Sermon: The Revelation of God
“The Revelation of God”
Christopher R. Gillespie
Octave of Pentecost – Holy Trinity Sunday
07 June 2009
John 3:1-15; Isaiah 6:1-8; Romans 11:33-36
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only-begotten of the Father and testified to by the Spirit. Amen.
Dear Christians, Seeing is not believing. Believing requires faith. Faith is not necessary for what the eyes can see. Faith is necessary to believe in what we do not see. More precisely then: To have faith is to believe without seeing.
In contrast, we know this world not by faith but by evidence. We call the testimony of this world science. Science requires seeing to know. The scientist believes nothing unless he has witnessed evidence. Evidence is our rational testimony. His theories are “bad science” if they are based on wild guesswork. What the empirical scientist does not see, he cannot explain. He can only respond “I don’t know.”
The church is not of this world. She does believe through science. She does not create theory to explain her existence or purpose. Her wisdom is not gained through observation. Instead, the Spirit testifies to the church her wisdom and knowledge. She does not need evidence. She does not need to see to believe. The church receives faith to believe through the words of the Spirit, recorded in Holy Scripture. She has faith through hearing not seeing. Hearing is believing.
On this blessed Octave or eighth day of Pentecost, we confess God as the Holy Trinity. It is true, the name “Trinity” is not found in Holy Scriptures. “Trinity” is really a mathematical word, created by the men in the church to explain the reality of God. On the surface it would seem the stuff of science, and thus, of the world. Should we confess God as Trinity? Is this not imposing a rational theory upon the things of God? No, while the term is created, the teaching concerning the Trinity is not. Our belief in God as Trinity is not based on speculation or evidence. Indeed, our reason and ability tells us this teaching cannot be true. Because the the trinity of persons in the Holy Godhead are far beyond our grasp as creatures, we must rely on the testimonies divinely revealed. These are so firm, clear, and certain that we can submit to this teaching in faith. This teaching has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. By these Holy Scriptures, God reveals himself as Trinity.
We dedicate a whole Sunday to a single doctrine precisely because it is necessary for salvation. Denial or ignorance of the Trinity is a denial of saving faith. The heathen, the Muslim, and the Jew deny this Trinity and so do not believe in the same God. Whoever does not know Jesus as the Son of God, does not know the son who died to make satisfaction for their sins. A denial of Jesus is a denial of God. God does not demand a perfect understanding but rather faith, trusting in his revealed Word. This is the catholic (or universal) faith, which is necessary for us to be saved.
Jesus […] said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt 11:25-27). We come to Jesus for the knowledge of his ways and the comfort of our souls.
The marvelous and wonderful revelation of our triune God is present throughout His Word, both in Old and New Testaments. Our appointed Old Testament lesson grants both Isaiah and us a revelation of the Trinity.
Isaiah, in the year that King Uzziah died, went to church. In faith, he went to receive the gifts of the Lord. He trusted in the Word of promise given to him by Moses and the prophets before him. Isaiah believed without seeing. Yet, the Lord granted him this vision for our benefit.
While he was attending the Divine Service, the Lord revealed to him the heavenly throne room. There he saw with his eyes, the triune Lord, sitting on the throne. The Lord’s robe filled the temple. The Seraphim covered their feet and His face. They cried out to one another with a threefold “Holy, holy, holy!” thus confessed the Lord as Trinity.
This angelic song floored Isaiah. He fell to the ground, cowering in fear. “Woe is me! … I am a man of unclean lips!” Isaiah did not fear through seeing. He feared from hearing the word of God. He knew that Word which says “No man may see me and live.” That Word testifies that God cannot dwell with wickedness. No man, especially a sinner may enter the holiness of the Lord’s dwelling and live.
But the Lord in His mercy grants Isaiah a new revelation. He opened heaven to all who believe. He does not leave Isaiah in the torment of his sinful speech. Isaiah will not continue as a corrupter by words. The seraphim bring to him the fire from the altar, a burning coal and with it touches his tongue. This fire loosed Isaiah from his iniquity. It purged him of sin.
Now, his lips, his tongue, his mouth are freed to serve the Lord. “Here I am, send me!” He boldly confesses the Lord with his mouth. Isaiah bore witness through this fiery Spirit in great oracles. His visions are not just spectacular. His visions are life-giving for the testify of the Son, the one stricken, smitten, and afflicted for our transgressions. He saw Jesus, by whose stripes we are healed. His visions are not guided by his analysis of the world and what it needs. His marvelous visions are granted to him by the Spirit, for our benefit. The Lord speaks, we hear and see by faith.
St. Paul understood that the salvation won by our triune God escapes our comprehension. Our Lord’s wisdom and knowledge exceeds our understanding. His judgments upon man are unsearchable. His way of redemption is unfathomable. No one has known the mind of the Lord. No one has told him what He should do. Instead all things are of Him, through Him, and to Him, says St. Paul. These prepositions – of, through, and to – are significant. Paul is confessing the distinction of the work of the three persons of the Godhead for the redemption of the Gentiles.
