The Holy Trinity

The Holy Trinity (C)

June 15, 2025

Text: John 8:48-59

            We confessed the Athanasian Creed this afternoon, and that is good and right on Trinity Sunday, holding forth, as it does, the confession of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity, one God, three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… and the Two Natures of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God, the Son of God, became Man, and that this Man is our God, born of the Virgin Mary, to accomplish our salvation.  Profound stuff, the Athanasian Creed.  We should probably bring it out more than once a year.

            But this Trinity Sunday also coincides with a very significant milestone anniversary for what eventually became our Nicene Creed.  This past Thursday commemorated the 1700^th Anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325.  That was also the First Ecumenical Council.  Ecumenical refers to the whole Church throughout the world, sending representatives to meet together as one holy Church of God.  Before this there had been local councils to settle certain disputes and bring unity to the local Churches, but here, all the bishops, as many as possible, were to gather in what is now the city of Iznik in Turkey, Nicaea, or Nikaia in the ancient world.  And do you see why this is important?  This is one case where the whole Christian, catholic, orthodox Church came to agreement.  We consider at least the first seven ecumenical councils, and especially the first four, to be part of our own Lutheran heritage… though, to be sure, the last of them predates Martin Luther and the Reformation by roughly 700 years, AND we evaluate every conciliar decree according to Holy Scripture...  Nevertheless, the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea has a profound impact on this congregation, Sunday after Sunday, as we confess the Nicene Creed.  Well, to be clear, the Creed we actually confess is the modification adopted by the next council in Constantinople in 381, so that the full name of it is the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (aren’t you glad we just call it the Nicene Creed?). 

            Anyway, what was it about?  Why was it written?  The occasion for the council of Nicaea was the trouble stirred up by a contentious priest named Arius.  (Remember this: It is not true doctrine that divides.  False doctrine divides.)  Arianism (as his particular heresy came to be known) denied the full divinity of the Son of God.  Arius said that the Son was not God in the true sense, but only called God honorifically.  (Jehovah’s Witnesses are essentially Arians.)  He called the Son the first of God’s creatures, and insisted that there was a time when the Son was not.  He even wrote hymns about this.  And they caught on.  There was a time when Arianism was more prevalent than orthodox Christianity in the Church. 

            Well, this created division among the Churches in the Roman Empire.  It was a big fight.  And so, as the first Emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine the Great wanted this problem solved.  So he called the council, and even presided over it.  (This is a mixture of Church and state to which we Americans are unaccustomed, to say the least.)  Look how history lined up just right, though, for this council to gather in peace.  It really is a miracle, when you think about it.  Arius and his friends made their case, that the Son is a creature, created in time, not fully God.  (This, by the way, is the council where, according to legend, St. Nicholas punched Arius for his blasphemes… okay, it was a mostly peaceful council!)  The orthodox Christians, including Arius’ bishop, Alexander (who had excommunicated Arius), and Alexander’s deacon, Athanasius (for which the Athanasian Creed is named, though he didn’t write it), made theirs.  Namely, that the Son is fully God, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit.  One God, Three Persons.  And that, though there was a time when the Man, Jesus, was not, there was never a time when the Son was not.  And, note this… on the basis of Holy Scripture, they made their case.  The orthodox theologians weren’t making up something new.  If they were, we should reject them.  All of the phrases in the Creed are Scriptural.  They were confessing the ancient faith delivered to them by the Apostles and Prophets, and by Christ Himself.

            And, you know, one of the most important passages of Scripture marshalled for their support, was our Holy Gospel from John 8.  The orthodox faith confessed by the Council of Nicaea was that given by Jesus Himself.  What does He say?  (It absolutely confounds the Jews!)  “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58; ESV; emphasis added).  Now, there was no question in anyone’s mind what Jesus meant by that.  “Before Abraham was,” that is to say, eternal…  “I AM,” that is, the Divine Name.  Jesus is pointing to Himself, and saying, “The almighty and eternal God, right here, in the flesh.  I AM God.”  Distinct from the Father.  “It is my Father who glorifies me,” He says (v. 54).  Distinct from the Spirit, too, though we go to other passages for that.  Yet one God.  “I and the Father are one,” He says in John 10 (v. 30).  That the Jews knew exactly what Jesus meant is evidenced in their response… “they picked up stones to throw at him” (8:59), the penalty for blasphemy.  And earlier in John, we read, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because… he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (5:18).  So, the teaching of Nicaea is simply the teaching of Jesus.

