Holy Trinity Sunday
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
An eternally loving triune God!
Collect of the Day
Two alternatives are provided. In the first, petitions are offered to remain steadfast in faith, defended from adversity, and brought into the presence of the triune God. Justification by Grace is emphasized in this case. In the second alternative, petitions are made that the faithful be guided by the Spirit to all truth that Christ may be proclaimed. In this case, concern with evangelism along with the Holy Spirit is raised.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 29
See Epiphany 1; relate the theme of divine majesty to how majestic the Trinity is.
Sermon Text and Title
"A Holy God Forgives -- and Sends"
Isaiah 6:1-8
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that ministry depends on forgiveness (Justification by Grace), for we are so unworthy (the doctrine of sin) in face of the awesome triune God.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A prophecy of the historical Isaiah in the late eighth century BC.
* The account of the call of the prophet.
* The vision of the Lord transpires in the temple where the Lord appears along with seraphs (winged creatures who protect royalty) (vv. 1-2).
* These seraphs praise the Lord's holiness (v. 3).
* Isaiah laments his own and the people of Israel's uncleanness (v. 5). To see God would kill him and them.
* A seraph cleanses the prophet's mouth with a burning coal (vv. 6-7). This cleansing is a forgiving act of God.
* This is followed by the Lord's call for someone to be sent for Him (the plural form is used here in God's self-reference). Isaiah responds in the affirmative (v. 8).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text witnesses to God's holiness (perhaps a triune or plural nature), human sin, Justification (by Grace), and Sanctification. The call of Isaiah also affords occasion to consider the mission of the church, and so of the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 20:6).
* Regarding our mission, Martin Luther writes:
We have no other reason for living on earth than to be of help to others. If this were not the case, it would be best for God to kill us and let us die as soon as we are baptized and have begun to believe. But He permits us to live here in order that we may bring others to faith, just as He brought us.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 30, p. 11)
* John Wesley noted the hint of the triune nature of God in the use of the plural form by God in referring to Himself in verse 8 (Commentary on the Bible, p. 323).
* Augustine describes the very essence of this triune holy God in terms of love: "Therefore the Holy Spirit, what it is, is something common to both the Father and the Son. But the communion itself is consubstantial and co-eternal; and if it may fitly be called friendship, let it be so called; but it is more aptly called love" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 3, p. 100).
* Commenting on the text, John Calvin nicely pointed out how encounters with God make us know our sin:
Accordingly, until God reveals Himself to us, we do not think that we are men, or rather we think that we are gods; but when we have seen God, we then begin to feel and know that we are. Hence springs true humility, which consists in this, that a man makes no claims for himself, and depends wholly on God….
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol.VII/1, p. 208)
* Regarding our stubborn sinfulness, Martin Luther commented on this passage noting, "The Word of God does not always have humble hearers; on the contrary, the great majority of hearers are proud and presumptuous" (Luther's Works, Vol. 16, p. 73).
* Luther compares the burning coal cleansing the prophet's lips to baptism (Ibid.).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Americans do not want to believe the core of the lesson, that we are dependent on forgiveness because we are unworthy. A 2003 Christian website poll found that over half the American population believes that good works can earn a place in heaven. Also see the first bullet point in this section for Second Lesson, Lent 4.
5. Gimmick
Note that as things begin winding down for the summer it is good to dream about what will lie ahead for the congregation after the lazy dog days of summer end. Asking ourselves about what our mission might be in the rest of 2012 and beyond, what we are here for, is suggested by the First Lesson, the story of the call of Isaiah. Note that God calls us no less than he did Isaiah. We find some answers in the story to how this congregation, how we, can become more active and mission-oriented. Like Isaiah, we have a holy, awesome God who forgives the dumb things we do.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Remind the congregation who Isaiah was, a prophet in Israel living more than 700 years before the birth of Christ. In story form, tell the congregation how this is a story about how he became a prophet during the year King Uzziah of Judah died.
* Isaiah had gone to the temple in Jerusalem to worship God and encountered the Lord in all His majesty (vv. 1-2)! It is this majestic, triune God, whose Three-in-Oneness defies description, whom we remember today.
* Isaiah's response: Ask the congregation what they would have done. When we encounter God in prayer most of us start by asking Him for a favor. Instead the prophet confessed his own and his nation's sins! Read verse 5.
* Suggest that Isaiah seems strange. With an opportunity to lay all his problems on God, he confesses his sin. He tells God that he is not all that wonderful a person, has made mistakes and hurt people. That is a strange reaction -- especially for Americans. Cite the poll data noted above in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights indicating that most Americans think that they are fundamentally good or will be judged good by God.
* Of course, American attitudes, the feeling that we are fundamentally good, are to be expected. Martin Luther noted how most Christians (those who hear the word and call of God) are quite presumptuous. Read the next-to-last bullet point in Theological Insights.
* It is also interesting that it is only in the presence of God that Isaiah confessed his sin. Use the Calvin quote above in Theological Insights.
* Note that things seem to get stranger. God had a reason for encountering Isaiah that day. He wanted volunteers to do ministry in the land of Judah. And so God had one of his associates fly over to Isaiah with a burning coal held by tongs and touched Isaiah's lips with that coal. And the angel said to Isaiah that his sins were forgiven! Read verse 7b.
* The story gets stranger: Only after forgiving sin does God ask for volunteers, asking who will go for Him (v. 8a). And then Isaiah responded: Here am I; send me! (v. 8b).
* Isaiah's ministry began with a word of forgiveness, with God's forgiving love.
* Ask what this story has to do with the ministry in this congregation, what it might have to do with the Trinity. It has everything to do with the congregation, because we are really in the same position Isaiah was. Not that we meet God face-to-face in the temple. But God is always calling us to do his work, calling His churches to become more active. Ask the congregation if they can hear that call right now. If not, tell them they are not listening.
