Sermon 30th April 2021 – Trinity Sunday
Text:
Romans 8:12-17 – Protecting God’s Identity
Identity
theft is a growing concern in society today.
Every
day I receive either a warning of a new scam trying to trick me into handing
over my private details or I receive an actual attempt to steal my identity.
Maybe
you’ve been a victim of someone trying to steal your personal details which has
caused thousands of people to lose fortunes.
Our
identity is important and we go to great lengths to protect it.
God’s
identity is also important – in fact it is sacred.
It
is protected by the 2nd commandment – you shall not take the name of the Lord
your God in vain.
God
gave his identity to Moses in order to free Israel from slavery.
He
didn’t give him special powers – or special weapons – he revealed his identity
– he gave him his name – Yahweh – I AM.
In
fact today strict Jews will not mention the name of God – Yahweh - when they
read the Scriptures for fear of disrespecting God’s name and replace Yahweh
with the lesser form of word for Lord using Adonai.
In
today’s society, sadly, there is great disrespect or rather lack of respect for
God’s name as we hear the misuse of God’s name and identity in very poor use.
And
I’m hoping you’ll forgive me as I use it simply to explain so we can also
become aware as it has even become common place in the language of everyday
Christians.
When
someone hurts themselves they might use it as a curse word – “Jesus Christ”.
Or
as a curse word against another person – Christ you’re an idiot.
Jesus
Christ it’s hot today.
For
Christ’s sake, would you please be quiet.
Or
just simply – Oh My God – or even OMG with sometimes a horrible swear word
inserted as well.
There
seems to be little fear or respect of God and his name and identity that he
cherishes and protects.
Just
look at the effect that speaking God’s name has with Isaiah and his response:
The
angels said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of
his glory.”
The
pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house
filled with smoke.
And
Isaiah said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live
among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts!”
And
yet today we use God’s name so carelessly and frivolously as if it means
nothing.
And
let us remember that the name Jesus that is used so disrespectfully today will
be the source of great fear and respect when he returns on the last day:
As
St Paul says in Philippians chapter 2:
God
exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
Today
we are also facing the added challenge in the Christian Church of protecting
the fundamental teaching of God’s identity in “The Trinity”.
That
God has revealed his identity to us as One God in Three Persons – Father, Son
and Holy Spirit – the Trinity – Unity in Three.
But
in doing so it can cause great distress for those who believe in God but
believe in a different path to God.
A
path that does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the one true and only path
for the assurance of eternal life in Heaven.
As
a result it has made the Christian church seem like an exclusive club.
That
you have to believe in Jesus or you’re out as is often seen when quoting John
14:
No
comes to the Father except through me.
But
Jesus today reassures us that there is no exclusion through him as he tells
Nicodemus:
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
One
of the challenges to proclaiming the Trinity as an essential teaching for the
Christian Church is that there are no Bible passages that use the term Trinity
when referring to God as three persons.
But
there are clear references to the identity of God that is essential to
understanding that this is how God has revealed himself as necessary for
eternal life in heaven.
In
our Gospel reading we see the first connection to assurance of eternal life in
Jesus’ comment to Nicodemus:
For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
So
there is the assurance of eternal life that comes through the Son – sent by his
Father.
And
Jesus also introduces the necessary work of the Holy Spirit when he says:
“Very
truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of
water and Spirit.
What
is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
And
most importantly, it is the working of the Trinity that is central to our
forgiveness.
After
his resurrection as he greeted the frightened disciples gathered behind locked
doors he said:
“Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me,
I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the
Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do
not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Probably
one of the clearest indications of the Trinity at work:
As
the Father sent the Son – so the Son sends you – breathing on you the Holy
Spirit and the assurance of your own forgiveness and the authority to forgive
others.
The
Trinity is not just a name we have given to God it is his identity that has
been revealed even from the beginning of creation with God the Father creating
through his Word and the Spirit giving life to that Creation.
As
much as we do everything to protect our identity we should do even more so to
protect God’s identity because this is how he has revealed himself to us and
given us the assurance of our eternal life in heaven.
And
that’s what Paul said too – that through Jesus being the Son of God we have
been adopted through him as children of God.
And
as children of God we receive eternal life not as a reward for good deeds but
as a right of inheritance.
Paul
said: When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing
witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-
And
so an attack on God’s identity is an attack on our inheritance.
God
is not an abstract being but a relational part of our very being whom we call
Father.
And
just as the Trinity was at work in Jesus’ Baptism when the Holy Spirit
descended on Jesus to the words – this is my son whom I love – so too our
Father in heaven declares you to be his child whom he loves and has brought
into his family by receiving the very Spirit of God in you.
No comments:
Post a Comment