            Oh, Arius had his Scripture passages, too.  You know one of the chief texts?  Our Old Testament reading, Proverbs 8.  Jesus is the Wisdom personified in that text, the One who was there with the Father at Creation.  True enough.  We don’t dispute that.  It’s a beautiful passage, paralleling the great Christmas text of John 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (vv. 1, 3).  But, Arius says, look what else Wisdom says in Proverbs 8: I was “the first of his acts of old.  Ages ago I was set up…  When there were no depths I was brought forth… before the hills, I was brought forth” (vv. 22-25).  Sounds like there was a time when He was not, and then He was.  Now, this is important, in case any of you are tempted to become Arians.  Was there really a time before God had Wisdom?  Was there really at time when God was not wise?  Do you really want to say that?  If Wisdom is the Son, and there was a time before God had the Son, that would be to say there was a time before God had Wisdom.  Nonsense.  Proverbs 8 is not saying that Wisdom, or the Son, was created in time.  Read the text closer.  Proverbs 8 is speaking about the eternal Wisdom of God, the Father’s eternal generation, eternal begetting of His Son, so that there was never a time when the Son was not.  And so, there was never a time when the Father was not wise.  And there was never a time when the Father was not the Father (that’s a good meditation on this Father’s Day).  Remember how you learned this in the Catechism: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord.”[1]  Stick with that.  Arius is not a good exegete, not a trustworthy biblical interpreter.  Don’t listen to him. 

            So, here is the wording of the Creed aimed directly at Arius.  You know it, and you say it all the time: Jesus Christ is “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father”… that last one was ironed out at Constantinople… “by whom all things were made” (LSB 191).  Every time you say that, you’re sticking it to Arius, and standing with the orthodox Fathers of the Church.  More importantly, you’re standing with Jesus and the His Apostles.  You’re standing with all orthodox Christians everywhere, and in all times.  And you’re confessing what Jesus says of Himself: “before Abraham was, I AM!”

            Like Jesus before them, the orthodox Fathers and their heirs suffered for that confession.  There was violence.  There was persecution.  Like Jesus and your Fathers in the faith, you may suffer for it, too.  It really is an audacious act every time you confess the Christian Creed.  People die for this, you know.  You’re probably okay today, but the day may come when it costs you your reputation, your livelihood, your possessions, your home, your freedom, your safety… your life.  “A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).  “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).

            But it’s worth it.  It’s worth it, because this faith and confession are your eternal life.  See, if it was just a creature… even the first and best creature created by God… who became flesh and suffered and died on the cross… even if that creature rose again… so what?  Noble, maybe, but it does you no good, because it doesn’t have the weight of the Almighty and Eternal God behind it.  If a mere creature died for you, your sins are not forgiven, and you are lost.  Jesus had to be a flesh and blood man, to be sure, in order to suffer and die (God can’t do those things, otherwise).  But He had to be true God, the eternal Son of the Father, for that suffering and death to atone for your sins and the sins of the whole world.  Dr. Luther puts it this way: “We Christians should know that if God is not in the scale to give it weight, we, on our side, sink to the ground. I mean it this way: if it cannot be said that God died for us, but only a man, we are lost; but if God’s death and a dead God lie in the balance, His side goes down and ours goes up like a light and empty scale. Yet He can also readily go up again, or leap out of the scale! But He could not sit on the scale unless He became a man like us, so that it could be called God’s dying, God’s martyrdom, God’s blood, and God’s death. For God in His own nature cannot die; but now that God and man are united in one person, it is called God’s death when the man dies who is one substance or one person with God.”[2]

            Dear Christians, God died for you.  Think about that.  God in your flesh.  Very God of very God.  Incarnate by the Holy Spirit.  Born of the Virgin Mary.  Therefore, your sins are forgiven.  You have eternal life.  You confess this every Sunday.  1700 years ago, the Fathers at the Council of Nicaea confessed it.  So, this may be a little unorthodox… or, then again, it is the very definition of orthodoxy… Let’s turn to the Nicene Creed on p. 191 of Lutheran Service Book, or the inside back cover, or just call it to memory by heart, but let’s confess it, this gift that is our Creed…  Ready?  “I believe in one God…” etc.

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

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[1] Catechism quotes from Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986), emphasis added. 

[2] On the Councils and the Church, quoted in the Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration VIII:44, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, McCain et al., Eds. (St. Louis: Concordia, 2005, 2006) pp. 588-89.

The Day of Pentecost

The Day of Pentecost (C)

The Confirmation of Brandon Nicholas Alexander Yadao Wyatt

June 8, 2025

Text: John 14:23-31

            What is Confirmation?  Our brothers and sisters in the Roman Church call it a Sacrament.  They say that Confirmation more perfectly binds a person to the Church, and imparts a special strength of the Holy Spirit.  That is not our theology, for the simple reason that the rite of Confirmation is not commanded by God in Holy Scripture.  It does not meet our definition of a Sacrament, which is a ceremony instituted by God, God’s Word and command combined with a visible element, imparting the forgiveness of sins.  That definition isn’t new with Lutheranism, by the way.  That is St. Augustine’s definition in the Fifth Century. 

