3
June 2007 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
The
Festival of the Holy Trinity Vienna, VA
Jesu Juva
“The
Great, Merciful I AM”
Text:
John 8:48-59
Grace, mercy,
and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
I read a little
magazine article recently that asked the question: Does the Church want people with problems?
Perhaps we think
(or have been given the impression) that the answer to that question is no. The Church is made up of folks who used to have problems, who used to be sinners, but are now happy and carefree in Christ. Therefore we hide our struggles with sin, our
problems and weaknesses, our weak faith and doubts. We try to look strong and sure and good and
like we have it all together, for that’s what Christians – real Christians – are like, after all.
Maybe we have
been on the other side of that as well, and given
the impression that the Church does not want people with problems. Sending that sometimes not-so-subtle message in
how we carry ourselves, or in our slowness to help, our reluctance to listen, or
our impatience and preoccupation with our own lives. Preferring to substitute our involvement by
simply giving money instead, so that I don’t really have to be inconvenienced
and bothered; so that someone else do the work.
Of all of this I am guilty, and I suspect (to
some degree or another) so are all of you. And we need to repent . . . but not
only of our failure to love and help our neighbors, and not only of our pride and
delusions of goodness, but most importantly, of what all this in us communicates and teaches others about God. That
if the Church does not want people with problems, then it must also be true
that neither does God. And so the
message becomes: you better clean up your act, get your life together, and
measure up, in order to come before the holy and righteous God.
And that this is
the message that has been communicated to the world, just think: how many think
the message of the Church is about living up to God’s standards instead of
about receiving God’s forgiveness? How
many think the Church is full of hypocrites, because they see us living one way
but teaching another? The truth is that
we who bear God’s holy name have not kept it holy.
But what a different
picture we see in the Holy Gospel today, in Jesus. For there in flesh and blood is the eternal
God come to be with His problem-filled, sin-enslaved people, exactly because they are problem-filled,
sin-enslaved people, in order to set
us problem-filled, sin-enslaved people free. To defeat the enemies that have defeated us –
namely, sin, death, and the devil – and restore us with His forgiveness, life,
and salvation. And He does so because this is who He is. Unlike us, with God words and deeds are not two different things – who He is is
what He does, and what He does is who He is.
And so in Jesus we see God as He truly is – our God who wants
people with problems . . . because He wants and loves us.
And on this Holy
Trinity Sunday, we remember and confess that this is who God is and has always
been, for He is a God who does not change.
And so for us and for our salvation He has always been working . . . from the very beginning. And that is what Jesus is saying when He
tells the Jews: “Truly, truly, I say
to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Jesus is telling
them that I AM the one who created all things.
The one who
confronted Adam and Eve after they sinned.
The one who told
Noah to build an ark.
The
one who not only saw Abraham and knew him, but called him and made a covenant with him.
The one who
tested Abraham, and who wrestled with Jacob.
I
AM the one who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, and told Him this name, my name.
I AM the one who
brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.
The one who led
them in the pillar of cloud and fire.
The
one who divided the Red Sea, fed them with manna, and gave them water from a
rock to drink in the wilderness.
The one who gave
them the Promised Land and fought for them.
I AM the one who
dwelt with them in the Tabernacle and the Temple.
The one who gave
Solomon his wisdom.
The one who
consumed Elijah’s sacrifice before the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel.
The one who
Isaiah saw and trembled before.
And now –
now – I AM with you in flesh and
blood. Your flesh and blood. That
just as I have served you and kept you for so long, so now I have come to join
myself to you and save you. Once and for
all. To take your sin and its penalty
upon myself. To take your place under
the Law and fulfill it. To take your
place in death and destroy its power in my resurrection. That all of you problem-filled, sin-enslaved
people may live – forgiven and free, both now and forever.
Such a God the
Jews Jesus was talking to could not understand or accept; that kind of a God
doesn’t make sense – a God who comes and
serves us! – and so they called Him a hated Samaritan, demon possessed and
mad, and picked up stones to kill Him. .
. . But do not judge those Jews, for we
must confess that such a God does not make sense to us either. For why would a holy God love lawbreakers,
serve sinners, and die for deviants like you and me? Who repent so little and try to earn so
much? Who take His forgiveness for
granted? Who profane the holy name given
to us? Our stones may not be the hard, heavy kind, but are we not the same
when we resist His Word and love today?
Yet look! What divine patience and love Jesus shows –
with the Jews then, and with us today – not leaving them to the demons they
accused Him of having, nor throwing stones in return, nor condemning us in our
unbelief . . . but bearing with us.
Patiently, lovingly, that what we sinners cannot understand, we might
yet – through the power of the Holy Spirit – believe. That such selfless love
is possible, and that God shows us His glory not by remaining up in
Heaven, but in coming down from Heaven to save us. Showing His strength by becoming weak. Showing His greatness by coming to
serve. . . .
And so the
Father sends His Son into the world, to bear our sin and be our Saviour. And
the Son send the Spirit into the world, to give us the gift of faith and be our
Teacher. And yet as we will confess,
there are not three gods, but one God.
One God in three persons and three persons in one God, working as one for us and for our
salvation. For this is who He is. Not only our Creator, but also our Redeemer
and Sanctifier.
And this great
God, the great I AM, who came in our flesh and blood and ascended the cross to shed
His blood and die on that altar of wood for the forgiveness of our sins, is the
same God who now comes to us in His flesh and blood on this altar, that we may
eat His body and drink His blood and receive that forgiveness of sins. Feeding and filling us with Himself. Strengthening us who are so weak. That though we profane His name given to us
in Holy Baptism, He does not take that name away from us – but in divine
patience and love, restores us as His children; creating in us clean hearts,
and renewing a right spirit within
us. (Ps
51)
His
Spirit. That the devil, the world, and
our sinful nature have power over us no more, but that we live and be who we
are: children of our Father, redeemed by the Son, in the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit.
And that we then
be who we are not just here, but in the world.
Not hiding our struggles and weakness, but rejoicing His strength. Not insisting on our goodness, but praising
His forgiveness. Not begrudging others
our love and forgiveness and help, but giving to others what has been given to
us. Confessing the name that has been
given to us in both word and deed. That all may know who our God is! Not a God who doesn’t want people with
problems, or who insists that we fix ourselves – but a God who is love,
who loves you, and so has come in love for
you. To free you not for sin, but from sin. To make you His
own. And so you are.
And so may what
we confess with our lips this day be true in our lives everyday: Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the
undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us.
(Introit
Antiphon)
In the Name of
the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now
the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds
through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Amen.