* How do we begin such a ministry? Start with the Isaiah story. Too often volunteers and recruits in the congregation begin like Isaiah did by contending that they are not good enough for the job, not equipped. In a way that is a good place to begin, to acknowledge that mistakes will be made, sins committed. It is wise for the preacher to note that he/she will make mistakes too. Acknowledge with the congregation leaders how you understand that frequently they may wish they were better equipped.
* But if we stop right here with our feelings of imperfection, nothing will get done. We have a God, though, who does not let human imperfection get in the way. Remember what He did. He (through His angel) touched Isaiah's lips with burning coal and told him that his guilt had been taken away, that Isaiah was forgiven (vv. 6-7)! And only then did the Lord put Isaiah to work (v. 8).
* Ask the congregation if they get the point. Feelings of imperfection and inadequacy to take on the work of the church don't matter, not to God. He will use us anyway. His love is enough to carry us over the hump, to compensate for our inadequacies, even to cover the dumb mistakes we inevitably make.
* Unconditional love always ready to forgive is the very essence of this triune God of ours whom we celebrate today on Trinity Sunday. (Note the insight by John Wesley in Theological Insights that this text implies the Trinity doctrine.) A triune God (who is Three but One at the same time) is always in relationship, always giving. The Father and Son and Spirit are always sharing, loving each other. Use the Augustine quote in Theological Insights to clarify the Trinity.
* God is always loving. He calls Isaiah and us to a mission of spreading that sort of love. Of course, that mission to which we are called is a mission of love -- to do the loving thing in all the works of this church, in all the things we do on the job and in our homes. Martin Luther nicely explained what this mission is, what our life is for. Use the quote in the second bullet point in Theological Insights.
* There is no reason for living if we are not helping others. That is the call to mission that we Isaiahs have been given by our loving triune God.
7. Wrap-Up
Note that if this congregation is to undertake its mission with renewed seriousness come fall there will be rocky roads up ahead. There will be times when we feel like giving up or not even showing up. But when those times come, remember Isaiah. Hold tight to the loving God who forgives us for our mistakes. That makes it easier to put up with our own inadequacies. It also makes it a little easier to forgive and forget the pain others inflict on us too. If God forgives them, why shouldn't we? That's the mission a holy, loving God sends us to do for Him.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Spirit of the Triune God Gives Faith, Life, and Love!"
Romans 8:12-17
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To offer the comfort of knowing that we are not of our own power able to believe or do good but that the Holy Spirit (and so the triune God) is active in our lives wherever these good things happen.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Continues the discussion of life in the Spirit in view of the realities of sin. Urges the faithful not to live according to the flesh, for that leads to death. (The Greek word sarx employed here refers not to the physical body, but to sinful flesh, to the sin which has corrupted our bodies and lives in their entirety.) But the Spirit gives life (vv. 12-13).
* All led by the Spirit are God's children (v. 14). When the Spirit leads us to bear witness with our spirit to cry that God is our Father (presumably in ecstatic ways [see Galatians 4:6-7]), we are not made slaves, but children of God, and so heirs (vv. 15-16).
* As children of God we are heirs with Christ, if we suffer with Him so that we are also glorified with Him (v. 17).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* An examination of the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about all that is good (Justification by Faith and Sanctification and a theonomous view of free will). This entails both an examination of the Trinity (to understand the Spirit's loving work in relation to the whole Godhead) and sin (our inability to do any good apart from the Spirit).
* Regarding the slavery from which we are released, Martin Luther writes: "For all men are slaves of sin, because all commit sin, if not in outward works, yet in their concupiscence and inclination…" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 357).
* See the first bullet point in this section for the First Lesson, Advent 1; fourth bullet point of the same section for the Gospel.
* John Calvin sees the text as offering comfort in this context:
It seems to me, that there is here especially a consolation offered, by which the faithful are to be strengthened, lest they should faint in their efforts after holiness, through a consciousness of their own weaknesses.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, pp. 232-233)
* Luther describes the freedom of the Spirit in contrast: "But faith expands the heart, the emotions, and the voice, but fear tightens up all these things and restricts them, as our own experience amply testifies" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 358).
* In his view the Holy Spirit works faith:
I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith….
(The Book of Concord, p. 345; cf. [Methodist] Articles of Religion, Art. 8; third bullet point in this section for the Gospel)
* This conviction is in the spirit of the Reformer's commitment to grace's role in stimulating good works: "For our sins are not forgiven with the design that we should continue to commit sin, but that we should cease from it" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/2, p. 168).
* See Augustine's description of the Trinity above in this section for the First Lesson. It entails that the Spirit is love.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Regarding disturbing American disbelief in the reality of the Holy Spirit, see this section for the First Lesson, Easter 7. Also see this section above for the First Lesson for data indicating how Americans tend to minimize Original Sin.
* Also see this section (last two bullet points) for the Second Lesson, Lent 4, for scientific findings that seem to support the Christian idea that we are bound to sin and selfishness.
5. Gimmick
Ask the congregation if they have the Holy Spirit, if they had enough of the Spirit last week (during Pentecost Sunday), if the Spirit has been with them this week. Tell them that the answer for us Christians should be a resounding "Yes."
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Tell story of a friend Pauline who wants to know if you have the Holy Ghost in your church. (She is pentecostal or black.) She wants to know where the Spirit is in your church. What to say?
* Paul speaks to this issue in our lesson. He tells us not to be debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, but that by the Spirit we are to be led. That's what makes us children of God (vv. 12-14).
* Ask if it is really true that we are of the flesh, that only by the Spirit we can have life and avoid sin. What of free will and our holiness? After all, we are basically good people who can avoid sin and cling to Jesus on our own.
* Note that such attitudes seem to reflect the thinking of most Americans. Cite the data in the first bullet point in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. Ask if this is not in accord with the congregation's thinking.