            This is to say that Confirmation is a human rite, a human tradition.  It is a good rite, a good tradition.  But it is neither commanded nor forbidden in Holy Scripture.  What is commanded by God in Scripture is catechesis, the teaching of the faith, Catechism class.  And for Lutherans, as for other Christians, the rite of Confirmation is often the capstone of a particular course of catechesis.  Not a graduation!  We never graduate from Catechism class.  That is a lifelong pursuit.  But the culmination of a special time of catechesis, leading to public confession of the faith and full immersion into the sacramental life of the Church. 

            So, again, what is it?  What is Confirmation?  It is the opportunity for the confirmand (the one being confirmed) to publicly confess his faith, to publicly confess that he believes what he has been taught in catechesis, that he believes what this Church teaches on the basis of Holy Scripture.  He publicly renounces the devil, and all his works, and all his ways.  He publicly adopts the Christian Creed as his own.  He publicly promises, by the grace of God, to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully… that is, to come to Church faithfully… to live according to that Word, and suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from this faith and confession… that is, he promises to be a martyr, if necessary.  This is so important, because Jesus says, “whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32-33; NKJV).  Confirmation is not commanded, but the confession of faith, the confession of Jesus that happens in the Confirmation, is commanded.

            And think how important this is for one who was baptized as an infant, whose parents and Godparents made these vows on his behalf (the vows in Confirmation are virtually the same as those made during a Baptism).  Here the confirmand gives his “yes” to these vows with his own mouth. 

            For that matter, think how important this is for one who was baptized as an older child or adult.  In that case, he already had a little catechesis… enough, at least, to understand the basics of the faith and what was happening in Baptism.  And he spoke those vows at his Baptism with his own mouth, but now he has an even fuller understanding of the faith, and what those vows mean, and again, he’s boldly and consciously saying he’d rather die a martyr’s death than renounce this faith and confession. 

            Think how important it is for you to hear that, whether you’re anticipating your own Confirmation, in which case this is preparing you for that day, or if you were confirmed years ago.  Every Confirmation is an opportunity for you to review what you confessed, the vows you made, and commit yourself to that once again. 

            And then, the blessing.  Pastoral hands on the head of the confirmand.  In the Bible, the laying on of hands is always connected with the impartation of spiritual gifts: The healing of a sickness, an ordination into the pastoral office, some kind of consecration (the Confirmation blessing is that), the bestowal of spiritual strength, or some other gift.  Confirmation is not a Sacrament by Augustine’s definition, but Lutherans sometimes go too far the other way, as though Confirmation is nothing at all, other than a rite of passage.  Knock it off, Lutherans.  Christian blessing is not just a pious wish for good stuff to happen, but the actual bestowal of the good stuff, the stuff of God’s Promises in Christ.  Pastors are to give blessings, to be sure, but it’s not just the pastor’s job.  Priests give blessings.  And all of you who are baptized into Christ are God’s priests.  So you should bless.  Say, “God bless you,” to people, and mean it.  And believe that God does just that when you say it… He blesses people!

            So, what is the blessing in Confirmation?  “Brandon, the almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with His grace to life X everlasting” (LSB 273).  And that is what God then does.  Strengthening, in His grace, to life everlasting.  And then a Scripture passage, the very Word of God, that does what it says.  I’ve talked about Confirmation verses before.  If you know your Confirmation verse, memorize it, meditate on it often, and make it a theme verse in your life. 

            And then, prayer.  The prayer of the Church for the confirmand.  Powerful stuff.  Never underestimate it.  The devil wants you to think prayer is useless, but it is, in fact, the mighty gift of God that fends off the hordes of hell, and carries the whole world in God’s preservation and care.  So, think what this does for the confirmand, when the prayers are spoken, and you add your “Amen” to them. 

            What is Confirmation?  It’s a human rite, to be sure.  We don’t have to do it.  But, oh, how good it is to do.  It is wise.  It is helpful.  It is beautiful.  It builds up the body of Christ.

            And what does all this have to do with Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit?  The Spirit gives us faith in Jesus Christ.  It is only by the Spirit, active in His holy Word, and in Holy Baptism, that our confirmand, or any one of us, has faith in Christ, his Savior.  It is only by the Spirit that our confirmand, or any one of us, grows in the faith, and in holy wisdom and understanding.  It is only by the Spirit that our confirmand, or any one of us, can stand before this assembly to make the good confession.  The Spirit, poured out on the Church at Pentecost (and on us in Baptism), gives us to love Jesus, and keep His Word, and become a dwelling place for our gracious Triune God (John 16:23).  The Spirit, the Helper, whom the Father sends in Jesus’ Name, teaches us and brings to our remembrance all that Jesus says to us (v. 26).  The Spirit takes the peace (the Shalom, the wellness, the wholeness) Jesus gives, and makes it our own, so that our hearts need not be troubled or afraid (v. 27).  The “ruler of this world” (v. 30; ESV), the old evil foe, is working his deadly woe, but he can harm us none.  Because he is judged, the deed is done.  He has no power over the Lord who has conquered him by His blood and death.  And so, he has no power over us, whom the Spirit has joined to our crucified and risen Lord.  Sins forgiven.  Life bestowed.  We’ll confess it unto death.  Because we won’t really die.  We live in Christ.  We live by the Spirit.  And we’ll live forever, risen, bodily, because that is the Promise of the Father in Christ Jesus, and the Spirit delivers it, and gives us to believe it and confess it.

