The Trinity Series

The Trinity

Acts 2:14a,22-36

Feast of the Trinity – June 3rd, 2007

† In Jesus Name †

14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NLT) And may you realize the extent to which that grace, love, and fellowship of our God is with you daily.

Complicated? You bet!

Last week, I saw a truly amazing concert on television. The concert included the 110 junior high school and high school musicians known as the Cleveland Youth Orchestra, a youth choir of another 60 teenagers, and the 1980’s rock and roll group Styx. Like a few of the rock groups from the 70’s and 80’s, Styx was a group their background as classical pianists and guitarists, along with rich 4 part harmony singing in their music. The band, often in the concert, explained where there inspiration came for the various pieces.

It was amazing to see their music played and sung with a full symphony, with strings and woodwinds and brass, and even glockenspiels and timpani’s! Instead of loud guitars only doing familiar solo instrumental runs, it was two young men, playing cellos. Their fingers flew over their strings, as they played incredibly the incredibly fast music with instruments more suitable to playing slow meditative pieces. A few times, I have seen “full scored” music – that is – the sheet music for an entire orchestra – every note that every instrument is to play. For a short piece, three to four minutes, a score takes up a huge notebook. For a concert such as I saw….the complicated score would take up file cabinets. But when you heard the concert, with everything so precisely tuned and accomplished, the beauty is astonishing.

Today is the day in the church year, where we celebrate something that is even more complicated, that is so complex, it makes a symphony seem simple. We celebrate that our God is three, and yet one. Our Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit.

We said a creed today, that seems complicated, and a bit confusing. Perhaps we need to say it slowly, with a long pause between each clause. For the majestic glory described there, is worth considering, it is worth pondering. As is the second part of the Creed, which proclaims the incredible mystery of how Jesus is both fully God, and fully man.

What we can know….

I think, that like the great concert, there is a time to be in awe at the incredible details that comprise the concert, and a time to be amazed at how the parts work in incredibly unified perfection. There is also time, to relax and focus not on the details, and the complicated nature of the performance, but simply to revel, and rejoice at the finished product.

As we look at another section of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, we see, we hear the symphony of Father, Son, and Spirit at work, preparing a masterpiece. As we see the three major components working together, may we realize the grace that is poured out on us, as our God, works a concert of incredible grace!

The Father

Attests to Jesus

Laid out the Plan

Prognosis = Good!

Raised Christ

In our reading from Acts, God, our Father, first moves to do what Peter describes as “attesting” to Jesus. A word not used often these days, it describes a more proactive role than just being a witness. It means to demonstrate and prove that to which you are attesting. If someone were to attest that I was once skinny, they would pull out pictures of me in college and high school – proving their claim.

God, our Father, attests to the fact that Jesus is His only begotten son, the Messiah, the hope long since promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Issac and Jacob, to Moses and Joshua, to Samuel and David and the rest of the prophets, by what Peter says were, mighty works, wonders, and signs. Things that no one, but one approved by God, could even comprehend, never mind accomplish. Works of healing, wonders of raising the dead, and walking through crowds attempting to kill him, and signs such as His teaching, 330 some such events, prophesied 400 to 3000 years prior to His birth.

That points out to next point – that everything Jesus did, was laid out to do, by the Father. The plan was set, even to the fact, that the people that Peter was speaking to, would hand over Jesus to be killed…hanged on a cross. God knew about this, beforehand, He understood the cost, and sent Jesus, anyway…and then, would raise Him from the dead!

The Son

Was crucified and died