The point is not to get people to better “understand the Holy Trinity.” It is to get the hearer face to face with the fact that Jesus Christ is God.
Preachers in the United States and many other nations around the world should remember that this Sunday, besides being a major feast of the Christian liturgical calendar, is also Fathers’ Day. In conjunction with Holy Trinity, this may well offer an occasion to deliver a salutary gospel message springboarded from the sonship of Jesus Christ (which is confessed in Acts 2 as well as the other readings assigned for this Sunday). No scruple should prohibit you from acknowledging and taking advantage of the secular holiday to confess the goods of the assigned texts and traditional celebration, beyond guarding against letting the tail wag the dog, so to speak. Indeed, one of the finest expositions of a text for one of the Sundays of Easter I have heard recently was smuggled under a sermon that was overtly crafted with Mothers’ Day firmly in mind. But the preacher is always encouraged not to let the secular holiday distract, and this would include making excuses for or against its observance on the one hand, or on the other, exposing the seams between your message and the holiday. It also descends to the level of cliché to patronize those for whom the celebration of a family observance is an emotional trigger because of poor relationships in their family of origin. Should the preacher struggle with such anxieties, my advice is that these issues are best taken care of with individual pastoral care rather than making corporate assumptions from the public pulpit. Nevertheless, secular holidays, if significant to the hearer, can be a helpful vehicle for delivering the Gospel, so do not shy away!
Like Pentecost Sunday, Trinity’s second lesson remains constant in the Three-Year Lectionary, while the Old Testament and Gospel readings move between Genesis 1-2 / Matthew 28 (A), Isaiah 6 / John 3 (B), and Proverbs 8 / John 8 (C). The second lesson is probably not the first choice of most preachers. The plethora and richness of the OT and Gospel texts likely seem to offer readier fodder for the topic of Trinity, and coming on the heels of Pentecost, it may feel repetitive to rehash Peter’s preaching in Acts 2. However, preaching Acts is more than “Pentecost: Part II.” Jesus revealed as Lord and Christ by the Holy Spirit is the centerpiece of trinitarian teaching, and it is modeled perfectly for the preacher by Peter himself. We encourage the preacher to study this sermon! Preaching biblically begins with understanding biblical preaching, not only to consider exemplars from the prophets and apostles, but also to appreciate the effects of that proclamation. Through Peter’s preaching, we hear of the miracle of conversion, the growth of God’s Word, and salvation for the world as the Word does God’s killing and vivifying work.
Preaching biblically begins with understanding biblical preaching, not only to consider exemplars from the prophets and apostles, but also to appreciate the effects of that proclamation.
The context of Trinity Sunday and the Series C readings (Proverbs 8, the song of Wisdom, and John 8, before Abraham was, I am) invite a contemplation on the names and titles of Jesus in Acts 2 as well, and a sermon which delivers the goods of that theme. Namely, the task is emphasizing trust in Jesus as He delivers Himself to the hearer, pledging, promising, and guaranteeing Himself by His name. Consider how Jesus is identified in the lesson:
- The Nazarene (2:22)
- A man proven by God to you (2:22)
- This guy (in the English Standard Version (ESV): “this Jesus,” 2:23 – do not ignore the simple demonstrative, it could be a good sermon hook)
- God’s Holy One (2:27 = Psalm 16:10)
- The Christ (2:31)
- This Jesus (again, 2:32)
- David’s Lord (2:34 = Psalm 110:1, where Yahweh says to Adonai sit at My right hand and David calling God’s messiah “my Lord”)
- Lord (2:36)
- Christ (2:36)
Peter also identifies Jesus narratively. He uses phrases like: Attested by God through wonders, appointed by God in His foreknowledge, crucified, killed by (you!) lawless men, raised up by God who has made Him Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified, and the one who is doing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Note well that the sermon weaves “names of the God Jesus” throughout the delivery and does not ignore the primary thing to be delivered in every sermon, the death of Christ and the cross of Christ. Peter is not only the chief spokesman of the apostles and Jesus’ best friend; at Pentecost he proves he is also no mean preacher!
Preaching with the goal in mind of delivering the names of Jesus does not mean attempting to preach all three assigned texts at once. Notice that for feasts and festival seasons, the lectionary chooses second lessons which are in some way or another consistent with the celebration of the day (rather than selecting pericopes to comprehend an entire epistle through a series of Sundays, like getting through all of 1 Corinthians in the weeks of the Epiphany season). This means for Trinity, Year C, the preacher ought to keep the “ḥokmah” (wisdom) song of Proverbs 8 in mind (with its connections to the prologue of John’s gospel) as well as the egō eimi (I am) of John 8, while doing exegetical preparation for the proclamation of Acts 2. Such study will faithfully shape a sermon that confesses the deity of Jesus Christ.
