Trinity Sunday: Date: May 31, 2015
– THE SERMON: Numbers 6:22-27
Theme: God, the LORD, puts His Name upon Us and Blesses Us
I. The LORD Blesses Us with Preservation
II. The LORD Blesses Us with Redemption
III. The LORD Blesses Us with His Peace
( Pastor Theodore Barthels )
Bulletin: Read Bulletin
Sermon: Read Sermon
THE ORDER OF SERVICE: p.5 (249)
HYMNS: 246; 250; 38:1-3; 38:4
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 28:18-20
Before Jesus’ ascension He presented His Church with the great commission. We are to go out into all the world and make disciples, followers of Jesus, by declaring the grace that comes to us through baptism from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one and only God, the God of our salvation.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Isaiah 6:1-8
The Lord reveals Himself both in His holiness and in His grace. Before the Lord’s holiness we too must confess our sinfulness!” However, the Lord also reveals His grace in the cleansing power of the gospel. In the vision, a coal from the altar is touched to Isaiah’s lips. The altar is the cross of Christ where the one sacrifice for all sin was made. The Lord has touched our hearts with that sacrifice and we are cleansed from all sin. The Lord asks, “Who will go?” With grateful hearts we reply with Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!” We are now ready to tell others of the God of our salvation.
Sermon
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
2100 16th Street SW
Austin, MN 55912-1749
Pastor Ted Barthels
Sermon preached on
May 31, 2015
Trinity Sunday
Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 6:1-8, Matthew 28:18-20
Hymns: 246; 250; 38:1-3; 38:4 (249)
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon Text: Numbers 6:22-27
22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”’
27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (NKJV)
This is the Word of God.
Sanctify us, oh Lord, through Your truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.
In Christ Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Who with the Father sent the Holy Spirit, dear fellow Redeemed:
INTRO: Today we celebrate the mystery of the Triune God
It is a mystery. We are not able to capture with our minds the wonder of the true God. What Scripture reveals about God just doesn’t make sense to human reason. The world finds that to be evidence of the folly of the Christian faith. In this world reason has ruled for many centuries. What is not within the ability of human reason to grasp is regarded as superstition and evidence of the ignorance of those who believe. The result of this has been that man has made gods that are the product of man’s mind, gods that men are able to fathom. The gods of this world present a philosophy that appeals to the mind and or the prurient interests of humanity. Often that means that power or money or reason or man himself become the gods who rule the heart and behavior of man. This always leaves God as being something less than the mind of man. How can one have a god that is less than we are? What benefit can possibly come to anyone from a god who is inferior to the mind of man? Where does such a god fit into the questions of life?
So indeed it is only reasonable that we should have a God who is greater than our reason or understanding can grasp, for the one true God, who is the source and Creator of all, is the only God who can really make a difference in life.
So it is on this day which we call Trinity Sunday we consider this one True God who has revealed Himself to us in His Word. He has presented Himself to us not only in His almighty power and His holiness, but also most significantly in His grace. He presents Himself with His covenant name Yahweh or Jehovah, or the LORD with all large case letters. This is significant, not because it is a name which we have made up for a God whom we have devised, but because this is how the one true God has chosen to reveal Himself to His people. He tells us at the end of our text that we are to put His name upon His people and He will bless them. This is one of the most important things that we do as part of our Sunday morning services. As your called minister of gospel I repeat this blessing which God has given us for our worship and so —-
THEME: God, the LORD, puts His Name upon Us,
and Blesses Us.
I. The LORD Blesses Us with Preservation.
Numbers 6:24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
It is no mere coincidence that this blessing of the LORD has three phrases in it with each beginning with the LORD’s name. The LORD is revealing the triune nature of one true God, He is revealing the wonder of that mystery of God which we cannot understand but which we by faith comprehend as truth. And so we “know that the LORD, He is God, It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3).
And so it is the LORD, our heavenly Father to whom we especially associate the work of creation and preservation that blesses us in our daily walk in life. It is the LORD, our heavenly Father who is watching over us in all ways and provides us with all that we need for this bodily life. We are blessed everyday by a kind, heavenly Father who cares for us as His dear children. He watches over us understanding that we are weak and need His protecting care.
However in His great love with which He loved us, in spite of our sin, He saw our greatest need. And so —
II. The LORD Blesses Us with Redemption.
Again we hear the name of the LORD placed upon us in a most special manner for our blessing.
Numbers 6:25 The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you.
Considering our sin, and our propensity for evil, one would think that it would be a dark glare with which God turns toward any and all of mankind. That the LORD should make His face shine upon us that He would look down upon us with love and favor, this is an amazing blessing. It is a blessing that is only possible because of what the Lord, the covenant God has done. The only begotten Son of God came down to earth to be our brother. The only begotten Son of God became truly human, and as such was under the law. He fulfilled the law’s demands, and secured a perfect righteousness for us by His sinless life. Then the LORD, our Lord Jesus Christ, bore our sins in His body taking them to the cross. He “redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). This is the grace of God. It comes to us freely by the will of God, not because of anything I am, or anything I have done to earn or deserve it.
Every time we speak these wondrous words of blessing we are assured that the LORD is gracious. The LORD is gracious unto you. You live under His forgiving grace, and you are blessed with the greatest spiritual blessing.
III. The LORD Blesses Us with His Peace.
Numbers 6:26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
The picture we have presented here is one that people of old understood very well. If one was brought into the audience before the King, and the potentate looked down upon you, it was bad, very bad indeed. If God, the Almighty looked upon us with His wrath and displeasure it would be the severest curse of all, the curse of eternal death and damnation in agonies of hell. God does not want this for anyone in this world. So it is a great and wondrous blessing that we have been called to faith by the Holy Spirit so that we know God as our LORD, our Savior from sin and death. The Spirit of our God comes to us with the goods news of God’s love and refreshes us with life giving power of Gospel. It is the blessing of the Holy Spirit that we possess peace in our hearts. We know God as our dear Father in heaven and as our LORD and Savior, and as the Comforter who walks by our side, strengthening us and keeping us in true faith throughout the trials and tribulations of this life. Even when we are severely tried, and enduring grief, or pain and suffering, we are given this peace of mind and heart; God is not dealing with us according to our sin, but always and only according to His grace.
And so today we are blessed. We gather here in the name of the Lord, as He has revealed Himself to us as our great God, the Lord who has told us how we might be blessed by placing His name upon us. This is a marvel of His love that we still exercise every Sunday, a wonder that all by itself makes it more than worthwhile to be gathered here to worship our God, the LORD. His name shall once again be placed upon you, and you shall be blessed by the LORD, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.