The minister gave his Sunday morning service, as usual, but this
particular Sunday, it was considerably longer than normal. Later, at the door,
shaking hands with parishioners as they moved out, one man said, "Your
sermon, Pastor, was simply wonderful - so invigorating and inspiring and
refreshing." The minister of course, broke out in a big smile, only to
hear the man say, "Why I felt like a new man when I woke up!"
Actually,
I can understand if you do happen to fall asleep during my sermon this morning
(and hopefully you won’t!!!!!!! ) because the topic is very “dry” and hard to
understand. We’re doing something a little different today. Instead of talking
about Jesus and his parables or teachings, we’re talking about one of the key
doctrines or teachings of the Christian church. Why talk about doctrine? Simply
put, the doctrine of the Christian church is the substance of our faith. If we
do not show any interest in biblical doctrine, then we do not show any interest
in our roots.
The
Trinity is a difficult concept to understand let alone preach about, and part
of the reason is because the Trinity is not specifically mentioned anywhere in
the Scriptures, even though the concept of the Trinity is mentioned throughout
the Bible. There is always a danger when a man-made concept is introduced into
something God has created. The early church introduced the concept of the Trinity
to explain how God works in our lives to restore our relationship with him.
In
essence, the Trinity is the belief that God is one in essence, but distinct in
person. In other words, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are somehow
distinct from one another, yet at the same time they are completely united in
essence, will and tasks. God has a life in which all three members of the
Trinity relate to each other, give to each other, and love each other.
This
is the concept behind the Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed. The intention
of the creeds was to affirm these three core beliefs:
1.
The essential
unity of God
2.
The complete
humanity and essential divinity of Jesus
3.
The essential
divinity of the Spirit.
Christians
affirm the unity of all three members of the Godhead. We worship and glorify
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The
three members of the Trinity-God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit-are three unique “individuals” (for lack of a better word), but they are
one in that they are part of God’s master plan to restore our relationship with
him. God is dynamic and unpredictable, just like the wind, and just like the
wind comes from all directions, sometimes God convicts us of our sin, sometimes
God denounces us and our sinful nature, and other times God opens Christ to us,
yet at all times God still loves us.
God
created the plan of salvation, Jesus put the plan in place, and the Holy Spirit
implements it in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is the invisible force that
allows us to accept Christ and what he did for us. The Holy Spirit allows us to
walk with God along the straight and narrow path in our new relationship with
God.
The
Holy Spirit reminds us of what Jesus did on earth. It tells us what God is
thinking. The Holy Spirit is infinite and indefinite. It can be everywhere and
with everyone all of the time. In contrast, Jesus could only be with a few
people in one place and at only one time because of his finite, human form.
Only through his death on the cross does he disclose what it means for him to
have been the mind and will of God in human form.
Like
Christ, we have to suffer a form of death and resurrection when we allow God to
enter our lives. When we do, we die to our own sinful nature and rise again
into a new life that is energized by the Holy Spirit. To be born again means
that we see things in a new and different light and in a way that is broader
and deeper than we can understand now, and to be energized by God’s power-a
power that is greater than ours. The only way we can gain this new insight into
God’s kingdom is to be born again with the Holy Spirit through God’s grace and
truth. We receive the Holy Spirit through baptism and acceptance of Christ in
our lives. The water of baptism washes away our sinful nature and allows the
Holy Spirit to enter and teach us all about what Jesus said about himself and
God the Father.
The
transition to our new relationship with God can be painful and full of
conflict. It involves letting go of our sinful earthly life, which can be
difficult. After all, change can be uncomfortable. The status quo is like our
favourite pair of shoes-it just feels so darn good! Change is sometimes
necessary. We need to be shaken up if we want to walk with God. Just like we
trade cars when they wear out, we have to trade in our old, sinful life for a
new one modeled on the life of Christ. Faith heals our sinful nature when the
Holy Spirit is born in us. It also heals the conflict that results from our
change to our new life. It also heals our relationship with God, and relationships
are the foundation of our lives.
God
is so vast and so infinite that we can’t even begin to understand him on our
own-the gap is simply too great. God bridged this gap by sending his son Jesus.
In other words, God became human so that he could understand our human nature.
Only by becoming human and by understanding our human nature could God bridge
the gap between him and us and begin the process of restoring our relationship
with him.
A
good analogy is the trips our Canadian Prime Minister takes to visit foreign
leaders who can’t speak English. When you see pictures of the two leaders
sitting down and having a conversation, you often see more people with them,
and one or more of these people are translators. They translate what our Prime
Minister says in English into a language that the other leader understands and
vice versa. When God became man, not only did he bridge the gap between him and
us, he was able to translate the mind and will of God into terms that we can
understand. That is also why Jesus often spoke in parables. He used ordinary
experiences that his audience could understand to teach them about God.
