Matthew 28:16-20 First Sunday After Pentecost, Holy Trinity Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, June 7, 2020 “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You heard Pastor Koehler speak those words this morning at the beginning of our service. You have heard those words regularly in that spot at the beginning of our worship services. You probably have noticed that as the pastor speaks those words, he makes the sign of the cross. You may have noticed that a number of members and even guests, as they hear those words likewise make the sign of the cross on their own, following a long-standing practice within the Christian church, one Martin Luther practiced and for which he advocated. These words are used because they are the same words that were connected to the water of our baptisms. Some of you may recall last week a baby was brought to the font here in front of church. The sign of the cross was made over his head and heart, and water was poured on his head in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And from a human being born in sin, a disciple was made. These words and the sign of the cross that often accompanies them are so very familiar to so many of us that it might seem a little surprising that our sermon text from Matthew 28 is the only place in Scripture where we find the words “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus is the one who spoke those words as he met with his disciples and as he blessed them and as he gave them instructions for when he was no longer visibly present with them. Along with his instructions, he gave them assurances, amazing and wonderful promises. And today we look at that context and those promises and specifically these familiar words because we are observing Holy Trinity Sunday. We focus in on these words because they give us an amazing description of our awesome God. In his name we have been baptized, in his name we pray, in his name we gather for worship, and in his name we study the Word that he has given us. The phrase “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” tells us about a God that is beyond our understanding. We use the phrase Holy Trinity to accurately reflect what the Bible says, but that doesn’t mean that we understand. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three Gods, nor are they three ways in which God acts or three ways that he appears to us. They are not three parts of God so that if you focus on just one you are looking at something less than God. In his very nature God is one and at the same time three. That’s not math the way that we understand it. And there is nothing else, nothing in our experience, to which we can compare God in order that we might fully understand. God is both three and one and we use the word trinity to reflect that concept for the very reason that it is beyond our understanding. And so we say things like our prayer of the day today, which spoke about majesty and mystery, and those are very appropriate descriptions. There is much about God that is kept from our eyes and impossible to fit into our minds and so he remains in many ways mysterious. He rules over the world and so he reigns in majesty. But what does that really mean? It means that if someone made up a god, made up a story about god, they would describe him in terms that they understand. We can find all sorts of historical examples of this. People worshiped gods that were created things like the sun or the moon. They told stories about Roman and Greek gods who acted—no surprise—like the people themselves. But when the true God describes himself to us, when he tells us about his own nature, it leaves us scratching our heads because he’s not like us, and he is not like anything that we know. And because of that we ought to simply marvel at the mystery and the majesty. We ought to thank him that he has revealed himself to us at all. Instead, people all around our world, and I think that we have to admit to this, too…people think that they know enough to tell God what to do. They think that God should listen to them. People like to ask questions like “Where is God while this bad thing or that bad thing is happening?” They say that a loving God wouldn’t do or allow such things. And make no mistake, there are bad things happening. There are dangerous things happening. There are terrible things happening. And God tells that that in his infinite
wisdom and with his infinite might he has all things figured out and will make them all work in our best interest and that we should just trust him. Do we? Sometimes, by his grace. At other times, we clearly do not. We worry. We get terrified. We give up. We turn to the government or to our own wisdom for the things that only a God beyond our understanding could possibly provide for us. You see, our questions about God and our uncertainties about the world around us stem from a broken relationship with him. We don’t walk in the Garden of Eden and talk to God the way that Adam and Eve once did. Of course we don’t know him as well as we might want to. And when sin came into this world, and all of us have likewise followed our ancestors into sin, it changed the perfect world that God had created. Hate and murder and strained relationships, selfish behavior and disagreements are all sins that we and those around us cannot help but commit. Suffering and sorrow and pain and diseases are the results of our sins and the mess that these sins have made of the world. Our Triune God is beyond our understanding, but we understand this: he is holy. This is Holy Trinity Sunday. That means that he is perfect and demands perfection. It means that he has every right to expect perfection and obedience. And he has every right to punish all who disobey him. But God, the true God, who is beyond understanding has revealed this to us: he is a God who loves us. He created the world for us. He created us to enjoy that world and to live in a relationship with him. And even after we his people destroyed that relationship, he made a promise and put into action a plan to restore it and to fix the sin that we had committed. And according to that plan, Jesus Christ the Son of God came into the world as a human being. He lived the perfect life the Father demanded. He died a sacrificial death and rose to life again. And with the redemption, the reconciliation of God and the world, completed, he ascended into heaven. And in love God sends out his Holy Spirit. He works through Word and Sacrament to call people out of darkness and unbelief to trust in him for life and salvation. He came into your heart and into my heart and changed our lives. And we often break down the various roles and responsibilities of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation, redemption, sanctification. But there is only one God who loves us, and God is not separated or divided. God loves us. He created us. He saved us. He makes us his own. That is why before he ascended, Jesus gave his disciples the commission, the instruction, to go out and find more disciples, make more disciples. That is why he equipped them with his Word and with Baptism in the name of the Triune God. That is why he surrounded his commission with amazing assurances and promises. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” “And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” In love, Jesus kept those promises. He equipped his disciples with the Holy Spirit and with bold confidence. They went out and spread the Word. They told others what Jesus had done for them. They baptized believers and their families in the name of the Triune God. And Christianity, faith in Jesus Christ as the world’s Savior, has been spreading around the world and impacting the world ever since. No, that doesn’t mean that the world has become a perfect place. No, it doesn’t mean that Christians immediately become perfect in their thoughts and words and actions. What it does mean is that Christians have been made perfect by the works and actions of Jesus. And it means that when Jesus returns, he will bring all of his disciples to live with him in absolute perfection and holiness forever. And that is why we gather around his Word. That is why we come as sinners to hear about a God beyond our understanding whose love for us is likewise beyond our understanding. That is why we marvel at what he has revealed to us and trust that in all that he has not revealed to us he will do as he promised and carry out what is best for us. That is why we rejoice to have been baptized in his name and why we worship and live in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Text: Matthew 28:16–20 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain. 18 Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”