Holy Trinity Sunday May 23 and 26, 2002 Memorial Day

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go…Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is God’s Word!

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in Hell, by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

There is a very little Minnesota farming town called Janesville—Janesville, Minnesota. Highway 14 goes right through downtown Janesville, Minnesota—as small as she is. There is a house in Janesville—a house that looks sad. It’s kind of a sickly yellow that is almost gray. The grass is a little too long—the flowerbeds don’t have flowers—just shrubs that look overgrown and untended. There are weeds—tall weeds—sticker bush weeds—here and there—so big you just know if somebody cared they would cut them down or dig them out. That sad little yellow house has in the upper floor window a doll—a little girl’s doll—faded in the window of the attic. That little doll is the silent reminder that children can be cruel. That once upon a time—there were children in Janesville, Minnesota—they say—that were so cruel they teased the little girl who lived in that house until she self-destructed. It’s hard—once you know that—it’s hard to roll through Janesville and not look up at that window. I tried hard this last trip—and wouldn’t you know—across the street from that sad yellow house there was a car parked on a flatbed trailer. That car looked like it had been in one of those car compacters they have at the junkyard—except while most of the car was absolutely squashed—there were here and there—twisted pieces of metal sticking up. There was a poster leaning up against that flatbed trailer—so we made a quick U-turn and pulled up close enough to read it. The poster was put there with the permission of the family by MADD—Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It seems that car belonged to a man named David. David and his brother went to a wedding reception where they had too much to drink. After that David and his brother left. David drove his car into a tree—going what must have been a zillion miles an hour. It was somewhere past one in the morning when a police officer found what was left of that car and David and his brother. That poster made a point of the fact that David was just 27 years old—that David was a Lutheran. The poster said the family hoped that maybe seeing that car—that squashed and twisted piece of metal might serve as a warning to someone so they wouldn’t drink and drive and die!

We sit here in God’s House—our Heavenly Father’s house of prayer—Sunday after Sunday. We sit here and look at the altar—look at the huge cross on the stone wall behind it. God’s Word is read and explained. We listen to God’s Word—so that we might be warned and instructed and encouraged—so that we might not shipwreck our souls. We listen to God’s Word so that we will not end up forever crushed in the fires of Hell! This 9th Sunday after Easter—this Sunday after Pentecost—this Trinity Sunday God’s Word reminds us:

Jesus Is In Control Of Everything

Go and make disciples
Remember Jesus is always with you

Since four Sundays before Christmas we have been thinking about all Jesus did to save us. Last year when it was freezing outside—the ground frozen solid—snow covering the lawn—salt on the sidewalk to melt the ice—our littlest children sang Away In A Manger and Joy to the World—Stille Nacht. Strong voices announced what the prophets had written long ago about the city of Bethlehem. We heard about shepherds, abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. Epiphany Sundays through January and into February we saw Jesus’ glory shine through the words he spoke and the miracles he performed. Water is turned to wine. Storms are stilled—the wind and the waves commanded to be still—and a horrible storm stops and the sea is like glass! Lepers—cancer from the outside in—lepers are cleansed. Bleeding is stopped. The blind can see—the deaf can hear—tongues long silenced shout and sing the praises of the Savior! Legs that were twisted and crippled—muscles that were too weak to hold up anyone—suddenly are so strong people leap—literally leap and dance for joy. The dead are raised—people stone cold dead—their hearts not beating—their lungs not breathing—no brain activity—call the coroner and pronounce them dead—put them in the grave and roll the stone over the entrance and stay away for days dead! And Jesus—the Lord of Life woke them from the icy grip of death with greater ease that we can wake a small child taking a nap! We went through Lent—purple altar cloths—the Christmas tree turned into a cross—the crown of thorns—the cloth draped over the cross. We walked beside Jesus through the Psalms this year—the promise hundreds of years before the fact—that Jesus would suffer and die to save us. We were here Easter morning—when it was snowing—to rejoice—He is risen indeed! Now Jesus has ascended. Last Sunday—Thanksgiving—Pentecost—the Holy Spirit poured out so that he overflowed the hearts and lives of God’s people! And now it’s Holy Trinity Sunday. Today we give thanks and praise to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today we begin Sundays that look back on all that Jesus did to save us. And we look forward to serving him with a passion and an energy that only increases—until Jesus comes back on Judgment Day!

