The Holy Trinity 2023

Text: “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Do you understand what you just did? Do you know why you just stood to sing the last stanza of the sermon hymn?

To be clear, it’s a practice I love. If you didn’t already do it, it’s something that I would strongly encourage you consider starting. When I say, “Do you know what you just did?” I’m certainly not scolding you. Far from it. But do you understand what you just did?

You were taught to stand for the final stanzas of hymns when they have a little triangle next to them. But why those particular stanzas, why those particular hymns?

It’s because those stanzas are statements of praise to God by name— praise God the Father, praise God the Son, praise God the Holy Spirit. The simplest example of this is the Doxology. If something really good happens in the church, if we have special reason to give thanks, to praise God, we often give thanks to God by singing a little song we know as the Doxology.

Yes, I’d like to do that in a second but, first, let me ask: Have you ever sung the doxology sitting down? If you’re not able to stand, that’s fine. But, generally, it’s a song we stand to sing. Let’s do that now. Please join me in singing the doxology.

{Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above ye heav’nly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.}

Please be seated.

That’s one of the best examples of why we stand to sing those stanzas. We call on all of creation in heaven and on earth to join in singing praise to God, who is the source of every blessing. And we praise Him, by name. How can we not stand, in that moment, as we invoke the Triune name of God in an act of praise?

That’s going to be our focus this morning as we consider the Trinity: the Triune Name of God. That is where the doctrine of the trinity becomes very personal. He has given that name to you to use each day. You carry His holy name everywhere you go and with everything that you do.

Part of that is using His name to thank and praise Him, as we do in the doxology. But it goes much further. And, when it comes to God’s name, you and I strain out a gnat, as our Lord put it, but swallow a camel (Matthew 23:24).

You (rightly) stand to sing those stanzas of hymns, praising the Triune God by name, but that doesn’t stop you from cursing people or things using His name. Think back to all the people— or objects, for that matter— that you have called on God to damn. You have damned this; you have damned that; you have damned him; you have damned her. Is that the proper use of God’s name— so that you could damn the rake you just stepped on? …or even the driver who just cut you off in traffic? Is that really why God gave you His holy name?

You (rightly) stand to sing those stanzas, but that doesn’t hold you back from swearing falsely by His name— or just doing it thoughtlessly. How often have you exclaimed, “I swear to God”? How many of those times were really important enough to call on God, by name, to witness the truth of what you are saying?

God’s name is kept holy in your life when His holy Word is taught in its truth and purity and when you believe it. You (rightly) stand for the last stanzas of those hymns. But will you sit through a Bible study? Forgive me, but will you sit through a sermon that’s longer than 12 minutes? 15 minutes? 20 minutes? How sacred is God’s Word to you? Is it sacred enough to you to be worth your time and attention?

God’s name is kept holy in your life when you lead a holy life by the power of His Word. You (rightly) stand for the last stanza of those hymns, but are you equally faithful at standing against the temptations that the devil throws at you every day? Are you equally concerned with living holy lives, as God has called you to by His name?

It is time for God’s people to stop profaning His name. Yes, you rightly honor it by standing to sing. Why do you stop there? Why do you neglect the weightier matters of honoring the Triune name of God (Matthew 23:23)? “These you ought to have done without neglecting the [other]” (Matthew 23:23).

This, too, has earned you God’s wrath. For using His name to curse, swear falsely or thoughtlessly, lie or deceive rather than calling upon it in every trouble, praying, praising, and giving thanks. For not holding His word sacred or leading holy lives according to it.

Repent. Repent and believe that the whole point of Jesus’ teaching was honoring the Triune name that He bore. “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world,” Jesus prayed to the Father (John 17:6). God’s name was hallowed in His life as the Word was always taught in its truth and purity.

Repent and believe that the point of His leading a holy life in every respect was hallowing the Triune name that He bore. The pinnacle, the culmination of His perfect life was His innocent suffering and death. In His final days, as He prepared for His crucifixion and death, His prayer was, “Father, glorify your name” (John 12:28). The Triune name of God was glorified every moment of His perfect life but, especially, through His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

Repent and believe that all of it was for you. Why did the Father “highly [exalt] him and [bestow] on him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9)? Because “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Therefore, 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” (Phil. 2:10-11). Because His holy, precious blood was shed for you.

And, because His holy, precious blood was shed for you, He commanded that you be brought to a font like this one and that you be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. His Triune name— His holy, divine name— was given to you. It was written on your forehead. You were sealed as one for whom Christ died.

You were brought to the waters of baptism a poor, sinful being. By the power of that Name, you were born again.

No longer are you cut off from God by your sin, forced to look for answers in the stars, or in omens, or all kinds of superstitions. You are, in fact, His child. You are able to call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

You were given that name to use to free people from the bonds of hell by forgiving their sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” Jesus declared (Matthew 28:18). And how does He choose to use that authority? To set people free. To set people free from slavery to sin and death. To set them free from the bonds of death and hell. And He gives that authority to you, as well (John 20:23; Matthew 16:19).

I hope that understanding why those little triangles are there in a number of hymns and why we stand to sing those stanzas helps to strengthen that practice so that it continues for generations to come. But I also pray that, in the process, we no longer neglect the weightier matters of honoring the Triune name— the more important ways that God’s name is kept holy in your life. That is most certainly worthy of praise, both now and forever.