Matthew 28:16-20 - The Holy Trinity - June 7, 2020

It’s probably just a legend, but there is a story told about the church father St. Augustine related to the Trinity. It’s said that he was walking along the beach one day, trying to figure out the Trinity. In the midst of his pondering and wandering, he happened upon a little boy running back and forth from the sea to a spot on the beach. The boy was using a sea shell to carry water from the sea to a hole he had dug. Augustine asked him “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m trying to put the ocean into this hole.” “Foolish child,” chuckled Augustine. Then it dawned on him that he’d been trying to do something equally foolish: trying to fit the infinite God into the finite space between his ears. [1] He realized that it is impossible for a finite creature to “figure out” the infinite Creator.

If that’s true, why focus on the doctrine of the Trinity at all? Why celebrate it, discuss it, set aside an entire Sunday for it, if it’s too big to fit into our puny little minds? Well, the Athanasian Creed gave a pretty good reason, didn’t it? “Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved.” Anyone who denies the doctrine of the Trinity is not a Christian and cannot be saved. This applies both to those religions who explicitly deny the Trinity such as Jews, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as to those who implicitly or silently deny the truth, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts or the countless thousands who confess belief in a nameless, generic “god.”

“Yeah, but neither the word Trinity nor triune (“three-in-one”) are found in the Bible.” If you’ve ever had the privilege of speaking with a Jehovah’s Witness, you may have heard them make that argument. They’re right. The word isn’t found in the Bible. But, without question, the doctrine is. On the very first page God the Father is speaking; the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters; and the powerful, creative Word is God the Son (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1-2). At Jesus’ baptism, we see God the Son in the Jordan River; God the Spirit descending in the form of a dove; and we hear God the Father speak (Matthew 3:13-17). And here in Matthew 28, Jesus clearly and explicitly identifies the one true God (“name” = singular) as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  

We set aside one Sunday each year to celebrate the Trinity because this doctrine is fundamental to salvation. To modern ears, the Athanasian Creed may seem unnecessarily long, dogmatic and even judgmental and intolerant. But that’s because modern confessions are sloppy, sentimental and focused on me rather than God. People today don’t want be told what to believe. People today want their theology to fit on a bumper sticker or a hashtag. We want our god and our religion like we want everything else: personalized to our liking. But this creed stands in the way and says “Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved.” It denies the right of anyone to “build their own God.”

Nor is Christianity an innovative religion. The creeds we use each Sunday are over 1500 years old. The Athanasian is the most recent, from the 5th century. The Nicene Creed is from the late 4th century. The Apostles’ is from the 2nd century. The Christian faith is not made up as we go. It’s not invented on Saturday night for use on Sunday morning. There is no such thing as a “new” doctrine. The only thing “new” are the newly baptized and confirmed who are taught to confess the unchanging Christian faith along with us. Christianity is not a movement but a divine institution, built on an unchanging body of teaching handed down from one generation to the next (Ephesians 2:20; Jude 3), from the Church to all nations. There is no such thing as contemporary Christianity or emergent Christianity or post-modern Christianity or any of the other adjectives that are used to try to make Christianity seem cool and relevant. There is only the one, holy, Christian and apostolic faith – and “Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved.”

That’s why we set aside one Sunday each year to consider the fundamental and undeniable doctrine of the Trinity. But at the same time, don’t misunderstand – we aren’t here today to try to comprehend the Trinity. While no one can deny the Holy Trinity and be saved, no one can understand it either. In Isaiah the Lord says that just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my plans are higher than your plans (Isaiah 55:9). Paul echoes that in Romans 11, saying from him and through him and to him are all things (Romans 11:36), but admitting that his judgments and ways are beyond comprehension (Romans 11:33).

These are the first two takeaways regarding the Holy Trinity: it’s undeniable and incomprehensible. Are you comfortable with that? Are you comfortable with the fact that you must believe and confess something you cannot understand or else you can’t be saved? Taken by itself, how can we be? How do you react when someone launches into an in-depth explanation about something you just don’t understand? Generally, I think we either get frustrated or just ignore it. Augustine was right. We cannot fit the infinite God into our finite brains. We can’t fit eternity into time. We can’t fit that which is “uncreated” into a creature. We can’t…but God can and God did. Paul says that all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ (Colossians 2:9). In Jesus, eternity stepped into time; the uncreated God placed himself into the womb of a woman; the finite is capable of the infinite. In terms of the Augustine story, the entire ocean could fit into a hole if Jesus was the one doing it.

Jesus is the only access sinners have to the undeniable and incomprehensible Trinity. No one comes to the Father, except through me, he says (John 14:6). While John admits that no one has ever seen God he goes on to say that the only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s side, has made him known (John 1:18). With Jesus there is no reason to deny the Trinity nor to wrack your brain trying to understand it. You don’t have to deny it as un-Biblical because Jesus, the one who died for the sins of the world and rose again, is the one who gives the clear command to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And we don’t have to understand it because Jesus never tells us to focus on or figure out the Trinity, instead he points us to himself. Apart from Jesus, no one can know God. Apart from Jesus, the Triune God has chosen not to be seen or approached by sinners. This doctrine is only comforting through Jesus. That’s what he did for the eleven on that mountain in Galilee. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain. Why the hesitation and uncertainty? Probably many reasons, among them the big ones people of all ages have had: is God really in control? What is his will for my life? Does he even exist or care? Jesus comforts his disciples by telling them about 1) all he has, 2) all he wants, and 3) his always being with them. This is where we find comfort in considering the Holy Trinity. If you ask these questions about the mysterious, incomprehensible Triune God, there is more fear than comfort; more mystery than certainty. So don’t do that. Go where Jesus points you: to himself.

