Sermon 7/3/22 "Don't Give Up the Ship" By: Pastor Chris Boyd
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15
Psalm 32
Galatians 2: 11-21
Luke 7: 36-50
“Don’t Give Up the Ship”
Grace and Peace to you my brothers and sisters in Christ, Amen.
Throughout America’s history there have been a number of decisive battles that if even one were lost America would have ceased to exist. In most of these battles the odds were against us, and in others through the grace of God the odds were surprisingly in our favor. The fact that we won all those battles, some by the skin of our teeth, is proof that God has blessed this nation and looks out for us. One such battle is the Battle of Lake Erie.
Before 1812, in an effort to cripple Napoleon, Great Britain set its sights on America’s economy. They sent their Navy to blockade our ports to prevent us from trading with Europe, again all as an effort to cripple the French military forces. America, still a young country trying to get up on its feet would not have any of the King’s devious tactics. So President Madison and congress declared war on Britain. When war broke out there were two fronts, the Atlantic front and the Canadian front. As some forces focused on the British Blockade located on the Atlantic front, America shifted her aim towards the British military in Canada.
As soon as war broke out though, unfortunately, the British military swiftly took Detroit and established naval supremacy over Lake Erie. When it came to naval capabilities on the lakes, the United States was sorely behind, for most of our fleet was on the
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Atlantic front. So until July 1813, the harbors on and near the lake were in a frenzy building as many ships they could in order to create a fleet for the north. As for the man power for said ships, many navy soldiers were pulled across America to supplement the northern front, to include 150 men from Newport, Rhode Island; of those 150 men we have Commodore Perry and his personal clerk Chaplain Thomas Breese.
From August 1812 to July 1813, the British Navy blockaded the harbors in Lake Erie, preventing American ships from being completed and hindering squadrons from forming. But despite all of this, due to a conveniently placed sandbar one squadron under Oliver Perry was formed. Now due to the blockade, said squadron was incapable of entering the waters of Lake Erie, that is until July 1813, for during that month, while British supplies was dwindling, the weather of the Lake turned into a fierce storm that shattered the confidence of the English seamen. So out of safety from the ship destroying gales, the Enemy abandoned their blockade, which gave Commodore Perry the perfect opportunity to lead his squadron of ships from Erie, Pennsylvania to the predetermined and highly strategic location of Put-In-Bay. This was an act of God. If it wasn’t for His interference, America would have been unable to send a single squadron to Lake Erie.
But before Perry left Erie to South Bass, a friend of his died, Naval Captain James Lawrence. On the Atlantic front, Lawrence was shot down and his final order to his crew was this, “Don’t give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks.” Sadly his crew disobeyed and surrendered the ship, but the command Lawrence gave became a motto that is dear to the hearts of Navy men and has variants
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echoed throughout the military: Never surrender, don’t give up the mission, die fighting, never quit. And when it comes to ships, it is better that your ship sinks, taking down an enemy ship along the way, than it is to surrender said ship thus adding another ship to the enemy’s arsenal. Out of despair for his friend, Perry had his flag ship named the USS Lawrence, and his flag made with Lawrence’s final command on it, “Don’t give up the ship!”
We fast forward to September 10th, 1813. Perry is in Put-In Bay with 9 vessels at the ready. At 5 in the morning, Commodore Barclay of England sails with a squadron of 6 vessels to overtake the anchored American vessels. Now why 6 vessels? Did Barclay not know that America had 9 stationed? Well because of equipment issues and a personnel shortage, Barclay was only able to send 6 vessels, but even though he was out-gunned he still believed he was going to win. Why? One, the wind was in his favor. Two, his slightly smaller ships were faster than the hulky over-gunned American vessels. Three, the cannons on their ships were far more superior with a reach that vastly outstripped the shoddy American cannons. Whereas America had quantity, Britain had quality. But again through the grace of God, the American forces noticed the enemy was setting sail, and prepared for the battle ahead. Before noon, all nine American vessels were ready, and met the long range bombardment of the British cannons. That is when Perry did the unthinkable. When met with superior fire, what type of sane man would dare charge into the naval no-man’s land just to land a couple hits on enemy forces? Perry of course, that crazy man, for he ordered the two biggest ships, which included his own, the USS Lawrence and the USS Niagara, to charge towards the 6 enemy vessels and lay down
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overwhelming fire. The commander of the Niagara disobeyed and stayed behind, thus it was 1 vs 6, the USS Lawrence vs all 6 British ships. And the Lawrence wrecked surprising absolute havoc among the British forces. What really caught the British by surprise was the unfortunate rate that their superior officers fell. Again it must have been an act of God that one single ship was capable of taking down a surprising number of high ranking officers which crippled their military integrity and discipline.
