Trinity Sunday 2020
John 3
June 7, 2020
Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID
The hymn we just sang, “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” is hymnic version of an ancient hymn called the “Te Deum.” This hymn is Christianity’s oldest and best known hymn to the Holy Trinity and to Christ, the Redeemer. It had been used in the liturgy since at least the 6th century, and was already considered a classic by that time. Just in our hymnal alone, we have 5 versions of this hymn. This version we sang today is commonly called the “German Te Deum” as it was written by a German priest in the 1700s, and translated into English in the 1800s.
As far as the Te Deum itself goes, the origins are not really known, though probably the most exciting possibility of its authorship is that St. Ambrose composed it upon the event of his baptizing St. Augustine on April 24th or 25th in the year of our Lord 387. For over 1600 years Christians have been singing this hymn. Luther went as far to say that it ranks next to the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in terms of the creedal qualities, the clear and concise statements of faith about the Trinity and Christ.
The hymn begins in heaven with the unending praise of the cherubim and seraphim, building upon the passage in Isaiah 6 that we heard today and the angelic song of the “Sanctus.” This is the song that we will sing in heaven, for all eternity as we praise the One who brings us salvation and eternal life and as we long for the day when the church on earth will join the church triumphant in the unending song. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts/or Sabaoth. This the General Yahweh, commander of the heavenly angelic army. And so when we sing the Sanctus just before Communion, we join our voices with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, to laud and magnify God’s glorious name.
The Te Deum then moves us to earth in the historical incarnation of the Son of God, and the concludes with the people of God petition Him to spare, keep, and remain with His church. Then it ends with a verse of doxology, of praise, to the Trinity.
So, in this hymn, maybe written by Ambrose upon the Augustine’s baptism, reflects our Scripture readings today: the Old Testament from Isaiah 6 and the Sanctus; the Epistle from Romans 11 and the doxology; and from John 3, wherein Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about the new birth which takes place by the water and the Spirit when the Triune name of God is placed upon a person as the waters of Holy Baptism are poured out.
So let’s turn our attention to John 3. Baptism is how salvation is poured out, how new birth occurs, how the life of Christ enlivens your life. This is why the historic, Christian belief, is that a person becomes a Christian, that is a disciple of Jesus, by means of baptism – for it is at baptism when the triune God places His name upon a person, gives new birth by means of water and the Spirit, delivers from sin, death, and the devil, and grants eternal salvation to all who believe in Christ. That in baptism, the old man is regenerated, a new man in Christ is born. This is why we begin our church service in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It recalls our baptism into the name of the Triune God.
By this saving act of God, lifting up the Son of Man on the cross and giving new life from above by water and the Spirit, He shows His love for a sinful and fallen world. And do we ever see the fallenness of the world. Disease and death, murder and riots, division and disunity. This is the fallen world that God loves. This is the fallen world that God sent His Son into. This is the fallen world that Jesus died to save.
Christ was lifted up for all to see. St. John says this is how God loved the world. The whole world. That means, that by Jesus being lifted up on the cross, by His all atoning and sacrificial death, He shows that every single life matters from the moment of conception in the womb, to the moment of natural death and even into eternity. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This means that a person’s identity is not primarily shaped by the color of their skin, or the language they speak, or their nationality, or where they have been or where they are going. A person’s primary identity is found in their relationship with God. That doesn’t mean these other things don’t matter, it means the primary thing is who you are in regard to God, the Triune God, who has saved.
So when we see the things going on in our world, violent riots and crime and evil and we look at these people and wonder how they can do such things. How can they be so different, or how can someone who is so like me do things so different than me? It’s the same reason that you sin in thought, word, and deed, by what you have done and by what you have left undone. It’s because of sin.
And its Jesus, and Jesus only, that is answer to the sin which plague us and our world. Only Jesus saves. Only Jesus reconciles. Only Jesus enlivens. For only Jesus deals with the root problem of this fallen world. Jesus comes only to save sinners. Only Jesus reforms, He does so into His image. Jesus, and therefore His Church should in following His lead, care primarily about people’s souls. Care that people are dead in their trespasses and sins. And that life, true life, eternal life, comes through the birthing from above, which is the work of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
So when look at another, we should view them as a person for whom Jesus died. This is a person that God desires to be born of the water and the spirit to have the life of Christ. This is a person whom Jesus wishes to gather to Himself for all eternity. When we start to view people in that sort of light, it shapes our love, our life, our service, our attitude, slowness to anger, quickness to forgive. For God loves even them. God loves even you.
Whoever believes in [the Son of God, be it with a strong or with a weak faith] may have eternal life. Worthiness does not depend on the greatness or smallness, the weakness or strength of faith. Instead, it depends on Christ’s merit” (FC SD VII 70-71).