I. The True Faith 00:03

Thank you, Lord. Thank you for this opportunity to come before you, to worship you, to receive from you, and to welcome into our midst a new member of the body of Christ this morning. We just are so grateful, Lord, for everything that you’re doing in our life. And we pray that you’d open our eyes more and more to see the things that you do. In Jesus’ name, amen.

So today is a great mixture of celebrations. We’ve got Trinity Sunday. Very exciting. I know all of you brought your super-fat journals so that you could take extensive notes on the metaphysics of the trinitarian union and division, right? So there’s that. Then we also have Father’s Day. How awesome, right? In a world that needs fathers, I am always excited when we get to celebrate Father’s Day. And then finally, as a capstone achievement, we are welcoming into our midst Ezra Samson. We’re going to baptize him today, and it’s wonderful to have Father Mark Finley with us, his grandfather, to do the baptism. It’s just a really blessed Sunday. But I think all of these things really tie into one another deeply. And so I want to start by talking about something that you may have missed as we were going through the liturgy, but as I was reading and praying, it was something I felt the need to highlight.

Today is all about truth. In the collect, it talks about the grace to believe in the what? The true faith. There are a lot of false faiths out there, and there are a lot of people who are trying to convince you to buy the false faith. Whether it’s the person who gets you to buy the workout program so you can look like me (no, I’m just kidding), like somebody better than me; or the person who tries to get you to pay for the subscription so that you can understand how your business works, and you’re going to 10x your growth, and you’re going to be the cool person. All of these things are false faiths, things that say, “If you believe in me, I will give you life.”

Instead, today we’re focused on the true faith. And the cool thing about truth is that when you take everything else away, what remains is what is true. Everything else is commentary. It’s deception. It’s lies. The only thing that really matters in our life is that which is real, which is true. And so, as we talk about all of these things, it’s important. And I think we can know that. I mean, you watch the news, you get inundated with social media: the biggest question on most people’s minds is, what is true? Because you’re going to read over here this thing, read over here that thing, and then you’re going to see over here this thing, and then you’re going to experience this thing. And everything is sending you these signals. And it’s: how do we know what is true? How do we know? How do we discern that?

And I think one of the keys to doing that is to understand the nature of the Trinity, of fathers, and of baptism. I think that these three concepts actually welcome us into a framework of how reality exists and works that will help you sort through the noise that tries to say, “This is true, this is true, this is true.” Now, that seems like a lot, and I promise it is, but we’re not going to do all of that this morning. What we’re going to do is just walk through some of the implications of these things.

II. Everything Exists from the Overflow of Love 03:35

Books have been written on all of these subjects, but we’re just going to walk through some of the implications for us. The first thing I want to say about the Trinity is that it shows us, it unveils the reality, that everything that exists (you, me, the galaxies, everything that exists) exists as a result of the overflow of love. In fact, some of the voices out there that say all you need is love are absolutely right. They just often don’t know what that means. The overflow of love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, God, the one that we worship, is what created everything that is: the stars, the billions, trillions of stars in our multiple galaxies and universes. All of that, all of the beauty and unbelievable grandeur of creation, came out of the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

They existed forever, always, eternally, whatever that means. It’s impossible for us to get our mind around it. And at some point they said, “Man, this is awesome. We want to share it with everything.” And they created reality so that we could participate in the love that they had. There was no lack. There was no need. There was only an abundance of joy, to share the beauty, the glory, the goodness of creation.

And so maybe you’re thinking, “In my experience, there’s a whole lot that doesn’t feel loving. In my experience, I wonder why God created this mess sometimes.” The promise of the Trinity is that he wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t good. And the promise of baptism, tying these things together, is that we get to participate in what he did to make everything right again: that when Jesus entered into baptism, he actually brought all the pain and suffering of the world into baptism, that it might die and be risen to new life.

Okay, maybe we’re like, “Okay, we’re at the beginning of the universe, and then we’ve gotten to baptism. Where are we going?” Let’s slow it down a little bit. In the Trinity, we have this relationship that says you are not alone. In fact, all of being, all of creation, exists in relationship to a loving and good God. There is never a moment in the history of time where anything or anyone has ever been alone. That’s a radical opinion in a day and age where it’s all about you, me, and my little life.