* In fact, though, our text stubbornly directs us to the biblical testimony that we are trapped in sin, the things of the flesh. (Note the first bullet point of Exegesis regarding the Greek word translated "flesh." Also cite Romans 7:14-24.) Data in the second bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights can help make the case further for the complete bondage in which we find ourselves regarding sin. Also consider the quotations cited or noted in the second and third bullet points of Theological Insights.
* If we are unable to escape and get away from our insidious selfishness in everything we do, then good works (sinless deeds) are impossible to do. We only have God and his grace, the Holy Spirit to get the job done.
* As our lesson says, only by the Spirit can you have life (v. 13b). You are only a child of God when led by the Spirit of God (v. 14). Use the sixth, seventh, and final bullet points of the section from the Gospel for Pentecost to communicate how the Spirit accomplishes this in us not so much by reducing us to robots as by subduing us with a greater power, like a stronger wrestler can subdue a weaker opponent, sit on him, and fell him. Sort of like love has its way with us, and so we often talk about "falling" in love.
* Can we say the Holy Spirit is the love that makes us fall in love with God, almost without us willing it (just like you can't stop yourself from falling in love)? Introduce Augustine's view of the Trinity, with Spirit as the love that unites Father and Son, the love that infects us to have faith and do good. (See the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights for the First Lesson. Also consider the quote by Martin Luther in the third-to-last bullet point of that section for the Gospel.)
* Celebrate with the congregation this good news that all the things in life are works of the Spirit and that we can depend on His Spirit to get us through the tough things in life. Even faith is God's work (vv. 15-16; sixth bullet point of Theological Insights). The pressure is off. All loneliness is gone. Faith, life, and love, every good thing a Christian can do, is a gift and work of the Holy Spirit.
* Billy Graham had it right when he said: "Many people have come to Christ as a result of my participation in presenting the gospel to them. [But] It was all the work of the Holy Spirit." Get that? The great evangelist Billy Graham said he did nothing. Faith really is the work of the Holy Spirit!
* We have an answer to our friend Pauline's earlier question (remind congregation about her) concerning whether we have the Holy Spirit in our church, whether the Spirit is active in your life. Whenever good things happen in our church and in our lives, the Spirit is there.
7. Wrap-Up
Not only do we gain security from our lesson today that faith, love, and all the good things in life are gifts of a triune God through the Holy Spirit. The pressure to do those things is now eased. But to see the Spirit in all these apparently normal events in life makes it a little sweeter, makes us a little surer about God. Because it means that love, good things in life, even faith are miracles! And that entails that God is really real, actually in our lives. Life is a lot sweeter, less of a pressure cooker, more pleasurable and richer when you really know that the third person of our triune God is in your life. Enjoy the miracles the Spirit will be working in your life this week!
Sermon Text and Title
"Are You Born Again?"
John 3:1-17
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
A pronouncement of our being born again, that we can be confident and certain about our salvation and ourselves because regeneration is not just an emotional experience but an objective fact rooted in God's loving act (Justification by Grace, Baptism as Born Again, God and Trinity as Love).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible and the Gospel for Lent 4 [for vv. 14-17])
* A story of Jesus' interactions with official Judaism (esp. with one of its leaders, a Pharisee named Nicodemus). The focus is on Jesus as the object of faith.
* Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night, noting that Jesus must be of God for none could do the signs He had done apart from God's presence (vv. 1-2). Jesus responds, noting no one can see the kingdom if not born from above (v. 3). The ancient Greek word anothen translated "from above" can also mean "born again."
* Nicodemus asks how one can be born again when already old (v. 40). Jesus responds that no one can enter God's kingdom without being born of water and of the Spirit, that is, born from above [or born again] (vv. 5-7).
* Just as the wind blows where it will, so it is with the Spirit (v. 8). Jesus chides Nicodemus for not understanding such things (vv. 9-10).
* Jesus proceeds to contend that He speaks of things He has seen, yet the testimony is not received. If hearers have not believed what He teaches about earthly things, how will they believe His testimony on heavenly matters (vv. 11-12)?
* Notes that no one has ascended to heaven except the Son of Man who descended to earth (v. 13).
* See the Gospel for Lent 4, for verses 14-17.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options and this section for Gospel, Lent 4)
* The text provokes consideration of Justification by Grace, God and Trinity as love, and baptism as born-again experience.
* Noting the high position of Nicodemus, John Calvin observed, "Hence we are reminded that they who occupy a lofty station in the world are, for the most part, entangled by very dangerous snares…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 104).
* John Wesley, commenting on the text, speaks of what it takes for someone to be entitled to the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom: "An entire change of heart as well as of life is necessary for that purpose. This can only be accomplished in man by the almighty power of God" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 457).
* John Calvin adds to this point:
By the phrase born again is expressed not the correction of one part, but the renovation of the whole nature. Hence it follows, that there is nothing in us that is not sinful; for if reformation is necessary in the whole and in each part, corruption must have been spread throughout.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 108)
* Calvin adds penetrating remarks about the wonderful security and boldness that this faith affords:
True indeed, we must hold by this principle, that our faith be founded on God. But when we have God as our security, we ought, like persons elevated above the heavens, boldly to tread the whole world under our feet, or regard it with lofty disdain….
(Ibid., p. 118)
* Martin Luther echoed similar confidence:
This teaching produces hearts that are stout, courageous in affliction and the temptation to sin, confident and fearless hearts that declare: Even though I have been stung by the devil and his hellish point… nevertheless I believe and am convinced that my Lord Jesus Christ bore my sins on the Cross….
