June 4, 2023 – Holy Trinity; Matthew 28:16-20

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In this final commissioning, Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples teaching people to obey everything he had commanded them. In the two thousand years since his commissioning, people have cheapened religion, refusing to be obedient to the commands of G-d let alone teaching others to do the same. And too many have reduced worship to nothing more sacred than a concert in the park. To me all of these are reasons that Trinity Sunday remains so important to us as Lutheran Christians. The Trinity not only informs our faith, it bookends our worship – we begin and end each worship service “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  And it is so important that it bookends our Christian lives – we are baptized in the name of the Trinity, and when we are buried the pastor speaks these same words.

The G-d who created the heavens and earth is the G-d who loves you infinitely more than any earthly father or mother. And like our earthly fathers and mothers, G-d gives us the freedom to make our own decisions – decisions about faith, decisions about doing good or bad, decisions about relationships. We are not mindless, religious robots. G-d gives us the free-will to be open to the influences of faith, or not. Faith cannot be forced upon people. You don’t come to such conclusions by force, your reason, intellect or brain. You discover those conclusions about faith and about G-d through a relationship with G-d that begins with the revelation in Scripture. To learn that G-d loves you so much that he was willing to suffer and die for you on the cross, well, you don’t find that truth by your reason or intellect. Instead, you find it in the revelation in the Scriptures – you learn by reading and studying the scriptures that G-d is fully present in your heart and is with you this day, in fact every day

And so much about our faith begins with the “Ruach” – the Holy Spirit – which has been in existence from the beginning of everything. And our Holy Spirit along with the Father and the Son continue to have enormous potential for good throughout the world. This is why Jesus commissioned his disciples to do his ministry — beginning with baptism, and then teaching, to make disciples of all nations, not just members, but people who want to be at the forefront of ministry of love, forgiveness, equality and justice.  

No matter how much you hurt today, G-d loves you because G-d created you, and G-d’s love is revealed in the simple ways that G-d continues to make G-d’s self known in your life. No matter how much you doubt, Jesus loves you because he loved his own disciples who never could quite get out of the way of their own doubt and yet continued to do ministry to grow the church. No matter how much you have or have not done in relation to faith, the Holy Spirit will enlighten you with gifts and sustain you with its presence.

No matter if you understand the Trinity or not, G-d is all, is in all, and though remains a mystery to us, we know G-d best as G-d reveals G-d’s self – Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pastor Dave

June 5, 2023 — Psalm 49 

“Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, 

both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle: Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—so that they should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others.” Psalm 49:1-10 

The problem that gave rise to the psalm is identified in the middle verses: certain wealthy persons are making the lives of others in the community miserable so that they live in fear. The Psalmist gives three reasons why those being oppressed should not fear the wealthy: 1. They too will die — their wealth will not save their lives; 2. When they die, they will not take their wealth with them — no one does; 3. Like so many sheep, these oppressors are marching toward death. 

What we need to remember every day is to take time to stop binge watching television and spend some time with G-d — remembering that it is G-d alone who has ransomed you and me from the power of death. It is Christ who has redeemed us — “So do not be afraid!” 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you condemned the rich because they have already received their reward, and you proclaimed the poor blessed because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Teach us to seek imperishable goods and to have confidence in your blood, poured out as the price of our redemption; and to you be the glory now and forever. 

Amen. 

June 2, 2023 — Psalm 47 

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 

For the LORD Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. God has ascended amid shouts of joy,  the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth  belong to God; he is greatly exalted.” Psalm 47 

I read this Psalm and I am reminded of the hymn “The Strife is O’re”, written by an unknown author in 1695: 

 Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 

The strife is o’er, the battle done; 

the victory of life is won; 

the song of triumph has begun. 

Alleluia! 

The powers of death have done their worst, 

but Christ their legions has dispersed. 

Let shouts of holy joy outburst. 

Alleluia! 

The three sad days are quickly sped;
He rises glorious from the dead;
All glory to our risen Head:
Alleluia!

He closed the yawning gates of hell;
The bars from heav’n’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise His triumphs tell:
Alleluia!

Lord, by the stripes which wounded You,
In us You’ve won the vict’ry too,
That we may live, and sing to You:
Alleluia!

We should often turn to songs of praise when worshipping our G-d. The rich hymnody tradition of the Lutheran Church gives us many songs and hymns to choose from. Not only are they songs of praise, but they can also serve as words of prayer. 

And if you think we should not clap in church, well when the words of scripture and songs of praise bring us together in the joy of the Holy Spirit, well clapping can unite us in recognizing the power of the Spirit in many new and powerful ways. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, the dominion of the universe is yours, for you have ascended on high and are seated on the throne prepared for you by the Father. Gather all peoples into your Church and make them a holy nation, a royal priesthood, your own chosen heritage, to praise and adore your divine majesty now and forever. 

Amen. 

June 3, 2023 — Psalm 48 

Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, 

like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King. God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress. When the kings joined forces, when they advanced together, they saw her and were astounded; they fled in terror. Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor. You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind. As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD Almighty, 

in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever. Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness. 

Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments. Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” Psalm 48 

Has it ever occurred to you that G-d describes heaven as a city? And not just the city of G-d, but a Heaven that is filled with rooms and mansions. So if you want to spend eternity in heaven, you’d better get used to city living — so to speak. I know then, if this is how Heaven will be, that we will have lots of neighbors as well — for there will be a multitude of people praising G-d. 

In the Bible, cities usually the desirable place to live — after all we read stories like the “Good Samaritan” and hear how dangerous it was to travel outside the city. To be away from the city opened up the possibility of being attacked by bandits, invading enemies, and predatory wild animals. The biblical mindset, we could say is this: “Why in the world would anyone want to move out of the city into the wilderness?” 

In America, there is also a cultural tendency towards individualism. We prize the rugged individualist. When we relate to one another, we tend to compete rather than to cooperate. As American Christians, we often hear people speak of having a personal relationship with Christ, but that neglects the reality that the Christian life is more than just you and Christ — the Christian becomes a member of the “body of Christ” which includes the body of believers. You become a fellow citizen with the saints, a member of God’s household, a member of the Christian community. Or, to put it another way, you become a citizen of God’s city. It is in community where we enjoy the togetherness of ministry and support, right now, as participants in the Kingdom of G-d.

Prayer

Father, the body of your risen Son is the temple not made by human hands and the bulwark of the new Jerusalem. Make this holy city, built of living stones, so shine with spiritual radiance that it may show your greatness in the sight of all nations; for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen.