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ISSN 2195-3171

The Holy Trinity, 06/15/2014

Sermon on Matthew 28:16-20, by David M. Wendel

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.[17] And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted.

[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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ, The Center

As a pastor and preacher, you never really know what people are going to say to you after a funeral. I've had people leave the funeral service and say, "I never saw a funeral like THAT before!" I've also had folks leave funerals and say, "THAT was interesting." Fortunately, you can take those comments however you'd like. But then, there are those comments that are straightforward and unambiguous. After mentioning in a funeral sermon recently that at Lutheran funerals, the proclamation of Christ is the first priority, and the deceased comes second, one of the worshipers said, "You know pastor, in all my years of going to funerals, I've never heard a preacher stand up and publicly say, "Christ comes first--Christ is the center." And, he said, "I really appreciate that."

A War for the Center of Christianity

This Festival of the Holy Trinity, we need to proclaim again, that at the center of everything we do as Christians is the Holy Trinity, and at the center of the Holy Trinity is Jesus Christ. And we need to proclaim that now more than ever, because there is a war going on in Christianity, for the center. Now, it won't, ultimately, be much of a war, because on the one side is the Triune God, who is and always has been and always will be at the center--of life, of the universe, of faith, of the Church. But on the other side, there are these Christians who seem to be weary of giving God primary place, and so, they are subtly, oh--so subtly, trying to move the Holy Trinity out of the center of Christianity--to replace the Triune God with--us! Human beings! In Christianity today, there is indeed a battle raging, as Christians are pushing God out of the center of our faith, so that WE would be the center and focus of the Church-as if we are the center of life and faith.

Our Age-old Sin

And we have to say, this is not something new or different, necessarily, nor do most of the folks engaged in this struggle even realize what they're doing. It's just our age-old rebellion against God, rearing its ugly head, once again. It began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it continues today, as we think of ourselves, not God, as the center of the universe. Like some few teenagers who seem to think it's all about me, me, me, Christians fall all too easily into the trap of thinking that faith, discipleship, even worship, is about us. So, we crowd God out of worship, making not Him, but us, the focus of what happens on Sunday mornings. From a time when churches were called the house of God, now we are encouraged to think of them as a meeting place for the Church. From a time when our sanctuaries were oriented toward the altar, toward the chancel, and we turned our attention literally and spiritually toward God, now it's not uncommon to build churches without chancel and altar or cross or pulpit--having at center stage, the praise band, and the projection screen, and the preacher, wandering around the auditorium in street clothes, like Letterman or Jimmy Fallon, working the crowd, entertaining the audience. And yet, those still aren't the most telling indications that the focus in Christianity is changing. For what tells the tale most dramatically, is the fact that in books, and articles, and church growth seminars, it's made clear--if you want your church to grow, you have to focus on the "consumer"--you have to know your market, and shape the Sunday service to address your demographics--in music, décor, furnishings, message, and yes, even coffee. One of the foremost "gurus" of this church growth--church marketing movement, has written about "defining your target", "personalizing your target", and then addressing your target. What has resulted at one church is a defined evangelism/church member "target" who is a man who is well-educated, likes his job, likes where he lives, puts health and fitness as a high priority, likes large groups rather than small ones, is skeptical of organized religion, likes contemporary music, is self-satisfied, even smug about his station in life, prefers casual over formal. This is the person for whom this particular church was created, organized, and built. And the model is offered to the rest of us because the pastor contends, that's how churches today can be relevant, timely, and growing. Which strikes me as odd, because in a later book, the same pastor asks, "Where in the world did we get the idea, me included, that what happens in church is about US?" Well, pastor, the Church, and the churches got that idea from people like YOU! When the church is driven and organized and built on the basis of surveys, and demographics and what the so-called market wants, what you end up with is a Church, and churches that think it's all about US! And its that focus on us that has so infected Christianity and Lutheranism, that we seem to no longer focus on God in worship, but on me, myself and I. It is that focus that has created a consumer-driven Christianity, where everything revolves around what I want from the Church, and from "my" church.