This redemption is the stuff of our baptisms. In baptism, the atoning work of Christ is imputed to us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God acts in unity of purpose, with one name but by three persons. This great mystery was revealed at the baptism of our Lord. The Father spoke from heaven the words: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Jesus. By the Trinity, John’s baptism of repentance transformed into a baptism of salvation.
Yet, all appearances of this baptism do not agree. Science says it is mere water. Our eyes see only wet hair and a crying baby. Instead, hearing creates faith that trusts in the truth of baptism. Scripture records this testimony so that we may know that Baptism is not merely a washing of water or a personal witness of belief but instead is the work of all three persons of the Trinity. God is at work by water, Spirit, and the Word incarnate to bring about our salvation. When his name is placed upon us, we are restored as his sons, heirs to the kingdom and everlasting life.
Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night seeking signs and wonders. He wants to hear marvelous words of wisdom and knowledge from this rabbi come from God. God is certainly with Him. He must be a prophet. Yet, Nicodemus wants searchable judgments and comprehensible ways. Instead the Lord confronts him with a great mystery. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The kingdom of God is not manifest in signs and wonders. The kingdom does not come by evidence. It is not predicted by science. No the kingdom comes by Jesus’s Word: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” These are great Words, comforting words for all of us who have received them in our ears and trust in them by faith. We have received the water and the Spirit and will enter the kingdom of heaven. The triune God marked our foreheads and hearts with His name.
But the rational, empirical Nicodemus still wants signs. “How can these things be?” he asks. Give me signs to prove your words. Teach me by the ways of the world to know and believe. Nicodemus should know that this is not how God acts. Jesus rebukes him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” You, of all people should know that your Fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob acted in faith, trusting the promise of the Messiah to redeem the nation. They trusted not in signs but the word of promise. You, who know the Scripture must know that not every day has been paradise for Israel. Life has been hard. Indeed, many years were exile in Egypt, wilderness, and Babylon. Foreign nations attacked and won. Thousands died of plague, battle, and famine. Do you trust in these signs that God loves you? No Nicodemus, trust in the Word of promise that the Lord works for your salvation.
“We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.” The Trinity has spoken to your through your Scriptures that the kingdom of God will come by the Spirit, when and where He blows. This is the Spirit that grants us the revelation of the saving work of the Father and Son; the promise of our baptism.
Trust that the Lord worked in your forgiveness of sins in your baptism. He has testified of these heavenly things. We have received this witness, being born again in the Spirit. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
This great witness comes to us not by sight. We cannot time travel back to the place of the skull to witness our Lord’s death and His resurrection on the third day with our eyes. But the witness of the Evangelists by the Spirit that enters into our ears is even better. It tells us this death and resurrection that we witness by hearing is that gives us eternal life.
God the Son, sent by the Father was made man not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. God the Father gave His Son to the evil, wicked, and murderous world for our salvation. The murder of God at our hands would seem to be His undoing. The evidence would seem to indicate the victory of sin, the world, and the devil.
But the testified resurrection of the Son of God proves otherwise. Sin has no victory over us. We, the chosen and adopted children of God now cannot die forever. Like Christ, the grave cannot hold us. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
Our eyes see baptized loved ones dead in a coffin. Our Lord tells us not to trust in the evidence. Do not rely on your reason. Instead, trust in His testimony, the Word which speaks of His witness. The medicine of immortality, the elixir of life has been granted to us. The grave cannot hold us them or us either. For the baptized remain in the strong name of the triune God. “Whoever believes in Him should not perish by have everlasting life.”
The Church with her loosed tongue confesses the mystery salvation by the Trinity constantly. Our prayers are made to the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. We make the sign of the cross, calling upon his Trinitarian name, our baptismal name, in the morning and evening when we rise and when we go to sleep. We confess the Trinity when we begin the Divine Service in His name. When your pastor pronounces the Absolution, he does it in this name. The Gloria is full of the Trinity. We give praise to the Trinity with our triple Hallelujah, thanking the three persons for the great gift of the Gospel. Our prayers end with a doxology like the angels: through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Sanctus repeats the threefold confession of God, witnessed by Isaiah, when we sing “Holy Holy Holy”, “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna” and “Blessed is He, Blessed is He, Blessed is He.” Our service concludes with a great Trinitarian confession. The Father blesses us and keeps us. The Son shines his face upon us and graciously died for us. The Spirit proceeds from Father and Son upon us, giving us peace. We respond triply “Amen, Amen, Amen.”
We are blessed by the Lord in His trinitarian name. It is the strong name placed on us at our baptism. By this name we call God our Father. By this name we receive the gift of forgiveness of sins won by His Son. By the placing of this name upon our mind and heart, the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, and keeps us steadfast in the true faith.
On this side of heaven, the blessing of the Lord remains a great mystery. We know it only by faith. This faith is grounded in the testimony of His Word. “For who has known the mind of the Lord?” His ways are inscrutable, his judgements unsearchable. His riches, his wisdom, and His knowledge are deep. Yet, we who are baptized do know! We may not understand. We may not be able to find evidence. But we do know and believe that the Deliverer has come from Zion. The Son of the Father has come to banish our ungodliness and drive away our sin. He has shown great mercy on us despite our disobedience. The Spirit bears witness that God as Trinity has called us and granted us the gift of His salvation. Thanks be to God. Amen!
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