Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Co 1:2). Amen.
You probably are like I am. When you walk into a dark room, you feel for the light switch on the wall and flip it on. The brightness is immediate. You don’t have to be able to explain electricity to enjoy it. I doubt many of us can anyway, but we are still grateful for it.
What we say about the current in the wall could be applied to the God in the Bible. Today is Trinity Sunday. We celebrate the Triune God. Tri = 3 and une = 1—three in one and one in three.
But it is not to apprehend it so that it makes sense to us, but to appreciate it so that we give thanks to him. And that Triune God wants to be with you. That includes a great claim, a great commission, and a great comfort. We turn to the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew as Jesus nears the end of his earthly ministry. We read from …
Matthew 28:16-20
Dear People of our Triune God—One God, three persons,
I don’t have to tell you that we live in a day and an age where communication is very simple. Thanks to mobile devices and personal computers. If we want someone’s company from anywhere around the globe, we can facetime, snapchat, Instagram, and a whole host of other things that I don’t know how to download or how to use. We don’t have to go far to have someone near. (I will put my plug or plea that none of those should replace face to face contact. A picture or post is nice, but look up and look at others around you. Enough of the soapbox.)
Just as we wish to be with friends and family God has the same longing for you.
The Triune God Wants to Be with You
1. That includes a great claim (16-18)
2. That includes a great commission (19,20)
3. That includes a great comfort (20)
1. That includes a great claim (16-18)
When describing God, we use the word “attributes,” or characteristics—what God is like. What is true of the Father is true of the Son and is true of the Holy Spirit. One of those fancy terms is “omnipotent.” It means “all-powerful.” Nothing is outside of his ability. It is not like the older brother who brags to his younger brother that he can do anything. God can. That is good to know as the Triune God wants to be with you because that includes a great claim.
We have to backtrack in time just a bit having just marked Pentecost on the church calendar last week—when we observe the coming of the Holy Spirit. During the time between his resurrection from the grave and his ascension into heaven, Jesus appeared to different people at various places during those 40 days like on Easter Sunday without Thomas and a week later with him (cf. Jn 20; Acts 1:3). He did it to show them that he was indeed alive. Matthew records one to the 11 in Galilee as he wraps up his Gospel. (Remember that Judas was no longer with them).
Jesus had instructed these men to meet him there in the north of Israel (Mt 28:7,10). And now this arranged get-together happened on an unnamed mountain (Mt 28:16). “When they saw him, they worshiped him” (Mt 28:17). That makes sense, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t that they sang a few hymns or said a few prayers—what we generally think of as “worship.” But they knelt down before him—a sign of respect and reverence, faces to the ground. Here was the risen and glorified Lord, the King over all. He is worthy of that. The psalmist encouraged us numerous times in Psalm 150 to do that—13 times in 6 verses: “Praise the LORD” (Ps 150). And we do—everywhere, for everything, with everything, and alongside everyone. What we do right now, we will do forever (Re 5:12).
What may sound strange is this: “but some doubted” (Mt 28:17). Doubted what? The resurrection? Not really. There was Jesus himself in front of them. It was more along the lines of confusion—what did all this mean? How did it all fit together? How did they fit in with all of this? What a blessing the Holy Spirit was at Pentecost who helped them figure it all out. He made them brave and bold witnesses (Acts 1:8; 2:11).
How patient the Lord is with us at times as we wonder or even worry about this or that—our future, our finances. He took that to the cross and takes away our guilt.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Mt 28:18; cf. Da 7:13,14). Those are hollow words if they aren’t right like if I were to state that I am the most powerful man on the face of the earth. But it is real for Jesus. When the Son of God became the Son of Man, taking on human flesh like ours, he humbled himself. He gave up the full and constant use of his power that he had as God to live under the law and hang on the cross. But no more. He finished what he came to do—to give life to all who believe (Jn 19:30; 3:16). He now took that up might again as God exalted him (Php 2:9-11).
The relationship that we have with our Triune God, the one he wants to have with us—is based entirely on his absolute power.
The power in creating us. That was evident in how God originally spoke and it simply came to be. “Let there be … and there was …”—light and the land animals, the sky and sea creatures—and everything in between (Ge 1,2). And then he fashioned man in his image, the crown of his creation, with the care of a potter at his wheel. He formed us in our mother’s wombs, with the same concern, fearfully and wonderfully (Ps 139:14). Our Triune God has all power.
