Sermon: Salvation, Revelation, and Adoration
Text: Rev 4:1-11, John 3:1-15
Occasion: Trinity Sunday
Who: Mark Woolsey
Where: Arbor House
When: Sunday, May 22, 2005
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We all know that the most important day of the church year is Christmas, when Jesus is revealed to the Jews. More important than that is Epiphany, when He is revealed to the Gentiles. The ultimate in importance is the next season, Lent, when we truly repent of our sins. Higher still is Palm Sunday when our Lord is honored by the populous as King, only to be topped by Easter and the resurrection. Having reached the top, the church year climbs higher still at the Ascension and Pentecost. All kidding aside, I’m being a bit fasicous because each feast day cannot be the most important. I would like to make a case, however, that what we celebrate this Sunday is of highest importance. Today we celebrate not so much an event but an illumination, not so much a feat but a fact, not a victory but a vision. Today causes us to center on the core of our faith. To reject what is presented today is to choose eternal death over life. Far from being irrelevant, today is as practical as drinking water. Today is about salvation, revelation, and adoration. Today is Trinity Sunday.
The Scriptures chosen by the church for today are somewhat suprising at first glance. Indeed, concerning the Gospel lesson, the great reformer Martin Luther said in his 1532 sermon, "I don’t know why this Gospel lesson was selected to be read on this Trinity Sunday, for it really doesn’t deal with the subject of Trinity." Then he goes on to give a masterful exegesis, focusing on what and how one is born again. Possibly the most famous passage in all of Scripture is found in this chapter,
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Dr Luther is right in that this passage is about salvation, yet hovering just below the radar the doctrine of the Trinity permeates it. In these verses we find that God sends, Jesus saves, and the Holy Spirit gives birth. Again we see that God reigns, Jesus descends, and the Spirit moves. The claims of each Person is that of deity, for who else rules, who else can save, and who else can give second birth? Yet it is utter blasphemy to confess anything other than,
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
Here we have a great mystery that we cannot begin to penetrate, but neither should we shrink back or be ashamed of it. The church rightly asserts this "mysterium tremendum" all throughout her liturgy. Every Sunday you and I repeatedly invoke Father, Son, and Holy Spirit until it becomes warp and woof of our very spiritual being. If you can remember no other doctrine, no other truth out of Scripture, remember this: God is one in substance, and three in persons. The Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Spirit, and yet each is fully God almighty, not simply 1/3 of God. Nor are there three Gods. God forbid that we should ever even hint at that! Why is this so important for us to not only know, but also confess? Because the two great themes of this chapter, regeneration and Trinity, are intricately woven together. To reject one is to lose them both. The Fathers of the church understood this. Listen to St Athanasius:
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic Faith. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.
While this truth, as impossible as it may be to understand, jumps out of John 3, grabs us by the shoulders, and forces its way into our faith, I would like to focus the remainder of our time on the other passage for today. I am tempted to say about this passage what Martin Luther did about John 3, when he questioned it’s appropriateness for today. Indeed, Jesus is not even explicitly mentioned at all. But this chapter in Revelation is so rich that ignoring it would be like someone putting a piece of Lindz’s 70% dark chocolate on the table in front of me and expecting me to not eat it. It’s not going to happen. I am indebted to David Chilton’s commentary on this book, "Days of Vengeance" for his many insights and connections that he brings out. It is the best commentary, not only on Revelation but on on any book of the Bible, that I have read.
As this chapter of the Apocalypse opens, John tells us he sees throne of God, that is, the Father, which is itself surrounded by the seven incense bowls representing the Spirit. Immediately we see two of the Trinity, but where is Jesus? Notice that in verse 8 the four living creatures name the one on the throne as Him
Who was and is and is to come
This is significant because in 1:8 we read that Jesus calls Himself
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End ... who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Here are the Three receiving worship which we are bound to give to God alone. It is clear throughout this book that Jesus and His Father, while One, are not the same. Nor are either one of them the Spirit who is consistently represented in His own unique way. Once again we are confronted with the one Substance, and Three Persons.
While John 3 showed us the relationship between the Trinity and our salvation, Rev 4 shows us the relationship between the Trinity and our worship. As I take you through a couple of these aspects of worship you should begin to see some very familiar things.
First of all, in verse 1, John starts out on earth, but sees the door to heaven. A voice says to him,
Come up here
David Chilton says about this,
The Church acts out St. John’s experience every Sunday at the Sursum Corda, when the [priest] (reflecting Christ’s "Come up here!") cries out, "Lift up your hearts!" and the congregation sings out in response, "We lift them up to the Lord!"
In verse 4 we see the 24 elders, who represent the presbytery of heaven,
clothed in white robes
Chilton quotes Richard Paquier:
It is natural, therefore, that the man who officiates in the worship of the Church be clothed in a manner corresponding to the task assigned to him and expressing visibly what he does. Moreover, whoever leads in the act of worship does not perform as a private party but as a minister of the Church; he is the representative of the community and the spokesman of the Lord. Hence, an especially prescribed vestment, a sort of ecclesiastical ’uniform,’ is useful for reminding both the faithful and himself that in this act is is not Mr. So-and-So, but a minister of the Church in the midst of a multitude of others.
Hear again in verse 8 how the four living creatures continually call out
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!
David Chilton comments:
This too has its counterpart in the standard Christian liturgy, in which the Sanctus follows the Sursum Corda:
[the priest says] Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name; evermore praising Thee and saying,
All: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord God of [hosts]; Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory; [Glory be to thee, O Lord Most High. Amen.]
Listen to what Mr. Chilton has to say as he concludes his analysis of this chapter:
The heavenly worship service here shows us what God wants in earthly worship. First, worship must be corporate. Biblical worship is not individualistic, quietistic, or solely internal. ... Second, worship must be responsorial. ... The elders and the four living creatures are shown singing musical responses back and forth, carrying on a dialogue. And, in the worship of the Church on earth, that is what we do (or should so) also. We respond liturgically to the reading of Scripture, to the prayers, to the singing of Psalms and hymns, to the teaching, and to the Sacraments. For this is what we see in heavenly worship, and our worship should be structured as far as possible in imitation of the heavenly pattern, according to the prayer Christ taught us: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6:10). Third, worship must be orderly ... it must not be chaotic. ... The solution, recognized in both Old and New Testaments, and by the Church throughout history, is to provide a common liturgy, with formal prayers and responses, so that the people may intelligently worship together in a manner that is both corporate and orderly. ... The Sunday worship of the Church is ... God’s people coming into the palace for a formal ceremony before the Throne, an official audience with the King. We come to confess our faith and allegiance, to take solemn oaths, to receive forgiveness, to offer up prayers, to be instructed by God’s officers, to eat at His table, and to render thanksgiving for all His benefits; and we are to respond to all of this with music and singing. All of this is corporate, and that necessarily means liturgy. ... He is the King, and worship means serving Him.
As we prepare to come to the table today, I will speak for the Lord and call you up. By faith come up into heaven, where He speaks and you respond. With highest thankfulness, eat and drink His body and blood, and worship Him who is both Three and One.
This is the word of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria.
