John
16:12-16 *
If you ever feel under-appreciated, if you ever feel like
you aren't getting the recognition you deserve, perhaps you should just take a good
look at a calendar. No matter what your occupation or station in life, there's
a good chance that you will find a day on the calendar that is your
appreciation day. That's the day when people are supposed to recognize you for
what you do all year long. You'll buy cards, you'll treat someone to lunch, you'll shower them with thanks for all they do.
To be honest with you, I don't get too excited about many of
these days. There are just so many of them, they often don't seem that special.
I feel a little differently about days like today. You probably won't find
anything on your calendar, but perhaps we could call today "Trinity
Appreciation Day," because that is exactly we are doing here today. This
is no trite observance. On this, the Festival of the Holy Trinity, we see that
our
TRINITY APPRECIATION
II. grows throughout
our lives
In our text for today we find Jesus and his disciples at the
end of his earthly ministry. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples on Maundy
Thursday evening after they had left the upper room. It was the end of a long
period of instruction for them. For the past three years they had spent much
time with Jesus as he taught them all about the
Jesus had begun to unfold for them the doctrine of the Trinity.
Now Jesus said to them, "I have
much more to say to you, more than you can now bear."(12) Jesus taught
them the truths of the Trinity. There is one God, but three persons. But even
after three years of instruction, Jesus knew that it was too much for his
disciples to understand it all. After three years of instruction, Jesus knew
that the disciples could not fathom
the mystery of the Trinity. And he didn't expect them to.
We know and believe that God is triune. One God; three
persons: this is the Christian faith, we will confess in the Athanasian Creed.
And even though we confess many things about the Trinity in the Athanasian
Creed, we never confess to understand it.
In fact, if we claim to understand something like the
doctrine of the Trinity, something is wrong. If we claim to fully grasp God's
divine essence, we have probably made God into someone a little more like us.
If we insist that the truth about God fit into our minds, we make him smaller,
weaker, lesser. And if we make God smaller, we make
ourselves greater. To insist that God make himself understandable to us is not
fearing, loving, or trusting in God above all things. Rather, it is actually
arrogant to say to God, "You're not really that great that I can't figure
you out. I know better." And that comes very close to saying, "I
don't need you at all."
To people like us, who like to figure things out, Jesus
says, "Yes, there's more to know. There's more to know and learn about me
than you will ever figure out. 'I have
much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." Jesus doesn't
ask us to understand the intricacies of his relationship with the Father. He
doesn't ask us to comprehend the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father
and the Son.
In the same way, he doesn't ask us to understand how he
could be God and man in one person. He simply tells us it was so and invites us
to appreciate that it was so for our salvation. He doesn't ask us to understand
how plain water used in connection with God's command and promise actually washes
away sin. He simply tells us that it is so and invites us to appreciate that it
means the forgiveness of sins. He doesn't ask us to understand how his body and
blood can be present in bread and wine. He simply tells us that it is so and
invites us to appreciate that it, too, means our sins are forgiven. What we
sing about the Lord's Supper could be said of the Trinity, and each truth of
God's Word.
Though reason cannot understand,
Yet faith this truth embraces:
Your body, Lord, is everywhere
At once in many places
I leave to you how this can be;
Your Word alone suffices me;
I trust its truth unfailing
Lord, I believe what you have said;
Help me when doubts assail me.
Remember that I am but dust
And let my faith not fail me.
Your supper in this vale of tears
Refreshes me and stills my fears
And is my priceless treasure.(CW
312, st. 5,6)
Believing what Jesus has said does not mean understanding
how it can be true. Instead we simply believe that it is so and appreciate it.
But if we are going to appreciate the Trinity today, we have
to do more than recognize that it goes beyond our understanding. Let's listen
to Jesus' words again: "I have much
more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of
truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." (12,13)
Even though Jesus' disciples could not fully understand everything Jesus
had to teach them, he was not finished teaching them. He had more to say. Jesus
made it clear to his disciples that even though they would never learn it all, they should never
stop learning.