            And so, this is not nothing, what Brandon is doing here, today.  Or better, what the Spirit is doing in Brandon today.  And it’s not nothing, what the Spirit has done, and is doing, in you and me.  Confirmation is not nothing.  It is a glorious something.  A miracle wrought by God, that a poor sinner, once lost, but now found, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, is given a mouth to confess Him, even unto death.  When God says, through the Prophet Joel, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17)?… This is it.  This is what is happening here.  It is our participation in Pentecost.  This Scripture is being fulfilled today in your hearing.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.               

Seventh Sunday of Easter

 Seventh Sunday of Easter (C)

June 1, 2025

Text: John 17:20-26

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

            Jesus prays for His Church.  Our Holy Gospel this afternoon is a selection from what is often called our Lord’s “High Priestly Prayer,” prayed on the night in which He was betrayed.  Priests pray.  Prayer is one of the important sacrifices a priest offers on behalf of the people.  So, here, our High Priest, Jesus, prays for us.

            He prays that we may all be one, just as He, the Son, is one with the Father.  He is praying for our unity.  Unity of doctrine.  Unity of life.  Unity of love. 

            Division is from the evil one.  The things that divide Christians from one another… and the Holy Christian Church into denominations… are evil.  False doctrines divide us.  It is not true doctrine that divides us.  True doctrine… biblical doctrine… unites us.  Jesus is praying that we be united in believing, teaching, and confessing what God Himself gives us in Holy Scripture to believe, teach, and confess, and that we be protected from everything that is wicked and false. 

            Sin divides us.  Some denominations teach that certain sins are to be tolerated and affirmed.  They do this because they think this tolerance and affirmation will unite us.  But they are mistaken.  This is a lie from the evil one.  Sin always destroys.  It destroys relationships.  It destroys lives.  It destroys unity.  In contrast, God’s Word gives life.  It forgives sins, and imparts wisdom.  It fosters relationships and bestows unity.  Holy lives, lived under God’s mercy in Christ, and according to God’s Word, unite us.  Jesus is praying that God would keep us by His Word and Spirit, so that, as Dr. Luther says, we “lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.”[1]

            Lovelessness divides us.  Manifested as pride, selfishness, or simply despising our neighbor, lovelessness destroys unity.  By definition, it destroys our relationships with one another.  It destroys friendships.  It destroys families.  And it is deadly in the Christian congregation.  The devil delights in this destruction.  But Jesus prays for us.  He prays that the very love with which the Father loves the Son, would be manifest in us, and among us.  To be sure, our Lord would have us hold one another in high esteem, and give of ourselves for the good of one another, even as He has given Himself, His very life into death on the cross, for our good, and for our salvation.  But the love between the Father and the Son is something even more surprising than a feeling or self-sacrificial action.  This love is a Person.  This love is the Holy Spirit. 

            Jesus is praying that the Holy Spirit would be in us, and that, in this way, He Himself (Christ) would be in us.  So that we be swept up into the very life of the Holy Trinity, and into His glory, where there is nothing false or sinful.  Where there is no lovelessness… there could not be, for “God is love” (1 John 4:16; ESV).  Where there is no division… there could not be, for “God is one” (Rom. 3:30). 

            And Jesus doesn’t only pray that we be swept up into this unity, the life of the eternal Trinity.  He effects it.  He makes it so.  How?  By His holy, precious blood.  By His innocent suffering and death.  To atone for our false beliefs, our sin and shame, our pride and selfishness, our lovelessness.  To do them to death on His cross.  In order that our sad divisions cease.  And that we all be one, gathered together by His outstretched arms into the Kingdom of His Father, the Temple of His Spirit, the one, holy, Christian, and apostolic Church. 

            That is, He does it by sacrifice.  Priests sacrifice.  Our High Priest, Jesus, sacrificed Himself on our behalf.  Our unity flows from that sacrifice.  And we receive all the benefits of that sacrifice right here, in words and water, bread and wine. 

            Jesus prays for His Church.  Jesus sacrificed Himself for His Church.  Jesus lives for His Church.  He lives for you. 

            Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.        

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[1] Catechism quotes from Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986).