John 8:48-59 (Proverbs 8; Acts 2)

No Comparison

            Whenever I teach, I often like using comparisons or other methods to link something harder with something most people already know and understand. As long as we have a starting point from which we can all relate, then it’s easier to build on prior knowledge to teach about tougher subjects. For instance, faith is commonly compared with running a race or competing in a game. We all know that there’s one or more comparisons to be made while knowing that there’s also a level of contrast as well. But what do we do with something that has no comparison? This is our fate today. As we celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday, we’ve come to a topic that simply is without comparison or equal. The nature of talking about God is that he’s distinct from everything else in all of creation. Perhaps, we can compare certain traits or qualities of God, but not God himself. For instance, as we also celebrate Father’s Day today, we compare the love of our earthly fathers with the love of our heavenly father. We compare the caring, strength, and protection we have in our fathers with the same traits of God. This gives us something, but even still it comes up short. This has long been the church’s struggle when talking about God. Language fails us when trying to describe God because God is beyond everything that we know. This is why we have what we confessed today, the Athanasian Creed. The Church knew that the only words we could use to describe God are the words that he has spoken to us himself. 

            For today, as we celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday, we must turn to Jesus’ words in the Gospel to gain any semblance of understanding about God. But we also must recognize that no matter how much we think we know about God, he is much greater, bigger, and larger than anything our minds can comprehend. Even so, let us learn today:

LET US KNOW GOD AS TRINITY SO THAT WE MAY KNOW LIFE ETERNAL!

I.

            Jesus never shied away from getting into arguments with the Jews and particularly the religious leaders. This is the exact situation we find him in with our Gospel reading. Jesus had just called himself the light of the world, and claimed a personal union with God our Heavenly Father. It’s at this point that the insults start flying. The Jews call Jesus deranged. Jesus calls them sons of the devil. Then we have where we pick up, as the Jews say, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” John 8:48. Here’s the thing... the Jews aren’t entirely wrong. At least, not in their intentions. This spat back and forth with Jesus is all because they’re trying to defend the first commandment... and second and third. For if you’re going to worship and believe in God, then you ought to know who he truly is. And here Jesus is, completely redefining their understanding of God... or at least correcting what had been misunderstood in the past. Of course, the doctrine of the Trinity is no new concoction. This is who God has always been, as Jesus is teaching them. Even as he says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am,” John 8:58. 

            Do Christians and Jews worship the same God? What about Muslims? Or let’s toss in any of the dozen from other religions, what about them? It’s becoming the common view of the everyday person that all our religious squabbles are for nothing. The common person believes that we all worship the same God and that there’s no difference between Yahweh, Allah, Zeus, or any other god. This is the very reason that we have this Sunday as part of our Church year. If we don’t understand who God is, then we’ll look for him in all the wrong places. We won’t worship him properly. We won’t call upon him as he desires us. Nor can we truly believe in him as we ought. Not only this, but if we don’t know who God is, then how shall we know what he truly thinks about us? While we’ll never fully comprehend God in his nature, let us never toss off this doctrine as unimportant. As we just confessed, “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith... that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.” 

II.

            So, what can we say about God? Who is this God that we worship and in whom is salvation? We worship one God, yet three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is neither the Son, nor Spirit, but the Father alone. Nor is the Son the Father or Spirit, but the Son alone. And the Spirit is the Spirit alone. But each one is fully God working in perfect unison so that we have one God, not three. For now, consider what Jesus teaches us, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.” John 8:54. The glory of the Son is the glory of the Father. The glory of the Spirit is the glory of the Son and Father. And vice versa. For so, this is how we know God... not because we can understand his nature, but that he has revealed himself to us through Jesus. In Jesus, we come to know the Father and see his glory. Through Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit that we may give praise to both the Father and the Son. In Jesus, the whole deity dwells that he is the exact imprint of God’s nature.

            But one question remains, when someone asks us what God we worship, what are we supposed to say? Perhaps, you could give them a long lecture... or perhaps we point them directly to Jesus. We point to the man who went to the cross for us, died for all of our sins, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God. We point to him and say He is my God. Just as Peter proclaims on Pentecost, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified,” Acts 2:36. Thus, if someone doesn’t recognize Jesus as both Lord and Christ, we can say for certain that we do not worship the same God. For it was the unified plan of God, that our Heavenly Father should send Jesus to become incarnate for us, that Jesus should take upon himself our lowly flesh and be nailed to a cross in our place, and that the Holy Spirit should dwell within us to bring about faith and salvation in Jesus’ name. In this act of God, in the cross of Jesus, we come to know exactly what God we worship. As the Psalmist writes, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:1. 

            Let us come to know this God, the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. Let us know the Heavenly Father as our Father who loves us so much to give us His Son to become incarnate for us. Let us know Jesus, the eternal Son of God, who came down from heaven to die for us and rise from the dead. And let us know the Holy Spirit who now dwells in our hearts, evermore pointing us to the eternal salvation we have in Jesus’ name! In Jesus’ name. Amen!