Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Numbers 6,22-27. The Feast of the Holy Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

Numbers 6,22-27 3013

Tag der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit (Trinitatis) weiß 045

Quadratus, Bishop of Athens, disciple of the Apostles, Apologist, † 126

26. May 2013

1. O Eternal Son of the Father, the express icon of His Person and the brightness of His Glory, who, of Your infinite love, did take upon Yourself our nature and in the same offer a sacrifice for our sins: we praise and thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness, and humbly confess that we are far too frail and weak worthily to praise You. O Blessed Lord and Savior, have mercy upon us, and protect and defend Your Church, and grant us unity of faith, patience in trial, an happy issue out of all our afflictions and finally bring us into the Reign of Majesty and glory. (Löhe 147-48). Amen.

2. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: „Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them: »Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.« So shall they put My Name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.“

3. In the Athanasian Creed we confess: „we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity“ (LSB 319,4), but if you read the Bible from cover to cover you will not find the word „Trinity“ used anywhere in the pages from Genesis to Revelation. „Trinity“ is a doctrinal and liturgical word that the Church uses to confess a truth about God. The Athanasian Creed dates back to the late 5. century, but it’s Trinitarian language is also found in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, which confess God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The earliest of these three Western Creeds is the Nicene, which dates back to 381. As we work backwards from Nicæa, we find the Church, bishops, pastors and laity speaking about God in Triune language all the way back to the writing of the New Testament Epistles and Gospels, and even the Prophets of Israel.

4. Holy Scripture, while not using the word „Trinity“ does speak of God in a threefold fashion. Genesis 1 speaks of God the Father and the Spirit in the act of creation. The Gospel according to John speaks of the Word of God who is Jesus. The Apostle Paul begins his epistles with the phrase: » Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ« (Romans 1,7; 1. Corinthians 1,3; 2. Corinthians 1,2; Galatians 1,3; Ephesians 1,2, etc.). In the Pauline epistles we have God the Father and God the Son mentioned together. Consider also these words of Jesus: »All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that the Spirit will take what is Mine and declare it to you« (John 16,15), and: »Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit« (Matthew 28,19). In the Gospels, Jesus mentions the Father, Himself and the Spirit in the Divine context.

5. The language of Holy Scripture, therefore, leaves Christians with one of three options regarding the Divine language: 1. There is only one God; 2. there are two Gods and their Spirit; or 3. there are three Gods. The Church follows the hermeneutic that Scripture interprets Scripture, and that the clear passages of Scripture interpret the more difficult passages of Scripture. The Prophet Moses teaches by Divine inspiration: »Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. (Deuteronomy 6,4). Judaism and Christianity are clear on this point: there is only One God. Therefore, the interpretation that the Holy Scriptures speak of three Gods when it speaks of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit cannot be entertained or confessed, nor can the interpretation that there are two Gods and their Spirit be entertained. The Church believes and confesses, therefore, that there is One God comprised of Three Persons of Father, Son and Spirit. This makes us unique in the world. Like Judaism and Islam, we reject the notion that there are many gods and goddesses. Judaism and Islam, however, understand that there is only one God who is the Father. Christians say that the One God is Father, Son and Spirit.

6. Our sermon text from Numbers 6 says it this way: »Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them: »Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.« Here we see the Trinitarian use of Yahweh in the Aaronic blessing. The Church understands that the entire Godhead blesses His people: God the Father bless you and keep you; God the Son make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; God the Holy Spirit lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

7. How does this Triune God bless His Church? A: God the Father sent His Son to redeem all people from sin, death and the devil. Jesus sent the Spirit (John 16,7) to His Church to guide her into all the truth (John 16,13) and to glorify Jesus by taking what is Jesus’ and declaring it to us (John 16,14). The great blessing of the Triune God upon His people is this: All that the Father has is Jesus’; the Holy Spirit takes what is Jesus’ and declares it to us (John 16,15).

