Reverend Patrick Erickson
Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church
HOLY! HOLY! HOLY!
(Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 6:3)
Holy! Holy! Holy! Sing a hymn of praise to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We're compelled by the Word of God and the Christian faith to confess of God the Father that He is made of none, neither created nor begotten; of God the Son that He is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten; and of God the Holy Spirit that He is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding.
Don't ask me to make it any clearer. I can't. The fact that we worship one God in Three Persons and Three Persons in one God is a mystery no mortal can explain because it's a mystery known only to God. The believer simply takes God at His Word and believes God when He says that He is three distinct Persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--and yet one God. That's what trinity means, tri-une, three-in-one and one-in-three.
That's why we worship the Holy Trinity, the Holy Three-In-One and One-In-Three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and observe an annual liturgical festival, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, this year, on June 7th, on their behalf.
Of the mystery of God the Son being begotten of God the Father before all worlds, St. John writes, "In the beginning was the Word," (another name for the Son of God,) "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).
Not only was God the Son with God the Father--and with God the Holy Spirit, too, since the Spirit of God was hovering over the primeval waters at creation--not only was God the Son with God the Father, moreover, He was the Master Craftsman at His side. He was the Co-Creator who with the Father and the Spirit together created the universe.
He was the Word who went out from the Father and made all things when the Father called all things into being out of nothing--out of nothing, that is, but His Word, the loving expression of His gracious will toward the world and all mankind in Jesus Christ His sole-begotten Son our Lord.
Don't ask me to explain it. No mortal can. God says it. Just believe it. Of this immortal One, God the Son, becoming Human, St. John writes, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (v 14).
I can't explain how God could become human. But then, I can't explain how He could take our sins upon Himself and die for us on the cross, and then rise from the dead for our forgiveness and salvation and ascend to the Father in heaven where He prepared a place for us; or how He will return for us on the Last Day to take us with Him so that we can live with Him forever.
I can't explain it, but the Bible says it is so. Just accept it on faith from God the faithful Witness who attests to it in good faith and in good will and who gives you the faith to accept it through the same faithful Witness. Just trust God and you'll have what He promises--forgiveness, life and salvation in Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son our Lord.
This faith St. Paul confesses in our Bible. And it is a life-saving confession indeed! "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (you find those words above the masthead on page one of every issue of our newsletter) "through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
You could call this our congregational motto--the grace, the pardon and peace and the hope of glory God gives through the faith which is also His gift. And an apt motto it is for this congregation called Peace!
"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" (Rom 5:1-5).
This is the Spirit of whom Jesus speaks in the Gospel of St. John chapter 16. "When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.
"He 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" (vv 12-15).
The Spirit has done just that. We call it Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit came in all His fullness--feathers, fiery tongues, tongue-speaking and all. And it was a real day; it really happened.
The Psalm Antiphon for this Sunday is a good fit. "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Alleluia."
But it is not just for one day, the Day of Pentecost, in the history of the Church way back when, or one day every year in the Church's annual observance. The Spirit has come, is coming and will keep right on coming as Jesus and the Father promised until Jesus returns. He has taken from what belongs to them and made it ours by faith--pardon and peace; forgiveness, life and salvation.
He has guided us into all truth. He is, after all, the Spirit of truth. He is bringing us to glory as He brings glory to the Holy Three-In-One, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Don't try to figure it out. You can't. You're a mere mortal. So am I. Don't worry about it, either. Just believe God--and take Him up on His promises.
And pray, as we do in the Collect for The Day of Pentecost, its festival and its festivities. Pray in the Spirit, Spirit-born and Spirit-bred and borne along by the same.
"O God, on this day you once taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and evermore to rejoice in his holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in communion with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever." Amen.
And worship Him, God the Holy One-In-Three, on His festival day, the Feast of The Holy Trinity, and all through the Trinity season, as we do in this hymn stanza, "Glory be to God the Father, / Glory be to God the Son, / Glory be to God the Spirit: / Great Jehovah, Three in One! / Glory, glory, / While eternal ages run!" (TLH 244:1).
- Pastor Erickson