Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world would be saved through Him.” (John 3:17)
I want you to imagine, for a moment, that you are sitting
with a friend or co-worker, or maybe your grandson or god-daughter, and with
honest and sincere curiosity you are asked, “What’s God like?” How would you answer? I feel pretty safe
guessing that you would not pull up the Athanasian Creed on your phone and
begin explaining it with it’s powerful and bold “Whosoever shall be saved must
believe…” It’s not that it would be a wrong choice, because of it’s clear, albeit
technical, confession of the Trinity, but it quickly becomes overwhelming.
After hearing the Creed’s “The Father incomprehensible, the Son
incomprehensible, the Holy Spirit incomprehensible,” The British author,
Dorothy Sayers, quipped, “and the whole thing is incomprehensible!” Some truth
to that, isn’t there, as we admit our own confusion at the depths of the
language and nod our heads in agreement. I’m with you. Please know that we are
in good company. Even the brilliant apostle Paul wrote, “For who has known the
mind of the Lord?”
Where would you begin to answer the question, “What’s God
like?” I suppose you could use King David’s ethereal joy at contemplating the
fullness and majesty of God through Psalm 29, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory
due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” You could also
use Isaiah’s call from God with the vision of the Lord sitting on His throne,
guarded by mighty winged seraphim, surrounded by an angelic choir singing
“Holy, holy, holy,” as an earthquake shakes the entire scene and Isaiah being
touched with coals of fire, being cleansed for service as the prophet of God.
Both are incredible passages of Scripture with pictures painted of the majesty
and power and glory of God. Surely, these would open the eyes of the one
asking: “Here is God!”
But, if you used these passages, I fear the friend or
coworker, or grandson or god-daughter, would be like Isaiah and tremble in
fear: “Woe is me…I am of unclean lips and I have seen the King, the Lord of
Hosts.”
Or, perhaps you could start with Nicodemus. He comes to
Jesus at night. He was a Pharisee, trained in Scripture and in the Law. Like
your friend or coworker, grandson or god-daughter, Nicodemus was being honest –
unlike some of his companions, he isn’t trying to trick or trap Jesus. He wants
to know, to understand what Jesus is saying. I can almost imagine him using a
stage whisper, lest someone overhear him and report him to his colleagues, “I
know that you are from God,” but the rest was just too much to believe, too
much to expect him to grasp that this Man with whom he was speaking was God
enfleshed. And, then when Jesus begins to use rebirth imagery, which we
understand as Baptismal rebirth, it confused poor Nicodemus even more. “If I
have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I
tell you heavenly things?”
The story[1]
is told of a chaplain for a large, metropolitan fire department, who went to
the hospital to visit several firemen who were injured battling a large,
industrial fire. He wore his uniform, and over his uniform coat, he wore a
stole, much like mine. There is something quite powerful and comforting about
pastoral garments in times of crisis. Some of the injuries were relatively
minor; several were quite severe. Firefighters and family were happy to see him
as he offered a word here, a prayer there, and a blessing for the medical teams
who were working.
“You sure look
spiffy, Chappie” the fireman said, contempt and sarcasm dripping with each
word. “What good do you think you can do here? Don’t you see how badly we’re
hurt and hurting? Do you think some words and a prayer are going to make us
whole again?” A wife jumped in, “Yeah - where was God when that roof collapsed?”
There were some murmurs, grumbles, rumbles. Finally, the man who started it all
rolled his head to look at the chaplain with his good eye and said, “You will
never understand this. Why don’t you just leave.” For just a moment, the
chaplain stood still, then turned and walked out. The ward quickly settled down.
The door opened so softly and the footsteps were so soft that,
at first, no one noticed the chaplain re-entered the room. He stopped, and
without saying a word, lifted the stole off of his shoulders and laid it across
a table at the foot of the bed. He unbuttoned his coat and with a shrug of the
shoulders, it fell to the floor, followed by the tie, dress shirt and T-shirt. Raising
his arms slightly, obviously with discomfort, he turned slowly. What each man
saw, what each man suddenly realized was that this chaplain wasn’t just a
chaplain. He *was* one of them: his body was covered with burn scars across his
back and chest. Where he had appeared to be a perfect specimen of health and
wellness, he was instead wounded and broken like each one of the firefighters
laying there.
Silently, he put on his t-shirt. Placing the stole across
his scarred shoulders, he raised an arm as high as he could and, with a husky
voice simply said, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide with you all.” He turned and walked out
the door.
I don’t need to tell you how, as word got around the fire
department that the chaplain had been there, in the wards, himself, a wounded fireman
who fought to survive, all of the firefighters saw the chaplain – their
chaplain – in a different light. He wasn’t just there. He was theirs.
If you want to show your friend or coworker, your grandson
or god-daughter who God is, show him or her Jesus. We know God only through
Jesus. Show him or her that God loved us enough to give His only-begotten Son
to be born among us, with flesh and blood, so that He could live among us. Show
him or her that Christ fulfilled what we are unable to do. Show Him with all of
His scars and wounds that He received from sinful people who sought to destroy
Him for proclaiming the truth, that He was and is God’s Son. Show him or her
Jesus, who was lifted up on the cross, just as Moses lifted a serpent on a
pole, that all who turn and look to Him in faith, they live. Show him or her
that in Christ there is not condemnation and punishment, but eternal salvation.
You tell him or her, clearly and directly about Jesus and
make the good confession of faith. Today’s world gives a milquetoast
non-confession of, “you have your beliefs and I have mine,” while preaching
tolerance with the mantra “just get along.” Regardless what popular opinion
might be, as Christians we are not free to just believe whatever we want or to
confess or practice that which denies the Word of God. "Whosoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic [Christian] faith...and the catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confusing the person nor dividing the substance" (Athanasaian Creed, v 1-2). The Christian church
speaks boldly of the faith into which we were baptized in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: one God in three persons, made known to
us through Jesus Christ, who sent His spirit that we might believe. The Church
confesses it. And we believe it.
And, if you don’t fully understand the doctrine of the Holy
Trinity, don’t worry. That doesn’t make you a less-than Christian. It is
wonderful, incredibly doctrine to help us understand a wonderful, incredible
God. I actually find comfort in not being able to fully understand and explain
God – if I could, what kind of God would that be? It’s not about passing a
test. It’s about knowing God, through Christ, by the power of the Spirit, and
knowing His love and mercy for us.
So, don’t worry about comprehending it all. Instead, receive
the gifts that the Triune God gives you in Baptism, in absolution, in the Word,
and in the Supper. And, with your cleansed lips confess Jesus and give thanks
to God.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] I heard a version of this story, but with a Navy chaplain instead, while at Seminary during the 1997-1998 school year. The preacher (whom I do not remember) was a Navy chaplain. I can only hope that the story was true and not made up.
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