great Commission has not changed since Jesus gave it to the
disciples over 2,000 years ago. Christians today are also called on to go and
make disciples, baptize and teach. We are to do this through Jesus’ power, for
his sake, and with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we fail to obey the Great
Commission, it is because we fail to believe Jesus when he said that he is
always with us. Our purpose as believers is to continue reaffirming Christ’s
commands and follow-up with explaining how to do what he said. By God’s grace
we know that when we search the Scriptures we are given an insight into God’s
will and wishes for our lives. God the Creator speaks directly to our hearts
and shows us how important our salvation is for Him.
In
giving the Great Commission, Jesus created the concept of the Trinity before it
was developed in the early creeds. Jesus held the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
together as three different persons by whom God encounters us in his love from
all eternity and to all eternity. The three persons of the Trinity have the
same substance but different expressions. Matthew says that we are to baptize
“in the name of…,” thereby bringing people into a direct relationship with God
as we know him: Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. They are the way God exists,
or how the mystery of God expresses itself.
The
Resurrection did not transform the disciples into heroes of the faith. They
still had doubts even after they saw and heard Jesus. What did Jesus tell the
disciples they needed to do to obey his instructions? He told them the basics
that all believers need to be told:
1.
Salvation must be
genuine.
2.
God’s word must
be our priority.
3.
Prayer is vital.
4.
Surrender and
consecration must become our goal.
5.
Stay filled and
in step with the Holy Spirit.
All
of this can be summed up as worshipping God, Biblical ministry and glorifying God.
They flow from God’s purpose to show the world that he is our Saviour.
Jesus
came up with five tasks for us to do for Him:
2.
Disciple or train
those who are evangelized.
3.
Minister or serve
people demonstrating God’s love.
4.
Have fellowship
together
5.
Worship together.
None
of these functions are more important than the others. They are all equally
important.
A
good example of how we are to apply the Great Commission today occurred during
the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Navy Chaplain Carey Cash, who is the
great grandnephew of legendary singer Johnny Cash, asked the members of his
regiment if they wanted to explore what it means to follow Christ. He led them
in a 12-week Bible study, half of which took place before the invasion. He held
classes and counselling sessions with Marines who grappled with Christ’s
claims. As the eternal consequences of battle drew closer, their hearts
softened, and just before the invasion took place, 60 Marines received Christ
and were baptized. Several others were born again or baptized while in combat,
and many more were baptized in their home churches when they returned to the
United States.
At
one point during the invasion, Cash’s regiment encountered a line of Iraqi
tanks that American intelligence failed to notice. Their turrets were leveled
at the Americans and their tanks were fully manned, but the guns were never
fired and 3,000 Iraqi soldiers surrendered. The regiment was also protected
during an ambush at the presidential palace in Baghdad, when rocket-propelled
grenades would come right at them and then curve and go around them.
We
are to baptize in the name of the triune God. Christ’s mission extends to the
whole world, and baptism is part of that mission. Jesus is present everywhere
thanks to the Holy Spirit, so his worldwide mission can be done easily. The
mission involves helping new believers discover that God is a god of light,
goodness, mercy, compassion, justice and reconciliation. This does not involve
imposing our own cultural values and traditions. We only have to look at the
residential schools issue here in Canada to see what happens when values and
traditions are imposed on people.
We
are called to unite others with the Divine. That unity is reflected in the
unity that the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit have. That unity is in the
form of the Trinity, and it is about the nearness and involvement of God. God
first entered humanity in human form. After his resurrection he continued to be
with his followers in the form of energy and power for living the Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is a ceaseless flow of love that believers are caught up in.
When
we are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is under the
authority of Jesus, and Jesus is under the authority of God. The Trinity has
its roots in Jesus’ teaching. The name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is an
early sign of the Trinitarian Godhead. We need the gift of the Spirit, especially
when life gets rough. We will be witnesses to Jesus by the integrity of our
lives and the commitment to his ways. If we are faithful to what the Holy
Spirit teaches, there will be suffering and challenges. We might be ignored,
described as unrealistic or dismissed as idealists.
The
Holy Spirit is always with us, so it will help us fulfill the Great Commission.
It will allow us to go anywhere. It works supernaturally through us. We have
nothing to fear because the authority of Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is
greater than the authority of all the rulers of this world. In return, we are
to obey God faithfully. Being baptized in the name of all three members of the
Trinity indicates that our relationship involves all three faces of the
Trinity. We have the belief that Christ reigns and will send the Holy Spirit to
help us live the kind of lives that Christ wants us to live. We can’t speed up
or slow down the pace that the Holy Spirit comes at because it is a gift that
we constantly receive and constantly have to wait for.
The
doctrine of the Trinity is a confession and not a definition. No one can define
God. We can only confess our personal encounters with him. To confess Christ,
the Holy Spirit and God apart from each other is impossible. The concept of the
Trinity is a concept about the love of God. God loves us enough to be the
Creator who created the whole universe and every creature. He created us and
gave us life. God loves us enough to be the Redeemer who has saved us and the
world from sin, sorrow and separation from him so that we might be joined with
his love forever. God loves us enough to be the Spirit or Guiding God who is at
work in us to inspire, strengthen, guide, advocate and illuminate us in our
daily lives.
Jesus
made the statement, “I am with you always to the end of the age.” He is with us
because the Father sent him. He died for us in obedience to the Father’s will.
He was raised from the dead by the Father. He spoke only what the Father told
him to say. We have been born anew by the Spirit through baptism. Jesus is with
us through the power of the Spirit, who will take what is his and declare it to
us. By his Spirit we can bring the Gospel to everyone and use what the Father
gave us for the well-being of others.
Bibliography
1.
Jeremiah,
David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood,
TN: Worthy Publishing, 2013)
6.
The Rev.
Robina Marie Winbush, “It’s Not Over.” Retrieved from ww.day1.org
8.
Augsberger,
M.S. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s
Commentary Series, Vol. 24: Matthew (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.;
1982)
9.
ESV Study
Bible. Part of Wordsearch 10 Bible Software package
13.
Mark
Ellis, “Chaplain Led Revival in Marine Battalion, Saw Miraculous Protection in
Battle.” Retrieved from http://blog.godreports.com
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