Trinity Sunday 6/19/11

Trinity Sunday
6/19/11
Text: Multiple text
Title “Athanasian Creed”

Today is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday when the Athanasian Creed is traditionally read. It is a longest of the Christian creeds thought to be written in the Fifth Century focusing on the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is an important creed for the Christian Church, especially the liturgical churches which use the Trinitarian statement “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” in their worship services and different rites such as Baptism.

We are not going to read it today because it is such a long creed and so complex that to be honest with you most people’s eyes glaze over and the brain goes numb by the time they reach the end of it. What I would like to do though is for us to read together the first six lines, for they set out the importance of the creed for all true believing Christians. And then I will talk about the creed and its importance for Christianity.

Please open up your Lutheran Service Book to page 319 where we will read the first 6 lines. As we read please remember that the word “catholic” does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the Universal Christian Church.

Let’s read together. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without a doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this. That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons or dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.”

It continues to state in great detail the Christian belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and their relationship to each other, as one. While the creed appears at first glance to be about the Holy Trinity, it is really about Jesus and his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

I say that because it was written to correct a heresy that was starting to be taught in the Christian Church in the Fifth Century almost 1500 years or so before the Christian Church began to splinter into what has become so many different Christian denominations today. The heresy that was being taught was that Jesus was not equal to God, but was the first creature that God the Father created. In other words he was not truly God, as the Father is. Jehovah Witness’s today still believe and teach this false teaching.

Listen once more to the first of the Creed. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without a doubt perish eternally.

That is some strong language. And it is definitely not politically correct today to say that believing in the Triune God is the only way a person can be saved. While it is true that many Christians keep silent lest they offend a person of another faith I think there are more people who consider themselves Christians that keep silent when talking about different religions because they believe deep down in their hearts that while the belief in the Trinity is their way to be saved God has other ways for other spiritually minded people to be saved.

This type of thinking is a cancer in Christianity, for it eats away at the heart of Christianity; the belief in the Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as being the only way to be saved. You might be thinking what difference does it make, if I believe in the Trinity or not, as long as I believe in Jesus as my Savior. Or, if you know some about your Bible, maybe you are thinking that the Bible does not even teach the Trinity.
That might even be what you are thinking, but it is wrong thinking, for as I was preparing for my sermon this morning on the Trinity, I was reminded of all the different passages in the Bible that states just what the Athanasian Creed says in its first six lines. Here is one, for John 3:16-18 says it the best. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

Strong words aren’t they? But they are true words, for Jesus is saying them. And since Jesus is God while being human he cannot lie even if what he says makes us or anyone, for that matter uncomfortable. He is, as he says in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Some say that the doctrine of the Trinity is only a later development in Christianity, but is clearly taught in the Old Testament, especially in Genesis 1:1-3 which is made clear in John 1:1-3 where we learn of God and of the Spirit of God and of the Word of God Jesus, by whom all things were made. But even more importantly we hear Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 say, "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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. "

While the words Trinity or Triune are not mentioned in the Bible it is clearly taught, for God the Father is, as John 17:3 tells us, “the only true God” while at the same time being a person distinct from the Son, as we are told in Galatians 4:4, “God sent forth His Son”. He is distinct also from the Holy Spirit since we read in Acts 10:38 that he anointed “Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power”.

Jesus is also “the true God, and eternal life” as we read in 1 John 5:20 "we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."

Paul says of Jesus in Romans 9:5 that He “is over all, God blessed forever”. Even though he is of the same essence of the Father Jesus is distinct from the Father, as we read in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Together with the Father he sends forth the Spirit of truth as we read in John 15:26 "But when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."

Which brings us to the Holy Spirit who is also God, as we learn in Acts 5:3-4 when Peter tells Ananias that, when he lied unto the Holy Spirit, he had lied unto God and in 1 Corinthians 3:16 Christians are called the temple of God, because the Holy Spirit dwells in them.

The Holy Spirit is true God while also being distinct from the Father and the Son, for in John 14:16 where Jesus is speaking, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (Holy Spirit), to be with you forever." Jesus clearly differentiates between himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

Thus we believe through faith, which we know from Heb 11:1, “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." that there are not three Gods or three different manifestations of God such as ice, steam, and water are different forms of water, but each is a different distinct person and each is the full and complete God. Thus the Father is the one and only God; the Son is the one and only God; the Holy Spirit is the one and only God. The three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of equal rank and majesty, none to be preferred before the other, for while being distinct in person, they are one in essence; that is in their Godhood. That my dear brothers in sisters in Christ is why we believe and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is the only way to be saved. Amen

Pentecost Sunday 6/12/11

Pentecost
6/12/11
Acts 2:1-21
Title: The Holy Spirit has entered the building.

