THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT SAY IT ALL 2 Corinthians 13:14 | Festival of the Holy | May 28/31, 2015

May the grace of the Lord Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the be with you all. Jesus

In the name of the Father and of the Son + you arrived. The Trinity remains an and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. incomprehensible mystery. However, I pray that you will be strengthened by the truth of Three little words. With just a few words you what this God is like, how he feels about you can say a lot. Words are powerful. Let me and me, and what he has done to save us. give you some examples: That’s all summarized for us in three little • “I love you” – The first time your words: the love of the Father, the grace of the spouse our significant other spoke Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit. those magical words to you, your I. The Love of the Father heart skipped a beat. To this day, you never tire of hearing them. The was written in Greek. • Perhaps you have had the privilege of Ancient Greek has different words for love. hearing your wife say “I am For example there is philos , which describes pregnant.” Those are life-changing the kind of love that exists between two good words. Having children is one of the friends. You hear this word in the name greatest blessings God gives us in this Philadelphia, the city of “brotherly love.” world. Another Greek word for love is eros , from • How about “I forgive you ”? When I which we get the word erotic . Eros describes instruct a couple before they get physical attraction, sexual love. Neither of married, I always tell them that these those words is used in our text. Instead, to are the three most important words describe God’s love for us the Spirit chose spouses can say to one another, even the word agape . more important than “I love you.” Agape is an interesting word. It describes a What a burden these three little words love that is totally one-sided, a love that can lift from a hurting heart! We need seeks the good of another and demands to use them more often. nothing in return. It’s not like philos , the The familiar portion of Scripture before us friendship love that brings two people today contains THREE LITTLE WORDS, together. We love our friends because of the powerful words, comforting words, words endearing qualities we see in them. We love that tell us a lot about our God. They don’t our friends because they have something to explain the great mystery of the Trinity. offer us, some common bond, like a shared When you leave God’s house today you interest in literature or baseball. In agape love won’t understand how God can be one in his there is no reason or cause in the one being essence and yet three distinct persons all at loved for that love. Agape finally is the love the same time any better than you did when of the unlovable.

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That’s us. “God so loved the world” we transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). heard moments ago. He loved everyone, all God is the holy, the almighty, the living one. people, even you and me. Why? Because the We on the other hand are by nature dead whole mass of humanity is so wonderful and and disgusting and rotting in our sins. God loving and obedient? Because we are all just should avert his eyes from us. He should blot what God wants us to be? The psalmist us out, squash us like bugs, condemn us to answers. All have turned aside, they have the eternal prison we deserve. together become corrupt; there is no one Instead, he embraces us. Instead, he reaches who does good, not even one (Psalm 14:3). out to rescue us. Instead, he came all the way That’s what God sees when he looks at the from heaven to save us. That’s grace . That’s human race, at you and at me. Some people unearned, undeserved and totally think that God loves the “good” people. unexpected love. There’s a big problem with that line of thought. There aren’t any. By nature we are Someone has taken the word grace and totally depraved, pure evil and incapable of turned it into an acronym: God’s Riches At anything else, objects of wrath doomed to Christ’s Expense. Paul wrote: You know the eternal destruction. Nevertheless, in spite of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though our natural condition, God loves us. He loves he was rich, yet for your sakes he became the unlovable. And his love moved him to poor, so that you through his poverty might action. “God so loved the world that he become rich (:9). gave his one and only Son.” To see the great expense, the uncountable II. The Grace of the Son cost of our salvation, to see what the grace of God is really like just look at Jesus. See him This brings us to the Second Person of the lying in that dirty manger, born in humblest Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son. circumstances to take our place. See him as And it also brings us to our second word: he obeys the law for you, always helping, grace. never hurting, always giving, never taking, Grace is a little word, just five letters and one always loving God and neighbor perfectly. syllable, but its meaning is huge. To See him pinned to a cross, hanging by the understand grace it helps to know something nails, his precious blood flowing, his thorn- about opposites. You are familiar with the crowned head bowed in horrible death – the phrase, “Opposites attract.” People are often full payment for our sins, for the sins of the attracted to those who are different from world. See him rising from the grave, them. A shy girl picks an outgoing man for bursting from the tomb, victorious over her husband. A brain may find a mate who death, making that roaring lion called the really isn’t. Opposite attracts but absolute devil whimper like a kitten. See him waiting opposites repel. The living stay away from to welcome you into glory, his arms open to the dead. Light and darkness cannot exist embrace you, a smile on his face, and together. beautiful words on his tongue: “Come and share your master’s happiness” (Matthew By nature we are the absolute opposite of 25:21). God. Paul describes us as “dead in

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That’s Jesus. That’s grace. The two are really what I am going through and knows how to synonymous. When you have one you have help. Just like my Father, Jesus my brother the other. loves me, listens to me and comes to my aid again and again. He himself promises, III. The Fellowship of the Spirit “Surely, I am with you always” (Matthew But the blessings of our Triune God don’t 28:20). end there. We’ve talked about the Father’s There’s another relationship forged by the love and the Son’s grace. We also need to Holy Spirit, another communion through discuss the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. which he gives us blessings. By the Spirit’s The King James Version of the used a working we have fellowship, we have different word: communion. When two things communion with fellow believers. Take our join together, when they have a relationship, own congregation for example. Zion is a when they share something in common, family. Does this mean we always think the that’s communion. God the Holy Spirit is all same? Does this mean we always share the about relationships. The Spirit works same ideas? Does this mean that we will through the gospel in the Word, in Baptism always agree? Does this mean we will never and in the Lord’s Supper to establish a sin against one another? Does this mean that relationship. In fact, through the gospel he we’re all buddies? No. But the things that works more than one communion. bring us together into a communion of believers are a lot more and a lot stronger First, the Spirit makes a connection, he than the things that separate us. We share creates a relationship between us and our the same Savior. And we share the same God. In Baptism he created faith in our confession of faith in that Savior based on the hearts. He made us members of the Family truth of God’s Word. We share the same so that we can call God our Father and Jesus mission given to us by our Savior: To our brother and our Savior. He is the only proclaim the gospel for the strengthening of one who can establish this relationship. The believers and the salvation of unbelievers. Scriptures he inspired make this clear: No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Again, realize what all this means. We are Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). never alone. We have fellowship with our God. We have fellowship with one another. Think of what this means. Because of the And those relationships last for an eternity. Spirit’s work I have a relationship with God. He is no longer just a judge who is angry How do we keep our fellowship strong? We about my sins. He is also my loving Father don’t. The Spirit does. He does it through who forgives me and cares for my needs. I Word and Sacrament. He builds us up in can go to him just as surely as a little child communion when we sit down together with goes to his dad. I can talk to him. He hears open excited to hear what his Word and he helps. tells us. He strengthens our family every time a little baby is baptized, every time we It’s the same in my Spirit-forged relationship come forward together to receive our with Jesus. He’s not just my Lord. He is my Savior’s body and blood. These are the dearest friend, my brother who understands means through which the Spirit works to 3 | P a g e bring us God’s abundant blessings. These are the tools he uses to strengthen our bond, to hold us together as a family in Christ.

The love of the Father. The grace of the Son. The fellowship of the Spirit. Three little words. But their meaning is huge, their impact lasts for an eternity. It is because of the love of the Father and the grace of the Son that we will enjoy perfect fellowship with the Triune God and with each other forever and ever. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

S.D.G.

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