He says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. You know those pictures of divine hands holding the world? Do you know whose hands those are? Not the hands of the unseen God; the incomprehensible Trinity, but the hands of Jesus (Hebrews 1:3). That means that it isn’t some nameless, faceless divine being who is ruling a world which has been torn apart and thrown into chaos in recent months by the reactions and overreactions to a virus and a tragic and senseless death in Minneapolis. The hands that hold your life are the same that emerged from the womb of the virgin Mary and grew calloused in his father’s workshop; the same that welcomed children and healed the sick and calmed storms; the same hands that were stretched out and nailed to a cross for your sins, that came to life three days later, that ascended into heaven extended in perpetual blessing. Your life and this world are not in the hands of some incomprehensible, mysterious “god” – but in the hands of Jesus.

By completing his mission of salvation, Jesus received all authority. He could have chosen to do anything with it – what did he choose? He chose to use his authority to send his saving Gospel out to all nations, to make disciples by baptizing and teaching them so that, on the Day of Judgment, they may be saved. This is good news! This is what God wants for your life and the life of people in every nation – that they be gathered as his disciples through baptism and teaching so that they may be saved.

Unfortunately, if you’re like me, you’ve heard plenty of preaching and teaching on these words that don’t resonate as “good news” but rather leave you feeling guilty and burdened – perhaps wondering if you really are a disciple or not. That’s the result when you read these words as Law. This is done in three ways, the first two revolving around mistaken ideas of “discipleship.” First, in the sense that we, Christians, are now under the impossible obligation of converting the world. “Get out there, knock on the door of a perfect stranger, engage them in a conversation about the most personal and polarizing issues in the world, and don’t leave until you have them confessing Christ and committed to attending church on Sunday!” Relax, it’s not our job. Only the Holy Spirit working through the Word and Sacraments has the power of conversion (1 Corinthians 12:3). Our job is simply to baptize and teach. The second abuse is to treat discipleship as if it were a burden rather than a privilege. As if, in the end, the true God is just like every other false god and needs us to do his bidding to keep him happy. No, Jesus is not a cult leader; he doesn’t gather disciples for his own good; he gathers disciples for their good. Doesn’t Baptism make that clear? Baptism is something he does for us, not something we do for him. It doesn’t make us slaves but children (Galatians 4:21-31). It’s not our promise to lead holy lives for God but God’s unbreakable promise that he has already declared us holy for Jesus’ sake (1 Peter 3:21).

Ah, but what about teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you – that sounds like the Law. Sounds like something we need to do for Jesus. There are two things that indicate that Jesus is not talking about obeying the 10 commandments here. First, he says all the instructions I - that is, Jesus, and not Moses – have given you. And, second, the word he uses is better understood as instructions, not the NIV’s “commands.” What instructions might those be? Come to me…and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Be baptized, and wash away your sins (Acts 22:16). “Take and eat, take and drink…for the forgiveness of your sins” (Matthew 26:26-28). The commandments of God were an unbearable burden, that’s why they were shrouded in smoke and lightning on Mt. Sinai. But the instructions Jesus tells us to teach to all nations from this mountain are not burdensome, they are simply encouragements to receive his gifts. It’s like instructing a child to open his birthday presents. No child would view that as a burden, would they?

Finally, Jesus promises that he is with [us] always until the end of the age. This tells us two things. One, baptizing and teaching – in other words, Christianity – will continue until the end of time. Viruses and protests and riots and worldly institutions may rise and fall, but even the gates of hell will not overpower [the church] (Matthew 16:18). We will always have the means of grace by which Jesus brings us to the Triune God. Two, it tells us that this baptizing and teaching will always be effective. It will always be powerful. These are not just the tools of the Church – they are the tools through which the all-powerful Lord of heaven and earth works to build and sustain his Church. When the Church baptizes, Jesus personally takes lost sinners and brings them into the family of the Trinity. When the Church announces the forgiveness of sins, it is Jesus, the one who will return to judge the world, who is declaring you “not guilty.” When the Church hands you bread and wine, Jesus is handing you the very body and blood he shed on the cross for your forgiveness.

Trinity Sunday can be intimidating. We confess that we must believe something we can’t understand or else we can’t be saved. We use big, headache inducing words like uncreated, infinite and begotten. The doctrine of the Trinity is both undeniable and incomprehensible – and that can be intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be. We don’t have to try to wrap our minds around the infinite and incomprehensible God because the infinite and incomprehensible God wrapped himself in the flesh and blood of Jesus. Jesus, our crucified, risen, ascended and all-powerful Savior makes us comfortable with believing, confessing and praising the mystery and majesty of the Holy Trinity. Amen.

[1] https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/h065rp.Shell.html