Holy Trinity
June 11, 2006
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: John 3:1-17/Acts 2:33
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; (Dear John, on the day of your confirmation) grace and peace to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
A pastor was once asked what the most difficult part of his ministry was. Without hesitating he answered that it was standing before the congregation each Sunday and saying, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” In the introduction to our book I note that it is no accident that the liturgy leads the pastor to begin the Divine Service, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and not, “We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In the invocation we are not telling ourselves what we are about to do. In the invocation we are not simply reminding ourselves who the one true God is. Rather, in the invocation, we are calling directly on the Holy Trinity Himself with trust that He comes into our midst as He has promised. The pastor is led to invoke His presence, saying – “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The people are led to say, “Amen”, that is, “yes it is certain, the one true God, the one who put His Name upon us in Holy Baptism is present here, now to bless us. “Amen”.
How difficult can it be to say and to mean, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” Quite difficult indeed, for we earth bound mortals do not posses the proper fear of His holy Name or the perfect trust in His holy Name or the whole-hearted love for His holy Name that we should. We are to fear and love in trust in Him above all things, with our whole heart. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God of hosts” (that is, the LORD of heavenly armies). “Woe is me!” sinful Isaiah said in His presence. Yet we sinners can be quite apathetic to His Name and His presence. No one knows His mind (Rom. 11:34). Before Him the nations are a drop in the bucket (IS. 40:15-17). We cannot tell God who He is, He tells us! He is the potter we are the clay. Yet the human heart continually tries to mold God into its own image as if we were the potter and God were the clay.
How difficult can it be to say and to mean, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” Quite difficult indeed for as the Athanasian Creed leads us to confess, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there is only one God. And concerning the one eternal kingdom of this one God, the revelation is equally scandalous. Only those born again enter it.
Nicodemus was an honest, well-intentioned, friendly Pharisee who admired Jesus as a teacher. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” But Jesus slammed the door on Nicodemus’ view of God and of Himself. Ignoring Nicodemus’ positive regard for Him as a religious teacher Jesus swept away what Nicodemus and the Pharisees stood for. We should be clear, that they stood for the best of what people see in one another; respectability, leadership, broadmindedness, a desire to see some good in this new teacher (even to recognize him as being from God in some sense).
Jesus isn’t from God in some sense, however. Jesus is God. He responded to Nicodemus by setting forth a requirement that was not open for debate. You must be born again! “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Oh what a miracle God gives as we are knit together in our mother’s womb. Miracle up miracle takes place there that could not possibly be accidental as the myth of evolution teaches. If just one of those knitting together miracles failed to happen, it would mean the end of the human race. But Jesus points to an even greater miracle. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” How difficult is it to say and to mean, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” It is impossible, without the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.
“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Indeed he was! Confused and deficient Nicodemus was a leader of the people. Yet, God’s requirement for a new mind and a new heart appeared foolish to his considerable intellect and his sincere religious feeling. The Holy Trinity’s stipulation that He must be born from above was foreign to his understanding and teaching. There was blindness about the kingdom of God not only among the people, but also among the supposedly enlightened teachers of the people.
And so it is in our day. While 70% or so of those asked say they believe there is a god, the nature and the name of that god or gods is up for grabs. The idols of the human heart range from a nameless fear to placate, to the trees or stars of nature to commune with, to crystals or angels or inner feelings to meditate on, to a sweet, fairy-tale grandfather figure who delights in indulging our every desire.
Wise respected Nicodemus, in the strength of his own spiritual insights, was confused and deficient. In fact, he was totally blind. Apart from Christ, that blindness is shared by every secular and every religious teacher in this cursed and passing world. It is also shared by those who follow such teachers.
“In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” How difficult can it be to say and to mean that beautiful Name? Impossible, except as a gift of the Holy Spirit! Apart from the miracle of new birth by the Holy Spirit, no human heart understands the magnitude of its sin or the marvel of the forgiveness given by God who is holy, holy, holy.
Only Christ can reveal it! Reveal it He does! He spoke to Nicodemus of heavenly things! He spoke of that which He had seen. He is the Son of Man who came down from heaven. The heart of what He revealed to Nicodemus is this; the Father gave His Son to give us life by water and the Spirit. This is the wondrous truth of the Holy Trinity! God the Father does not want us dying sinners to perish eternally. God the Son does not want to condemn us. God the Holy Spirit does not want us to remain dead in our sins. Why? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity does not want to take anything away from us. He rather wants to show us our total poverty and give everything He has to us. The Father bestows Himself and His gifts through His Son. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” The Son is brought to us only by the loving action of the Holy Spirit.
