Home | Site Map | Contact Us | Feeds

May the Three-in-One God Shower Us with Blessings

            Step out of the car, and take in the view of Lake Louise in Banff National Park just west of Calgary, Canada. You’ll gasp in awe. Drive up to Estes Park, Colorado, and check out the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park. Your breath will be taken away. Climb the outer reaches of Denali National Park in Alaska to catch a glimpse of Mt. McKinley. You’ll stand there stunned. All of those views are absolutely spectacular. But nothing can take our breath away and leave us in stunned amazement more than the marvelous mystery that our God has revealed himself in the Bible as the three-in-one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

            Did you ever notice that even though we have only one Trinity festival service per year, nearly every worship service is book-ended with statements that spell out the truth that our God is three-in-one, dedicating song and sermons, prayer and praise to the only true God? It has always been that way ever since believers have gathered to worship God, even in the days before Christ walked on this planet. In Old Testament times believers began their worship with this phrase, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4)—three Persons, one God. Nowadays we often begin, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The Israelites ended their worship with the familiar three-part blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). Bible passages often refer to God the Father as the one who keeps and preserves us. God the Son makes sure God’s face shines, that is, smiles on us. God the Holy Spirit uses his tools to give us harmony and peace in our connection with God. Today that teaching about God rings out in the Athanasian Creed we will speak together after the sermon and in the hymn version of the Te Deum—watch for it!—and we conclude with the three-part blessing that comes from today’s second lesson from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. To appreciate anew how our three-in-one God operates in our lives, we’re going to explore those words and join with the apostle to pray: May the Three-in-One God Shower Us with Blessings.

With the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

            Just what does it mean to have God’s blessing pronounced over us? Well, when we announce God’s blessing, we are calling on God to shower us with all the good things that come from him. And if we wanted to make a list of all the good things that come from God, we start where Paul did. He went right to the top when he prayed, “May the three-in-one God shower us with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Am I assuming too much? How can we turn cartwheels over the fact that God pours out his grace on us if we don’t all understand what grace is? The eighth graders who recently confirmed their faith publicly could give us the standard definition. Grace is God’s undeserved love. I hope that word and its definition never get stale or old hat for you because it’s far too important a concept ever to forget.

            Consider how our Lord put his grace into action throughout history. When sin raised its ugly head in the Corinthian congregation and all sorts of problems bubbled to the surface—a wayward sinner continued in a sinful lifestyle without any loving discipline from the other Christians, Christians were taking other Christians to court needlessly, disorder in worship. They needed grace from our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul could have sent a letter and said, “God has written you off.” But he didn’t. He wrote, “God still has your names written in his eternal book of life even though you don’t deserve it.” That’s grace!

            When I sin and desire forbidden fruit as Adam and Eve did, then I am breaking the bond of love and trust that I have with God just as they did in the Garden of Eden. God should have killed them right then and there, and he should kill me. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. Instead he promised a Savior to be born from their offspring and made that promise come true for them and for me in Jesus. That’s grace! When I wander into places in my mind and in my world where I should not go, thinking I can handle myself and stick to my principles when all along I’m only fooling myself and not relying on my God, then I am like Abraham who traveled to Egypt and passed off his wife as his sister to save his own hide. God should have pushed Abraham aside and picked another man to be the one through whom all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3), and he should push me aside. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. Instead he gave Abraham and his wife a long-awaited son, and he gives me the fulfillment of his promise of love so I can remain his child. That’s grace! When I want to be number one in the eyes of people I work with and live with for selfish reasons, then I am like Jacob who wanted the number one position in his family and cheated his older brother to get it. God should have treated Jacob with disdain and removed him from his position of responsibility, and he should treat me with disdain and take responsibility out of my hands. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. Instead he kept Jacob in the line of the promised Savior and keeps me in line to receive heaven. That’s grace! When I complain about the path my life is taking as if it’s God’s fault and not my own dumb decisions, then I am like the Israelites who were being led by God’s cloud and fire to the Promised Land but complained and went their own way. God should have abandoned them in the desert, and he should abandon me in hell. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t! Instead he gave them the promised land of Canaan, and he gives me the promised land of heaven. That’s grace! When I think thoughts that are out of bounds, then I am like King David who committed adultery with Bathsheba and tried to cover it up by murdering her husband. God should have ripped royalty away from his hands, and he should rip away my position in his kingdom. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. Instead he allowed the Savior to be born as David’s descendant, the Savior who died for David and for me and for you.

