“The Lesson of Trinity Sunday” or “Does It
Really Make One Iota of a Difference?”
2 Thessalonians 2:15

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Trinity Sunday–First Sunday after Pentecost—June 12, 2022

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

The theme for today’s sermon is “The Lesson of Trinity Sunday” or “Does It Really Make One Iota of a Difference?”  Our text is from today’s Epistle Reading in 2nd Thessalonians.  St. Paul writes, “Brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.”

Trinity Sunday is always celebrated on the First Sunday after Pentecost.  It commemorates a watershed event in the history of the Christian Church, the triumph of the orthodox Christian faith over destructive heresy.

It all started with a pastor named Arius.   In about 300 A.D., Arius came up with what he thought was a new, improved version of the Christian faith.

The Bible teaches that God is Triune, three-in-one; three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—in one God.  “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.”  The Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  To make up for our sinful lives, he lived a perfect life.  To pay for our sins, he died on the cross. 

St. Paul says in Romans, “He was put to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”  Through faith in Jesus Christ, you receive full forgiveness of all your sins.  Such saving faith is worked in your heart by God the Holy Spirit.  As St. Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  Three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Yet in Deuteronomy Moses says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”  Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, yet one God.  That is the teaching of the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity.

You may have seen this bumper sticker: “The Bible Says It, I Believe It, and That Settles It.”  But, that wasn’t good enough for Arius; he was too smart for that.  To him the doctrine of the Trinity was illogical.  And in that regard Arius was exactly right.

This is what the doctrine of the Trinity would look like as a mathematical formula: “1+1+1=1.”   Arius was correct that according to our human understanding, the doctrine of the Trinity is illogical.  For, the doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery beyond the comprehension of our limited intelligence, a mystery that we will not fully understand until we see the Lord face to face in heaven.  As St. Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Now I know in part; then I shall fully know.”

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the many mysteries in Scripture the Lord calls upon us simply to believe, to accept with trusting faith.  But, Arius had a better idea; he came up with a new, improved version of the Christian faith that left out this illogical doctrine of the Trinity.

As we just recited in the Athanasian Creed, the Bible teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal.  The divine nature of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, existed from all eternity.  As St. John says at the beginning of his Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

But, Arius taught that there is a hierarchy in the Trinity.  According to Arius, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not co-equal and co-eternal, but rather only the Father exists from eternity, and Jesus Christ was created by the Father at some point in time.  Arius put it this way: “There was a time when he was not.”  Because the Son is a mere creature of the Father, he is subordinate to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is subordinate to both the Father and the Son.

In the final analysis, the theological differences between the Trinitarians and the Arians all came down to this one letter, the Greek letter iota, often mispronounced “i-ota.”  This one letter is the only difference between the Greek words “homoousious” and “homoiousious.”  The Trinitarians said that the Father and the Son are “homoousious,” of the same substance.  The Arians said they are “homoiousious,” not of the same substance but of a similar substance. “Homoousious,” “homoiousious;” It’s a very subtle but important distinction.  That’s where we get all our sayings about there being “one i-ota” of a difference. 

The Trinitarians were chastised for being so stubborn about such a minor difference, too persnickety about pure doctrine.  After all, there was only “one i-ota” of a difference.  For the sake of peace and unity, couldn’t those hardheaded Trinitarians just give in on that “one i-ota”?  “Brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.”  The Trinitarians refused to give in on that “one i-ota;” they stood firm and held fast to the teachings of the Bible.  They warned that the new, improved doctrine of Arius was in fact false doctrine.

Although the Trinitarians were good theologians, they were bad politicians.  Within a few decades, the Arians gained political control of the Church.  They ousted all the Trinitarian pastors and bishops and installed Arians in their place.  Just 300 years after the time of Christ and the Apostles, it appeared that the Trinitarian faith which Christ and the Apostles taught would soon be but a memory.

But, Trinity Sunday commemorates the ultimate triumph of the true, orthodox, Trinitarian faith.  Against all odds, the Trinitarians eventually won back their church from the Arians.  They did it simply by testifying steadfastly to the true teachings of the Bible, and by literally refusing to give in on that “one i-ota.”  On Trinity Sunday, we rejoice and give thanks for those faithful witnesses who stood firm for the true faith.

“Brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.”  As in the early Church, today also the Christian faith and doctrine are under attack. 

Now, when we think of attacks against the Christian faith and doctrine, what comes to mind first is attacks from the world, coming at us from outside the fellowship of the Christian Church. Such attacks aimed at Christianity by the world are indeed becoming greater and more malicious.

But, attacks from outside the church really shouldn’t surprise us.  For, Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”  “In fact,” St. Paul tells Timothy, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

But, more surprising and disturbing than attacks on Christian faith and doctrine from outside the Christian Church are such attacks coming from within.  In the past decades some church bodies that once were strong have wandered from the faith, in particular abandoning Biblical morality on many issues. 

But, again this really should not surprise us.  For, Jesus warned, “False prophets will appear and deceive many people.”  “For the time will come,” St. Paul says, “when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

Some of these attacks on the teachings of the Bible are crass and obvious, outright blasphemies that will repel any Bible believing Christian.  But, St. Peter also tells us, “There will be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies.” 

Like the Arians of old, who cunningly claimed that Christ was not “homoousious,” the same as God, but only “homoiousious,” similar to God, in addition to obvious blasphemies there are other attacks like that from within the Christian Church that are more subtle, but just as dangerous, just as destructive, and just as blasphemous.

St. Paul says in Ephesians, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”  The Bible says we are saved not by works but by faith, and our faith itself is a gift of God.  But, some say, “You’ve gotta do your part if you expect to be saved.  Faith is one of the good works you do that help earn your own salvation.”  Is there really “one i-ota” of a difference?  Yes, there is! 

St. Paul says in Titus, “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”  The Bible says that Baptism is a means by which by which we are spiritually born again.  But, some say, “Baptism is just a symbol, not an actual means of being born again.”  Is there really “one i-ota” of a difference?  Yes, there is!

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper he said, “This is my body . . . this is my blood.”  St. 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?”  The Bible says plainly that Christ’s very body and blood are really, physically present with the bread and wine in Holy Communion.  But, some say, “The bread and wine only represent Christ’s body and blood.”  Is there “one i-ota” of a difference?  Yes, there is!

These are just a few examples where there really is “one i-ota” of a difference between what the Bible says and what some church bodies teach.  “Brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.”  Like those faithful witnesses who stood firm for the doctrine of the Trinity, we must also stand firm and not give up “one i-ota” of the doctrine of the Bible.  We must bear witness to the true teachings of the Bible, but we must do this always in a loving manner.  As St. Paul says in Ephesians, “Speaking the truth in love.”

What is “The Lesson of Trinity Sunday”?  ANY doctrine that disagrees with the Bible really does make “one i-ota” of a difference.