I have titled my sermon for this morning, “The Holy Spirit has entered the building.” The reason I did that was that last week I said that since Jesus has ascended into heaven you could say, in a sense, that he has left the building, actually the world, or has he? We will see.
As I was preparing for this sermon I became curious as to why God picked the Festival of Pentecost, a Jewish holy day to announce the arrival of the Holy Spirit to the world. So, I spent some time researching Pentecost; when it started, its traditions, and history. What I found out was that Pentecost officially was the last day of the celebration of the festival of the spring harvest which took place 50 days after the celebration of the Passover which celebrates the passing over the homes of the Israelites by the angel of death in Egypt.
But, for at least 100 years before Jesus walked the earth Pentecost had become for the Jewish people, and still is to this day, mainly about the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
So when I found out that Pentecost was about celebrating the giving of the Ten Commandments it became clear to me why Pentecost was chosen by God as the time for the Holy Spirit to descend into the world. Pentecost is about the giving of the Law. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law.
And since all the world needed to know about his act of salvation God the Father sent the Holy Spirit who not being restrained by time and place, as Jesus was, could enter into others, so that they could continue doing what Jesus had done before his Ascension.
Besides that Pentecost drew Jews and Jewish converts from all over the known world who after coming to faith in Jesus would go back to their cities, providences, and countries where they could tell others about Jesus and his saving work. Pentecost then is the Big Bang of Christianity. It all starts here.
It is important to know that this does not mean that the Holy Spirit was never in the world before Pentecost, for there is plenty of evidence throughout the Holy Scriptures that he was active in the lives of God’s people. Jesus himself had breathed the Holy Spirit on his disciples, so that they could come to faith, although at times it was pretty weak and many times an inaccurate faith, not because the Spirit was weak or inaccurate, but because the disciples would not open their hearts and minds to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. They were stuck in the past beliefs of the priests.
So on Pentecost Day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of Jesus in such a way that they finally got the message. He came in the sound of a mighty wind and what appeared to look like tongues of fire. He came in a way that was meant specifically for the future leaders of the Christian Church. An event that I believe will never happen again.
For in his coming in such a manner God opened up their hearts and minds of his disciples, the first missionaries and pastors in such a way that they knew without a doubt that Jesus is the Son of God who died to save people from going to hell. They finally knew the whole story and meaning of his life, as it was prophesied about in the Old Testament.
Their old beliefs were blown away, opening their hearts and minds to what Jesus had taught them. He is the water of life from which when one drinks he never gets spiritually thirsty. He is the bread of life that when one eats he never gets spiritually hungry. He is the Good Shepherd. He is God in human flesh.
They got it and then the moment they left that room to talk to those attracted by the sound of a high wind they became Apostles, which means “sent one.” On this day the Christian church was born.
On that day the nations that had been driven apart by having their common language confused when they had tried to build a tower to God a thousand or so years earlier were united in one message, as God working through the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples.

The Christian Church started with 12 Apostles that day. By the end of the day it had grown by thousands and then multiplied again and again. People were being saved right and left daily. That has not changed, for today the Holy Spirit is still at work, as people read and hear about Jesus and his saving work on their behalf all across the world.

While we today do not have the special gifts of instantly having a complete understanding of God’s Holy Word and instantly being able to speak in foreign languages we still have the Holy Spirit in each of us, as God’s Word tells us in I Corinthians 12:4-14. Paul is speaking to the congregation in Corinth.

“"4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

While certain Christians are given special gifts for the good of the congregation and the spreading of God’s love all Christians have been given have been given other gifts, as we see in Galatians 5:22-25 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."

Last Sunday I announced to those present that I, in the name of the congregation was helping a 54 year old woman who had been homeless for two months. She was living on the streets, a frightening experience she told me. I asked each of those in attendance to contribute, if so moved by the Holy Spirit, to a fund to help her find an apartment plus set her up with all the things a person needs to live. That Sunday over 1,300 dollars was collected plus by the end of the week I had enough furniture to set up the apartment. She is now in a safe environment and looking forward to being part of the community again. That my dear brothers and sisters in Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit.

But that is not all. This week we had one of the most successful Vacation Bible Schools since I have been here. Many children who did not know of the love of Jesus were taught about him by people who were moved by the Holy Spirit. There were helpers, and cooks, and leaders, all moved by the Holy Spirit.

Not only were the adults moved by the Holy Spirit the children were moved by the Holy Spirit too. They contributed over 500 dollars, most of it in change, to the Lutheran Malaria fund. That is twice as much as we have ever collected from Vacation Bible School.

The Holy Spirit is moving in this congregation, as people volunteer to help in the nursery, so that our young families can worship. People are volunteering to teach the summer Bible Time lessons, and more people are starting to attend adult Bible classes here and in homes. People are willing to run for office or serve on a church board.

There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is moving through the people of the congregation as we fulfill our mission statement to proclaim the Gospel, properly administer the Sacraments, and to reach outward in the community and world to help others know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Amen.