This is the Catholic Faith

The Holy Trinity

“This is the Catholic Faith”

 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

The sermon this morning is based upon the Athanasian creed which has already been confessed.

 

    Throughout history the Church has been plagued by heretics and their heresy. There was Gnosticism that taught that the human body itself was a corruption and bound the soul. The only way out was through a special “gnosis” knowledge that freed the soul from the body and allowed the soul to be reunited with god. On this Holy Trinity Sunday we are more concerned with the heretic Arius who taught that Jesus wasn’t truly God or eternal. While these heresies began nearly 2000 years ago…they are still alive and active to this very day and still lead many astray. The Athanasian Creed has and continues to be the Christian response to heresy even as many Christians reject the creeds.

    Today Jews and Muslims agree that Jesus was nothing more than a prophet. Jehovah’s Witnesses also reject that Jesus was the Son of God; that Jesus is God. They go so far as to remove passages of Scripture that speak of Jesus’ divinity from their own version of the Bible. Christian Science also rejects the divinity of Christ and that the Trinity is really a polytheistic belief. Mormons believe that one may become lord just as Jesus is lord. What do they all have in common? They reject the Trinity…they reject the truth about God. If you get the person of God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit wrong…you get them all wrong.

    So how do we know that God is Triune? God’s Word tells us…and it tells us in both the Old and New Testament. “Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) Or as the Hebrew would say it literally: “Hear, O Israel: The Lords, our Gods, the Lords is one.” (Plural, plural, plural, singular) “The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Psalm 110:1) "While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: " 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?" The large crowd listened to him with delight." (Mark 12:35-37) “Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:25-30) “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)

    As you have heard all of Scripture speaks about Jesus and the Blessed Trinity. We know God the Father through Jesus. We know God through His Word. That Word creates and sustains faith: the faith that you confessed in the words of the Athanasian Creed. The importance of faith in the Triune God is of utter importance…especially when you recall the words we ended the creed with: “This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.”

The word Catholic rightly means “universal” or Christian. The are part of the Catholic faith because we are Christian. We are not however part of the “Roman” Catholic denomination that rejects  the Apostolic Creed when it’s Pope says people from all faiths shall be saved.

    My brothers and sisters in Christ…these words are vital. There is no salvation outside of Christ…and you do not know Christ if you do not know the Trinity. Yet while this cuts to our hearts and reminds us of the need for our Savior there is wonderful news. God hasn’t left us on our own to figure things out. God hasn’t left us to fend for ourselves. God hasn’t left us to our own demise. One of the most beloved portions of Scripture go to the heart of this matter: “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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18)

    We know God because He loves us to death through His Son. We know God because He created us, the world and everything in it. We know God through His Spirit that creates and sustains our Faith. You have been baptized into the Holy and Blessed Trinity. You have been baptized in the death and resurrection of Jesus. You have been made a child of God. Have no fear!

    While you have no fear about the future…there are other’s whose eternal life is in doubt. God has granted each one of you a saving faith in His Son. He has given you His Holy Spirit to strengthen and preserve that faith until our Lord’s return. He has given you the wonderful opportunity to share the wonderful news of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life through Christ with the world.

    God’s love is for you and your children. God’s love is for all of your friends and neighbors. God’s love is even for your enemies. Heaven is yours! “Christ, to you, with God the Father and the Spirit, there shall be hymn and chant and high thanksgiving and the shout of jubilee: honor, glory, and dominion and eternal victory evermore and evermore!” (“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”LW 36:5) Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Comments

[matt]

I had to stop reading when you said Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe Jesus is the Son of God. We most certainly do. This is a common misconception that is propagated by people who do as you have done. Since you didn't really find out what we believe, how can you expect to be an authority on the subject? How can I or anyone else be sure you research your information thoroughly?

[Rev. Joel A. C. Dietrich]

Oh foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you? Dear sir...even if your false religion CLAIMS to believe in god or Jesus as the son of god...you do NOT believe it as it is found in Scripture! Watchtower Ministry has deceived you! Look at the Greek and Hebrew texts and you will see the differences not only in how Christianity sees Jesus...as God Himself...but also the differences in the Watchtower version of the Bible and what is actually in the Bible.