The power in redeeming us. Jesus paid the price necessary to set us free from our sin with his blood (1 Pe 18,19). He defeated death and the devil for us. Our Triune God has all power.
The power in sanctifying us. The Holy Spirit has set us apart from the unbelieving world—calling us from the darkness of sin to the light of salvation (1 Pe 2:9). Our Triune God has all power.
That Triune God wants to be with you. That includes a great claim that is correct. Jesus can make it because everything is under his rule and command. There is no reason to be afraid. All authority is his. And he uses it to benefit us.
2. That includes a great commission (19,20)
Since God is omnipotent (all-powerful), he has the right to convey what he wants us to do. But it is not bossing us around like siblings like to do with made-up authority: “Mom says you are supposed to vacuum the living room.” (Of course, it is his turn to do that chore.) The Triune God wants to be with you. That includes a great commission.
Since Jesus has all authority, he draws a conclusion: “Therefore” (Mt 28:19). “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). After they went out, they were to preach and proclaim the same words that Jesus did. Those words God would use to cause people to be listeners and learners. That is what a “disciple” is.
And not some or several individuals—“all nations” (Mt 28:19). No one is to be left out—not even Gentiles. (There were plenty of them around where they were in Galilee. [Mt 4:15]) God wants to be with all (Ge 12:3; 1 Ti 2:4). Finally the good news of Jesus has reached all the way here to St. Paul—to us.
And Jesus didn’t leave them guessing at how to carry out their huge assignment. It wasn’t as if a first-grade teacher expects a student to write a 357-page novel without any direction. “Just do it.” No, he gave the means—baptizing and teaching (Mt 28:19,20).
Here Jesus institutes baptism—“ baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). We have heard it and seen it. Water plus Word. The Triune God puts his name on us—adopting us into his family. He does everything and we do nothing—clothing us with Christ’s righteousness, his holiness (Gal 3:27). We are now under his protection—his careful eye and constant attention. It is not a coincidence that we open the service with a reminder of that—“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It takes us back to that special day when water connected to Word ran down our foreheads—God asserting “my son” or “my daughter” as he washes away sin and welcomes us as children of God. Or after the announcement of absolution when God’s representative reiterates: “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” All because the Triune God wants to be with us.
Add to that “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:20). They didn’t have to come up with a power point presentation with catchphrases for a mass campaign. Like Jesus did, educate. The results are up to the Lord.
That is a command. But we often refer to it as the “Great Commission”—what the church is to be about. And it continues—baptizing and teaching. And this education is to be comprehensive. We are not to pick and choose—what we like or love. Everything. We guard like we do with something precious like a family heirloom. And we pay attention to it as we do with something pertinent like a recipe. God doesn’t do it to bother us, but to bless us. The “means of grace”—the gospel in Word and sacraments—are the tools by which the Triune God starts and strengthens faith. The Triune God wants to be with us. That includes a great commission. As we go, we keep on baptizing and teaching God’s Word.
3. That includes a great comfort (20)
Since God is omnipotent (all-powerful), that sets our minds at ease as he directs us to declare his Word. It is much better than one child with her arm around the other, consoling. She can do nothing. God can and does. The Triune God wants to be with you. That includes a great comfort.
The last sentence that Matthew writes keeps that before us as he cites Jesus: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Jesus is emphatic. “Surely.” This is no joke. And he would have us note something as if to say, “Hey, look at this. And look at it very closely.” “I am with you” (Mt 28:20). The risen and now ascended Lord is not just a casual observer, but an obvious companion—“I am with you.” “I am with you,” not “I was with you.” And not some of the time, but all of the time—always, all the days. All the way to the close of this age, the time when he brings all of his own to a knowledge of the truth (1 Ti 2:4).
The Triune God is with his people. Period. He doesn’t leave them or forsake them—on earth to eternity. That is a great comfort generally. We are not alone. Ever. And that is a great comfort specifically. When we go about the task of baptizing and teaching, he is there—in good times and bad—when times are very challenging or smooth sailing, when some accept and others reject. The Triune God wants to be with you. That includes a great comfort. He is by your side.
We are spoiled. I don’t know if we could function without electricity. How would we be able to find an outlet to charge our phones? We don’t have to consider being without God. The Triune God wants to be with us. And that is big. That includes a great claim—Jesus has all authority. That includes a great commission—Jesus charges us to baptize and teach. That includes a great comfort—Jesus is with us. And what he desires he does. Happy Trinity Sunday. Amen.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Co 13:14). Amen.
June 11, 2017
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