Sermon--2 Corinthians 13:11-14--Trinity (A)--2017

FOLLOW THE TRINITY TO UNITY

Intro: Did anyone kiss you when you came into church today? Maybe, because we live in Miami, with its Latin flavor. A kiss on the cheek is a customary greeting among many Latin Americans. In most other places in America, you wouldn't expect to be kissed when you walk into church. But Christians used to greet each other with a "holy kiss." It was holy because it was dedicated to the service of God. When one Christian kissed another Christian he was saying, we are united to God and to each other by the unseen bond of faith in Jesus. It was an outward expression of unity. Well, the Christian church was accused by pagans of kissing each other for more carnal reasons, and it seems that eventually holy kissing fell out of practice. Until the year 1250, when Walter, Bishop of York, had an idea...

He in vented the “Pax Board.” It was a wooden board that the priest would kiss, and then pass it around the congregation so that everyone else could kiss it. We wouldn't use the Pax Board now because of what we know about germs and the spread of disease. Some people may view the doctrine of the Trinity like that: an old, dusty, confusing teaching that would be better left to the theologians to debate, and not dedicate an entire service to it because it doesn't have much to do with our daily lives.

* Pax Board--Something we wouldn't use now because of what we know about germs and the spread of disease. Some people may view the doctrine of the Trinity like that: a confusing teaching that would be better left to the theologians to debate, and not dedicate an entire service to it because it doesn't have much to do with our daily lives.

But the teaching about the Trinity IS important because it's who God is. From the earliest times Christians saw to it that each service was begun in the name of the Triune God, the Trinity is always mentioned in the prayer of the day, one of the Creeds is spoken at each service, and the service is ended with the threefold blessing given to Aaron and the people of Israel, and every year we dedicate the Sunday after Pentecost to the Trinity. The teaching of the Trinity is ESSENTIAL for us because our God (the only God) reveals himself to us in the Bible as One God in Three Persons. Triune means "three-in-one." There are many remarkable things about the Trinity, things that are incomprehensible to our human minds. Let's focus on one of those characteristics today: Unity.

One of the most frustrating things that any of us has to deal with in life is relationships and keeping them together. Recently a 70-year-old man in Kansas City, MO robbed a bank and then quietly sat in the lobby waiting for the police to arrive. When they arrived he told them to arrest him because he had just robbed the bank. Do you know why he did that? He didn't need the money. He was so sick of living with his wife that he preferred to be locked up in jail, so he did something that would put him in jail! In this post-Eden world relationships are not always easy to manage--inside the church or outside the church. Instead of staying together and unified, they break apart. It's hard to find good examples of relationships that stay together--marriages, friendships, or otherwise. What is the strongest relationship that you have ever witnessed in your life? Whatever relationship you are thinking of pales in comparison with the strength and unity of this one:

Unity with the Trinity

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

The relationship that exists among the three persons of the Trinity is eternal—no beginning and no end. Normally when we say the persons of the Trinity, the Father comes first, right? Do we say that because the Father is greater or older than the Son? No, we say that because the Son is eternally begotten of the Father—he comes from the Father. They have both always existed in this relationship, so the Father is usually mentioned first (think of the Gospel reading for today). The Holy Spirit usually is mentioned last because he proceeds from the Father and the Son. But here Paul mentions the Son first, probably because he is the Mediator between us and the Father. It was the Son’s goodwill or grace toward sinful people like us that moved him to be that mediator and Savior: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” That grace of Jesus that brought him to this earth to live for us and suffer the physical torment of crucifixion and hell itself for us, revealed God the Father’s...

LOVE: This is the kind of love that perfectly loves those who don’t deserve it and gives them what they need : “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The Father’s perfect love knew what we needed to be restored to a right relationship with him, so he sent a Savior. But everything that the Savior Jesus did for us does us no good if we do not personally receive it, and that work is attributed to the Holy Spirit. It’s called:

FELLOWSHIP: The Holy Spirit unites human beings to the Triune God through faith in Jesus: “No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit."

Three distinct persons united in one essence and united in purpose and goal: to save human beings from the consequences of their sin and restore their broken relationship with God to one of unity with God. What is Paul telling us in these verses? FOLLOW THE TRINITY TO UNITY. Only the Triune God can give us unity with him. The Triune God is united in that goal of uniting us with himself. That unity results in eternal life, but while we are here on earth we must live within human relationships that are damaged by sin—our own and the sin of others. So Paul also urges us to FOLLOW THE TRINITY TO UNITY…WITH EACH OTHER...