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 221)
* In accord with verse 5, the first Reformer claimed that we receive this confidence because we are born again in baptism:
For baptism, as we shall hear, signifies that the old man and the sinful birth of flesh and blood are to be wholly drowned by the grace of God. We should therefore do justice to its meaning and make baptism a true and complete sign of the thing it signifies.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 35, p. 29)
* Something in us does not want to hear this word of assurance that we are saved by grace through Christ, the Genevan Reformer added:
… for such is the wicked ambition which belongs to our nature, that when the question relates to the origin of our salvation, we quickly form diabolical imaginations about our own merits. Accordingly, we imagine that God is reconciled to us, because He has reckoned us worthy that He should look upon us. But scripture everywhere extols his pure and unmingled mercy, which sets aside all merits.
(Calvin's Commentaries, p. 123)
* Preaching on this text Martin Luther added a similar point:
A believer must be pious and must lead a good outward life. But the first part, faith, is the more essential. The second is never the equal of faith, although it is more highly prized by the world, which ranks good works above faith.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 275)
* Elsewhere in another sermon he commented on what to do to make this happen:
That faith in the crucified Christ should bring certain salvation and deliverance from sin and eternal death is something that human reason cannot possibly understand or conceive of. Therefore, the word must be preached without ceasing and this article effectually driven home, in order to fortify ourselves against the misgivings of our reason.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 221)
* The text has implications for the Trinity in the first Reformer's view:
Christ wants to prevent us from thinking of Him as separate from the Father. Therefore He again directs our mind from Himself to the Father and says that the Father's love for us is just as strong and profound as His own….
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 355)
* In the spirit of Augustine's view of the Trinity as bound together in love, Luther asserts:
… consider the gift itself. It must, without doubt, be something excellent and inexpressibly great, that such a rich giver gives us, with such sincere and generous love… That is an eternal, incomprehensible gift, even as the giver and his love are incomprehensibly great.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, pp. 354-355)
* Elsewhere Luther spoke of the Trinity in terms of an internal conversation in God, with the Father as speaker, the Son as the word, and the Spirit as the listener (Luther's Works, Vol. 24, pp. 364-365).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A 2010 Barna Research poll indicated that 40% of American adults qualify as born-again Christians, having made a personal commitment to Christ and still finding that to be important in their lives today.
5. Gimmick
Tell the story of the lesson in "You Are There" mode, highlighting Nicodemus' eminence, the significance of his asking Jesus for instruction, and Jesus' teaching that you must be born again (rehearsing the dialogue).
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Tell a second story: An encounter with Nora, a neighbor who you try to avoid because she is a bit of a pest, always talking about her church. Then one summer Sunday she catches you and you need to hear her monologue about all that has happened in her worship service that morning. Feeling you are not listening, she accuses you (your church) of being people who do not have Jesus in your hearts. She challenges you: Are you born again?
* Ask the congregation members if they have been born again. Ask what it means to be born again. Note that some of the great revivalists (Billy Graham, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes) can tell us when they were born again, and how they have never been the same again. But if we cannot do that, does it imply that we are not born again?
* Talking about being born again can be a guilt trip. We know all too well how it does not seem that we really have been changed. It seems like we always know God. Sure, we try to live like Christians but keep on making the same mistakes -- unkindness, inconsiderateness, loss of temper, gossip. All this talk about being born again is a guilt trip.
* But it does not need to be that way. When our lesson and the rest of the Bible refer to being born again, it means something different than what so many Americans take it to mean. (Use the data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.)
* Jesus makes clear that being born again is accomplished through water (through baptism) and the Spirit (v. 5). Being born again comes from above (v. 7), from God!
* Contrary to what a lot of Americans think, being born again has nothing to do with feelings or with something we do. Cite the quote by John Wesley in Theological Insights. Note the fifth bullet point of that section regarding John Calvin's claim that our faith is founded on God.
* Also note the idea of being born again in baptism. (Consider Martin Luther's remarks on that subject in the seventh bullet point of Theological Insights.) Keep in mind that baptism is not something we do. It is God, the Holy Spirit, who uses the water and the pastor; it is not something they do to make a child be born again. And the child certainly contributes nothing to the sacrament. It is all about God and His Spirit.
* These insights make it a whole new ballgame with respect to what is important in Christian faith. Being born again is not a matter of having special feeling and resolve on our parts. Salvation depends on God, not on ourselves. How wonderful a confidence we can now have, knowing that our salvation has been taken care of by Jesus long ago, even in the times when our performance as a Christian doesn't measure up. Jesus made that point in our lesson, as He elaborated on His teaching about being born again and taught the famous John 3:16 text about God's love for the whole world. Consider describing how this love of God is rooted in God's triune character: A Father who is always loving the Son is a rich, generous giver of love. (See the third-to-last and next-to-last bullet points of Theological Insights.)
* Consider the fifth and sixth bullet points of Theological Insights to emphasize the confidence and certainty this insight that God is the One who makes us born again provides.
* Something in us does not want to hear the word of assurance that we are saved by God's work. Use Calvin's insights in the eighth bullet point of Theological Insights. Too often we want to take credit for the good things we have. But if you want to appreciate and revel in the love of the triune God, it is important that you get out of the way, confess that on the basis of your own faith we do not have a chance for salvation.
* Martin Luther put it well once. Citing his own mentor, he wrote:
… this doctrine of ours gives glory and everything else solely to God and nothing at all to men; for it is as clear as day that it is impossible to ascribe too much glory, goodness, etc. to God.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 66)
Or as it is said in Catholic circles: "Christ must increase and we must decrease."
* Today's Holy Trinity Sunday Gospel gets the focus off ourselves and on the loving triune God. Being born again is not about us and how we feel; it is about what God has done.
* Yes, we have blown it, have not lived lives of born-again Christians. But that does not negate what God has done, does not negate His love.
7. Wrap-Up
Note that parishioners may have made mistakes with their lives and not lived as Jesus would have us live. But ask them if they can recite the Creed and believe it. Then assure them that they are truly born again. Likewise (in denominations where this point is appropriate), remind the flock that those baptized are truly born again. All the shortcomings and failures are not who we really are. Who we really are is ones who are loved by the triune God. That is all that counts. And so all of us really are born-again Christians after all.