But this surprise was short lived for it was 1 v 6, and the USS Lawrence was quickly turned into Swiss cheese. Yet true to its namesake, Perry and his men did not abandon the USS Lawrence until the last gun was inoperable and the ship was sinking. After that Perry, miraculously was able to escape the ship unscathed, got on a boat that was swiftly rowed to the USS Niagara, released the coward commander who abandoned him, took charge of the vessel with his flag flying high, “Never give up the ship”, and led his entire squadron in battle to defeat the enemy. This is when the tides turned, for the enemy miscalculated. Believing that Perry was fleeing the battle, the British forces turned towards reorganizing command and recovering their now entangled ships. But not only was Perry not fleeing, but the winds, which previously favored England, suddenly did a 180 and was now favoring Perry. This allowed Perry to swiftly overtake and decimate the British squadron.
The end result, Perry lost one ship but gained six for all six surrendered. This battle took roughly three hours, and like that the naval superiority flipped from Britain to America.
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On that day America lost 24 seamen and 3 officers; Britain lost 38 seamen and 3 officers. Because Barclay surrendered, all of Barclays men and Perry’s too were capable of holding a funeral together for the next two following days. Perry’s Chaplain Thomas Breese, using the common book of prayer, led both forces in worship as they as one mourned the loss of their fellow brethren. The seamen had a burial at sea on September 11, 1813. The next day, the officers, all six, were buried together on Put-In-Bay under a lone willow tree. I believe it was Chaplain Thomas’ resolve, his desire to serve both forces, to have compassion upon the captured British soldiers by honoring their fallen, that ultimate led to the 200 plus years of peaceful relationship between Canada and America after the War of 1812.
But who is this Chaplain Thomas Breese, who seems to be in Perry’s shadow? You see, Thomas Breese is more than a dear friend of Perry. They grew up together in Newport, Rhode Island. They went to the same church. They were baptized by the same pastor. They both grew up in naval families. Perry became Breese’ mentor and patron at an early age. Breese was Perry’s personal clerk. He went with Perry to Erie, Pennsylvania. Chaplain Breese joined Perry’s squadron and became Perry’s personal chaplain and the chaplain to whatever ship Perry was captain of.
When the squadron was being formed, Breese was with Perry. When Perry named his flag ship the USS Lawrence with the motto, “Don’t Give Up the Ship”, Breese was with him. When the mighty gales opened a route for Perry from Erie to South Bass, Chaplain Breese was with him. When Perry had the USS
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Lawrence charge into battle Breese was on the ship. Breese even personally manned the last working cannon as the ship started to sink. When Perry miraculously escaped the ship unscathed on a row boat Breese was with Perry on that very boat laying down fire. And when Perry took charge of the USS Niagara and won the battle thus changing the tides of war finally in favor of America, Breese was with him on that ship. Breese was also as Chaplain the one who led the funeral for both American and British Navy men. And today, Chaplain Thomas Breese and Commodore Perry are buried in the same cemetery, their church’s cemetery.
Behind every great man who accomplished true good, there is a God-fearing religious leader; and Breese was always with Perry, supporting him, counseling him, praying for him. Breese is not the source of these miracles, God is. What I am alluding is this, while Perry was doing great things, we know for a fact that Perry was a god-fearing man who trusted in the miracles of God to help lead him in battle for with him was always his friend and chaplain, Chaplain Thomas Breese. And that is something worthy of praise.
Let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, in likeness to the relationship between Commodore Perry and Chaplain Breese, we ask that you help lead the church in supplying good leaders of the faith who can instruct and guide and will pray for those who at your
blessing govern and protect the people. In your most holy name we pray: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon 6/26/22 "The Power and Mercy of Jesus" By: John Hazzard
The Power and Mercy of Jesus
Luke 7:11-17
Prepared by: John Hazzard
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
In John’s Gospel we are told that not all of Jesus’s miracles and episodes have been reported and written about, because if all had been written down there would not be a book big enough to hold them. So you may be wondering why this miracle made it into Luke’s sacred text. As we begin to look at and study today's Gospel text, it soon becomes obvious why Luke chose this miraculous event and included it in his gospel. As a matter of fact if all of the other miracles that Jesus performed were lost- or for whatever reason- were not recorded in the sacred text, this miracle alone would be enough to reveal Jesus’s true nature, and what he was sent to do as the Son of God and our promised Savior.
The day before today’s gospel text we saw a Roman servant, that was on the brink of death, saved by Jesus from a distance. In our text we might be caught up in the fact that Jesus actually raised a mother’s only son from the dead. The man was dead and by the miraculous power of Jesus, he was made alive again. But there is more going on here than what we might realize. This event points to the true identity and nature of Jesus Christ as true man and true God. We see the human compassion that Jesus had, as the vulnerable flesh and blood Christ, while at the same time demonstrating his saving power and Grace.