Unity with Each Other

Relationships have been difficult ever since Adam blamed Eve for making him eat the forbidden fruit, and there were dysfunctional relationships among the members of the congregation in Corinth. In both of Paul’s letters to this congregation he addressed many of the causes of those broken relationships: dividing themselves into groups according to their favorite pastor, tolerating sexual immorality in a brother’s life, taking each other to court over their disputes, selfish treatment of others, boasting and pride, among others. Many things have changed since then, but relationship difficulties still plague us, even within the Christian church. There are mountains of books written about healing broken relationships and preserving good ones, but when we follow the Trinity, we will have the best source for unity with each other.

Paul sums up his entire second letter with these words: “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” Let’s analyze this powerful exhortation that is packed with meaning.

Brothers and sisters

Remember who you are—brothers and sisters in Christ! You might say, “That doesn’t really help because I always fought with my brother or sister when we were kids.” This is a relationship that goes way deeper than blood. In whose name were we baptized? In the name of the Triune God! He purchased and won us back from the power of sin, death and the devil and made us his own children through baptism. He has united us to each other in the Church by faith, and this is a relationship that will last for all eternity. If we consider that God himself has united us in this relationship we will be careful to preserve it and seek his help to repair it if it is damaged. Even when you disagree with a brother or sister in the faith, they are still your brother or sister; God is still your Father and Jesus is still your Savior, who shed his blood so that you could both be members of his eternal family. If you are a parent, you know how much you want your children to love each other and get along, right? Doesn’t our Father want that even more for us? Our heavenly Father wants this so much, and he also gives us all the tools to make it happen. Maybe it would help us to actually say the word “brother” or “sister” when we refer to someone we disagree with, so that we remember how important the person is. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. End of movie “Sully” where all the people who were on that flight got together. They all have a special bond because of what they went through. Think about this fact also: God chose his family before the world began!

Rejoice!

Luke 10:20 NIV

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Do your relationships tend to go better when you are depressed or when you are happy? Earthly happiness comes and goes, but spiritual and eternal happiness is ours through faith. When Paul says “rejoice”—something he urges his readers to do frequently in his letters (ironically three times in Philippians, when he was in prison), he means recall what God has done for you.

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Strive for full restoration

Be willing to be corrected and be ready to correct others in love

Our congregations generally don't have a problem of doctrinal disunity. We are part of a synod, a walking together. However, we are not always united in other ways.

Disunity often shows itself, not in heated arguments or displays of anger, but in simmering resentment. We are upset about something and it festers in our heart for a time. Maybe we complain about it to someone else, but the person at whom our resentment or anger is directed remains unaware of our feelings. We think that the person we are angry at should know why we are angry! We never actually tell the person why we are upset, or what we think the problem is. The person finds out because they see a change in our demeanor. Haven't we all done that? Is it productive? Does it lead to resolution of the problem or restoration of the relationship? NO, it stands in the way and creates all kinds of other problems.

Encourage one another

Be of one mind

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord (τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν κυρίῳ).

If my mindset is that the Kingdom of God comes first and is the most important thing, then any other opinion I have will come second. Then I can accept other people’s opinions too, unless they go against the Kingdom of God.

“When one Person is mentioned in activities pertaining to the outside world, the whole Trinity is meant.”

Live in peace

When we are united with the Trinity, this means that there will be a difference in the way we interact with others. We will try to mirror the unity of the Trinity in our own relationships.

“And the God of love and peace will be with you.”

We need the God of love and peace, the God of grace and fellowship because our relationship with him gets fractured by our own sin. Because we are sinners we tend to see other people’s sins more clearly than our own. We tend to justify our actions even when they are sinful and divisive. Our old self easily takes the wheel and leads us into sins that fracture or sever our relationships with husband or wife, pastor or teacher, congregation member or leader, friend or relative, neighbor or associate.

When we, as believers, are seeking a sanctified life that is informed and empowered by God’s Word and his Sacraments, that relationship will grow and deepen. As that relationship with the Trinity grows, so will our willingness to seek unity and restoration with those around us. God will work powerfully among us to help us to resolve problems and restore the broken relationships with our fellow congregation members or with other people in our lives.