We
are never too old to accept the Trinity and what it offers. The Holy Spirit
gives us a spiritual awakening. In John 3:1-17, Nicodemus thought that because
he spent many years climbing to the top of the Jewish faith he could not
change, but the encounter with Jesus changed him. How do we know this? It is
because Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea prepare Jesus’ body for burial
after his crucifixion.
None
of us can enter God’s Kingdom on our own, because we cannot measure up to God’s
spiritual standards by ourselves. Why it that? It is because God’s spiritual
standard is perfection. We need the help of all three members of the Trinity.
We are and always will be sinners, but with the Trinity we become sinners saved
by grace. Even though the Holy Spirit restores our relationship with God, and
even though our sinful nature has been removed, we still have to accept the
consequences of our past sins. God can’t overlook sin. Sin demands punishment.
God took our punishment on himself as our substitute when he as Jesus died on
the cross. When we accept him as out substitute, the Holy Spirit lives within
us and reestablishes our relationship with God.
When
we look upon the crucified Christ, like the Israelites who were bitten by
serpents in Numbers 21 looked at the bronze serpent on the pole and lived, we
are given a new life. In other words, we are born again. When we are born
again, we receive the Holy Spirit. It encourages us to meet our needs in a way
that honours God. It leads us to salvation, regenerates us, convicts us of our
sinfulness, teaches us to live for Christ, and seals us for redemption. It also
leads us in truth. The Spirit will guide us to remember the truth, reproduce
the truth, receive the truth, act upon it and speak it.
God
works at the highest levels of power and the greatest distance from us. He
enters history uniquely identified with Jesus, who was fully human and fully
God. God also personally encounters us in our ongoing history.
The
most difficult truth for us to understand is that our sinful nature has made us
spiritually dead to God. That is why we need to be reborn spiritually. Baptism
is the sign of a new life in Christ. Baptism allows the Holy Spirit to enter
us. Once the Spirit turns on the light in our souls, we can understand
spiritual things. Our soul comes into union with God and gives us eternal life.
God adopts us, makes us his own and promises to be with us forever. This is the
heart of being born again.
When
we re-establish our relationship with God, he becomes our Father by rebirth and
adoption. God loves us because of his nature and he won’t stop loving us. The
Spirit gives us rebirth and new life, and God gives us the Spirit because he
loves us. God’s work in Jesus through the Holy Spirit is to save ourselves from
our own foolishness and our destructive nature. In return, God uses the Holy
Spirit through us as a voice of humanity in an inhumane world. We gain the
confidence to speak out because the Holy Spirit has touched us like the fiery
coal touched the lips of the servant in Isaiah 6:1-8. Life in the Spirit does
not have the problems or temptations that exist in life in the world.
God
is Father, Son and Spirit, co-equals united in mutual love and divine essence.
When we remember this, we can understand what Jesus meant when he said that he
and the Father and the Spirit are one. We can’t have one without the other.
Jesus reveals God and reconciles us to God. He is the one through whom we are
able to enter God’s kingdom, and the Spirit takes us there. The Holy Trinity is
God (who is love) coming to us in whatever way we can receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. As a result, we become new people who express God’s love in
everything we do, say or think.
Bibliography
1. Lectionary Homiletics, Volume XXIII, No. 4 (St. Paul,
MN: Luther Seminary; 2012; pp.1-9)
2. Craig Condon, “The Three Musketeers-Father, Son and
Holy Spirit”. Sermon on John 16:12-15
3. Craig Condon, “No Greater Love”. Sermon on John 3:1-17
11. Pete Briscoe, “Is It About Your Behavior or Your
Being?” retrieved from crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
12. The Rev. Dr. Fred R. Anderson, PCUSA, “The Threefold
Nature of God”. Retrieved from www.day1.org
14. Dr. Charles Stanley, “Jesus Christ, the Seeking
Savior”. Retrieved from In_Touch_With_Dr_Charles_Stanley@crosswalkmail.com
17. Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Part of Lessonmaker 8 Bible
software package.
18. ESV Study Bible. Part of Lessonmaker 8 Bible software
package.
20. C.H.
Spurgeon, “Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle”. Retrieved from Biblegateway@lists.biblegateway.com
21. Daniel
Clendenin, PhD, “The Infinite God as Truly Intimate”. Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net
22. Roland McGregor, “McGregorPage #820, Trinity Sunday,
6/3/12”. Retrieved from mcgregorpage-bounces@mcgregorpage.org
23. The Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Long, PCUSA, “The Start of the
Trail”. Retrieved from www.day1.org/3832-the_start_of_the_trail.print
24. John
Shearman’s Lectionary Resource, Year B, Season after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday.
Retrieved from http://lectionary.seemslikegod,org
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