An eternally loving triune God!
Collect of the Day
Two alternatives are provided. In the first, petitions are offered to remain steadfast in faith, defended from adversity, and brought into the presence of the triune God. Justification by Grace is emphasized in this case. In the second alternative, petitions are made that the faithful be guided by the Spirit to all truth that Christ may be proclaimed. In this case, concern with evangelism along with the Holy Spirit is raised.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 29
See Epiphany 1; relate the theme of divine majesty to how majestic the Trinity is.
Sermon Text and Title
"A Holy God Forgives -- and Sends"
Isaiah 6:1-8
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that ministry depends on forgiveness (Justification by Grace), for we are so unworthy (the doctrine of sin) in face of the awesome triune God.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A prophecy of the historical Isaiah in the late eighth century BC.
* The account of the call of the prophet.
* The vision of the Lord transpires in the temple where the Lord appears along with seraphs (winged creatures who protect royalty) (vv. 1-2).
* These seraphs praise the Lord's holiness (v. 3).
* Isaiah laments his own and the people of Israel's uncleanness (v. 5). To see God would kill him and them.
* A seraph cleanses the prophet's mouth with a burning coal (vv. 6-7). This cleansing is a forgiving act of God.
* This is followed by the Lord's call for someone to be sent for Him (the plural form is used here in God's self-reference). Isaiah responds in the affirmative (v. 8).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text witnesses to God's holiness (perhaps a triune or plural nature), human sin, Justification (by Grace), and Sanctification. The call of Isaiah also affords occasion to consider the mission of the church, and so of the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 20:6).
* Regarding our mission, Martin Luther writes:
We have no other reason for living on earth than to be of help to others. If this were not the case, it would be best for God to kill us and let us die as soon as we are baptized and have begun to believe. But He permits us to live here in order that we may bring others to faith, just as He brought us.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 30, p. 11)
* John Wesley noted the hint of the triune nature of God in the use of the plural form by God in referring to Himself in verse 8 (Commentary on the Bible, p. 323).
* Augustine describes the very essence of this triune holy God in terms of love: "Therefore the Holy Spirit, what it is, is something common to both the Father and the Son. But the communion itself is consubstantial and co-eternal; and if it may fitly be called friendship, let it be so called; but it is more aptly called love" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 3, p. 100).
* Commenting on the text, John Calvin nicely pointed out how encounters with God make us know our sin:
Accordingly, until God reveals Himself to us, we do not think that we are men, or rather we think that we are gods; but when we have seen God, we then begin to feel and know that we are. Hence springs true humility, which consists in this, that a man makes no claims for himself, and depends wholly on God….
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol.VII/1, p. 208)
* Regarding our stubborn sinfulness, Martin Luther commented on this passage noting, "The Word of God does not always have humble hearers; on the contrary, the great majority of hearers are proud and presumptuous" (Luther's Works, Vol. 16, p. 73).
* Luther compares the burning coal cleansing the prophet's lips to baptism (Ibid.).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Americans do not want to believe the core of the lesson, that we are dependent on forgiveness because we are unworthy. A 2003 Christian website poll found that over half the American population believes that good works can earn a place in heaven. Also see the first bullet point in this section for Second Lesson, Lent 4.
5. Gimmick
Note that as things begin winding down for the summer it is good to dream about what will lie ahead for the congregation after the lazy dog days of summer end. Asking ourselves about what our mission might be in the rest of 2012 and beyond, what we are here for, is suggested by the First Lesson, the story of the call of Isaiah. Note that God calls us no less than he did Isaiah. We find some answers in the story to how this congregation, how we, can become more active and mission-oriented. Like Isaiah, we have a holy, awesome God who forgives the dumb things we do.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Remind the congregation who Isaiah was, a prophet in Israel living more than 700 years before the birth of Christ. In story form, tell the congregation how this is a story about how he became a prophet during the year King Uzziah of Judah died.
* Isaiah had gone to the temple in Jerusalem to worship God and encountered the Lord in all His majesty (vv. 1-2)! It is this majestic, triune God, whose Three-in-Oneness defies description, whom we remember today.
* Isaiah's response: Ask the congregation what they would have done. When we encounter God in prayer most of us start by asking Him for a favor. Instead the prophet confessed his own and his nation's sins! Read verse 5.
* Suggest that Isaiah seems strange. With an opportunity to lay all his problems on God, he confesses his sin. He tells God that he is not all that wonderful a person, has made mistakes and hurt people. That is a strange reaction -- especially for Americans. Cite the poll data noted above in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights indicating that most Americans think that they are fundamentally good or will be judged good by God.
* Of course, American attitudes, the feeling that we are fundamentally good, are to be expected. Martin Luther noted how most Christians (those who hear the word and call of God) are quite presumptuous. Read the next-to-last bullet point in Theological Insights.
* It is also interesting that it is only in the presence of God that Isaiah confessed his sin. Use the Calvin quote above in Theological Insights.
* Note that things seem to get stranger. God had a reason for encountering Isaiah that day. He wanted volunteers to do ministry in the land of Judah. And so God had one of his associates fly over to Isaiah with a burning coal held by tongs and touched Isaiah's lips with that coal. And the angel said to Isaiah that his sins were forgiven! Read verse 7b.
* The story gets stranger: Only after forgiving sin does God ask for volunteers, asking who will go for Him (v. 8a). And then Isaiah responded: Here am I; send me! (v. 8b).
* Isaiah's ministry began with a word of forgiveness, with God's forgiving love.
* Ask what this story has to do with the ministry in this congregation, what it might have to do with the Trinity. It has everything to do with the congregation, because we are really in the same position Isaiah was. Not that we meet God face-to-face in the temple. But God is always calling us to do his work, calling His churches to become more active. Ask the congregation if they can hear that call right now. If not, tell them they are not listening.