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In our text we find that Jesus happened across a large funeral procession on his way to a town called Nain. In those days a funeral procession was quite the spectacle. There would be a large crowd consisting of family members and friends that followed the deceased who was carried in a bier (a b i e r is a basket like frame in which the body of the deceased was carried from their home, out of the city to their burial tomb). It was not uncommon for the family to hire musicians to play music, and even higher mourners, to proceed with the family. They wanted to be sure to honor and show respect for their deceased loved ones. When I think about this large funeral procession, I imagine it would have looked a lot like one of those funeral processions made famous in New Orleans, where a jazz type band with trumpets, trombones, and various other brass instruments play a slow methodical melody that the people sort of saunter or walk to. As you might expect it was a very sad and somber ceremony. Especially in this case.
Our Text reveals, 11 Soon afterward Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As Jesus approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. I can’t imagine a more sad or heavy hearted situation. This poor widow, we are told, not only lost her husband, but now lost her only son. She would now go through life having no one to take care of her or provide for her. She would be left totally destitute. She would pass from this world leaving no trace that she or her family ever existed. This is a desperate situation that would have rivaled that of Job’s. As sad as that seems, it was common for the Jewish people of that day to believed that this kind of “bad luck” was the result of a curse from God. A curse that was the result of some deviant
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misconduct committed by her. This poor woman would be thought to have offended God to the point that God allowed these horrific tragedies to fall on her. She herself probably wondered what great sins she committed to fall this far out of God’s favor. The truth is that she didn’t necessarily cause these events, Adam brought this on the world when he committed the original sin and ate from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, casting us all, as his descendants, into sin.
Our sermon text goes on to say, 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Weep Not.” When Jesus said these words to her he was not admonishing her, nor was he trying to tell her to “Keep your chin up, things will get better”. I don’t think he meant anything like that at all. What Jesus was saying was “Weep Not”, I am going to intercede for you and things are going to be made right once more. The text continues: 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region. It wasn’t the tears of the mother that saved her son’s life. No human work can bring life. It is only the mercy of God that makes life anew possible. It was Jesus’s compassion, power, and authority that saved her son. Knowing this should be a great comfort for us as well. It is written in John 14: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Someday we will all be called– by our faith in Christ– to receive our eternal life, rescued from death and condemnation by the same
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compassion Jesus demonstrated for that weeping mother. We will all feel a peace and cleansing like we have never felt before.
Let me re-emphasize for you that not only are pain, suffering, loss, and a general sense of vulnerability caused by sin, but death is the result of sin as well. Death originated in Paradise due to sin inherited from Adam and Eve. Therefore, all are born into sin and must experience death. No amount of good works or deeds can save us. We can’t help enough people with their groceries, hold enough doors, nor volunteer at enough homeless shelters. Don’t get me wrong, we should be doing these things. These things are all fruits of the Holy Spirit that are in the faithful, but these actions in themselves will not justify nor sanctify us. No one can stand in front of the judgment of God and survive on their own merits or works. The only way is through The Justification we are given because Jesus - living a perfect and sinless life- bore, all of our sins for us and by his death became the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Just as Jesus’s life is infinite, His atoning sacrificial death on the cross is infinite as well. Jesus’s infinite sacrificial death is like an ever flowing fountain of atoning waters that continuously covers our sins. We are justified freely by the work of Christ. There is no doubt about it. The justice that God demands of us, was met. Our sin debt was and continues to be paid. As a result, God through his love can now invite all those who will put their trust in Christ, to spend eternity with Him. Romans 6:23 Tells us, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You see, Jesus’s atoning sacrifice coupled with our faith in him, makes sanctification given by the Grace of God possible. It’s not enough to believe, you must have faith, True Faith. When we say we believe we might say, I believe that George Washington was the first
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president of the United States. That would be something you believe to be true. But, when you have faith, you are doing more than just believing. In addition to believing, you completely and utterly trust something or someone with every fiber of your being. There is no doubt in your mind, your heart, nor your soul. It is so total and complete that it becomes a part of you and shapes you. It is easy to say “I believe something”, but it takes on a much deeper and personal meaning when you have faith in it. When you have faith in something you trust it. This is what God wants in our relationship with him. It is by this faith in Christ, that we have both a temporal and eternal relationship with God. Everyone knows that death is inevitable, but the heathen does not see how the work of the cross and Christ is there to meet and help all those who are faithful and righteous.
God never intended for man to suffer. Quite the contrary God gave us paradise and an eternal relationship with him. To continue to live in a state of Grace, all we have to do is use the freewill that God gives us, and have faith in him and his word. God gives richly if men can endure and maintain their faith in him. We see this lesson and understanding played out in Job’s life. Job’s faith never wavered. He never doubted God, as a result he was restored and given twice as much. God richly blesses those that endure and look toward him for guidance in times of trouble, instead of turning away from him.
