Sunday, June 16, 2019

Praise God He made Himself our God.


Sermon for Trinity Sunday, June 16, 2019

Almighty, everlasting God, by Your grace alone we are called into Your kingdom, that we might confess the true faith, acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, enjoy the blessing of Your providence with sincere thanksgiving, and in the power of Your divine majesty worship the true Unity; we give You our most hearty thanks and praise that, in Your holy Word, You have granted to us the clear and abundant revelation of Your being and purpose; and we humbly pray, give us grace to acknowledge, honor, and praise You always as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, who lives and reigns, one true God, now and forever.  Amen.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.



Dear fellow redeemed,

            This morning, we contemplate and celebrate the mystery, majesty, and unity of the Trinity.  And, as we do so, we go forward with the understanding that this side of heaven we will struggle to understand the full depths of it all.  At the same time, Praise God He made Himself our God.

We live in a time when it is said that knowledge is expanding at an ever-increasing pace, and truly, mankind is discovering marvelous things about the universe, and we have technologies that were largely no more than science fiction just a few decades ago. 

At the same time, the majority of people in our world often imagine they have progressed far beyond what is really true, for as our explorations and manufacturing creativity have increased, so has our self-centered arrogance.  Even among Christians, today, it is common for people to question God’s Word, outright reject portions of it, or to twist it to say whatever new fancy they desire.  Just as common among many people is the idea that whatever god you worship is as good as any other.  In fact, to hold tight to faith in the God of the Bible leaves one open to mockery and attack.

In addressing the mystery of God, St. Paul wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and how untraceable his ways!”  How can we truly comprehend the omnipotence of God when everything in this universe is inside the vastness of God and yet God is not found in any part of this world as the pantheists imagine.  Instead, the physical world is the evidence that the Triune God is far greater than any other living thing, for He created it all by the power of His command.  And still, God is not a part of the physical world.

How can we understand God when His Spirit is uncontained by anything yet encompasses everything?  How can we understand the mystery of God when He is One Being yet three distinct persons in that One God?  How can we understand God when the Second person of the Three in One became part of our own human race by taking human flesh into the Godhead through the incarnation?  The answer is—we truly can’t wrap our minds around all of this.  In fact, apart from what God Himself reveals, we can imagine none of it.  Praise God, He wanted to reveal Himself to us, so that He might save us from the curse of sin and the condemnation it deserves.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote, “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his adviser?”  “Or who has first given to God that he will be repaid?”  Paul quotes the admonitions of the prophets to remind all of us that God’s ways are not our ways. (Isaiah 55:8)  As we gaze around this world, what part of its creation resulted from our creativity?  We weren’t there when God laid down the foundations of the earth and stocked its treasures. 

Much of our modern world is in uproar over the idea that we have to save the planet, but what is left unsaid is why.  Many of those who scream the loudest would claim there is no god, but if God didn’t exist, what difference would it make whether the world continues on?  There would be no reason to worry about whether the human race, or any other creature, would continue on in the future.  Yet, the conscience knows there will be a judgment, so the unbeliever, especially, fears God’s final reckoning.

You see, the human mind understands justice.  In fact, we crave it when we feel wronged.  But, oh how we fear it when we are the guilty ones.  By nature, mankind always expects that whatever made this marvelous world will judge us at some point.  We understand unconsciously that there will be some kind of evening out somewhere along the way.  Some people talk about karma, the imagined way of the playing field being leveled out over time.  But, who could ever imagine our Creator taking the punishment for the sins of the world upon Himself?  Who could imagine God becoming Man to make us acceptable to God?

All religions apart from Christianity scoff at those ideas.  At best, most of them see God as some distant being who takes no active role in the world.  Even if they confess a single deity, they see him through their own imaginations.  They see justice as something to be devised by men—carried out by works of retribution or self-sacrifice.  However, our text says, “Or who has first given to God that he will be repaid?”  What could we as sinners offer to God to mollify His just anger?  All we have to give is sin.  Everything else already belongs to God because He created it and gave it into our stewardship.  Whatever sacrifice we might think to make is only giving to God what is already His.


As we examine our own lives, it soon become apparent that we, too, have often sinned by questioning God, or His motives.  We might wonder why sometimes too much rain falls, or too little.  We might question why God allows death to steal away our loved ones.  Certainly, many question why God allows so much evil to continue in this world, as if it is God’s fault that people are wicked. 

That’s why to be truly Christian, truly a servant of the living God, and truly a member of His kingdom and family is simply to bow before God in humble acceptance of everything He has revealed about Himself, and about us.  So, when God’s law says we are sinners, we accept that as true, and believing Him, we fall to our knees in repentance pleading for His proffered mercy. 

When we look at the wonders of creation, we see God showing us His infinite wisdom, creativity, and generosity.  We look at what God has given us in our bodies, and we marvel at how it all works and how God continues to give life from one generation to the next in every kind of His creation.  However, more than just looking at the material world, we accept what God has said about the immaterial things.  Those things we cannot see are vastly more important than the things we can see, for this material world will be passing away, even as we witness its deterioration day by day.

God created this world to provide all things for His special creation, a creature formed individually in God’s own image.  That was the human race—created in perfection but ruined by the fall.  Yet, even after the fall into sin and our rebellion against our Creator, our Creator didn’t turn His back on us.  God continues to form us one baby at a time in the wombs of our mothers.  “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)  In spite of the wickedness of the world, and each of us individually, God allows everything to keep going and provides for all living things with the goal of saving for entrance into His heaven those who will believe in His mercy and grace, having been perfected by His atoning love.

Even beyond what God daily and richly provides for all living things, He gives us so much more by the power of His Word.  Through the Word made flesh God reveals Himself to the world.  Through the promises of the Gospel in His word, God reveals the rescue mission He has been working since Adam and Eve first listened to the snake.  In the person of Jesus, we see both God’s righteous justice and His perfect, unlimited grace.  God’s justice demands perfect obedience or condemnation unto death.  God’s love provided His perfectly holy Son to take our place in the condemnation.  In the person of Jesus, we see God’s forgiving, healing, creative power.  In the person of Jesus, we see God’s compassion for the fallen and weak.  In the person of Jesus, true God and true Man, we find peace with our Creator.

Furthermore, because we could never find God on our own, the Father and Son together send the Holy Spirit to transform our lives.  The Holy Spirit comes to us in Word and Sacrament to rouse us from the chains of death and spiritual blindness to give us sight and life, faith and hope, a new heart and a new home in His spiritual world.

Dear friends, Jesus told His disciples, “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)  That’s the God we have.  He tells it like it is.  Because of sin in this world, our lives on earth will be full of trouble.  Yet, rather than end the world before the appointed time, God came down from heaven to set us free from the bonds of death and the devil.  Thus, for the short while we remain here, we are not left alone, for Christ reigns at His Father’s side, interceding for us, ruling the world for our everlasting good, and sending His Holy Spirit to rescue us from darkness by the glory of His light. 

Without God’s continual intervention we would all be lost, but God doesn’t leave our salvation to chance—He intercedes on our behalf.  That’s the amazing goodness of the Triune God—merciful, loving, and kind beyond human imagination.  Praise God He made Himself our God.  Amen. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto everlasting life.  Amen.
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