            When we sin, whenever we sin—and I don’t mean just the big ones we can hardly get out of our minds; I also mean the little ones we do and the little things we forget to do that we should have done—when we forget to pray, or neglect worship, or dishonor people in authority, or hold back generous gifts to God, God has a perfect right to come flashing out of the clouds with his mighty steel-toed boot and squish us like filthy roaches. But he doesn’t. He still says, “I am going to love you with an everlasting love because I have smashed my Son Jesus instead of you.” Every moment of every day we can be sure that God smiles on us because Jesus has absorbed God’s anger. He took the hit so we wouldn’t. That’s grace! No wonder Paul put grace at the top of the list of God’s blessing to us. That’s why we join him to pray, “May our three-in-one God shower us with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And we know the answer. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is ours!

With the love of God

            If we are making a list of good things that God gives us, grace is at the top, but love spreads out underneath. Love comes in all shapes and sizes—love at first sight, patriotic love, puppy love, passionate love. But love from God is special. It is selfless and giving. The best example of God’s special love, of course, is his grace, his undeserved mercy in forgiving our sins. But love from God spreads out even wider than that and envelops all that we have from him.

            Consider how God put this love into action throughout history. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he could point to abundant evidence of God’s love in their lives. They were living in a busy, high-income, teeming metropolis. They had all the advantages of big city life. They had ample room for growth and oodles of opportunities to share the truths about Jesus with others. Corinth was an exciting place to be.

            God not only gave Adam and Eve forgiveness. He also gave them clothes, food, and companionship. God not only made Abraham the man through whom all nations were blessed but also gave him a new homeland and great wealth. God not only let Jacob keep the number one position in the family but also gave him 12 sons and thousands of sheep and goats. God not only kept David’s family line alive till Jesus was born but also filled the royal coffers with so much gold that David’s son didn’t know what to do with it all.

            Oceans of love from God the Father have been poured out on us, too. There isn’t a country in the world that has the advantages and resources that we enjoy. Look at the talents he has given you to earn a living. Consider the facilities we use for worship and ministry programming. Look at the family and friends he has given you for mutual support and encouragement. No wonder we join Paul to pray, “May the three-in-one God shower us with the love of God.” And we know the answer. The love of God the Father is ours!

With the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

            Pile up God’s blessings, and you will find grace at the peak of the mountain, love from God as the base of the mountain, and fellowship from the Holy Spirit that binds it all together. Fellowship involves sharing, partnership, enjoying things in common. Fellowship from the Holy Spirit puts us in touch with all God’s blessings. God’s gifts are not far away. They are not detached or out of reach. They are not like a rain cloud that passes by on the other side of town and misses our lawn. God’s gifts of grace and love and everything else become ours personally because the Holy Spirit lets us share in them and lets us share them with each other. He is the bridge. He brings the glue. That’s fellowship.

            Consider how the Holy Spirit put this fellowship into action throughout history. The Corinthians certainly needed that blessing of fellowship. One of their biggest problems was factions in the congregation—separate cliques and groups were at each other’s throats—and God’s work just did not get done. That’s why Paul urged them, “Be encouraged, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” He even encouraged them to make use of the common public expression of unity, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

            Abraham didn’t just hear about a son to be born in his old age. He held Isaac in his arms. The Israelites didn’t just march toward the Promised Land. They lived in it. The early Christians didn’t just hear about God’s grace and love. They put it into practice. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had (Acts 4:32).

             What a blessing for us to enjoy fellowship from the Holy Spirit! He puts us in touch with God’s grace and love so we can take to heart the message of forgiveness and recognize God’s love all around us. He also puts us in touch with one another. And there can come times in a congregation’s history when that unity and oneness and fellowship mean so much, especially when there are unexpected tragedies or when we pull together to focus on long-range plans. No wonder we join Paul to pray, “May the three-in-one God shower us with the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” And we know the answer. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is ours!

            Some people might think that this teaching that our God is three-in-one is just theological theory. But it’s not theory. It’s real, and it’s designed to take our breath away more than a majestic mountain peak because it is the best reminder that God is so much bigger than we are, which means he can do things we can’t do, like get us to heaven. And that he will do! Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on June 19, 2011

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

Home | Site Map | Contact Us | Feeds