On the Church calendar, the Sunday after Pentecost is known as Trinity Sunday, a day on which we focus on the wonder of how God has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures: three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one divine being. At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit was present as He descended on Jesus like a dove, and the Father was present as His voice declared, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” The wonder of the Trinity is indeed something beyond our ability as humans to fully comprehend.

You may know that there are three ecumenical creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. The Athanasian Creed was probably written in the 5th or 6th century and emphasizes the truth of the Trinity as opposed to several heresies (false teachings) that had arisen in the Church that did not affirm Jesus to be eternal, or that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equally God. I invite you to come to worship a little earlier and read through the Athanasian Creed on pp. 319 and 320 of the hymnal to appreciate how carefully the Church fathers wished to describe how “we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.” (You may also read it here.)

So why is such precision about who the one true God is so important? First, there is the matter of honor and respect. We all want people to have a right understanding of who we truly are. But when it comes to knowing who God is, the more we delight in how He has revealed Himself to us, the more our joy and peace increases as we see how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together in love for our eternal salvation. We also learn about humility before God whose ways are beyond our understanding. If we could understand all there is to know about God, that would be a good indication that we have made Him up to fit our understanding of what God should be like. The mystery of the Trinity reminds us that we are creatures of the Creator who have been designed to love Him and our neighbor, delighting in living in a loving, living personal relationship with Him.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning Our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, Merciful and mighty! God in three persons, Blessèd Trinity!

LUTHERAN SERVICE BOOK #507, V. 1