Trinity 1

1  God reveals Himself

What do you call it when you fail to see things,

though they shine brightly right before your eyes?

It’s called blindness.

According to a 2008 world-wide study of over 4,000 people,

twice as many fear blindness

as fear premature death or heart disease.

I can understand why.

With unworking eyes, your perspective is limited. You have only four senses by which to learn things. Your activities are limited. You become more dependent upon others.

Because a blind person can’t see what’s right before him,

that blindness is a picture of what sin does to the human soul.

St. Paul describes the unbelieving gentiles this way (Eph. 4:18–19): having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart…

Most unbelieving Gentiles don’t know better,

so telling them spiritual things

is like explaining colors to a man born blind.

You can point a spiritually blind person

to evidence of spiritual truth:

the created order of our world, the design in human anatomy,

but an unbelieving man will not see it.

He’d rather run against all reason,

because his lack of faith has blinded him spiritually.

If that sounds harsh,

then consider God’s judgment toward unbelieving Jews.

At several points, they had the bright lamp of God’s Word,

and there was no excuse for them losing it.

God warned them ahead of time in Deut. 28: But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God … that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: … The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness.

It’s no surprise that many Jews still don’t see their Savior.

They have stopped their ears to much of God’s Word,

and have become blind concerning their salvation.

Paul, the former pharisee, agrees (Romans 11:25): … blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

God is evident all around us.

We can sense and observe His creation in great detail. We can hear His Word.

But unless He lifts our spiritual blindness,

we won’t get it.

Today we’ll consider what God tells us about Himself,

what He would have us know and believe, and then what He would have us do with that knowledge.

God reveals Himself

To us, and Through us

2  Matthew 28:16–20

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

2.1  To us

Our text comes from the Gospel according to Matthew.

That means it’s a historically-accurate account

of what we need to know about God.

A little before our text,

Matthew described Jesus’ death, then His resurrection.

We have Matthew’s account of what happened.

Here’s the rough timeline:

Jesus rose from the dead. The women discovered His resurrection,

then the eleven disciples.

Then Matthew skips over a lot that’s covered elsewhere,

and Jesus meets His disciples on a Galilean mountain.

And it was all according to Jesus’ plan.

On that mountain,

Jesus gave them commands for His Church on earth. Then He gave them a promise to be with them.

Luke records that Jesus ascended into heaven,

so that they could see Him no more.

Today, on Trinity Sunday,

we focus upon the nature of God as Jesus revealed Him.

This text from Matthew describes that like no other,

because here Jesus gave them the words of Baptism.

Baptism is a washing with water, but not just a physical one.

Holy Baptism as commanded by Jesus also uses His Words,

so that He makes it His washing.

He commanded His Church to baptize,

but also promised certain things to come with it.

You see, the words of Baptism connect the baptized person

to none other than God Himself.

Now, a connection to God sounds pretty good.

But God is a bit like the highway patrol on I-84.

Those here who drive cars, tell me: What’s the first thing you do when you see a patrol car

up ahead on the side of the highway?

You check your speed, don’t you? That’s wise.

Why?

Because you know that if you break the rules,

that Smokey Bear can bust you.

That’s a time you’d rather not be connected

to the county mounties.

But then, let’s change the scene a little.

When the wind-driven snow makes for 15-foot visibility, and the pavement is covered with a knobby layer of ice,

so that there’s hardly anyone else driving and you can feel your tires slipping under you:

What’s your reaction to seeing that patrol car on the side?

It’s nice, isn’t it? It’s almost better than a mug of hot cocoa.

That’s because that Smokey Bear can help you,

and make sure you reach a place of warmth and safety.

So as we learn today from God’s Words about Baptism,

we should notice what we think about Him.

Here, Jesus reveals the full picture of God.

There are plenty of other places in the Bible

that mention the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

But this is where the Bible names all three together,

and then it connects the Holy Trinity to you and me.

It’s been said that there are not enough father figures today,

the kind that won’t let you get away with doing wrong, but will protect you from harm at great cost.

Jesus would baptize His Church in the name of the Father,

who watches everything we do and say,

and unlike the Highway Patrol, even knows what we think.

But who also promised a Savior from sin, death, and Satan,

even giving His own dearest Son to redeem us.

There are plenty of heroes, and hero wannabees today:

Comic-book and action heroes are big entertainment. But as much as we’d like our own personal Superman,

the movies and comic books are only words and pictures,

the invention of human writers.