Some of you may be wondering how people in the Old Testament are saved. It is clearly stated in Acts 4: 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” The bible clearly tells us that we can only be saved through a faith in Jesus Christ. The bible teaches no one can be saved apart from the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. So
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How Do Old Testament believers become Sanctified in the shed blood of Christ? The Divine Word of God tells us in Hebrews Ch. 9: 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are
called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. By the means of Jesus’s redemptive death those who are called may receive their eternal inheritance. You see, The Mosaic Covenant was like a will. Its laws and ceremonies would set God’s people apart, serving to foreshadow the coming of the true messiah, Jesus The Christ. This means that the saving grace of the cross has retroactively saved the Old Testament people who were faithful. For example, Abraham was saved by his strong faith, not by his works. Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, symbolized Christ as our savior and our Ultimate High Priest. During Yom Kippur, retroactive forgiveness was given each year as the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to present a blood sacrifice for the sins of the people that were committed out of ignorance the year before. Thanks be to God that we all- past, present, and future- have the ultimate High Priest who has ascended to our Heavenly Holy of Holies to intercede on our behalf.
We all know we are going to die, but the heathen does not see how Christ is always there to meet and help us, the faithful and righteous. Just as he was there to meet the mother’s dead son on the road to Nain. We are all born into sin and must experience a physical death. The only way we can be saved is by Christ crucified. Christ took on death and God's wrath for us, so that we may be saved. As the True Lamb of God, Christ saves us the believer. This gift can only be received by the Grace of God when we are touched by the Holy Spirit and believe in the Divine Word of God
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What all this means is that we have an important choice to make. We can either pay our sin debt ourselves with an eternal death, or we can put our Faith in Jesus, lay our sins on him, and let Jesus pay our sin debt for us. Just like the young man in Nain we can be brought back from the dead to have eternal life because we have accepted Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Through Jesus Christ we have holiness and righteousness for we are told in II Corinthians 5: 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
There is no better news. Christ placed our sins on himself and gave to us that have Faith in him, his righteousness so we can be found acceptable to God Almighty. This is the justification and the sanctification that leads us on a straight and narrow path to Salvation. When we pray “IN THE NAME OF JESUS” we are saying, “Oh God in the name of Jesus in whom I totally and confidently stand”. Hebrews 9: 24 reminds us “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” We will never face our sin again when we put our faith in Christ Jesus. Just as Jesus raised the young man from the dead, he will come again to gather us all who have died to sin so that we may have an eternal life with him. “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.” Today is the day to put your total faith in Christ, resting in the Peace of God, given through the intercession of Christ.
THE PEACE OF GOD THAT PASSES ALL HUMAN UNDERSTANDING KEEP YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS… THE TRUE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD.
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Sermon "The Simple Trinity" By: Pastor Chris Boyd
Proverbs 8: 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5: 1-5
John 16: 12-15
“The Simple Trinity”
Grace and Peace to you my brothers and sisters in Christ, Amen.
One of the most confusing things to talk about let alone understand in our Christian faith is the Trinity. But what makes it difficult isn’t that it is complex, it isn’t. Rather, what makes it difficult is that it is quite simple; we just don’t like the simplicity of the Trinity for we keep on asking how. We want the Trinity to be complex and full of depth. We want images and metaphors and example to help us understand. But we don’t necessarily get that in Scripture. Instead we get brief matter-of-fact statements that quickly dive into the importance of the Trinity. Most of the time the Trinity is just a given as the narrative within Scripture progresses. Such cases include the various times God says, “Let us…” Who is this “us”? Well it’s the Trinity obviously. That’s the thing, the Trinity is treated more as a given. Yet throughout history many have grown dissatisfied with the lack of answers to the question, “How is this so?” So out of a desire of answering this question, which Scripture does not answers, many have abandoned Scripture, using human knowledge to fill in the gaps.
The picture you see in today’s bulletin, next to the sermon title is a perfect representation of the simple Trinity. There is only one God, not three Gods, but within God there are three distinct separate persons who are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is the simplified Trinity.
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The Father is not the Son nor is He the Spirit. The Son is not the Spirit nor is He the Father. The Spirit is not the Father nor is He the Son. But the Father is not one God not the Son a different God and the Spirit another God, but that there is only one God and all three persons are that one and only True God. What I just there is no different than my prior simplified statement of the Trinity, just with more elaboration. But the elaboration is necessary because unfortunately in the quest to know more, some heretical beliefs about the Trinity have risen, and it is the addressing of these heresies that has led to the simple Trinity being stretched out into what we now know as the Athanasian Creed, which we will soon read.
The simplicity of the Trinity still exists in this Creed, but it unfortunately has to be repeated and reworded multiple times in order to address each heresy that popped up during the times of the early Church. Since then more new and interesting heresies related to the Trinity have arisen. But if we just ignored all the clutter of heresies in our age, to include all the attempts to explain the Trinity by making it more complex than it needs to be, then we get one simple explanation: There are three persons but only one God. That’s all we need, but because we are uncomfortable with having faith in God’s Word which doesn’t elaborate on such, we must add counters to all the heresies which muddy the simple Trinity.