8. This blessing begins by acknowledging who and what we are. We are sinners who have rebelled against our God and Creator. In this rebellion we have elevated ourselves to godlike stature (apotheosis) and run our lives as if we are god and thus above all morals and values; but we are petty and pathetic gods and goddesses. The One True God is love, but we often hate our neighbors. God is merciful, but we often hold grudges. God is forgiving, but we often withhold forgiveness to others. We are rebels against the Triune God and His benevolence, and rebels deserve punishment and death. Thus, the Triune God created hell for Satan and the angels who followed him in rebellion against God (Matthew 25,41).

9. The Triune God created men and women in His image and likeness; He does not desire for us to live separated from Him. Therefore, God the Father sent Jesus to redeem fallen men and women. The Prince of the universe humbled Himself and suffered crucifixion and death so as to rescue the world from the eternal punishment that death ushered in. The Prince of the universe raised Himself up on the third day as the first fruit of those He will raise up on the last day to everlasting life in in the new heavens and earth. Those who reject this grace and mercy of God will be consigned to hell with the wicked angels, but those who believe on Jesus will be welcome into their heavenly inheritance. As we await that great and glorious day, the Triune God blesses us.

10. »Yahweh bless you and keep you.« God created you in His Divine image and likeness. You lost the purity of this great gift in Adam’s fall, but God will restore that image and likeness on the day of your resurrection. During this temporal life, God the Father blesses you with many gifts, such as food, a home, clothes, family, friends, pets, possessions, money and many other countless things. All these blessings help us live more comfortable lives on this earth. God the Father also promises to keep and preserve you. He spares you from harm and a wicked death. He restores your fortunes when they are lost. He rebuilds what has been destroyed.

11. »Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.« God the Father is well-pleased with you through Christ Jesus. His heart is friendly to you and His face beams with joy on account of His Only-begotten Son. Jesus has paid the redemption price for sin. He has conquered death. He has overcome the devil. This is pure and simple grace. You did not earn it; you did not deserve it; but God the Father gives His grace to you anyway because you are His and He loves you. Jesus Himself willingly, gladly and lovingly merited your salvation.

12. »Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.« The Apostle Paul rhetorically asked the Romans: »If God is for us, then who can be against us?« (Romans 8,31). The answer Paul is looking for is: nothing; if God is for us, then there is no one or no thing who can be against us. Not the world. Not sin. Not death. Not the grave. Not hell. Not even the devil. God is greater than all of these, and even if they are all arrayed against us in an unholy alliance, nevertheless God is far greater than their combined evil strength. God is your ally; He is for you; He does not forsake you; you have nothing to fear. The Holy Spirit delights in giving you that very peace, a peace of mind and spirit that comforts you when the world and the devil conspire against you and do you harm. The Triune God is your Lord, your Defense, your Protection, from evil.

13. People will ask: where is God in the devastation that struck Moore, OK? It is a fair question to ask, although it is usually asked in mockery. One of my seminary professors, Dr. Norman Nagel, used to tell us this: „A god who is everywhere is as useless as a god who is nowhere. What we need is a God who is somewhere“ (Nagel). God is in the midst of the community of Moore, OK. How do I know this? A: Jesus promised that where two or three are gathered in His Name, then He also is among them (Matthew 18,20). Christian men and women are in Moore, OK praying with the survivors. They are comforting them and bringing supplies to them. They are gathered in that town in the Name of Jesus, and therefore, God is there. He is mourning their losses with them. He is working through His Church and individual Christian men and women to bring comfort and solace to those who are suffering. He is with them and will help them recoup their loss. That is where God is, and what He does, in times of disaster and tragedy, because He is a God who blesses people. Jesus is the great blessing God the Father has given the world. Jesus is in the devastation that touched down in Moore, OK. He works through Christian people, like you and me, to be a blessing to the people of Moore, OK. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Triune God, You are a blessing to us, keep sound doctrine in our midst so that we may rightly understand Your revelation to us through Your Holy Scriptures and in understanding be at peace and blessed in your gracious heart toward us through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Christ crucified and risen for you

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Numbers 6,22-27. The Feast of the Holy Trinity

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