Though Jesus would no longer be physically with them to
teach them and to lead them to a fuller understanding of the truth, he would
send the Holy Spirit to "guide
[them] into all truth." Jesus indicates that this was to be an ongoing
thing. It was a process. They were to grow. The Holy Spirit would be their
instructor.
And what would he teach them? "He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears,
and he will tell you what is yet to come." (13) He would guide them into all truth; he would teach the truth.
Some people today think that there is really no such thing as absolute truth.
What is true for you might not be true for me. And
what is true for me today, might not be true for me tomorrow.
But when Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the "Spirit of Truth" and
says that "he will guide you into
all truth" he’s not talking
about a different truth. If the Holy Spirit speaks what is true, it has to be
the same thing that the Father and Son say, because there is only one truth.
The Holy Spirit would not come and bring a message that contradicted Jesus. He
would not introduce some new way to be saved. He would speak a message of
salvation from sin by faith in Jesus Christ.
But here's the question: If the Holy Spirit would say
essentially the same thing as the Father and the Son, how would they learn more
and grow? Perhaps that same question has occurred to you. We understand that we
have plenty to learn. Even if you have just finished two
years of confirmation class or 16 weeks of information class. Even if you are a life-long member or a trained, experienced
theologian. Jesus intends that we continue to grow.
But sometimes it may seem like we're always hearing the same
thing: I'm a sinner. I'm forgiven. Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose. If
these are always the same things we hear, how do we grow? Don't we need
something new?
What we need is Trinity Appreciation Day. We need a day like
today when we set before us Scripture lessons that refer to one God in three
persons. We need to hear Jesus say, "He
(the Holy Spirit) will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making
it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the
Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." (14,15) We
need to see how Jesus describes how the three persons of the Godhead speak
together and work together as one God for us.
We need to view these truths, as old as they may be, like a
precious jewel. And as we see this jewel,
it sparkles just a little differently, a little more brilliantly from day to
day, and from year to year. The jewel stays the same; the truth is always the
same. From age to age God remains the same triune God. God doesn't change. We
change. Our circumstances change. Jesus
told his disciples, "In a little
while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see
me." (16) The disciples' lives were about to change. Now they had
Jesus with them almost every day. Even though what he told them here was true
always, can you imagine what that truth looked like when they saw Jesus mocked,
beaten, and killed? Can you imagine how this same truth looked when they saw
him risen from the dead or ascending into heaven?
These words must have just sparkled when they received the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost. As they reviewed in their minds these words of Jesus, and as they
passed through the experiences of life, their appreciation grew.
Perhaps the doctrine of the Trinity seems like a dull stone
right now because of its familiarity. But don't let this truth go far from your
heart. When you hold a newborn infant in your hands, watch it sparkle as you
remember God the Father, who knit that child together. When your own body grows
older and weaker, remember that the same Father who created you watches over
and preserves your body every day of your life. When your
heart is burdened with guilt that you just can't shake, when the shame of your
sin weighs you down, notice the brilliance of the Trinity when God the Son
lifts your sin and carries it himself. When your faith feels weak, and
your way of life is the wrong way, watch this doctrine of the Trinity shine
when the Holy Spirit comforts you with the Word he inspired and guides you in
the right paths.
When we live continually with the truth of God, given to us
by the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and as we face any kind of
circumstance, our appreciation for God's truth grows.
I like to use computers, but I don't have a clue how they
work. That really doesn't bother me, though. I feel like I can still appreciate
what a computer can do even though I don't know how. But I couldn't do that if
I never used it. The only way I can grow in appreciation for what a computer
does is to use it. And by using it, I always learn how to do more with. And so
I appreciate it all the more.
God has revealed himself to us as the Triune God. Though we
don’t how this can be, let us thankfully appreciate what God has told us. And
each time we are reminded of this truth let us grow in that appreciation
throughout our whole lives. Amen.