June 4, 2023
Today’s Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Daily Lectionary: Numbers 35:9-30, Luke 24:28-53
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Stay on the path. That’s one of the most basic rules of hiking. Those are also wise words for Trinity Sunday, a day when we celebrate one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith.
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, the day we celebrate this great paradox and mystery of the Christian faith, namely, that God is both three and one at the same time. Three persons in One Divine Essence, One Divine Essence in three persons. Strange? You bet it is. Understandable? Of course not. So we confess it. As we will in the Athanasian Creed. A summary of about four hundred years of the church struggling to say it just the right way.
And even then, we can only come to an approximation, as though looking through a dirty window pane. We can describe God using words like “person” and “being” and “essence” and “substance” but we can’t really explain God. How can something be both three and one?
The trick to all paradoxes, is like the basic rule of hiking: stay on the path. Don’t subtract God’s Word. Don’t add to God’s Word. Confess what Scripture teaches. We worship three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one being or essence called “God.” It’s as simple as that. As we confess in the Athanasian Creed, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but one God.
The triune life of God is also our life in Holy Baptism. We are baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We live, move, and have our being within this Trinity, worshiping the Father in the Spirit and in the truth who is Jesus, having God as our Father, Jesus as our brother, and the Spirit as our Advocate and Guide. We are loved by the Father in the beloved Son who bears our humanity and are drawn by the Spirit.
It is God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who leads, guides, saves you, and reveals himself in this great triune paradox that we might rejoice and confess, “Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the Undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us.” In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the unity in the power of divine majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Trinity Sunday)
-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is Pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.
Study Christ’s words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.