* How do we begin such a ministry? Start with the Isaiah story. Too often volunteers and recruits in the congregation begin like Isaiah did by contending that they are not good enough for the job, not equipped. In a way that is a good place to begin, to acknowledge that mistakes will be made, sins committed. It is wise for the preacher to note that he/she will make mistakes too. Acknowledge with the congregation leaders how you understand that frequently they may wish they were better equipped.
* But if we stop right here with our feelings of imperfection, nothing will get done. We have a God, though, who does not let human imperfection get in the way. Remember what He did. He (through His angel) touched Isaiah's lips with burning coal and told him that his guilt had been taken away, that Isaiah was forgiven (vv. 6-7)! And only then did the Lord put Isaiah to work (v. 8).
* Ask the congregation if they get the point. Feelings of imperfection and inadequacy to take on the work of the church don't matter, not to God. He will use us anyway. His love is enough to carry us over the hump, to compensate for our inadequacies, even to cover the dumb mistakes we inevitably make.
* Unconditional love always ready to forgive is the very essence of this triune God of ours whom we celebrate today on Trinity Sunday. (Note the insight by John Wesley in Theological Insights that this text implies the Trinity doctrine.) A triune God (who is Three but One at the same time) is always in relationship, always giving. The Father and Son and Spirit are always sharing, loving each other. Use the Augustine quote in Theological Insights to clarify the Trinity.
* God is always loving. He calls Isaiah and us to a mission of spreading that sort of love. Of course, that mission to which we are called is a mission of love -- to do the loving thing in all the works of this church, in all the things we do on the job and in our homes. Martin Luther nicely explained what this mission is, what our life is for. Use the quote in the second bullet point in Theological Insights.
* There is no reason for living if we are not helping others. That is the call to mission that we Isaiahs have been given by our loving triune God.
7. Wrap-Up
Note that if this congregation is to undertake its mission with renewed seriousness come fall there will be rocky roads up ahead. There will be times when we feel like giving up or not even showing up. But when those times come, remember Isaiah. Hold tight to the loving God who forgives us for our mistakes. That makes it easier to put up with our own inadequacies. It also makes it a little easier to forgive and forget the pain others inflict on us too. If God forgives them, why shouldn't we? That's the mission a holy, loving God sends us to do for Him.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Spirit of the Triune God Gives Faith, Life, and Love!"
Romans 8:12-17
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To offer the comfort of knowing that we are not of our own power able to believe or do good but that the Holy Spirit (and so the triune God) is active in our lives wherever these good things happen.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Continues the discussion of life in the Spirit in view of the realities of sin. Urges the faithful not to live according to the flesh, for that leads to death. (The Greek word sarx employed here refers not to the physical body, but to sinful flesh, to the sin which has corrupted our bodies and lives in their entirety.) But the Spirit gives life (vv. 12-13).
* All led by the Spirit are God's children (v. 14). When the Spirit leads us to bear witness with our spirit to cry that God is our Father (presumably in ecstatic ways [see Galatians 4:6-7]), we are not made slaves, but children of God, and so heirs (vv. 15-16).
* As children of God we are heirs with Christ, if we suffer with Him so that we are also glorified with Him (v. 17).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* An examination of the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about all that is good (Justification by Faith and Sanctification and a theonomous view of free will). This entails both an examination of the Trinity (to understand the Spirit's loving work in relation to the whole Godhead) and sin (our inability to do any good apart from the Spirit).
* Regarding the slavery from which we are released, Martin Luther writes: "For all men are slaves of sin, because all commit sin, if not in outward works, yet in their concupiscence and inclination…" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 357).
* See the first bullet point in this section for the First Lesson, Advent 1; fourth bullet point of the same section for the Gospel.
* John Calvin sees the text as offering comfort in this context:
It seems to me, that there is here especially a consolation offered, by which the faithful are to be strengthened, lest they should faint in their efforts after holiness, through a consciousness of their own weaknesses.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, pp. 232-233)
* Luther describes the freedom of the Spirit in contrast: "But faith expands the heart, the emotions, and the voice, but fear tightens up all these things and restricts them, as our own experience amply testifies" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 358).
* In his view the Holy Spirit works faith:
I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith….
(The Book of Concord, p. 345; cf. [Methodist] Articles of Religion, Art. 8; third bullet point in this section for the Gospel)
* This conviction is in the spirit of the Reformer's commitment to grace's role in stimulating good works: "For our sins are not forgiven with the design that we should continue to commit sin, but that we should cease from it" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/2, p. 168).
* See Augustine's description of the Trinity above in this section for the First Lesson. It entails that the Spirit is love.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Regarding disturbing American disbelief in the reality of the Holy Spirit, see this section for the First Lesson, Easter 7. Also see this section above for the First Lesson for data indicating how Americans tend to minimize Original Sin.
* Also see this section (last two bullet points) for the Second Lesson, Lent 4, for scientific findings that seem to support the Christian idea that we are bound to sin and selfishness.
5. Gimmick
Ask the congregation if they have the Holy Spirit, if they had enough of the Spirit last week (during Pentecost Sunday), if the Spirit has been with them this week. Tell them that the answer for us Christians should be a resounding "Yes."
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Tell story of a friend Pauline who wants to know if you have the Holy Ghost in your church. (She is pentecostal or black.) She wants to know where the Spirit is in your church. What to say?
* Paul speaks to this issue in our lesson. He tells us not to be debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, but that by the Spirit we are to be led. That's what makes us children of God (vv. 12-14).
* Ask if it is really true that we are of the flesh, that only by the Spirit we can have life and avoid sin. What of free will and our holiness? After all, we are basically good people who can avoid sin and cling to Jesus on our own.
* Note that such attitudes seem to reflect the thinking of most Americans. Cite the data in the first bullet point in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. Ask if this is not in accord with the congregation's thinking.