Dear Christians, this is why we confess from the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith… This is also why we ask those confirmed to learn by heart these treasures. How hard can it be to say and to mean, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”? “No one can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 12:3).
Do you see the radical, revolutionary nature of the faith God has given you? Do you see the peculiar, mysterious nature of the faith God has given you? So drastic is baptism that Jesus calls it being born again. It is a second birth. A person doesn’t become a Christian. Rather, God makes that person a Christian. As Jesus spoke about life and death, God and man, He included water with His words? The Holy Trinity may be above our thoughts as high as the heavens are above the earth, but the means that the Holy Trinity uses are as earthy as water and word, bread and wine. Jesus makes His church holy, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word (Ephesians 5:26). He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:3-5).
It is no accident that Jesus commanded all nations to be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is no accident that you were baptized into His holy Name, John, nearly eleven years ago. It is rather a miracle! And so it is a miracle for all of us so washed by His gracious command! As the angel took the burning coal from the altar and said to Isaiah, “Behold this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for,” so you have been touched by water from the altar of His sacrifice, that is the altar of the cross. John your lips are also about to receive the body and blood once for all offered on that altar. As Christ so touches you, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” His being lifted up is the gift of the Father. He was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Nicodemus saw first hand the bloody sacrifice God made to give him new birth. With his own hands he handled and anointed the corpse of the crucified one and wrapped it with spices in strips of linen (John 19:39).
But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him (Acts 2:24). Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” But everyone who is born of the Spirit is gifted with that rebirth by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. By God’s gracious plan and purpose you have been born from above. By God’s gracious will the Holy Spirit has breathed new life into you.
It was this simple treasure that Dr. Luther sought to keep before his eyes by beginning his morning and evening prayers with the invocation and the sign of the cross. He was simply remembering that the Father gave His Son to give Him life by water and the Spirit. Such is also the love of the Holy Trinity for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: John 3:1-17/Acts 2:33
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; (Dear John, on the day of your confirmation) grace and peace to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
A pastor was once asked what the most difficult part of his ministry was. Without hesitating he answered that it was standing before the congregation each Sunday and saying, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” In the introduction to our book I note that it is no accident that the liturgy leads the pastor to begin the Divine Service, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and not, “We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In the invocation we are not telling ourselves what we are about to do. In the invocation we are not simply reminding ourselves who the one true God is. Rather, in the invocation, we are calling directly on the Holy Trinity Himself with trust that He comes into our midst as He has promised. The pastor is led to invoke His presence, saying – “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The people are led to say, “Amen”, that is, “yes it is certain, the one true God, the one who put His Name upon us in Holy Baptism is present here, now to bless us. “Amen”.
How difficult can it be to say and to mean, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” Quite difficult indeed, for we earth bound mortals do not posses the proper fear of His holy Name or the perfect trust in His holy Name or the whole-hearted love for His holy Name that we should. We are to fear and love in trust in Him above all things, with our whole heart. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God of hosts” (that is, the LORD of heavenly armies). “Woe is me!” sinful Isaiah said in His presence. Yet we sinners can be quite apathetic to His Name and His presence. No one knows His mind (Rom. 11:34). Before Him the nations are a drop in the bucket (IS. 40:15-17). We cannot tell God who He is, He tells us! He is the potter we are the clay. Yet the human heart continually tries to mold God into its own image as if we were the potter and God were the clay.
How difficult can it be to say and to mean, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” Quite difficult indeed for as the Athanasian Creed leads us to confess, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there is only one God. And concerning the one eternal kingdom of this one God, the revelation is equally scandalous. Only those born again enter it.
Nicodemus was an honest, well-intentioned, friendly Pharisee who admired Jesus as a teacher. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” But Jesus slammed the door on Nicodemus’ view of God and of Himself. Ignoring Nicodemus’ positive regard for Him as a religious teacher Jesus swept away what Nicodemus and the Pharisees stood for. We should be clear, that they stood for the best of what people see in one another; respectability, leadership, broadmindedness, a desire to see some good in this new teacher (even to recognize him as being from God in some sense).