Faith in God’s Word… do you remember what I say regarding the Lord’s physical presence in the Bread and Wine? Lutherans simply believe and have faith in Jesus’ promise that the bread is His body and the wine is His blood. We believe He is
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telling the truth. Then the question comes, well then how is it true? We don’t go there. We never address how the Bread is His literal Body nor the Wine Blood because He never told us in all of Scripture; we simply have faith in His word. No fancy arguments that have no Scriptural grounding; just faith. The same applies to the Trinity. No fancy arguments; just faith.
So what are some of the things we do believe regarding the Trinity in accordance with our universal faith? One, we believe that even though through the Creeds we acknowledge that God the Father is creator of Heaven and Earth, we also affirm that all three persons were involved in the Creation. In Genesis, God said, “Let us.” In John 1:3, “All things were made through Him,” aka Jesus. 1 Corinthians 8:6, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” These are examples that affirm that God the Father was not alone in the creation. And if the Son and Holy Spirit were both involved in the creation then they are not themselves created, but that should be implied if we believe that all three are one God. Yes Jesus was begotten and the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Father and Son, but neither are created. Thus from there very beginning there was one God and three persons.
Another, we believe that all three persons are equal in power and majesty, unlimited and eternal, and that not one person in the trinity is neither greater nor lesser than any of the others. If one was greater than another, then that would imply there are more than one God, but because there is only one God then all three persons must be equal. Now God the Father is the head of the
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Trinity, but that is not because he is more powerful or more majestic or greater than the others. It also does not mean he has more authority than the others, but out of respect to the relationship the Son and Spirit have towards the Father, the Father is the head and the other too honor Him. This is in line with the fourth commandment, “Honor thy Father.” It is also in line with Hebrews 5:4-5, “And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” The Father does not have more honor or authority than Christ, but out of respect toward the relationship between Father and Son, and because it is not proper to place honor upon yourself, the two and the Spirit honor each other.
And that leads to the final belief, we believe that the three persons, though one God, are distinct from each other. Their distinction is not found in their power or majesty as we acknowledge that they are equal in all respects. Their distinction is found in how they relate to each other and to us. There is only one Father, not three. There is only one Son, not three. There is only one Spirit, not three. The Father is the father in relationship to the other two. He is the head of the Trinity, but only in relationship and not out of prowess.
The Son is the Son in relationship to the Father, and unlike the Father, under the command of the Father, which He is not, took the form of a man in order to die on the cross for our sake. The Father did not, nor the Spirit, die on that cross, only the Son. As God, whom the Son is fully, He is still equal in everything to
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the Father. As a human, whom the Son is fully and willfully took on, He, like all humans, is subordinate to the will of God. His divinity did not turn into humanity or the other way around. He is not confused. He is in perfect unity with Himself as both God and man. God did not become man, but rather God took humanity into himself for it was the Son alone that became man.
And the Spirit is the Spirit in relationship between the Father and the Son, proceeding from both, but not created by either, being in equal power to the two. The Spirit is to us the source of our faith in Jesus Christ who is our Savior. Jesus is not the source of our Faith in Him, but according to our Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” And in today’s Gospel, the entirety of it, is all about how the Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, will testify to us on behalf of the Father the truth, will reveal all this to us and within us, so that through the Spirit we may see Christ for who He is and have true faith in Him. The Spirit does not speak on His own authority, but of the Father’s. This does not mean that the Spirit is lesser than the Father, but that He respects the Father as head. The Spirit is still equal in everything to the Father, but the Spirit’s role in this Trinitarian relationship is not to be the head but the one who provides for us faith in the salvation which was one for us through Christ.
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So there are three persons in the Trinity. All three are distinct in their persons, but all three are one and the same True God for there is only one God, not three Gods.
Everything I’ve said this far is the plain and simple Trinity revealed to us in Scripture. There are many things about Him we do not know nor could ever fathom as fallen human beings. There are things about God that He did not reveal to us intentionally, but there are a few important things that are revealed in Scripture. Instead of making things up to describe God, which unfortunately might lead to a complete misunderstanding of God, Why not just refer to the few in number simple references God makes to His Triune nature. And instead of becoming dissatisfied with the lack of robust theological hooks, let us have a quiet faith comfortable with the fact that there are many mysteries about God that we will never truly grasp in this life, focusing instead on that which is revealed to us in scripture: the Father is God, Jesus is God, the Spirit is God, but there are not three Gods but only One God.
