May 25-27, 2013 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 16:12-16

TRINITY

May 25-27, 2013

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: John 16:12-16

“SO MUCH MORE!”

1.     Than we can understand.

2.     To bless us with now.

3.     Is yet to come.

John 16:12-16 (NIV 1984)  “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.¹⁶ “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

          How many of you can remember the classic children’s movie, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?” What a great movie. Loved it. It had it all. A kind poor boy with the chance to make it big. A sinister figure lurking in the shadows. Oompah Loompahs. Are you kidding me? A gigantic candy factory. Everlasting gobstoppers! Who wouldn’t want that? And then there is the fanciful ending that left every child’s mind imagination run wild as Willy Wonka lets Charlie know that there is so much more to come. Great movie. Not reality. God’s Word is reality. The portion we look at today finds its setting in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday. Jesus has gathered there with His disciples to celebrate the Passover. Jesus takes the time to pray for His disciples and prepare them for what they would soon experience. In part of the preparation Jesus told them the words of our text. In a way that must have had their imaginations running wild Jesus told them he had so much more to say them. His words serve us well as the church gathers to observe Trinity Sunday. In the Church Year Trinity Sunday reminds us Christians to pause and stand in awe of our Triune God. Today God’s Word lets us see that with our Triune God there is so much more.

First there is so much more than we can understand. Jesus’ words here serve us well on Trinity Sunday because they show each of the three persons of the Triune God working together as the one God does. Three persons. One God. Do you have any idea how many words have been penned by different Bible scholars trying to explain how the one true God is three persons and yet only one God? Throughout its history the church has been troubled anytime someone went too far in trying to explain things. Open your hymnals to pages 132-133. There you will find the Athanasian Creed. Because of its length we rarely use it in church. Sometimes we do on Trinity Sunday. Read its history at the top. Look at how carefully the creed writers worked to proclaim clear Bible truth on the nature of God, saying enough, but not saying too much. All of these troubles come because man is trying to understand God, instead of realizing that the Triune God is so much more than we can understand. We can use pictures like the triangle, three angles but only one triangle. Take one away and the shape does not exist. Some have suggested the apple. It has the skin or peel of the apple, the flesh of the apple, the core or seeds of the apple but it’s all apple. And I guess maybe that helps but it really doesn’t explain how the Father is God and the Son is God and Holy Spirit is God and the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not the Father but they are all God and God is one. Trying to understand this is like trying to pour the ocean into a bucket. It does not fit. God is so much greater, so much more than we can understand. He is not a made up god that we can grasp. He is God almighty. Holy. Holy. Holy. On this Trinity Sunday let the magnificence of God help you so that you don’t become so familiar with God that you lose your awe of Him. Let’s not try to understand God. Instead let’s stand under Him and praise Him for who He is. So much more than we can understand.

          And having so much more to bless us with now. That’s what Jesus told His disciples. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”  Remember the context. Jesus is with His disciples in the Upper Room. They are simply not ready to handle everything Jesus wanted them to know until after He had completed His mission. After he died, rose and ascended. Before that He lets them know He has so much more to bless them with. The things that belong to the Father He gave to the Son and the Holy Spirit would make them known. The Triune God would work to bless. And He did.

          Later when the Holy Spirit came on the disciples in a special way at Pentecost He gave them understanding that they lacked. As you follow the early Church history through the book of Acts you see how Jesus blessed the disciples with freedom as the Holy Spirit revealed Old Testament food laws no longer apply. The Spirit made it clear that Gentiles or non Jews were full members of the Church through faith in Jesus without having to put themselves under Old Testament law. We think of the teaching of Election by grace that the Spirit made known so clearly in the New Testament, or the revelation that our Resurrection bodies or glorified bodies or the comforting visions of Revelation to give confidence that no matter what the Devil or the world throw at Jesus and His Church Jesus wins. And when Jesus wins, the Church wins too. So much more to bless those disciples.

          And they are blessing to us too. In the big picture it’s really small but are you grilling for Memorial Day? Barbeque pork ribs maybe, or bacon wrapped filets, or a bacon cheddar cheeseburger? That believers can eat any pork product is because the Holy Spirit revealed that Old Testament food laws no longer apply. But now let’s think of important things. Like justification by faith and how clear the Holy Spirit has made that truth in New Testament times. How blessed we are to keep living life in the freedom of the Gospel, knowing our many sins are already forgiven. Being able to obey God’s commands not out of fear and hoping we are doing enough to get to heaven but out of love and thankfulness. How blessed we are to live on this side of Good Friday and Easter so we get to have Resurrection faith and be optimistic always because we know now that in all things God is working for our good. All of these blessings we now know were these things that belonged to the Father who put them in the care of the Son and the Holy Spirit made them known and had them written down in the Bible. So much more to bless us with.

          And so much more is yet to come. Jesus told the disciples, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” Jesus’ disciples actually went through this twice. The next day Jesus was crucified and they didn’t see Him for a little while. Then Jesus rose again and they saw Him again. Then Jesus ascended into heaven and they didn’t see Him for a while. Then they died and went to heaven and see Him. There they see Him and so much more. They see each other and the prophets and souls Jesus had them minister to. They see the angels and the Lord face to face. All this and so much more.

          Brothers and sisters because of our Triune God this so much more is yet to come for us too. We have not yet gotten to see Jesus but in a “little while” we will. Because God the Father made us and took care of us and because God the Son redeemed us by His blood shed and the cross and because God the Holy Spirit brought us to faith and keeps us in faith when the end of the world comes or God ends our earthly life by beginning our heavenly one we will see the so much more that is yet to come. We will see Jesus’ disciples and the prophets. We will see the angels and join them in worshiping Jesus. We will see all of our loved ones who believed who died before us. We will see God. Will we finally understand the Trinity? I don’t know and we won’t care because we will be enjoying all the blessings I mentioned and so much more.

          Willy Wonka? Great movie amongst many movies. Triune God? Great and only God. Holy, holy, holy is His name. That and so much more. And we get His blessings. God is good! Amen.