Sermon

One of the most common means of communication throughout history has been letters, some for good, some for evil. When wicked Jezebel wanted to help her husband, Ahab, to obtain Naboth’s vineyard, she wrote letters to the city officials accusing Naboth of blaspheming God. What was the result” Naboth was taken out and stoned to death. However when a little slave girl told her mistress that the prophet in Israel could heal her husband of his leprosy, a letter was sent to the King of Israel on Namaan’s behalf and eventually Elisha the prophet was instrumental in getting Namaan healed. During the days of the Reformation, Luther wrote innumerable letters.

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of Martin Luther’s early opponents was Erasmus of Rotterdam. Erasmus was the reputed intellectual light of his day. He provided a Greek New Testament from which Luther translated the New Testament into German. In his dealings with Erasmus, Luther is known to have said, “Your God is too small.” What did Luther mean? He meant that Erasmus was guilty of underestimating what God can do. Erasmus’ God was a limited God. He made God measurable.

As this is Trinity Sunday, we do well to begin our sermon by asking the question, “What is the Doctrine of the Trinity?” The very word Triune gives us a clue. Tri means three; une means one. Thus, God is three in one. There is only one God, but the one God consists of three distinct persons.