Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

"It’s Not About Longing for the Past"

From the Old Testament of the Day: And I said, "Woe is I! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. [Isaiah 6.5]

From the Holy Gospel: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.. [John 3.8]

Today is the Feast of the Blessed Holy Trinity, the Triune God, three Persons in One divine Essence. In the pattern of the Church Year, each Person of the Blessed Holy Trinity is honored by a Feast Day: Christmas for God the Father and His gift to us of a Savior; Easter for God the Son, which celebrates the victory of Good Friday, now seen as victory by the empty tomb and the appearances of the Risen Christ; and Pentecost for the Sending by the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit, which we observed last Sunday. Today, the focus is on the Three in One: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, in One Feast, the Feast of the Blessed Holy Trinity.

Many people like to say that the Feast of the Holy Trinity is a celebration of a doctrine, but this is not so. This feast is the celebration of a mystery, a divine mystery known only by the revelation of God concerning His own nature, a mystery that God’s Word unfolds for you today.

Indeed, the fact that the historic Christian Church, both Eastern and Western Churches, celebrate mystery every Sunday. This is the nature of liturgical worship. Liturgy is a matter of participating in the mystery; "It’s Not about Longing for the Past."

I.

Uninformed people, watching what we do today, what we do on every Sunday and Holy Day, conclude precisely that liturgical worship is really just an inability to adjust to the times, that liturgical worship is just about a longing for the past. This is not so! Liturgical worship is embracing the mystery of God’s nature, God’s love, and God’s activity on behalf of a world of sinners. Liturgical worship is not a matter of getting hyped up by musical sounds, or lifted to new heights by brilliant lessons and sermons. It is about God as He has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His Word, the Word as it has been written, the Word as it is preached, the Word as Christ reveals Himself, the Word made flesh. Liturgical worship is about the fact that you and I are placed by Holy Baptism into the mystery of the Church herself, as the Bride of Christ being presented to Christ throughout the ages. Ancient liturgy is about these things; "It’s not about a longing for the past!"

II.

The Old Testament of the Day expresses this mystery, as Isaiah is called to his role as prophet through a vision, the vision of seeing God on His throne in all His glory. To this vision, this heavenly liturgy, Isaiah responds: "And I said, "Woe is I! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." THAT, my brother and sisters in Christ, is the proper response to the liturgy; not, "the service was too boring," or "the hymn was too hard," or "the sermon was too long!" "Woe is I! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

Indeed, the words of Isaiah are true also about you and me! We are people of unclean lips – just think back about what you have said during this past week! And we dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips – think about the words and behaviors of your family life, your community, your culture. "Unclean lips" characterizes our behaviors and exposes our sins. "Woe is I!" Woe are we!" For not only are we like Isaiah in our speaking, we are like Isaiah in our liturgy, for in it "mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Yes, the Divine Service of Sundays and Holy Days is the place where we have our "Isaiah" moment before the throne of God. And we would be undone, as Isaiah would have been undone, unless God Himself causes our lips to be cleansed, and informed, and blessed by the use of His Word. For Isaiah, in his vision, God has an angel touch his lips with a burning coal, a symbol of the cleansing that God alone can do for our sinful lips. Today, we don’t have the vision of the hot coal; we have the promise of Holy Baptism: "Behold, this has touched your head; your guilt is taken away, and your sin has been atoned."

You are here as those for which your sin has been atoned! That is why this gathering, this liturgical gathering, has been instituted by God; that is why you have been made a part of this gathering by the work of the Holy Spirit to draw you here today. It isn’t about a longing for the past!"

III.

In the Holy Gospel for this Feast of the Holy Trinity, you hear the wonderful words of John 3, especially the familiar final words read to you: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only-begotten Son, whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." This verse is the conclusion of today’s Holy Gospel – it sums up the reading. The promise that is in the reading is this: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you heat its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit!"

Christianity is a matter of being, as the Greek puts it, born "anothen" – often translated as born "again," but more precisely, it is translated as born "from above." It is a gift of God that you are a member of God’s family by being born into it "from above" – from the choosing of God the Father before the world began; from the redeeming of God the Son, in this world on the holy cross; and born by the activity of God the Holy Ghost through the waters of Holy Baptism.

And so it is mystery, from start to finish, that cleanses you from your sins, that brings you into the Church, that causes you to make the good confession of the faith in your confirmation vows, and that opens your eyes, ears, mouth, and heart to participate in the ancient, heavenly liturgy today! It’s not about a longing for the past! No, rather, it is the Spirit-led longing of the new person within that bring us all here, opens all our ears to hear, causes all our tongues to speak, fills our minds with truth, and so unites us within in Christ’s church with all the faithful of all time and in all places, to rejoice in the great mystery of the faith! As St. John writes, "So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit!"