Zion Lutheran Sioux Falls

The text for our message is from the epistle reading, Colossians 1:  “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Daily we hold fast to the wonderful news that the battle has been fought, and the price has been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may have freedom from sin, eternal death, and the devil. Today we hear the Spirit-inspired words of the apostle Paul from Galatians and learn more about what real freedom is, guidance for lives lived in that freedom, and the fruit freely given to us through the Holy Spirit.

When the prophet Elijah became discouraged and despaired of his life, “the word of the LORD came to him” (1 Kings 19:9b) and stood him “on the mount before the LORD” (1 Kings 19:11). The Lord made Himself known to the prophet — not in the impressive power of gale force winds, or in an earthquake, or in the fire, but in “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). Today God reveals Himself to us through the frail preaching of the Gospel. The Son of Man sends “messengers ahead of Him ... to make preparations for Him” (Luke 9:52). Putting their hand to that plow of preaching, they “go and proclaim the kingdom of God,” and they do not look back (Luke 9:60, 62). What they preach is not the power of the Law with its “yoke of slavery,” but the power of God unto salvation through the Gospel of forgiveness, by which “Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

The Lord finds those who did not seek Him or ask for Him. He spreads out His hands “to a rebellious people” (Isaiah 65:2) and calls them to be His people and to dwell in peace upon His holy mountain (Isaiah 65:9). For wherever Jesus Christ enters in, Satan is cast out. Those who were enslaved and driven mad by the assaults and accusations of the devil are set free by the Word of Christ. He drowns and destroys the old Adam in us with the waters of Holy Baptism and thereby brings us out of death into life. No longer naked in our shame, living “among the tombs” (Luke 8:27), we are brought into the Lord’s house, fully clothed by Christ; He has come in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) to fulfill the Law on our behalf and to redeem us from its every accusation. Therefore, having been justified by His grace through faith in His Gospel, “you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Galatians 4:7).

Today the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. It is a day to bask in the wonder of knowing the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. While we often think about the three persons of the Trinity having their own areas of expertise (the Father creates, the Son redeems, the Spirit sanctifies), the Readings for today focus on how the three persons of the Trinity work together in every task. In the Old Testament Reading from Genesis, we see all three persons are present and active in the creation of the world. In our Reading from Acts, we see all three persons active in the salvation of the world. And in the Holy Gospel from Matthew, we see that all three persons are active in the new life we have as baptized children of God.