Jesus isn’t from God in some sense, however. Jesus is God. He responded to Nicodemus by setting forth a requirement that was not open for debate. You must be born again! “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Oh what a miracle God gives as we are knit together in our mother’s womb. Miracle up miracle takes place there that could not possibly be accidental as the myth of evolution teaches. If just one of those knitting together miracles failed to happen, it would mean the end of the human race. But Jesus points to an even greater miracle. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” How difficult is it to say and to mean, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?” It is impossible, without the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.
“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” Indeed he was! Confused and deficient Nicodemus was a leader of the people. Yet, God’s requirement for a new mind and a new heart appeared foolish to his considerable intellect and his sincere religious feeling. The Holy Trinity’s stipulation that He must be born from above was foreign to his understanding and teaching. There was blindness about the kingdom of God not only among the people, but also among the supposedly enlightened teachers of the people.
And so it is in our day. While 70% or so of those asked say they believe there is a god, the nature and the name of that god or gods is up for grabs. The idols of the human heart range from a nameless fear to placate, to the trees or stars of nature to commune with, to crystals or angels or inner feelings to meditate on, to a sweet, fairy-tale grandfather figure who delights in indulging our every desire.
Wise respected Nicodemus, in the strength of his own spiritual insights, was confused and deficient. In fact, he was totally blind. Apart from Christ, that blindness is shared by every secular and every religious teacher in this cursed and passing world. It is also shared by those who follow such teachers.
“In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” How difficult can it be to say and to mean that beautiful Name? Impossible, except as a gift of the Holy Spirit! Apart from the miracle of new birth by the Holy Spirit, no human heart understands the magnitude of its sin or the marvel of the forgiveness given by God who is holy, holy, holy.
Only Christ can reveal it! Reveal it He does! He spoke to Nicodemus of heavenly things! He spoke of that which He had seen. He is the Son of Man who came down from heaven. The heart of what He revealed to Nicodemus is this; the Father gave His Son to give us life by water and the Spirit. This is the wondrous truth of the Holy Trinity! God the Father does not want us dying sinners to perish eternally. God the Son does not want to condemn us. God the Holy Spirit does not want us to remain dead in our sins. Why? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity does not want to take anything away from us. He rather wants to show us our total poverty and give everything He has to us. The Father bestows Himself and His gifts through His Son. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” The Son is brought to us only by the loving action of the Holy Spirit.
Dear Christians, this is why we confess from the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith… This is also why we ask those confirmed to learn by heart these treasures. How hard can it be to say and to mean, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”? “No one can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 12:3).
Do you see the radical, revolutionary nature of the faith God has given you? Do you see the peculiar, mysterious nature of the faith God has given you? So drastic is baptism that Jesus calls it being born again. It is a second birth. A person doesn’t become a Christian. Rather, God makes that person a Christian. As Jesus spoke about life and death, God and man, He included water with His words? The Holy Trinity may be above our thoughts as high as the heavens are above the earth, but the means that the Holy Trinity uses are as earthy as water and word, bread and wine. Jesus makes His church holy, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word (Ephesians 5:26). He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:3-5).
It is no accident that Jesus commanded all nations to be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is no accident that you were baptized into His holy Name, John, nearly eleven years ago. It is rather a miracle! And so it is a miracle for all of us so washed by His gracious command! As the angel took the burning coal from the altar and said to Isaiah, “Behold this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for,” so you have been touched by water from the altar of His sacrifice, that is the altar of the cross. John your lips are also about to receive the body and blood once for all offered on that altar. As Christ so touches you, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” His being lifted up is the gift of the Father. He was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Nicodemus saw first hand the bloody sacrifice God made to give him new birth. With his own hands he handled and anointed the corpse of the crucified one and wrapped it with spices in strips of linen (John 19:39).
But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him (Acts 2:24). Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” But everyone who is born of the Spirit is gifted with that rebirth by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. By God’s gracious plan and purpose you have been born from above. By God’s gracious will the Holy Spirit has breathed new life into you.
It was this simple treasure that Dr. Luther sought to keep before his eyes by beginning his morning and evening prayers with the invocation and the sign of the cross. He was simply remembering that the Father gave His Son to give Him life by water and the Spirit. Such is also the love of the Holy Trinity for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
6/12/2006
