The Holy Trinity

 Video of Service

The Holy Trinity (A)

May 31, 2026

Text: Matt. 28:16-20

“I bind unto myself today The strong name of the Trinity By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three” (LSB 604:1).  Perhaps you recognize that as the magnificent hymnic versification of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, one of my all-time favorite pieces of writing.  We aren’t singing the hymn today.  Although the Beer & Bible crowd knows it.  It’s a complex hymn.  Learn it, if you can.  But, at least, think about what it means.  Picture this.  The great St. Patrick, a real Church Father, stands before the pagan hordes of Ireland.  He wants to preach to them, and they want to kill him for it.  And he says this: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.”  That’s what it means, “I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity.”  And now… come and get me.  Let what happens, happen.  I am safe in God.  “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21; ESV).  I will preach.  Though, there stand the hordes.  And if I live, I live.  And if I die… I live.

You know, you face a similarly perilous situation every day of your life.  Maybe not murderous pagans (although…).  Paul says, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).  That is to say, the evil angels are against us.  So, Dr. Luther bids us, every morning as we arise, and every evening as we lay down to go to sleep, to say, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit,” and then repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, and commend ourselves to God’s keeping.  To bind unto ourselves today the strong Name of the Trinity.  It is a shield.  A shelter of protection.  And before it, the demons shudder.  And run.

The Name.  We are baptized in the Name… the One Name of our One God who is Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… a mystery, not for our comprehension, but for our wonder and praise.  And faith.  And confession.  That is, we believe it… and confess it… even if we don’t understand it.  

Why does God give us His Name?  I would like to highlight at least three reasons: First, to mark us as those who belong to Him.  Second, that we may call upon Him “in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.”  And third, in order that it give us access to His saving presence.  

God writes His Name on us in Baptism.  The Name as Jesus reveals it in all its fulness… its full Tri-Unity… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Why do you write your name on a thing?  Because it belongs to you, and you don’t want to lose it.  Especially if that thing is precious to you.  In a manner of speaking, husbands even do this for their wives, and parents for their children.  The family name (And, by the way, taking on a husband’s last name isn’t the evil patriarchy, for crying out loud.  It’s love and union!).  In Holy Baptism, we receive a share in the Christian Family Name.  God has given us a share in His Name!  Think how profound that is.  We are often tempted to think we don’t belong.  That we are not loved or valued as we should be.  Quite the contrary.  God (the Almighty God of the whole universe) has emblazoned His Name on you because you belong to Him, and are precious in His sight.  He does not ever want to lose you.  You are His blood-bought, beloved child.  And so, there is always a place for you… just for you, where you belong… in His House, and in His Family (the Church), because you belong to Him.

And as His child, when you are hurting, or in peril, or in need, you may now cry out His Name.  “Father, help me!”  “Lord, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy” (note the Trinitarian form of the Kyrie).  “Jesus, save me.”  “Come, Holy Spirit.”  “O, my gracious God, I am heartbroken, or weak, or sick.  Or covered in the filth of my own sin.  I need You.  Here it is.  All my schlop.”  And just plop the thing down, whatever the burden may be, for your God, who loves you, to deal with as He knows best.  He’s given you His Name for that.  And for praise and thanksgiving.  “Thank God!”  “Praise the Lord!”  “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.”  And even to bless people.  “God bless you,” we say.  Or, “God be with you” (don’t tell the secularists, but that is actually what “goodbye” means… “God be with ye.”  You can’t get away from God).  Notice how pithy these prayers are.  So that we may be in constant conversation with God.  This is what Paul means when He tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).  You hear some bad news, or a siren in the distance, or see something terrible, or know of someone who is hurting: “Lord, have mercy.”  You run into a remarkable piece of good fortune, and you know it isn’t fortune at all, but God blessing you: “Thank You, Lord.”  

And you can engage in that constant conversation… prayer, and the expectation of an answer… because God’s Name gives you access to His continual presence with you.  And your continual presence with Him.  He is not a God far-off.  He is near.  With you.  See, in Baptism, you are immersed in His Name.  The preposition is important there.  “In.”  “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” (Matt. 28:19; emphasis added).  The Name.  You’re in it.  You live in it.  You speak in it.  You act in it, in your vocations and your station in life.  You are sent out in it, to be the agents of His Kingdom, always insulated, shielded, bound up in His Name.  Which is to say, His presence.  When you call His Name, there He is.  

As St. Patrick, in his breastplate, unpacks what it means to bind unto himself the Name, particularly as that Name is manifest in Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, he unleashes this sublime… hymn, frankly, to the Lord’s saving presence.  Listen to this: “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”  See… totally and completely surrounded by Christ against the onslaughts of every enemy.  Even the enemy within, the Old Adam, because Christ is in me.  That is the reality in Baptism, and the binding to myself today the strong Name of the Trinity.  And with Christ, then, every good gift that comes through Him.  All His saving acts.  As St. Patrick sings: “I arise today Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.”  And on and on in that vein.  That’s what you have when you bind unto yourself the Name.  The Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity.

