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“The Grace, Love, and Fellowship of God
2 Corinthians 13:14

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Trinity Sunday—May 31, 2015

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Each year the First Sunday after Pentecost is set aside by the Church as Trinity Sunday, to focus on the Biblical teaching of the Trinity.  As the great creed of the Old Testament, from today’s Old Testament Reading says in Hebrew, “Shema Israel, Adoni elohenu, Adoni achad”; “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE.”  And, yet, this one God reveals himself to us in THREE Persons, as Jesus says declares, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Our text is the last verse of today’s Epistle Reading from 2nd Corinthians.  The Apostle Paul closes his letter with a familiar three-part benediction, summarizing with a word the work of each Person of the Trinity.  “May the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the LOVE of God, and the FELLOWSHIP of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Paul begins with God the SON and describes his work on our behalf as “grace.”

We don’t use the word “grace” very much anymore in the sense that Paul intends.  When we hear the word “grace” we think of refinement, good manners, style and class.  Someone like the late First Lady Jacquelyn Kennedy was considered “gracious” in this sense of the word.

But, when Paul says, “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . be with you,” he means “grace” in a different sense of the word.  The thesaurus lists these synonyms: mercy, compassion, leniency, clemency, pardon, forgiveness.  The only way I can think of that we still use the word “grace” in this sense is on a credit card statement.  That period of time from when you charge something until you have to pay it off is called a “grace period.”  It’s called a “grace period” because during this time the credit card company is showing you leniency by not charging you interest or demanding that you immediately repay the debt.  Usually this grace period is 25 days long.

“May the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . be with you.”  We all owe God a debt much greater than you could ever rack up on a credit card, a SPIRITUAL debt, because of our sins.  “For the wages of sin is death,” Paul says in Romans.  That is the terrible price we all deserve to pay for the spiritual debt of our sins: eternal death and damnation in hell.  “BUT, the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Good News is, God’s grace period isn’t just 25 days.  “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is for eternity.  Can you imagine if you had charged up a mountain of debt on your credit card, that you could never hope to pay off, and then one month the statement comes, and you dread to look at it.  But then the balance says zero, and the minimum payment due says zero.  And there is a note on the statement explaining that you don’t owe them anything anymore because someone else has paid it all for you.  Peter says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed . . . but with the precious blood of Christ.”

“May the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . be with you.”  Because God’s Son paid the price for your sins for you, by his life, suffering, death, and resurrection, God shows you mercy, compassion, leniency, clemency, pardon, forgiveness—not just for 25 days, but NOW AND FOREVER!  Paul summarizes this work of God the Son on your behalf in that wonderful word: grace.

“The GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the LOVE of God.”  Paul continues with God the FATHER, whom he simply calls “God.”  He summarizes God the Father’s work on your behalf with the word “love.”  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  “God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  “This is how God showed his love for us: He sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we may live through him.”

God showed his loved for you most of all by sending his Son to be your Savior.  And, he also shows you his love for you by continually showering down upon you blessings in your everyday life. 

That is why in our beautiful stained-glass window, God the Father is represented by a down-stretched hand.  This symbol is called the “hand of blessing,” because it represents all the blessings flowing forth to you from your heavenly Father’s loving hand.  As Psalm 145 says, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” 

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther lists some of these blessings you receive daily from your heavenly Father’s hand: “Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like. . .  All this he does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.  For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey him.”

“May the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the LOVE of God, and the FELLOWSHIP of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  “Fellowship” is the Greek word koinonia, which is also translated “the communion of the Holy Spirit.”  In Greek, this word is used to describe the closest friendships, the most intimate relationships, such as marriage.  In fact, the Bible often describes your relationship with Christ as like a marriage, Christ the groom, and you his beloved bride.  That is the work of God the Holy Spirit on your behalf; he brings you into that intimate relationship of fellowship with God and keeps you in fellowship with God, by calling you to faith in Christ and sustaining you in faith.  As Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”

God the Holy Spirit brings you into fellowship with God through the Word of God: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  You will be spiritually fed and nourished through hearing and studying God’s Word here in his house, and through personally reading and studying God’s Word in your own house.  For, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

God the Holy Spirit brings you into fellowship with God through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.  Even though your Baptism may have taken place many years ago, it’s not just old history.  The status your Baptism placed you in remains in effect throughout your life: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”  As Jesus says in today’s Gospel Reading, through Baptism God made you “born again” as his own child.

God the Holy Spirit brings you into fellowship with God through the Sacrament of Holy Communion, partaking of Christ’s own body and blood to strengthen you in the true faith unto life everlasting.  As Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

God the Holy Spirit brings you into fellowship with God through prayer.  As a child of God, you not only have the privilege of listening to God, through the Word and Sacraments; you also have the privilege of God listening to you, in prayer.  “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

“May the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the LOVE of God, and the FELLOWSHIP of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  After our worship is over today, you will go back to your home, your family, your job; and to your troubles, your hurts, your struggles.  But, you will not go alone.  God himself goes with you.  This benediction is a personal promise to you, that in your daily life you bask in the blessings of the Holy Trinity, for you are blessed with “The Grace, Love, and Fellowship of God.”

Amen.

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