It was a little father-son project a model airplane. Dad unfolded the instructions, spread them out on the table, then laid out all the pieces to be sure everything was there and easily found for each step.
“I don’t need instructions. I know how to do it.”
And so, the boy put the wings on the body of the plane. And the tail went on the end. It seemed sort of’ right, but…it was all upside down.
“Buddy, the instructions matter.”
“I want to do it myself.”
He got more and more frustrated as he jammed other pieces into places they weren’t supposed to go. And then…tears. It didn’t look anything like the picture on the box
There is this fierce, independent nature like that in people that insists that we get to decide for ourselves how things are to go when it comes to spiritual things. And so, we build our truth for ourselves, and our world encourages this We end up with “designer religion.” I have “my truth;” you have yours.
This, of course, does not fly with God. Jesus speaks with divine clarity in these words we consider today: There is only one God. He proclaims the only saving truth. And he sends it out through his Church.
One God. One Gospel. One Goal.
One True God Revealed
“Sorry, we didn’t find any results for your search.” That’s the message you’ll get back if you type “Trinity” in the search bar on BibleGateway.com or YouVersion or Bible Hub. If you look for “Trinity” in the concordance in the back of your Bible, you’ll come up empty there too.
It’s not a Bible word, but it is a doctrinal word—a word that represents a teaching of the Bible. It means three-in-one, and it is a word that is used to describe what the Bible teaches about God that he is three “persons,” yet one God. The Bible teaches this in many, many places some quite clear, like this: Jesus says: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Did you notice what he did there? He says, in the name of. Singular. Not in the “names” of The disciples were to baptize in the name of God. Who is God? The Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. One God. Three distinct “persons.” That’s the word we use to distinguish between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Maybe you’re starting to feel how difficult (even impossible) it is to comprehend or explain this.
One God.
Three persons.
The Father is God.
The Son is God.
The Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods, but one God.
This is what we confess. And, to the joy of some of us, we get to confess that in just a little bit, in the words of the Athanasian Creed!
You might have noticed that we live in a world where a generic spirituality is mostly acceptable. That many people are okay with kind of loosely talking about “a higher power” or “being spiritual.” Speaking of that, do you ever sinfully slide into talking in vague ways about God with people because you know you won’t take heat for it?
But the truth is that there is One God, and he tells us about who he is. He tells us about specific activities attributed to the persons of the Trinity
The Father who created all things and who sent his Son to save all people from their sins.
The Son who took on human flesh and who lived and died and rose again to save sinners.
The Holy Spirit who gives the miracle of faith through baptism and the Word of God.
The world ignores, laughs at, is opposed to this One God, this three-in-one God. But really, we can have our moments too, can’t we. We occasionally want to put the model airplane together ourselves. We don’t want the instructions.
We make God into the One who looks the other way when we are doing things he tells us not to. We make God into the One forgives us but shouldn’t forgive “those people” (whoever we decide “they” are). We make God into the One who won’t mind our child or friend living a lifestyle he certainly condemns
We want a god who agrees with us. We believe, but we’ve got issues. We might easily find friends in those disciples who believed, but also doubted. We waver, we struggle, just like they did. And we count on Christ’s forgiveness just like they did.
One Saving Gospel Proclaimed
“Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them… and by teaching them…”
If you have ever looked here at the baptism font and felt joy watching God place his saving name on a child… if you have ever remembered your own baptism and found comfort there… if you have ever been overwhelmed that God would use something as ordinary as water connected to his Word to wash away sin and make someone his child… then you understand why these words of Jesus matter.
And if you have ever come to the Lord’s Table burdened with guilt—troubled by your sin—and then left comforted, amazed that Christ would bring forgiveness to you through something as simple as bread and wine joined to his promise… if you have ever been moved to tears by love you know you did not deserve… then you “get it. ”
You understand that these are not empty religious rituals. These are God’s gifts. These are the means through which the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith. These are the treasures Christ has entrusted to his Church Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper the things through which God makes disciples and keeps them in the true faith.
They might not seem like much some words, some water, some wine, some bread that doesn’t really look like bread. From the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth, perhaps we’d prefer things we see as more powerful. We might use political power, military might, entertainment to entice people, marketing to move them.