So, there you stand, each day, before the snarling hordes of hell, and the traitorous Judas of the flesh within, and what are you going to do?  The Name.  You’re going to speak it: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit,” maybe even marking it with the sign of the holy cross over your blood-bought body.  And then… come and get me.  Let what happens, happen.  I am safe in God.  “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  I will live, and speak, and act as a Name-bearer of God, though, there stand the hordes.  And if I live, I live.  And if I die, I live.  Because Jesus lives, and He reigns, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  One God.  Three Persons.  Now, and forever.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.   

The Day of Pentecost

 Video of Service

The Day of Pentecost (A)

May 24, 2026

Text: John 7:37-39

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38; ESV).  

Water and the Spirit.  We’re not surprised by that.  Where do we find the Spirit at Creation?  Hovering over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2).  Brooding over the waters.  Giving form to the waters.  Ordering the waters.  

And what is a central feature of the Paradise He creates, but a great river that divided and became four rivers, to water the earth.  And the tree of life, and all the trees, there, in the midst of the garden.  And what did sin do, but bar man from the river, and the tree.

And so, when Jesus says that whoever believes in Him, out of His heart will flow rivers of living water, and St. John tells us He said that about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed were to receive, we understand that what is going on here is nothing less than the reversal of the banishment, the restoration of Eden, the undoing of the fall, and the reconciliation of God’s edenic fellowship with man.  Which is to say, with us.

That’s what happened when the Lord Jesus’ was pierced, and out His heart flowed a river of living water, and the blood of our redemption.  And now, whoever believes in Him… not only does that living water flow to him, and engulf him, and heal him, but out of his heart… your heart… flow the same rivers of living water.  The Spirit.  So that God’s gifts, and the Spirit Himself, flow through you, and on out into the world.  

It’s what Ezekiel prophesied (Ez. 47).  Do you remember?  Ezekiel saw a vision.  The Temple of God.  Well, what is the Temple?  Jesus is the Temple.  Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  He was speaking about the Temple of His Body.  Ezekiel saw the Temple, and from the threshold of the Temple, what?  Water, emanating.  And the angel brought Ezekiel around to the south side of the Temple where the water was only a trickle.  Small.  Insignificant.  Just enough for a sprinkle or two.  Or three.  And the angel led Ezekiel another thousand cubits eastward, and now, a surprise.  The water was ankle deep.  Another thousand cubits, the angel led him, and would you believe… knee deep.  More to this trickle of water than first meets the eye!  Another thousand cubits, and now the water was waist deep.  Another thousand, and the water had become a great river.  Impassible.  

Trees were planted on either side of the river, and that confirms our initial suspicion.  Eden.  Right?  And here is, perhaps, the most beautiful thing about it.  Eden is flowing forth and overtaking creation.  As the river flows out into the world, what happens?  What does it do?  Whatever the river touches, it heals.  It makes salt water fresh.  Even the Arabah… the Dead Sea!  And wherever the river goes, it teems with life.  Swarms of every living creature.  It even sounds like Genesis 1.  The river, filled with fish (I will make you fishers of men, Jesus tells His disciples).  The river, watering the trees.  Filled with fruit.  Fresh fruit every month.  Food aplenty.  And leaves that do not wither.  In fact, the leaves are for healing.

That’s the Spirit.  The River.  Flowing from Jesus’ heart, and from every heart that believes in Him.  Flowing as the Gospel is preached, taught, confessed.  Flowing and engulfing.  Overtaking.  Transforming.  Healing.  Enlivening.

Notice, though (and this is important)... whatever the River does not touch, is not healed.  The swamps and marshes, separated from the River, are left for salt.  That is, there is no life apart from this River, the Spirit of God.  That is why you come to Church, hear the Word, and receive the Sacrament.  Because that is how the River flows to you, and into you, and engulfs you, to heal you, and give you life.  When you separate yourself from the River… from Him, you become stagnant, and dead.  

But in Him, healing and life.  Always.  Our Lord Jesus has brought this about by His death for us, and by His resurrection from the dead.  

Water and the Spirit.  We saw it again today.  Little Natalie Jane.  Just a little water.  A mere trickle.  Enough for a sprinkle or three.  Doesn’t look like much to us.  But faith knows what happened.  That little sprinkle of water is, in fact, the mighty River that flows from the pierced side of our crucified Lord.  From the Temple of God.  The Spirit engulfed her.  Her own personal Pentecost.  Gave her faith in Jesus.  Made her a blood-bought child of our heavenly Father.  Whatever the River touches, it heals and enlivens.  Wherever the Spirit flows, He brings wholeness and life.  We must keep her in touch with the River, so that from her own heart will flow rivers of living water, as Jesus here promises.

And that is what is happening with our new members today, too.  They are about to come forward and make their good confession.  They will speak their faith in Jesus, and we will receive them in love.  That confession is the River flowing forth.  And it blesses us.  We are healed and enlivened as we hear it.  And they are healed and enlivened as their confession is joined to ours.  The River flows.  