A Consumer Mentality in Lutheranism

In Lutheranism, where the Holy Trinity has always been front and center, in theology as well as in architecture; in Lutheranism, where we have preached, not a market driven evangelism, but a Law and Gospel-centered message; in Lutheranism, where we have stood, solidly on Holy Scripture as the inspired Word of God, unwaveringly, regardless the prevailing cultural attitudes and fads and thinking; even in Lutheranism today, we're in danger of becoming the "church of what's happening now", or at least, the church of what was happening yesterday. And we need to understand this as a battle for the center of Christianity, because that's exactly what it is! And churches and Christians will either, move away from the Holy Trinity, as the center of our faith, and cease to be Christian, or Church, or we will wake up, and return to the apostolic teachings that affirm and confess, that the Triune God, not us, is at the center of life and faith. And how do we remain firmly within Biblical, apostolic teaching? How do we reject the all too human desire to be the center of things, and give the Holy Trinity proper place, and first place in our church and in our lives?

The Creeds of the Church

Well, in general terms, we can make sure our church and our churches continue to confess the historic ecumenical, or catholic, "small-c-catholic" statements of belief--the Apostle's, the Nicene and the Athanasian. We can make sure our church and our churches continue to worship in the name that Jesus himself gives, not least, in our gospel reading for today, when He commands that we baptize, only in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, we can commit ourselves to doing as Jesus also commands in our gospel lesson, "obeying all that He has commanded us." For to pick and choose between Jesus' commandments and teachings is to put ourselves above God and God's Law, rather than placing ourselves under them, in subjection to them in every aspect of life. These are some of the ways that our church, in general, can remain steadfastly centered on our Triune God. But there are some specific things we can do as well--as a congregation.

The Pastor Is Not Your Savior

First, we can understand that in the Church, your pastor is not your savior. In a congregation, especially a congregation with a long pastorate, there's a real temptation for the pastor and the parish to forget that it's not about us. As tempting as it is for the pastor to think it's all about him, or her, I find it all too often that congregations think the ministry of the congregation is all about the pastor. Which we see when a congregation falls on hard times, experiences decline, and then naturally, wants to blame the pastor. The ministry of the Body of Christ is to be the ministry of the whole body, gathered around the head, which is not the pastor, but Jesus Christ! To remember this is to keep the local congregation and the whole Church centered and focused on Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior.

The Crucifix as the Antidote to the "Me" Mentality

And a second practical, specific way we can keep God at the center, is to keep in mind that the church and our local congregation is not here to meet my every need and desire; that your congregation is not here to serve you and to fulfill your every need. Some church members tend to think that becoming a member of a congregation means, "here am I, serve me!" The theologian speaking at the recent 2014 Canadian Rockies Theological Conference, Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto, was talking about our toxic "me" orientation today, in the Church. And asked about the antidote to such an orientation in the church, Dr. Siemon-Netto said, "the crucifix is the antidote". He contends that having a crucifix in a church reminds all that being a Christian doesn't mean "here am I, serve me", but "here am I, SEND ME"-USE ME! Jesus giving himself on the cross for us sets us free from our need to control and be the focus and center of all and everything, so that we can again, humble ourselves before God, and yield ourselves to God, and acknowledge again, that there is a God, and it's not us! Interestingly, the traditional gospel text for Reformation Sunday is John 8, where Jesus says, "If the Son makes you free, you will be free, indeed!" And free, as we hear in our Gospel lesson, for being disciples and making disciples. Free to baptize and teach all that Jesus has commanded us, as people are incorporated into the Body of Christ, now followers of Jesus Christ, joyfully hearing and heeding his Word, to walk in His Way.

And that's what we're talking about here, this Trinity Sunday...reformation--being reformed, being transformed, being set free, by the Son--freed from our own wants and desires and pre-occupations, set free for, God--the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Set free, to live for Him, and to worship Him, and to offer to him, our time, our energy, our homes, our lives! So that He will be at the center, not us. That's what the Reformation was all about, and that's what Trinity Sunday is all about. God, not us!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.