But Jesus would baptize His Church in His own name,

because He is actually one essence with the Father,

and unlike Superman, has really come to our world.

Jesus is just as uncompromising against evil,

but gave Himself up to death to redeem us all.

There are lots of options for spirituality today,

and you can choose any preacher that tickles your fancy.

But there is only one Holy Spirit, with only one message,

and though we sometimes don’t want to hear it,

that message and His gifts are exactly what we need.

United with the Father and the Son,

the Holy Spirit gives us new life in Jesus,

as often as we repent, and receive His forgiveness.

What do you think about the true, living God?

He’s not quite like anything else in our experience. He’s not imaginary, nor could He have been invented by man.

Rather, it’s the other way around:

we were created by Him, and redeemed, justified, and sanctified.

Without Him, we are lost.

But in Him, in His baptismal truth, we have eternal life.

That’s how God has revealed Himself to us.

2.2  Through us

Isaiah 45:15 says:

Truly, You are a god who hides himself!

That is, He doesn’t let us perceive Him truly,

until we perceive Him in the ways that He has prepared.

The members of our community may want to know Him,

but only in certain ways.

Maybe by exploring outer space. Maybe through meditation or personal growth. Maybe in communication with nature.

But none of those things can ever work,

because God hides Himself.

The one way to learn the truth about God

is the way we ourselves have come to know Him:

by His Word.

In His Word, God reveals Himself,

so that whoever believes it will truly know Him.

We know Him.

Not because we have found Him,

but because He has found us, and come to us.

We know Him as our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier:

God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Not three gods, as the Jews and Moslems claim,

but one God:

one divine essence in three distinct persons.

We know God because He revealed Himself in His Word.

But we are now the ones who have His Word.

There, Jesus tells us now,

not only about God, but about us; our lives.

When Jesus spoke to the Eleven Apostles,

He was sending them out the final time,

and sending out all who receive their Word.

He was sending us with divine authority.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

Just as the Eleven were His disciples,

so now we have been made His disciples.

And just as this came about through the work of the Eleven,

so now each of us may carry His teaching

for our neighbors and for our children.

We’ve been taught in the world

that every man gets to decide his own spiritual truth.

But that’s false,

because only one spiritual truth exists.

It’s not ours. We didn’t make it up.

It belongs to God, who reveals it to the world.

So when we live as Christians first,

subjecting all other aspects of our lives to our faith,

and when the world jumps on us for that,

saying that we are intolerant, and bigots,

we should remember that the truth is greater than we are.

God could bring us out of this world any time He wants to.

Why hasn’t He?

It’s not merely for our enjoyment of this life:

a few more days of recreation, the friendships we have with our neighbors, the satisfaction of jobs well done.

That stuff is all secondary. It’s extra.

God’s reason for keeping us here,

is because He reveals Himself through us.

Jesus not only gave us the command to make disciples,

but also the tools by which God accomplishes this through us.

He said:

… baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;

By baptizing and teaching,

God reveals Himself to us, and then through us.

You might wonder how you can contribute to such things.

You may not know what or how to teach others about God. You may not know anyone who would listen to what you say.

But God hasn’t called each of us to hold forth in a classroom,

or to preach or conduct worship services.

Instead, He’s called each of us to many things,

in the home, at work, and in society.

Just think of what you do each day, and the people you see.

They are the ones God has brought into your life. With such people in mind, Jesus said (Matthew 10:32–33):

Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

And likewise, He also said,

But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

We each have our part in the Great Commission

when we confess our faith in word and deed every day.

Does Jesus want us to be obnoxious to others about it?

Of course not.

But He does want us to be faithful to Him.

So you don’t have to mention

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to everyone you see.

But everyone should see some evidence in your life

that you belong to Jesus.

And when He opens the door for you to say more,

then open your mouth, confident of His help.

Maybe you haven’t quite confessed Jesus like you should,

maybe even not much at all.

But for everyone who has received His Word,

there is no better time to start.

You see, right now, He also forgives you.

He washes away your sins, and renews your life in Him. You still belong to God through your Baptism,

and nothing can take that from you.

Having believed that, you have seen the God who truly lives.

He fills the heavens, but has also won your salvation. He reveals Himself — and the precious Gospel message

to you, and now also through you.