But the gospel is not a knife-to-the-throat “Obey or else!” And it’s not “I have something for you if you’ll just do this or that.” God gathers people with “good news,” that’s what gospel means. That good news is that the Father sent his Son to live perfectly to meet all of God’s holy expectations for people because no human being can do that and then to offer his life as the payment to God for our imperfection and sins.
The Holy Spirit takes that One Gospel message and plants it in the hearts and minds of people. He does that when people are baptized and when they are taught those very things from the Bible. And heaven is opened for them.
That’s the news we need to hear when we realize that there’s no way to do for ourselves what God expects from us. That is the news we need to hear when we realize that our sin deserves eternal death.
You and I are not the only ones who need to hear this. If we occasionally want to do what we want to do and think the way we want to think about morality and spirituality even when we know what God expects what about all the people who are just out there not knowing what God says. They’re on their own making up whatever feels right to them. But in fairness to them, what else would they do? It’s what you would do too, if you didn’t know God. You can’t know what you don’t know, right?
If we act and feel morally superior to those who have not heard the details about the One God and the One Gospel, God’s anger burns against our snootiness and pharisee-ism. He has a different way for us to view the people around us. He has One Goal and you are an enormous part of reaching that Goal!
One Mission Given to the Church
God has given his Church a mission. And when I say “Church,” I mean you. You and I make up his church. We have a mission. “Therefore go…” Jesus says. He says to go in the name of the One God…with the One Gospel…with One Goal: gather disciples.
You know what people don’t know! You know who God is! You know what he has done! You know what it means! You know where a person goes eternally when they believe it! You are called to go out into the world around you and share what God says.
God’s Goal is to get the saving Gospel to people. And he needs you to do that. You don’t have to make them believe you (you actually can’t make them believe!); you simply have to share what you know is true. Then there is hope for them. They might believe and be saved. It’s not loving, and it does not meet God’s goal, if we say nothing.
They’ve been working on an overpass and exit from I-10 onto Sunset road very near our house on the northwest side of town. I’m very excited about this. I’ve watched it for months and months, anticipating the glorious day when I can take that shortcut to my house and avoid a big intersection that is often clogged up with Costco traffic. As I’ve watched and waited, there have been things that speak clearly and consistently to every driver approaching the work there: orange things traffic cones and signs and barricades. Can you imagine if they didn’t say anything about the incomplete bridge that, if you had driven on it, would have sent your car off the end to crash into the Rillito?!
It’s not very loving if we don’t say something that will save people from an eternal crash in hell, is it? Like city and county officials ordering their crews to use orange things to send a message to save the people from danger, God gives the order to his crew to extend a saving message to people who are in spiritual danger.
People around us treat doctrine the things God teaches as unimportant. They’re good with people just believing “something.” They’re okay with there being a variety of things that people can choose from for their personal faith. Jesus doesn’t talk that way. He actually commissions us to teach them to keep all the instructions he has given. That means everything God says. It’s not a pick-and-choose thing (and we need to repent when we treat God’s Word that way).
It’s not Golden Corral where you just take your own path, wandering from station to station taking what you want and leaving the things that make you want to hurl. I can’t say, “I love that part about I’m forgiven for everything, but I don’t want any of that God has different roles for men and women stuff. Give me two scoops of God loves me—I really need that today, but I really don’t care for those things he says about sexuality.” No, we have an obligation to trust and tell all of the things God says.
And if we’re a little afraid to do this, or we’re shy, or we feel not-so-prepared, remember this: Surely I am with you always until the end of the age. That’s what your Savior says to you. You are not alone. You are not sent out alone. The message is not yours alone. When your pastors share with you what God says, we don’t do it alone. When you teach your children, when you talk about Jesus with your grandchildren, you don’t do it alone. When you answer the unexpected question about God from a friend, you are not alone. When you reach out to someone with a word of comfort from the Bible, you are not alone. You are not alone. You are never alone. Jesus is always with you.
Today, on Trinity Sunday, we confess the One God: The Father who loved us…the Son who redeemed us…the Holy Spirit who called us by the gospel the God whose name was placed upon us in baptism.
We believe and confess One Gospel the message of love and salvation through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
And we go out to fulfill the One Goal of God to gather disciples for him. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.