* In fact, though, our text stubbornly directs us to the biblical testimony that we are trapped in sin, the things of the flesh. (Note the first bullet point of Exegesis regarding the Greek word translated "flesh." Also cite Romans 7:14-24.) Data in the second bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights can help make the case further for the complete bondage in which we find ourselves regarding sin. Also consider the quotations cited or noted in the second and third bullet points of Theological Insights.
* If we are unable to escape and get away from our insidious selfishness in everything we do, then good works (sinless deeds) are impossible to do. We only have God and his grace, the Holy Spirit to get the job done.
* As our lesson says, only by the Spirit can you have life (v. 13b). You are only a child of God when led by the Spirit of God (v. 14). Use the sixth, seventh, and final bullet points of the section from the Gospel for Pentecost to communicate how the Spirit accomplishes this in us not so much by reducing us to robots as by subduing us with a greater power, like a stronger wrestler can subdue a weaker opponent, sit on him, and fell him. Sort of like love has its way with us, and so we often talk about "falling" in love.
* Can we say the Holy Spirit is the love that makes us fall in love with God, almost without us willing it (just like you can't stop yourself from falling in love)? Introduce Augustine's view of the Trinity, with Spirit as the love that unites Father and Son, the love that infects us to have faith and do good. (See the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights for the First Lesson. Also consider the quote by Martin Luther in the third-to-last bullet point of that section for the Gospel.)
* Celebrate with the congregation this good news that all the things in life are works of the Spirit and that we can depend on His Spirit to get us through the tough things in life. Even faith is God's work (vv. 15-16; sixth bullet point of Theological Insights). The pressure is off. All loneliness is gone. Faith, life, and love, every good thing a Christian can do, is a gift and work of the Holy Spirit.
* Billy Graham had it right when he said: "Many people have come to Christ as a result of my participation in presenting the gospel to them. [But] It was all the work of the Holy Spirit." Get that? The great evangelist Billy Graham said he did nothing. Faith really is the work of the Holy Spirit!
* We have an answer to our friend Pauline's earlier question (remind congregation about her) concerning whether we have the Holy Spirit in our church, whether the Spirit is active in your life. Whenever good things happen in our church and in our lives, the Spirit is there.
7. Wrap-Up
Not only do we gain security from our lesson today that faith, love, and all the good things in life are gifts of a triune God through the Holy Spirit. The pressure to do those things is now eased. But to see the Spirit in all these apparently normal events in life makes it a little sweeter, makes us a little surer about God. Because it means that love, good things in life, even faith are miracles! And that entails that God is really real, actually in our lives. Life is a lot sweeter, less of a pressure cooker, more pleasurable and richer when you really know that the third person of our triune God is in your life. Enjoy the miracles the Spirit will be working in your life this week!
Sermon Text and Title
"Are You Born Again?"
John 3:1-17
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
A pronouncement of our being born again, that we can be confident and certain about our salvation and ourselves because regeneration is not just an emotional experience but an objective fact rooted in God's loving act (Justification by Grace, Baptism as Born Again, God and Trinity as Love).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible and the Gospel for Lent 4 [for vv. 14-17])
* A story of Jesus' interactions with official Judaism (esp. with one of its leaders, a Pharisee named Nicodemus). The focus is on Jesus as the object of faith.
* Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night, noting that Jesus must be of God for none could do the signs He had done apart from God's presence (vv. 1-2). Jesus responds, noting no one can see the kingdom if not born from above (v. 3). The ancient Greek word anothen translated "from above" can also mean "born again."
* Nicodemus asks how one can be born again when already old (v. 40). Jesus responds that no one can enter God's kingdom without being born of water and of the Spirit, that is, born from above [or born again] (vv. 5-7).
* Just as the wind blows where it will, so it is with the Spirit (v. 8). Jesus chides Nicodemus for not understanding such things (vv. 9-10).
* Jesus proceeds to contend that He speaks of things He has seen, yet the testimony is not received. If hearers have not believed what He teaches about earthly things, how will they believe His testimony on heavenly matters (vv. 11-12)?
* Notes that no one has ascended to heaven except the Son of Man who descended to earth (v. 13).
* See the Gospel for Lent 4, for verses 14-17.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options and this section for Gospel, Lent 4)
* The text provokes consideration of Justification by Grace, God and Trinity as love, and baptism as born-again experience.
* Noting the high position of Nicodemus, John Calvin observed, "Hence we are reminded that they who occupy a lofty station in the world are, for the most part, entangled by very dangerous snares…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 104).
* John Wesley, commenting on the text, speaks of what it takes for someone to be entitled to the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom: "An entire change of heart as well as of life is necessary for that purpose. This can only be accomplished in man by the almighty power of God" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 457).
* John Calvin adds to this point:
By the phrase born again is expressed not the correction of one part, but the renovation of the whole nature. Hence it follows, that there is nothing in us that is not sinful; for if reformation is necessary in the whole and in each part, corruption must have been spread throughout.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 108)
* Calvin adds penetrating remarks about the wonderful security and boldness that this faith affords:
True indeed, we must hold by this principle, that our faith be founded on God. But when we have God as our security, we ought, like persons elevated above the heavens, boldly to tread the whole world under our feet, or regard it with lofty disdain….
(Ibid., p. 118)
* Martin Luther echoed similar confidence:
This teaching produces hearts that are stout, courageous in affliction and the temptation to sin, confident and fearless hearts that declare: Even though I have been stung by the devil and his hellish point… nevertheless I believe and am convinced that my Lord Jesus Christ bore my sins on the Cross….
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 221)
* In accord with verse 5, the first Reformer claimed that we receive this confidence because we are born again in baptism:
For baptism, as we shall hear, signifies that the old man and the sinful birth of flesh and blood are to be wholly drowned by the grace of God. We should therefore do justice to its meaning and make baptism a true and complete sign of the thing it signifies.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 35, p. 29)
* Something in us does not want to hear this word of assurance that we are saved by grace through Christ, the Genevan Reformer added:
… for such is the wicked ambition which belongs to our nature, that when the question relates to the origin of our salvation, we quickly form diabolical imaginations about our own merits. Accordingly, we imagine that God is reconciled to us, because He has reckoned us worthy that He should look upon us. But scripture everywhere extols his pure and unmingled mercy, which sets aside all merits.
