The Heart of the Holy Trinity

Jesu Juva

St. Matthew 28:16-20

June 7, 2020

The Holy Trinity A

Dear Saints of Our Savior,

The feast of the Holy Trinity is the one festival on the Christian calendar that doesn’t commemorate a person or an event. Instead, it’s all about a mystery. It’s a mystery revealed in the Word of God—AND revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. The Holy Trinity is a mystery because left to our own reason and senses, there’s very little we could know about the one true God. And let’s be honest. If you wanted to start your own religion from scratch, you wouldn’t base it all on a God who is three distinct persons in one divine being. It’s a bit complicated. One Christian writer, riffing on the Athanasian Creed, expressed it this way: “The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, the Holy Spirit incomprehensible, the whole thing incomprehensible.” And that’s (sort of) how it should be. Any god who can neatly fit into clever categories devised by human beings, isn’t really much of a god.

Earlier, you confessed a mouthful about the Triune God in the words of the Athanasian Creed. Confessing the Athanasian Creed is difficult. It’s long. It’s repetitive. It leaves no theological stone unturned. It’s all true; but it’s not especially inspiring. But if you want to be inspired by the God we confess—if you want to be fired-up as you comprehend the incomprehensible—then you need look no further than today’s holy Gospel. Because there—in one simple paragraph—the heart of the Holy Trinity is revealed.

But if you were listening carefully to those final verses from St. Matthew, you also heard something about the human heart—something we shouldn’t overlook. St. Matthew writes, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted.” Did you catch that? Even while they were worshiping the resurrected Jesus—even as they fell down on their knees in praise and adoration—some of them doubted. And just who were these doubters? These doubters were hardcore disciples—the eleven! These weren’t merely fair-weather followers. These eleven men knew Jesus better than anyone; and some of them doubted.

Now, the doubt described here is different than the doubts of Doubting Thomas, which we’re so familiar with. Remember, Thomas’ problem was far worse than doubt. He was without faith. He didn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead. “Unless I see the nail marks . . . I will not believe it.” No, the doubt that some of the eleven were experiencing wasn’t like that. It wasn’t even skepticism, as much as it was hesitation. Uncertainty. A palpable sense of pessimism, perhaps. Even as they worshipped Jesus in the resurrected flesh, some doubted.

That fact is significant because even as we worship Jesus in the resurrected flesh right here this morning, some of us are doubting too. We’re all struggling in different ways. Satan tailors his temptations to zero in on each of our weaknesses. We all have our “favorite” sins which we just can’t seem to shake off. We all bear crosses of differing weights. And some of us are doubting. We just can’t see how it’s all going to work out. The pessimism is palpable. We’re wondering just how the Triune God is going to make good on all His promises—promises to give us hope and a future. We believe—but our faith is tinged with hesitation and uncertainty—just like it was for the eleven.

We need to hear what the eleven heard. We need to hear the voice of Jesus, who says: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” What does that mean? It means He’s got the whole world in His nail-scarred hands. He’s got you and me, brother—you and me, sister—right there in His nail-scarred hands. The things that trip us up and tire us out—even the terrors and the tragedies of life—are not beyond the reach of His authority and His love. All authority resides in the living Christ. And He shares that authority with you—uses that authority through His Church on earth—for your eternal good. God is for you, not against you. This is the heart of the Triune God.

And the heart of God is not just set on you and me alone. No, the heart of God is on the move to seek and save more and more people. “GO therefore and make disciples of all nations.” We Christians are like a mighty army, and these are our marching orders. This means that the work of making disciples is ongoing—is never done. That’s one of the challenges of being a pastor. A shepherd’s work is never done—because the Good Shepherd’s work is never done. There’s always someone to call on, someone to visit, a class to teach, a sermon to preach, someone to encourage, someone to warn, an entire flock to lead and feed until—one by one—they are ushered right through the valley of the shadow of death to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (It’s great work if you can get it!) You may not be ordained like me, but you too are authorized by Jesus to “go” and live each day as His witness—as the light of the world.

And speaking of that, when it comes to our witnessing, we don’t get to pick and choose who we think would make a good disciple. In fact, we don’t discriminate in any way. Our marching orders are to make disciples of all nations. “All nations,” doesn’t just mean all nationalities. In fact, “All nations” was the most inclusive phrase Jesus could have used. All are welcomed here. All are wanted. All have been died-for by Jesus; for in Christ God was reconciling the whole world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

Whatever your demographic may be—whatever your skin color may be—whatever your ethnicity, your education, your age, your sex, your income—Jesus Christ wants you as His disciple. And in this wonderful truth we see the heart of the Holy Trinity. God doesn’t view this world through the lenses of race and skin color. We’re all descendants of one man, Adam; and we all share in his sin. And we’ve all been redeemed by one man, Jesus; and by faith we all share in His holiness. God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. God wants no one left behind. Disciples come from all nations—as will be made clear on that day when we are all gathered before the throne of God as “a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9)—a divine diversity for all eternity!

The means God uses to get us there are well known: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” When you were baptized, God the Holy Trinity inscribed His name on you. You are marked as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. By the power of your baptism, God is at work in you to forgive your sins, to rescue you from death and the devil, and to give you eternal salvation.

The Lord makes disciples through Baptism, and through teaching: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Just hit the highlights, give them some PowerPoint slides, and call it good.” His teaching—His doctrine—is so important for faith and discipleship that Jesus says, “hold on to all of it.” There’s a tidal wave of persecution against Christians. It is building and gathering momentum. And it’s not a matter of “if,” but of “when” that tidal wave of persecution will be on our doorsteps. And if you don’t know what you believe and why, your faith will falter and wither away. You will cease to be a disciple. Your faith may be a mile wide; but if it’s only an inch deep, it will dry up quickly. OR, you can be like the eleven who, despite their doubting, remained so firm in the faith that not even a martyr’s death could deter them from confessing their faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

There’s only one reason you and I can stand firm in the faith: Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. The words with you always do not refer to our Lord’s omnipresence. There’s very little inspiration in knowing that the Lord is simultaneously in Leipzig and Togo and Whitefish Bay. It’s a neat divine attribute, but none too comforting. Thankfully, with you always means more—means with you to save you—with you to bless you—with you to forgive you—with you even in the midst of your doubts and your sufferings.

He is with you here and now in the Divine Service—in words and water and bread and wine. Jesus died to destroy the power of sin and death. Jesus is now alive forevermore. He will not abandon you to the grave, but He will bring to completion the great good work that God has begun in you. He is with you always, until you see Him in the flesh, face to face, in paradise. For this is the heart of the Holy Trinity. It’s a mystery we can’t fully understand; but we can and do believe it.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.