Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

From the Old Testament of the Day: Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged. [Isaiah 6.6-7]

From the Epistle for the Feast of the Holy Trinity: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out![Romans 11.33]

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. And on such a day as this, we rejoice to mark the confirmation day of two of our members: Tommy Lange and William Redmann.

Many people claim 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, a mystery concerning His own nature, a mystery that God’s Word unfolds for you today.

The truth is that the historic Christian Church, both Eastern and Western Churches, celebrate this mystery every Sunday. Such is the nature of liturgical worship. Liturgy is a matter of participating in the mystery of the great truth that you are, as Christians, “Children of the Blessed Holy Trinity.”

I.

Each of the lessons read to you this day reflect on the nature of the mystery celebrated by liturgical worship. 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.

The ancient liturgy is about these things, about the mystery that you are Children of the Blessed Holy Trinity. You are used to calling yourselves “Children of the Heavenly Father,” and so you are. The terms, “Father” and “children” bel0ng together. But it is also true – and this where you get drawn into the mystery of the nature of God – that you are children of the Blessed Holy Trinity itself. Yes, it is clearly true that you are children of the God the Father. But it is equally true that you are children of God the Son. He is your brother, and yet He is father to you – it is a mystery. Moreover, you are children of the Holy Ghost,  who causes you to be born of the Spirit. It is true, awesome, and mysterious: “ You are children of the Blessed Holy Trinity!

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. And then, a seraph touches the lips of the prophet with a coal taken from the altar of God, and he said to Isaiah: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquty is taken away, and your sin is purged!.” THAT, my brother and sisters in Christ, is the truth of your life with the mysterious Holy Trinity!”

And we would be undone, as Isaiah says that He has been undone, unless God Himself makes us His chilldren, and 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 sizzle of the hot coal; we do have the promise of Holy Baptism: “Behold, this has touched your head; your guilt is taken away, and your sin has been atoned.”

You join in the liturgy 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, to stand together as “Children of the Blessed Holy Trinity.

The Epistle also declares the mystery of your place among the children of the Trinity: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out … for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.” And hearing of such a mystery does not drive Christians to fear or despair. No! This truth drives us to smile, to breath a perpetual sigh of relief, and to say: However these things are, they are that way for our good, our welfare, and they are true about us, because we are God's kids – children of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost!

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” – born from the choosing of God the Father before the world began; born 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!

So, this day, for the two of you and for all of us, is the celebration of the blessed Holy Trinity who 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  mystery of the faith! As St. John writes, “So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit!” So it is with you!