And it’s going somewhere…  We have a destination.  Just like rivers making their way to the ocean, this River, the Spirit, is carrying us along to a fulness beyond our imagination.  From the last chapter of the Bible (Rev. 22:1-5; ESV): “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.  The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  And night will be no more.  They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

Water and the Spirit.  See where He carries you.  In fact, this is better than Eden.  Where the Holy Spirit flows, there is nothing less than a whole new creation.  That includes you.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                    

The Holy Marriage of Micah Zerbst & Abigail Rausch

The Holy Marriage of Micah Zerbst and Abigail Rausch

Messiah Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington

May 22, 2026

Text: 1 Cor. 13:4-7; John 15:9-13

We’re all very confused about love these days.  We keep using that word, but I don’t think it means what we think it means.  In fact, it seems to me, we have the concept precisely backwards.  Love, to us, has come to have no objective meaning.  It means whatever I want it to mean, and that means love is all about me.  What gives me pleasure?  What do I find comfortable?  What do I think will bring me fulfillment?  What will keep me true to  my self-created self-identity?  Now, I’m not against some good old fashioned romance (and I hope you enjoy some in your marriage), but even the romantic things we say betray us.  To give just one example, “You make me happy.”  Okay, I hope that’s true, and you should probably say that sometimes.  But what about when you’re not happy with me?  That will be the case, sometimes, you know.  Is that the end of love?  Because I’m not living up to whatever it is that makes you happy?

St. Paul has a different definition of love.  Love is patient and kind.  See how that already turns the focus 180 degrees, from me to you?  From self to other?  Because patience and kindness require, not self-obsession, but self-sacrifice.  If love means me being patient with you, that necessarily means that you, my beloved, do and say things, and sometimes simply exist in ways that try my patience.  That do not bring me pleasure, or make me comfortable, or fulfilled.  

Kindness?  That’s all about the other.  I have to get over myself long enough to be kind to you.  To be focused on you, and what is good for you.

How about the other things Paul says about love?  That it does not envy or boast.  That means giving up my own pride and self-interest, and instead rejoicing in, and promoting, what is good for you.  It is not arrogant or rude.  What bothers us so much about another’s arrogance or rudeness?  Their self-absorption, that’s what.  See, love is the opposite of self-absorption.  

How about this?  It does not insist on its own way.  Actually, you know what love does?  Real love, not our confused and backwards definition of it?  Love insists on the way of the other.  Love sacrifices its own way… Love sacrifices itself… its pleasure, its comfort, its fulfillment… for the sake of the other.  And so, yeah, it is not irritable, or resentful toward the other.  And when the Christian lover is irritable or resentful toward the beloved, or arrogant, or rude, or envious, or boastful… When the Christian lover is curved in on the self, instead of lazer-focused on the beloved, and what is good for the beloved, even at great cost to the lover… that Christian repents.   

That’s Christian marriage.  That’ll be you.  Here is the ideal: What St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.  Striving to live up to that.  Constantly failing.  Always repenting.  Immersed in God’s forgiveness and mercy.  Covered in the blood of Christ.  Dying to self.  Praying for help to do better.  For strength.  For the Holy Spirit.  Covering over one another with the same mercy and forgiveness and blood of Christ (that is what it means that “love covers a multitude of sins” [1 Peter 4:8]).  Praying for each other.  Holding each other up.  Patiently and kindly.  

Recognizing above all else that Christ is the true Lover, by St. Paul’s definition.  He is the only One who fulfills this Chapter.  And you are the Beloved on whom He pours out His 1 Corinthians 13 love.  

How does He love?  Total and complete self-sacrifice on the cross.  He loves you to death on the cross for your redemption, to make you His own.  He loves you to death, to cover over your sins… against Him, and against each other.  He loves you to death, so that you can be plunged into His death and life at the font, bodied and blooded at the holy altar, and spirited with His Spirit by His Word constantly ringing in your ears, and set before your eyes, and therefore churning in your mind, and burning in your heart.

Of course, He didn’t only die.  He is risen, and lives.  In you.  And you live.  In Him.  And so He gives you to love with His love.  Not self-love.  That’s all part of this world’s whirling mass of ever-lovin’ confusion.  But one another.  Love one another.  Love flowing from God, filling you up, and overflowing, not just in your marriage, but through your marriage, to children (God-willing), and family, and neighbor, and Church, and community.  

Self-sacrifice.  That’s what that love is.  That’s what He means when He says to abide in His love, and love one another as He has loved you (John 15:9, 12).  Abide in His self-sacrifice, and so, sacrifice yourself.  The last verse of our Holy Gospel is rather important: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (v. 13; ESV).  That goes for spouses, too.  And it is to say, love… real love… is cruciform.  

Micah and Abigail, your marriage is going to be full of joy, and adventure, and God grant it, a whole bunch of good old fashioned romance.  But don’t kid yourselves.  There will be times when you aren’t particularly happy with each other.  When his way isn’t your way, and your way isn’t her way.  When you sin against each other (that will be daily, just to warn you).  

But love is patient with that.  And kind toward it.  In fact, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  That’s the love you’ve been folded into.  The love of God.  The love of Jesus Christ for you.  Forgiven and forgiving.  Let that be the love with which you love one another.  Because, while it isn’t always pleasant… or comfortable, or fulfilling… it is the love that never ends.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.