Let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all three of you are equal in power and all are one. Guide us in the one and only true catholic, or universal, Christian faith, so that in faith toward you the Triune God and all the promises fulfilled in Scripture we all may be sanctified and united as one holy Church. In your holy name we pray, again: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon "The Simple Trinity" By: Pastor Chris Boyd
Proverbs 8: 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5: 1-5
John 16: 12-15
“The Simple Trinity”
Grace and Peace to you my brothers and sisters in Christ, Amen.
One of the most confusing things to talk about let alone understand in our Christian faith is the Trinity. But what makes it difficult isn’t that it is complex, it isn’t. Rather, what makes it difficult is that it is quite simple; we just don’t like the simplicity of the Trinity for we keep on asking how. We want the Trinity to be complex and full of depth. We want images and metaphors and example to help us understand. But we don’t necessarily get that in Scripture. Instead we get brief matter-of-fact statements that quickly dive into the importance of the Trinity. Most of the time the Trinity is just a given as the narrative within Scripture progresses. Such cases include the various times God says, “Let us…” Who is this “us”? Well it’s the Trinity obviously. That’s the thing, the Trinity is treated more as a given. Yet throughout history many have grown dissatisfied with the lack of answers to the question, “How is this so?” So out of a desire of answering this question, which Scripture does not answers, many have abandoned Scripture, using human knowledge to fill in the gaps.
The picture you see in today’s bulletin, next to the sermon title is a perfect representation of the simple Trinity. There is only one God, not three Gods, but within God there are three distinct separate persons who are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is the simplified Trinity.
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The Father is not the Son nor is He the Spirit. The Son is not the Spirit nor is He the Father. The Spirit is not the Father nor is He the Son. But the Father is not one God not the Son a different God and the Spirit another God, but that there is only one God and all three persons are that one and only True God. What I just there is no different than my prior simplified statement of the Trinity, just with more elaboration. But the elaboration is necessary because unfortunately in the quest to know more, some heretical beliefs about the Trinity have risen, and it is the addressing of these heresies that has led to the simple Trinity being stretched out into what we now know as the Athanasian Creed, which we will soon read.
The simplicity of the Trinity still exists in this Creed, but it unfortunately has to be repeated and reworded multiple times in order to address each heresy that popped up during the times of the early Church. Since then more new and interesting heresies related to the Trinity have arisen. But if we just ignored all the clutter of heresies in our age, to include all the attempts to explain the Trinity by making it more complex than it needs to be, then we get one simple explanation: There are three persons but only one God. That’s all we need, but because we are uncomfortable with having faith in God’s Word which doesn’t elaborate on such, we must add counters to all the heresies which muddy the simple Trinity.
Faith in God’s Word… do you remember what I say regarding the Lord’s physical presence in the Bread and Wine? Lutherans simply believe and have faith in Jesus’ promise that the bread is His body and the wine is His blood. We believe He is
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telling the truth. Then the question comes, well then how is it true? We don’t go there. We never address how the Bread is His literal Body nor the Wine Blood because He never told us in all of Scripture; we simply have faith in His word. No fancy arguments that have no Scriptural grounding; just faith. The same applies to the Trinity. No fancy arguments; just faith.
So what are some of the things we do believe regarding the Trinity in accordance with our universal faith? One, we believe that even though through the Creeds we acknowledge that God the Father is creator of Heaven and Earth, we also affirm that all three persons were involved in the Creation. In Genesis, God said, “Let us.” In John 1:3, “All things were made through Him,” aka Jesus. 1 Corinthians 8:6, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” These are examples that affirm that God the Father was not alone in the creation. And if the Son and Holy Spirit were both involved in the creation then they are not themselves created, but that should be implied if we believe that all three are one God. Yes Jesus was begotten and the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Father and Son, but neither are created. Thus from there very beginning there was one God and three persons.
Another, we believe that all three persons are equal in power and majesty, unlimited and eternal, and that not one person in the trinity is neither greater nor lesser than any of the others. If one was greater than another, then that would imply there are more than one God, but because there is only one God then all three persons must be equal. Now God the Father is the head of the
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Trinity, but that is not because he is more powerful or more majestic or greater than the others. It also does not mean he has more authority than the others, but out of respect to the relationship the Son and Spirit have towards the Father, the Father is the head and the other too honor Him. This is in line with the fourth commandment, “Honor thy Father.” It is also in line with Hebrews 5:4-5, “And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” The Father does not have more honor or authority than Christ, but out of respect toward the relationship between Father and Son, and because it is not proper to place honor upon yourself, the two and the Spirit honor each other.
And that leads to the final belief, we believe that the three persons, though one God, are distinct from each other. Their distinction is not found in their power or majesty as we acknowledge that they are equal in all respects. Their distinction is found in how they relate to each other and to us. There is only one Father, not three. There is only one Son, not three. There is only one Spirit, not three. The Father is the father in relationship to the other two. He is the head of the Trinity, but only in relationship and not out of prowess.
