Exalted

The Holy Trinity

June 15, 2025

Acts 2:33

 “Exalted”

Trinity Sunday is something of a bridge in the church year. It marks the end of the festival half of the church year – Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. And it marks the beginning of the non-festival half of the church year – the long “green” season after Pentecost that runs from now to the end of November. Today we contemplate one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith: that we worship and serve one God in Three Persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Based on that verse from today’s Epistle lesson (Acts 2:14, 22-36), which speaks of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, we focus on that word “Exalted.” That becomes the theme for today’s sermon. May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Today’s Epistle lesson is a continuation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and Peter’s sermon about this. It picks up where we left off last Sunday on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21). By the power of the Spirit, Peter was transformed from a hesitant, uncertain disciple of Jesus into a bold spokesman for the Gospel. Everything that God has done points to Jesus, who is the fulfillment of everything written in Scripture. Jesus is the fulfillment of what David wrote in the psalms that he quotes in his sermon (Psalm 16:8-11; 110:1). Peter is really connecting the dots for people to see with the eyes of faith that Jesus, crucified and died, is now risen and ascended from the dead. He has been exalted to the Father’s right hand, and the promised Holy Spirit has now been poured out on his disciples. The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity are in perfect unity, working with one another for the purpose of our salvation.

The Name of the God whom we worship is exalted, majestic, holy, and above every name that is named. With the psalmist, we say: “O Lord, our Lord, who majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1). As Christians, one of our core beliefs is that we worship and serve one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the one day out of the year when we use that very long Athanasian Creed that hammers this point home: “Now this is the catholic [universal] faith: We worship one God in unity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being.” Although the word “trinity” (from the Latin, trinitas, “three”) itself is not found in the Scriptures, the teaching is absolutely found in the Scriptures (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19; Acts 2:32-33; et. al.).

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the old saying goes, and that holds true especially when it comes to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Abstract concepts often need some kind of concrete visualization for our minds to grab hold of them, including the Triune God. Here are three examples from the world around us: water, an apple, and a plant. Water is found in three forms: as a liquid, as a vapor (steam), and as a solid (ice). All are water. Three in one. An apple has three parts: the peel or skin, the flesh, and the core. All are part of the one apple. Three in one. And the plant – not just any old plant, but the shamrock plant. As legend tells it, it was this plant that was used by St. Patrick to help explain the Trinity to the Irish people when he brought the Christian faith to Ireland. There are three leaves on the one stem. One God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in one.

There are several visual reminders of the Trinity here in our Sanctuary. One is behind you in the carved plaques representing the different seasons of the church year. The three circles, without beginning or end,  all intertwined, point us to the sacred mystery of the Trinity. The altar plaques at the front of the Sanctuary describe this Three-in-One God whom we worship and serve. Whenever we come into the Sanctuary, our eyes are drawn to this triune display, but there is a story behind them. The central, suspended cross is original to the Sanctuary when it was built in 1966, but the two plaques were added later. Carved out of mahogany, the artist who created these two panels is a man named John Anderson, whom I met several years ago. In 1971, an 11-year-old girl who was a member of this congregation, Karen Buehrle, died suddenly, and she was an only child. Through an outpouring of love, her parents gave these plaques as a memorial to her, and they were dedicated on September 17, 1972. More than thirty years later in 2003, Bill Buehrle, the father of Karen Buehrle, contacted me about coming to see the plaques. He wrote a letter (still in a file that I have): “These plaques are very special to us as it gives significance to our daughter’s short life here on earth.” Bill now lives in his native state of Missouri, but wanted to come and see the plaques as his wife, Louise, had passed away – thirty-two years to the day that their daughter passed away. Karen died on February 15, 1971, and Louise died on February 15, 2003. His wish was to replace the original dedicatory plate with one that honored both his daughter and his wife. And that is what we did. The dedication plate can be seen in the lower right corner of the lower plaque. Seen together, the two plaques and the cross are a silent but powerful witness to our Triune God: the creating hand of God the Father who has brought all things into existence and that is open to us in blessing; the cross of God the Son, who laid down his life as payment for our sins and shed his precious blood as the atoning sacrifice for us all; and the descending dove of God the Holy Spirit who calls us and keeps us in this one true faith. In life and in death, we belong to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God in three Persons. Three in one.

“Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:33). Peter’s Pentecost preaching points us to the creating, redeeming, and sanctifying work of each Person of the Holy Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: “O Lord, our Lord, who majestic, how exalted, how wonderful, is your name in all the earth!”  Amen.