(Calvin's Commentaries, p. 123)
* Preaching on this text Martin Luther added a similar point:
A believer must be pious and must lead a good outward life. But the first part, faith, is the more essential. The second is never the equal of faith, although it is more highly prized by the world, which ranks good works above faith.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 275)
* Elsewhere in another sermon he commented on what to do to make this happen:
That faith in the crucified Christ should bring certain salvation and deliverance from sin and eternal death is something that human reason cannot possibly understand or conceive of. Therefore, the word must be preached without ceasing and this article effectually driven home, in order to fortify ourselves against the misgivings of our reason.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 221)
* The text has implications for the Trinity in the first Reformer's view:
Christ wants to prevent us from thinking of Him as separate from the Father. Therefore He again directs our mind from Himself to the Father and says that the Father's love for us is just as strong and profound as His own….
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 355)
* In the spirit of Augustine's view of the Trinity as bound together in love, Luther asserts:
… consider the gift itself. It must, without doubt, be something excellent and inexpressibly great, that such a rich giver gives us, with such sincere and generous love… That is an eternal, incomprehensible gift, even as the giver and his love are incomprehensibly great.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, pp. 354-355)
* Elsewhere Luther spoke of the Trinity in terms of an internal conversation in God, with the Father as speaker, the Son as the word, and the Spirit as the listener (Luther's Works, Vol. 24, pp. 364-365).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A 2010 Barna Research poll indicated that 40% of American adults qualify as born-again Christians, having made a personal commitment to Christ and still finding that to be important in their lives today.
5. Gimmick
Tell the story of the lesson in "You Are There" mode, highlighting Nicodemus' eminence, the significance of his asking Jesus for instruction, and Jesus' teaching that you must be born again (rehearsing the dialogue).
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Tell a second story: An encounter with Nora, a neighbor who you try to avoid because she is a bit of a pest, always talking about her church. Then one summer Sunday she catches you and you need to hear her monologue about all that has happened in her worship service that morning. Feeling you are not listening, she accuses you (your church) of being people who do not have Jesus in your hearts. She challenges you: Are you born again?
* Ask the congregation members if they have been born again. Ask what it means to be born again. Note that some of the great revivalists (Billy Graham, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes) can tell us when they were born again, and how they have never been the same again. But if we cannot do that, does it imply that we are not born again?
* Talking about being born again can be a guilt trip. We know all too well how it does not seem that we really have been changed. It seems like we always know God. Sure, we try to live like Christians but keep on making the same mistakes -- unkindness, inconsiderateness, loss of temper, gossip. All this talk about being born again is a guilt trip.
* But it does not need to be that way. When our lesson and the rest of the Bible refer to being born again, it means something different than what so many Americans take it to mean. (Use the data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.)
* Jesus makes clear that being born again is accomplished through water (through baptism) and the Spirit (v. 5). Being born again comes from above (v. 7), from God!
* Contrary to what a lot of Americans think, being born again has nothing to do with feelings or with something we do. Cite the quote by John Wesley in Theological Insights. Note the fifth bullet point of that section regarding John Calvin's claim that our faith is founded on God.
* Also note the idea of being born again in baptism. (Consider Martin Luther's remarks on that subject in the seventh bullet point of Theological Insights.) Keep in mind that baptism is not something we do. It is God, the Holy Spirit, who uses the water and the pastor; it is not something they do to make a child be born again. And the child certainly contributes nothing to the sacrament. It is all about God and His Spirit.
* These insights make it a whole new ballgame with respect to what is important in Christian faith. Being born again is not a matter of having special feeling and resolve on our parts. Salvation depends on God, not on ourselves. How wonderful a confidence we can now have, knowing that our salvation has been taken care of by Jesus long ago, even in the times when our performance as a Christian doesn't measure up. Jesus made that point in our lesson, as He elaborated on His teaching about being born again and taught the famous John 3:16 text about God's love for the whole world. Consider describing how this love of God is rooted in God's triune character: A Father who is always loving the Son is a rich, generous giver of love. (See the third-to-last and next-to-last bullet points of Theological Insights.)
* Consider the fifth and sixth bullet points of Theological Insights to emphasize the confidence and certainty this insight that God is the One who makes us born again provides.
* Something in us does not want to hear the word of assurance that we are saved by God's work. Use Calvin's insights in the eighth bullet point of Theological Insights. Too often we want to take credit for the good things we have. But if you want to appreciate and revel in the love of the triune God, it is important that you get out of the way, confess that on the basis of your own faith we do not have a chance for salvation.
* Martin Luther put it well once. Citing his own mentor, he wrote:
… this doctrine of ours gives glory and everything else solely to God and nothing at all to men; for it is as clear as day that it is impossible to ascribe too much glory, goodness, etc. to God.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 66)
Or as it is said in Catholic circles: "Christ must increase and we must decrease."
* Today's Holy Trinity Sunday Gospel gets the focus off ourselves and on the loving triune God. Being born again is not about us and how we feel; it is about what God has done.
* Yes, we have blown it, have not lived lives of born-again Christians. But that does not negate what God has done, does not negate His love.
7. Wrap-Up
Note that parishioners may have made mistakes with their lives and not lived as Jesus would have us live. But ask them if they can recite the Creed and believe it. Then assure them that they are truly born again. Likewise (in denominations where this point is appropriate), remind the flock that those baptized are truly born again. All the shortcomings and failures are not who we really are. Who we really are is ones who are loved by the triune God. That is all that counts. And so all of us really are born-again Christians after all.