The Son is the Son in relationship to the Father, and unlike the Father, under the command of the Father, which He is not, took the form of a man in order to die on the cross for our sake. The Father did not, nor the Spirit, die on that cross, only the Son. As God, whom the Son is fully, He is still equal in everything to
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the Father. As a human, whom the Son is fully and willfully took on, He, like all humans, is subordinate to the will of God. His divinity did not turn into humanity or the other way around. He is not confused. He is in perfect unity with Himself as both God and man. God did not become man, but rather God took humanity into himself for it was the Son alone that became man.
And the Spirit is the Spirit in relationship between the Father and the Son, proceeding from both, but not created by either, being in equal power to the two. The Spirit is to us the source of our faith in Jesus Christ who is our Savior. Jesus is not the source of our Faith in Him, but according to our Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” And in today’s Gospel, the entirety of it, is all about how the Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, will testify to us on behalf of the Father the truth, will reveal all this to us and within us, so that through the Spirit we may see Christ for who He is and have true faith in Him. The Spirit does not speak on His own authority, but of the Father’s. This does not mean that the Spirit is lesser than the Father, but that He respects the Father as head. The Spirit is still equal in everything to the Father, but the Spirit’s role in this Trinitarian relationship is not to be the head but the one who provides for us faith in the salvation which was one for us through Christ.
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So there are three persons in the Trinity. All three are distinct in their persons, but all three are one and the same True God for there is only one God, not three Gods.
Everything I’ve said this far is the plain and simple Trinity revealed to us in Scripture. There are many things about Him we do not know nor could ever fathom as fallen human beings. There are things about God that He did not reveal to us intentionally, but there are a few important things that are revealed in Scripture. Instead of making things up to describe God, which unfortunately might lead to a complete misunderstanding of God, Why not just refer to the few in number simple references God makes to His Triune nature. And instead of becoming dissatisfied with the lack of robust theological hooks, let us have a quiet faith comfortable with the fact that there are many mysteries about God that we will never truly grasp in this life, focusing instead on that which is revealed to us in scripture: the Father is God, Jesus is God, the Spirit is God, but there are not three Gods but only One God.
Let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all three of you are equal in power and all are one. Guide us in the one and only true catholic, or universal, Christian faith, so that in faith toward you the Triune God and all the promises fulfilled in Scripture we all may be sanctified and united as one holy Church. In your holy name we pray, again: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon 5/29/2022
Acts 16: 6-10
Psalm 47
Revelations 22: 12-17, 20
John 17: 20-26
Memorial Day Weekend
“Soldiers with Christ”
Grace and Peace to you my brothers and sisters in Christ, Amen.
In our opening Hymn, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the official words of the last verse ends with As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while God is marching on. Some people misinterpret this entire song to be about the end times/revelation, but the hymn is all about how the end times are already here, we’ve been living the end times for the last two millenniums. That is why the opening line begins with, “My eyes have seen,” have seen is past tense thus with regards to the coming Lord our eyes do not see in the now nor will we see in the future, but in the past our eyes have seen the coming Lord. And in the next verse, when it opens with, “He has sounded forth the trumpets that shall never call retreat,” again the sounding of the trumpet is referenced as a past event, thus “sounded”. If we view this song not as an ode to events yet cometh but as a continual arc that began with the birth of Christ to today then we see the intended meaning behind Julia’s poem of which the words to this hymn originate from.
We are an army of Christian Soldiers and the trumpet call to forward march has already been sounded. This trumpet call is the cross where Jesus gave himself up to save us from our sins. This trumpet call is the Great Commission which Jesus gave before He
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ascended. This trumpet call is Pentecost when the tongues of fire filled the disciples with the Holy Spirit. Christ sounded the trumpet call of forward march for his holy army of Christian Soldiers and now that he has sounded forth salvation He, God who never goes back on His Word, will never call retreat. The March has started and it will keep on moving forward until it has reached its course. That is why we end each verse with the line, “is marching on.” In the present we are conducting the continual action of marching.
But if that is the case then that would mean the battle is still on going, though the battle we face is one of reaching out to others, spreading the Good News with the Holy Spirit as our guide. The terrible swift sword we wield is the Word of God, and the real enemy we vanquish, put to death, with such a sword is the slavery of Satan. Yet in war there will be casualties. There always is. During the first couple centuries of Christianity there was so many martyrs, those who were put to death simply for being a Christian. And it wasn’t just us foot Soldiers who were put to death, our Commander, Jesus Christ, willing gave up His life for the sake of this glorious mission.
Freedom never comes free, as a nation we understand this, but even more so as Christians for we know that the only way to true freedom – freedom from sin, freedom from the sting of death, freedom from satanic slavery – is through the blood stained cross. It is chiefly for this reason why we say the original words to the Hymn rather than what’s found in our hymnal, “let us die to make men free.”
