13 All the saints send their greetings.
- 2 Corinthians 13:13, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
The story is told of how, at the Fountain Abbey in the north
of
In one sense, he was right. Rationally, the doctrine of the Trinity is a difficult subject. It is difficult because it transcends our understanding. The concept of three persons yet one God and one God yet three persons doesn’t make mathematical sense to our way of thinking. It is beyond our comprehension. So how do we deal with it?
We take it on faith. If this is what Almighty God tells us about Himself in the Word that He has given us, that’s all we as believers need. Period. That’s the neat thing about the faith that God has given us. It frees us from trying to figure out the unfathomable and allows us to simply believe and accept all the comfort and beauty of the truths the Bible has to offer us. And that is what we’d like to do today.
The text we heard is a familiar one, although we usually hear it at the end of our service. It is one of the two great Trinitarian blessings that the Christian church traditionally uses to close its worship. Since it came from the inspired pen of the Apostle Paul, we refer to it as the “Pauline” blessing. (The other one comes from the Old Testament, was spoken by the first High Priest and Moses’ brother Aaron, and is therefore called the “Aaronic” blessing: “The Lord... The Lord... The Lord...”)
The bottom line is that the doctrine of the Trinity is not just some dusty theological truth that has no bearing on our lives. It is rather a teaching of great comfort and strength for us today. Using key words from the Pauline blessing to outline our thoughts, on this Trinity Sunday let us joyfully consider how we are
THRICE BLESSED
Through
We are a blessed people because we know “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What is grace? The definition many of us have learned equates grace with “undeserved love.” Taking it a little farther, we could say that grace is the free bestowal of kindness on one who has no right to it, and one who could never adequately compensate for it.
A Bible illustration that comes to mind is the story Jesus told about the servant who had racked up an incredible amount of debt to his king, far more than he could ever hope to repay. When he appeared before the king, the king had mercy on him and forgave all of his debts. Was the servant deserving of this? No. The debts were legitimate. Would the servant ever have been able to make restitution? No, even if he lived several lifetimes he could never have repaid what he owed. What the king did for this servant was an act of pure and unadulterated grace. Undeserved love. Free and full forgiveness. And that is what God does for us through Jesus Christ.
Here’s another insight. In the original Greek language in which the New Testament was written, the word for “grace” is charis. It’s also the word for a gift. (Note: We use it today in a number English derivatives. For example, a gifted individual is sometimes said to have “charisma” or to be a “charismatic” speaker or leader. Within the greater Christian church perhaps you’ve heard of the “charismatic movement” which emphasizes certain identifiable spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit is supposed to confer upon believers, such as speaking in tongues or healing.)
Put all these concepts together and what we come up with is this: The “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is the freely bestowed, undeserved gift of the full forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation that He gives to all who trust in Him as Savior. Jesus Christ is the living, breathing embodiment of grace. Jesus Christ is grace in action...
Think about it. What was it that led Jesus, the Son of God, to give up the riches of heaven and live on our planet for 33 years? What was it that led Him to set aside the grand garb of glory in order to wear the earth-tone hues of humiliation? What was it that led Jesus, the sinless one, to suffer and die on the cross so that we, the sinners who rightfully deserve such punishment, would be spared?
The answer is a word. Grace. And here’s the best news yet: we are the ones who are on the receiving end of it. Listen to what Paul says earlier in the letter from which our text is taken: “For you (we!) know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your (our!) sakes he became poor, so that you (we!) through his poverty might become rich.”
Why are we a blessed people? Because we know “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” and what it means for us now and eternally.
Secondly, we are blessed because we understand “the love of God.” In the Greek language there are actually four different words for our English term “love.” Each one has its own shade of meaning. The word used here is agape, which is the term generally used to refer to the love God has for us. Behind it is the idea of a selfless, self-sacrificing type of love that expects nothing in return and gives simply because that is the nature of the giver.
The English Christian and author C.S. Lewis once wrote a book about the four different kinds of love talked about in the Bible. He made an interesting distinction between what he called “Need-love” and “Gift-love.” “Need-love” is confined to the world of man. Man has a basic emotional need both to love and be loved. When one person says of another, “I can’t live without him (or her),” that would be an expression of “Need-love.”
On the other hand, “Gift-love” resides in the domain of God. Lewis puts it this way: “In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give...” That’s agape-love.
And we know just how far that “plenteousness that desires to give” went. That love of God for us led to the gift of His Son as the sacrifice for the sins of the world; for our sins. Indeed, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”
How deep is God’s love for us? “This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.” (1 John 4:10). Maybe you’ve heard the illustration of the railroad man who lived on the side of the mountain. His job was to control the two tracks that were on a bridge which crossed over a deep ravine and linked his side of the mountain to the other.
On a day when one set of tracks was disassembled because of needed repairs, he heard the familiar whistle of an oncoming train. However, as he routinely looked over the bridge the train soon would be upon, his heart sunk. There on the bridge, at a distance that could not be returned from before the train was upon it, the switchman saw his only child, a son, playing. The little boy was so engrossed in his play that he wandered off farther than he should have, and he hadn’t heard the whistle.
Now a choice had to be made. The switchman could reroute the train and send hundreds to their certain death, or he could leave things the way they were, knowing what the result would be for his son.
As the train came to the bridge, the people inside were laughing and talking and eating and looking out the window at the spectacular view, completely oblivious to the drama that was unfolding before them and the decision that had been made.
And as the last passenger car safely passed to the other side, no one ever noticed the man at the switch, his head buried in his hands... or the impact his sacrifice had on their lives.
Selfless love. Sacrificial love. Extensive love. Tireless love. All-encompassing love. Preserving love. Protecting love. Agape love. Such is the “love of God.” And He directs it all toward us. We are a blessed people.
Finally, ours is also the “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” Once again, the original language can be instructive. The word for “fellowship” is koinonia, and among its meanings are: association, communion, and close relationship. Let’s zero in on that last one. It is God the Holy Spirit, working through Word and Sacrament, who brings us into a variety of close relationships. What are they? Two in particular come to mind...
First, there is the close relationship and the fellowship we have with God. I remember a conversation I once had with a man who was suffering from a slowly debilitating disease. Now he is in heaven, but at the time I spoke with him he was in a wheelchair and was becoming more and more reliant on others to do things for him.
This man had always taken his spiritual life seriously, and what I remember about the tone of the conversation was that there was not an ounce of self-pity or anger or resentment in him. In fact, just the opposite. He admitted that his life had not turned out the way he expected, but then he went on to make this short, but powerful statement: “God is my friend.”
That is the essential fellowship the Holy Spirit brokers between God and us. We know God to be our friend. Do things always go our way? No. But when we know God as our friend we know it’s not because He’s mad at us or punishing us or forgetful of us. Rather, we know, in the words of Paul to the Romans, that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” And we know that regardless of what may or may not be happening in our lives, God has met our greatest need – the forgiveness of our sins – through the life, death and resurrection of His Son. And that certainly fosters a close fellowship with our Heavenly Father...
That fellowship then extends to our brothers and sisters in
Christ. Take our own congregation, for
example.
Who made us a family? Who brought us into this community? God the Holy Spirit did. Working in our hearts He has brought us to understand the truths of God’s Word. We share the common bond of a common faith. And now we have not only a relationship with God, but with each other...
We have and love God. We have and love Christ. We have and love each other. This is the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” in our lives. We are a blessed people...
In fact, we are thrice blessed. On this Trinity Sunday let us simply rejoice in the status of who we are what we have... namely: “The grace of our Lord Jesus... and the love of God... and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” May these blessings be and remain with us all. Amen.