And that is the point, is it not? Not trinitarian trivia, not a history lesson on the Athanasian Creed, and (God help us) please not a children’s sermon which adds one more coat of modalistic[1] shellac to the mystery of the most holy Trinity and undivided unity of God by talking about how water comes in three forms or how an apple has a peel and a core and a fruity flesh.[2] But I digress. The point is not to get people to better “understand the Holy Trinity.” It is to get the hearer face to face with the fact that Jesus Christ is God.
The preacher also needs to grapple with and deliver the fact that Jesus Christ being divine is no good news. This is the heart and soul of Law/Gospel polarity in sermon preparation. God reveals His character, His actions, Himself in the words of holy scripture, but none of it is good news in and of itself. What makes any of this revelation good is the “for you” part of it. And this is what the preacher is for, to say it once again in the second person plural and the second person singular: “This is for you!”
And this is what the preacher is for, to say it once again in the second person plural and the second person singular: “This is for you!”
Here is the distinction between judgment and salvation. In Christ’s death and resurrection, says Peter, the entire world is judged. It is the aftertime, the last days, the end of the world. This is proof for us that the end is here. This is what convicts (Acts 2:36-38). This is the great crisis for all people, all flesh, all the world, “Who do you say I am,” bending and bowing in repentance and trust that this Jesus is for you or servilely scraping and succumbing to the sentence of the world’s judgment for sin.
For this Sunday’s text, the “for you” invitation to consider the name(s) of Christ which leads to the admission that He is God, conviction of sinfulness and need, and confession of His name, is intimately connected to the application of that name on the hearer. Refer to the liturgical elements where the name is confessed: The Invocation and Benediction. Refer also to the baptism those elements invoke, where Jesus’ name is indelibly marked on the forehead and upon the heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified, and where the name of the blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is specifically and uniquely given to the one being washed in rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit by God’s grace in water and Word. The name of the Trinity is applied to believers in a glorious exchange greater than the “what’s in a name” lovers’ exchange of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (II.2.50-55).
What follows is a possible outline for a Trinity Sunday sermon on Acts 2:14a, 22-36:
“What’s in a Name?”
- What is in a name?
- Keychain fobs, middle names to make certain kids know when they are in trouble – illustrations abound.
- They can mark monuments like buildings.
- They can mark a grave.
- Names are about identity.
- We name our children; we receive our name from others.
- God names Himself (Exodus 3; Matthew 1).
- Trinity is about a name as well (Matthew 28; Acts 2 - how Jesus is named).
- Jesus who was mocked and crucified (this Jesus).
- This Jesus is the Wisdom of God (Proverbs 8); the “I Am” of John 8.
- Jesus who was raised - no name marks His grave (this Jesus).
- Jesus who received the Spirit He delivers (this Jesus).
- Jesus who received the name that is above all names (Philippians 2).
- Holy Trinity confesses Jesus’ identity as God.
- Not necessarily good news.
- Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess...
- Acts 2:37 - conviction and crisis.
- The good news is that it is FOR YOU!
- Acts 2:38 - repent and be baptized.
- The name of Jesus on you, the name of Trinity on you.
- What the name signed on you indicates.
- Your grave name will be erased - His name is risen and eternal and is signed over you in new birth, redeeming the one of your earthly birth.
- His name is on a monument of His own making - His temple (1 Corinthians 3 and 6; Ephesians 2; 1 Peter 2).
- He links the name of Trinity to your baptism forever, where the old you drowns and dies daily with all sins; the new you rises again to walk in newness of life (Romans 6).
- Holy Trinity confesses Jesus’ identity as God - but because it is applied to you, it is good news for you.
- Intimate connection with the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Gives your own name more significance than a key fob or a middle name to know you are in trouble.
- Gives your own name cosmic significance - written in the Book of Life.
- Not necessarily good news.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Acts 2:14a, 22–36.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching Acts 2:14a, 22–36.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaeching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
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[1] Modalism denies the biblical expression of the Trinity by saying God exists in three separate modes. Another way it is stated is that God has three separate faces He wears. Started in the third century A.D. by Bishop Sabellius, one way this heresy is used is to maintain that the “Father” was God in the Old Testament, the “Son” was God in the Gospel era, and the “Spirit” is God’s current mode, but never a “unity in trinity and trinity in unity” throughout all history, as is exemplified in the Bible and articulated by the Athanasian Creed.
[2] For a more humorous take on this, check out Hans Fiene’s “Lutheran Satire” video on Saint Patrick’s bad analogies: https://lutheransatire.org/media/st-patricks-bad-analogies/