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To say, “As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,” is wrong on so many levels. The first is that it is bearing false witness as they changed the lyrics without any mention that they completely reversed one of the lines. The second is that it doesn’t make sense as there is no comparison to Christ dying and us living. It is grammatically accurate to say that we live because Christ died, but it isn’t grammatically, let alone logically, accurate to claim we should live just like how Christ died. Third, its offensive to all Soldiers who lost a brother in arm knowing full well the consequence of war, for all of us Soldiers willingly signed our right to live when we gave our oaths waiting for Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty to call us to arms. War is bloody, but for the sake of freedom and preserving freedom it is absolutely necessary.
I saw something circulating yesterday. It mentioned how Memorial Day is the most expensive holiday of the American calendar, for on this day behind every hot dog and beer and ice cream cone and firework and boating activity we recognize the blood of every Soldier who laid down their life so that we may all be free. Free to practice our faith. Free to speak our minds. Free to be the press. Free to assemble unrestrained. Free to complain about the government and know that our grievances are heard. Free to bear arms and thus defend our nation from domestic tyranny. And so many other freedoms. Know all of this is already ours by right of God, God-given rights, but fallen humans will continue to try and snatch these freedoms away from us, and thus blood is spilled to preserve them.
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And to those out of good intention changed the lyrics of this hymn through deceptive means I understand that you want to promote life and that you don’t want to see people suffer and die, but now that you have already changed the latter half to “let us live” are you now going to also change the first half of the line to, “as he lived to make men holy”? Are you going to be like Peter who begged Jesus to live rather than to choose death? The same Peter who was then immediately received these not-so-nice words from Jesus, “Get behind me Satan.” Guess what, I just found out that several churches, to include the ELCA, is doing just that, trying to write out the passion story.
Freedom comes at a cost. The Salvation we have in Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the freedom to do good works, the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, the fruits of the Spirit, all of this came at a cost. A sacrifice had to be made for the forgiveness of all mankind, so Jesus became that sacrifice for us all.
Freedom comes at a cost. Do you think that Satan was just going to allow Jesus to rescue the slaves of his deathly domain without a fight? The arms of Satan reaches out throughout the world; influencing the culture at every turn. As we Soldiers of God go out into the outer world to save sinners with the Word of God as our sword, Satan will use his demonic influence to have preachers and lay leaders and missionaries and biblical teachers suffer jail, starvation, joblessness, homelessness, abandonment, and even execution. He does this to silence us or terrify us into compliance. But God shall never call retreat, so we march forward through tyranny and deadly pestilence, not fearing the potential
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loss that the Devil may thrust our way but having faith, hope, and love in God above all else.
Freedom comes at a cost. On this Memorial Day Weekend we recognize the cost of freedom. Do you think that King George was just going to let us be a free nation after all the acts of evil tyranny he dumped on the colonists: the extreme taxes, the taking away of guns, the forcing of Soldiers into people’s homes, the church burnings, the property damage, and the consequences of speaking up against the King? America had had enough. And as one they rose up behind chants of “Don’t tread on me” and “Give me liberty or give me death.” The option for us was to either live under the boot of tyranny, or rise up risking life for the sake of liberty. So there are actually three options, “liberty, death, or getting trampled under the boot of the king. With don’t tread on me as the rally cry, the last of the three options became null. Thus either we fight for liberty or we die trying.
The colonists weren’t free, and living wasn’t going to make them free. If they were unwilling to risk life then a militia, which is the people, would have never formed and the Revolution would have never of been waged. George would have remained our King, and evil would have won. But we rose up, and with God on our side, though there were casualties, we won and became a nation of the free. Those who died to free our land and those who died to maintain our freedom will never be forgotten.
Same applies to the wars thereafter. Through the civil war we fought to preserve the God-given rights of all Americans regardless of who you where or what you looked like. Had
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Soldiers not risk their lives for the union’s cause, choosing to stand down and peacefully do nothing, we would still see slavery today. But many good men lost their lives in the hopes that all regardless of their skin color would be truly free. Through WW2 we fought to rescuing the Jews in the concentration camps and rescue the invaded western countries from Nazi Germany as Soldiers willingly risked their lives on the European front. You also have 1812, WW1, the Pacific front of WW2, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East.
We have lost so many, but instead of hiding from the tragedy of war by choosing to live submissively to evil, we should give respect where respect is due. Let us respect our fallen comrades. Preserve and defend the good things they died for. And hold on to this one hope, that the Soldiers who died knowing Christ are not only Soldiers of Christ, but are Soldiers with Christ.
Let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, on this weekend guide our minds to appreciate the freedom we have while also acknowledging the cost that had to be paid for such freedom; whether that is freedom from political tyranny won by the blood of men or freedom from demonic tyranny won by the blood of Christ. In your most glorious name we pray: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.