I brought this up recently: we had a new priest who had come from Africa and was joining us for our clergy gathering and was coming into fellowship with us. And he said, “Coming from Africa, there are a couple of things I’ve noticed about the West, about America, about California. You are all very busy and very private.” We’ve got our stuff, and you don’t have to be a part of it. “Stay away. I’m in my own little world.” And the Trinity tells us that’s not how to live. In fact, everything that God does is to restore connection and relationships, not just from him to us, but between each other. That’s why I read, as the deacon, at the beginning, that the two commandments that summarize everything God wants are that you love him and love one another (Matt 22.37–39). It’s simple but not easy. It’s simple but not easy.

All of this is about an overflow of love. And so when we look at the Trinity, all I want you to know today is that it’s all about love. Self-giving, sacrificial, creative, making the world and everything that exists: that type of love, the strong love, the one that we say never fails.

III. The Baptism Icon 07:00

And so when we start talking about the Trinity, there’s one story that comes to mind, in fact one picture that we look at every Sunday, that best illustrates the function and the reality of the Trinity, and that’s the baptism icon that we have over here. Because if you look there (you may not know), the glory rays, those gold things, and that little orb that they painted up there, represent the voice of God the Father speaking from heaven. The dove in the middle represents the presence of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus. And of course the Son, in his position of complete submission, being baptized. He who knew no sin embraced baptism, became our sin, and entered in, that we might join with him in newness of life. So this is the picture of the Trinity that I want to talk about today. Because when you think about the Trinity, you say, “How do I talk about this?” Well, why don’t we just tell a story?

IV. To Fulfill All Righteousness 08:46

Once upon a time… you guys know the Christmas story. God became man, was raised as a baby and then a child. But when he came into his time, when he was going to start his ministry, instead of standing up in a pulpit or a synagogue somewhere and saying, “Hello, I am here. Worship me. I am God,” instead of that, he went to the place where the sinners were going, the place where John was preaching repentance of sin. “If you’re sinful and you know you need to get right with God, come to me,” John said, “because the kingdom of heaven is here.” And they would go in there, and they would repent of their sins, and they would be symbolically washed in an act of cleansing.

So Jesus shows up, and John actually knows Jesus. He’s a cousin. He knows something about him. In fact, at this point we’re pretty sure he knows that Jesus is the Messiah. So he knows who’s coming to him. And we enter into the story here in Matthew 3, beginning in verse 13:

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. Matt 3.13–15

So what’s going on here? Jesus shows up, and John goes, “This is the guy.” In fact, in another telling of this story, he says, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1.29). “This is the one I’ve been telling you about, the one I said was going to baptize you with Spirit and fire, the one I’ve been preparing you for. This is him.” And he’s getting into the water with the sinners and saying, “Wash me.” And John goes, “What? That makes no sense. Why would I baptize you?” But Jesus says this enigmatic phrase: “It’s fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

And maybe you’re thinking, “Okay, righteousness. So this is important so that we can follow the letter of the law and get all of our grades. We can get an A+ in righteousness.” That is not what he’s talking about here. He’s talking about… you could say it this way: “For thus it is fitting for us to make all things right, to reorder the universe, that all shall be well.” That’s what we’re talking about: a righteousness that has a robust meaning, that you’re good, I’m good, God’s good, and all shall be well. That’s Jesus’ mission in this moment.

So he’s not coming to repent of sin, but to enter in and create this baptism that we all get to be a part of. In fact, when Ezra gets baptized today, he is not having his own personal baptism. He’s the only name on the sheet today of the person getting baptized, but he is actually entering into the baptism that Jesus created in his baptism.

V. Baptized into His Death 11:49

He’s joining with Christ. We’re told that by Paul, in Romans 6:3:

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Rom 6.3–4

So that baby this morning is dying. Okay, I understand this is a deep concept, and maybe I can talk about it a little more clearly. That which would hold him back, that which would condemn him to damnation, that which is fallen in him, is being obliterated this morning in baptism, because Jesus took that to the cross. So when he gets baptized, he joins Jesus, and Jesus says, “I got all that.” And then he’s raised to newness of life.

It’s this beautiful picture, where he enters into fellowship with us, just as much a son and daughter of God as you or I. He has all the grace given to him. He has all the covering given to him. Yeah, he’s got to live that out for the rest of his life. Don’t we all? But he’s welcome to be a part of us, because Jesus said, “Let the children come to me” (Matt 19.14). Jesus wants relationship with him. And so we’re inviting him in this moment to be a part of that.