Jesus is always with you! Jesus always was. Jesus always is. God’s Word says, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.” Jesus met with his disciples—eleven of them. Here is a warning—in those first few simple words. Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee… There had been twelve! Who was missing? Judas Iscariot of course! Watch a movie—a video—look at a painting of the twelve disciples and the smallest child can pick out Judas Iscariot. In the pictures and in the films Judas has snake eyes—little beady shifty nervous angry eyes. In the pictures Judas has sunken cheeks—red and angry burning with guilt cheeks. In the pictures Judas has black hair—all greasy and a mess. Judas has a cheesy moustache—a scraggly beard. Judas has hands clenching and unclenching in tight little fists—his mouth set in a wicked sneer! Pictures paint Judas all ugly on the outside. He wasn’t! If you read the papers—if you watch the news—very often people guilty of the most horrible crimes are not all ugly on the outside. They don’t wear black. They don’t have snake eyes. They have snake hearts! That’s where the devil attacks—in their hearts. The outside can be beautiful. The devil does his hurt and harm on the inside! The scariest part of all—Jesus loved Judas very much. Jesus was by Judas—day in and day out—the proverbial 24/7 for pretty near three years Jesus was by Judas all the time—loving him—teaching him—warning him! If Judas could have all that—and still fall away I need to be very very careful. The danger is horrible—the consequences are forever!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus is in control of everything—absolutely everything! Jesus is in control of the weather. They United States Weather Service has the use of satellites—computers—the very latest in high tech equipment and years and years of records—all of which go into formulating the most accurate predictions of the weather for the Weather Channel. And yet they say—when it comes to the really long-range predictions—the 30 and 45 and 90 day predictions—they are wrong—more often than they are right! That means—without any satellites—no computers—no high tech equipment at all. Armed with nothing other than their predictions—if you would predict the exact opposite—you would be right—you would be correct—you would be more accurate than they are! Why is that? Why does it rain when they predict sunshine? Why does it pour when they predict drizzle? Why is there a blizzard when they predict flurries? In part it has to be a reminder to us that we are not in charge of the weather. Our Heavenly Father is! He stores up the cold in the freezer of his power and wisdom. He opens up the floodgates and sends the rain—that does not return to him empty. It waters the earth. It makes the tulips bloom. It makes the watermelons and muskmelons sweet and juicy. It makes the sweet corn dripping with Wisconsin creamy butter—peppered with pepper and covered with salt—sweet as nibblets get stuck between our teeth. Jesus has power and authority over outer space. The greatest scientific minds in the world have just recently discovered new kinds of matter—new kinds of stuff that they didn’t even know existed! And the LORD God knew all along because he made it! Lights years away—midst the black holes and all that sparkles and twinkles in the sky—the LORD is in control!

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” All nations! Do we appreciate what that means—all nations? I wonder if we do. They had the National Geographic Geography Bee the other day. It ran into some speed bumps along the way. Part of the competition this year involved writing down and correctly spelling places in this world. The judges thought they had it right—then they didn’t—you are out—no you are still in. It got down to the last two little people—and it was whoever got the most out of 5 questions—and then they were declaring the winner after it was only 4 to 3. That wasn’t right either. And through it all Alex Trebek kept saying he was having a bad hair day! Could you answer the questions that the winner—a home schooled 5^th grader could? Could you find Uzbekistan or Tajikistan on a map? Could you spell Schrebertnitza correctly? Do you know the name of the basin at the end of a river in China that a 5^th grader knew—to win the National Geographic Geography Bee? Jesus knows the names of all the people in all the impossible to pronounce places in this world! Jesus lived without sin to save all these people. Jesus died on the cross to rescue all these people. Jesus rose from the dead to save them. All that remains is for someone to tell them that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Time is of the essence! As suicide bombers blow themselves up and people all around them—no one knows how long before it’s too late!

Jesus promised his people, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus is with you always—today, tomorrow, forever! There is a river in Ohio called the Chagrin River. What an odd name for a river—Chagrin. Chagrin is a sadness—a sort of “if only I had”—“if only I hadn’t” kind of sadness. Chagrin has the color—the flavor of blame mixed with the sadness. There has been lots of flooding down in the Ohio River Valley lately—pouring rain that makes the rivers flood. On the news the other day they showed a father—an earthly father crying—crying because his son had taken a raft to go out onto that flooded river and that son had died. The father said, “I told him, I told him, I told him. They never listen!” How sad! How painfully sad that that son didn’t listen. It cost him his life. There are people everywhere who need to listen to their Heavenly Father. To remember the Triune God—the one true God in whose name they were baptized—the Father who made them—the Son who died and rose again to save them—the Holy Spirit who makes and keeps them believers. Remember that Jesus is with you always—to the very end of the age! Amen!