VI. This Is My Beloved Son 13:18

And in this moment, when we look at this baptism, we see how the relationship not just of the Trinity works, but how your relationship with God works. So let’s read, continuing in verse 16:

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matt 3.16–17

So you have this great moment, this picture. God the Father: what’s the role of a father? The primary role of the father is to speak identity over their children. That’s my allegation today: that the primary job of the father is to speak the truth of the child’s identity to them.

Now, I’m only talking about fathers. We have to make this necessary side turn: as if you didn’t know, mothers are equally as important in the raising of children. Absolutely. But it’s Father’s Day today, so take a back seat for a second. The father’s job is to speak identity to their children. And what does God the Father say? “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

How many of you are dying to hear that affirmation from God this morning? How many of you feel like you’re just not good enough? Like you just haven’t lived up, like you just keep making the same mistakes over and over, like nobody could possibly love you, because they would have to know you? And yet today I tell you that all baptized believers are baptized into Jesus’ baptism. And God the Father says this morning, “You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter, with whom I am well pleased.” If you can’t accept that this morning, if something in you cringes hearing that, you need to write it down, and you need to pray about that, because God has something to say to you. He wants to reveal that to you.

And just like I said, baby Ezra is going to have to learn to live this out every day of his life. We’re still doing the same thing. So bring it, write it down, pray about it, let God speak to you day in and day out, because it’s not just a one-time thing. That’s the story that God is telling in your life from now till eternity: “You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter, with whom I’m well pleased.” And he loves you so much that he’s going to make that a reality in your life. All those things that don’t please God, he is burning away. And you can go as fast with him as you want to go.

That’s what Bishop Kessler always used to say. He’d get up here and preach, and he’d say, “All God wants is a little participation. Just let him take you.”

So this is the role of the Father, speaking over the Son. And Jesus, equal in glory and majesty with the Father, is submitting and receiving from his Father his identity. Now, eternally in the Trinity, this is happening since the beginning of time. God is begetting his Son, and the Holy Spirit is between them. Some people describe the Holy Spirit as the love of the Father and the Son together, still a full person, all of that. We’re not going to spend time on that, because we just don’t have the time. But I want you to understand the humility of Jesus, to come and to enter into baptism, to receive, that we might join with him in this moment of affirmation.

VII. Father of the Fatherless 16:46

This is why Father’s Day is so important. And I’m not even going to take the time, because I’m sure each one of you has seen some social media post that highlights the devastation that happens when there is an absence of fathers in the home. Why don’t we talk as much about the absence of mothers? Because mothers stay. By and large, the mother stays, and yet the father leaves. And it’s a tragedy of epidemic proportions in our culture. Everything, incarceration, poverty, everything that you think of when you think of these vast oppressed people groups and statistics, can largely be explained by fatherlessness.

It’s just a complete break of reality. Because when God made us, he said, “Let us make them in our image” (Gen 1.26). And the image of God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: the image of man and woman coming together to evidence God to their children. They become one flesh, and they evidence God to their children.

Okay, I’m getting on this path, but I just want to emphasize: if you’re here and you’re a father, and you are being that person in your child’s life, you are being a father, you have no idea how much you have done, by the grace of God, to provide for your children, just by being a father. I know we emphasize the tragedy of the lack, but I look around and I see the glory of what happens when you do participate with God in loving your children and raising them in the way they should go. We’re so blessed here.

Okay, so what’s going on here, then, in this story? Let me say one more thing. If you’re here and your father is absent, or you have a wounding regarding the absence of your father, the big thing I want to remind you of is Psalm 68:5–6:

5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. 6 God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. Ps 68.5–6

What does that mean? It means that all the statistics about fatherlessness don’t apply to you in this room this morning, because you have a father. In your baptism, you gained a father. And not only that: it emphasizes two things. What does he do? He is the Father of the fatherless, and he puts the solitary in families. And this place here is your family. There is no fatherlessness in the kingdom of God. Now, I’m not erasing the fact that you might have to deal with the trauma of broken relationship; that just happens in our life. But I am saying you can claim the promise of God in your life, that you are a beloved son, a beloved daughter, who has the pleasure of your Father. Amen.

VIII. The Spirit Coming to Rest on Him 19:25

Okay. Now, I said we were talking about all three persons of the Trinity. Well, look at the Holy Spirit. What is he doing? He is coming to rest on Jesus, to empower him to be who he is. That’s what the Holy Spirit does for us. Jesus gives us the model. Jesus is the human, that we might all be human like he is human. We’re no longer human like Adam was human. We’re human like Jesus is human: in perfect communion with his Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit, walking in his identity, and spreading the kingdom of God. That’s every one of you. I described Jesus, but it’s you, too.

You have the Holy Spirit at the moment of baptism, and he comes and he makes that proclamation: “This is my beloved son. This is my beloved daughter.” He makes that real in your life. He evidences it, and he transforms us day in, day out. We all need to rest on the Holy Spirit a heck of a lot more. At least, that’s what I was praying about this morning. You are not alone. Literally, right now in this moment, you have God’s Spirit in you, the same one that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8.11). He is in you. You are so full of life.

And he’s doing this thing. He’s bringing about the fruit that the Spirit bears: that is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5.22–23). That’s how I know we all need to lean on the Holy Spirit more: because all of you need to be more patient, more kind. No, all of me needs to be more patient, more kind, have more self-control. If you’re anything like me, you need more. But every day, we’re told, we get to come to him for our daily bread. We pray that in our Lord’s Prayer, and we just kind of breeze past it, because we’re all thinking about where we’re going to lunch later. Just like the disciples, who, when Jesus said, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees” (Matt 16.6), were like, “Is he worried about food? What’s going on?” No, it’s about your very sustenance, your very life. You need it every day.

So we’ve got God the Father, who calls you into your identity; God the Holy Spirit, who effects the transformation in you, that you might bear the fruit in keeping with your identity.

IX. Jesus, the Image of God 22:13

And then we have Jesus, the image of God. Jesus, who shows us who God is, who reveals that the God who created everything that is, is the same God who died to be in relationship with you. That’s true of the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus equally. They all are here to relate, to connect, and to transform you. It’s incredible.

In fact, I love this picture, because you see what Jesus does. I love how it’s designed. This river of the Jordan separates the life on earth from the heavenly life. It’s why you see the angels over here on the right and you see John on the left. And Jesus goes between those two things. He enters into death, and he comes out of the water raised, as a symbol of the resurrection, that these two things that were once separated might find their joining in the person of Christ. And no longer are we separated, but we are joined, radically unified. Heaven and earth are not separate anymore, because they found their home in Jesus. And all of us, who are we? We’re the body of Christ on earth. We get to bring heaven with us everywhere we go. We get to bring the kingdom everywhere we go, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so, when you look at Jesus and his function in the Trinity, Jesus is our all in all. He is everything to us. He is that which welcomes us. In fact, he goes so far as to pray in John that God would make us one as he and the Father are one (John 17.11). You know how it’s really important in the Trinity to not treat them as separate but unified? You cannot separate that which is Jesus from that which is God: equal in majesty, the same in substance, all of that. He wants that for us, with him, unified with him. Yeah, we will never be the people who are worshiped like God. There are certain attributes. We’ll never be the Creator. We’ll never be all that. But when it comes to how we live and move and have our being (Acts 17.28), that’s all found in him. And so everything we do when we worship the Trinity is worshiping the union that God is bringing about between us and him.

X. Pointing Our Children to Jesus 24:30

And when we talk about Father’s Day, what’s the job of fathers? It’s to point your kids to Jesus. We think sometimes that our job is to make our kids the way we think they should be. At least, that’s what I think: “They need to do what I say and be the way I want them to be.” Margot is really struggling with that one lately. She’s two years old. And what you do when you’re two, psychologically, is decide, “I am my own person, and nobody else can control me.” And it’s a good thing, individuation. You can read all the books about it. It’s good, except that it’s not the end. It’s a part of the journey. They have to become who they are, that they might join with who we are. It’s never about the individual. It’s always about what God is doing between all of us, that she might be reintegrated into our family.

I have to bring the hand of God in her life: the same hand that died on the cross for her, the same hand that will do anything to serve her, the same hand that will raise her with love and discipline and truth, that she might one day join more fully into union with Christ. That’s where we’re going. That’s where we’re heading.

Don’t get caught in the little stories. We get so anxious about the little things. But all of this is imaged in the baptism that we’re about to be a part of. All of this is imaged in who God is. All of the universe is an overflow of the abundance of love. And we just get to keep that story going in our life, by the power of the Holy Spirit.