Baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Sermon
Preached on Trinity Sunday – Year A - 18th May 2008
at the 9.15am Eucharist at St Alphege Solihull.
A shortened version was also preached at the 11am Eucharist at St Catherine’s, Catherine de Barnes, Solihull.

Readings: Isaiah 40: 12-17, 27-31 2 Cor13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20


In our gospel reading this morning we heard the words of Jesus, which are known as, “The Great Commission”. They are Jesus’ last words to his disciples in Matthew’s gospel. He says,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you, and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

These words brought about a dramatic change for the first disciples. Up until this point Jesus’ main message to them had been “follow me”, and “follow my commandments”, and the disciples had done this as best they could. We know that there were all kinds of errors and problems (like Peter denying Christ) but as best they could the disciples had followed Jesus, through his death and resurrection. This had been a completely life changing experience for them. But with these words of the Great Commission and with the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, suddenly the focus for the disciples changes completely. Rather than following, suddenly they are sent out to call others to follow. The 11 disciples become apostles – that is people sent out by God. Suddenly they become preachers, teachers and leaders of the Christian community. This is the start of mission. Mission also means “being sent”.
And included in the great commission is a remarkably good and very short summary of what Jesus wants from people to whom the apostles preach the gospel. He wants these people to become disciples, that is “followers” of Jesus. He wants the people to be baptised. He wants the people to obey his commandments. This is such an excellent summary of what we must do to be Christians; follow Christ, be baptised and obey Christ’s commandments.
But because today is Trinity Sunday, and because next week we have several baptisms taking place in this service, I would like focus today on what it means to be baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
This formula for Baptism “in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is recognised as the correct formula for baptism in all the main stream Christian churches. This is because the formula is recorded in Matthew’s gospel as a direct command from Jesus. All the mainstream churches recognise as valid a baptism made in “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. The only exception to this is that Baptist churches often do not accept infant baptism, but they do certainly accept this as the correct formula for baptising people.
And this is a very significant thing because the mainstream churches all recognise as valid each others baptism certificates. And although the Church of God has suffered all kind of painful divisions and has been separated into various different denominations there is a level of unity that remains in our baptism. Whatever our denomination, we are all baptised into the body of Christ, into the Church, and we all have become members of that one body.
There are some interesting stories in the Acts of the Apostles about the incompleteness of other forms of baptism. There are stories (Chapter 8) where people have been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus, but have not yet been baptised in the Holy Spirit. There are other stories the other way around (chapter 10). Through these experiences the early church quickly realised that baptism needs to be in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.
Of course the formula “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” is familiar to us, not only because of baptism, but also because Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity. Today is Trinity Sunday, when we reflect on the great mystery of our God who is both three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and is also perfectly “one” such that we say with great confidence that there is just one true God.
And this can be difficult to understand. But really we should not be surprised that we find it hard to understand God. God is much bigger and deeper and greater than we are. If we think we have got God “all sust out” then we are putting God in a box; we are placing our own intellect above God’s. We are deceiving ourselves and being somewhat arrogant!
And yet, despite the difficulty in understanding the Trinity, I believe it is important that we always make the effort to increase the understanding that we have. Human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) so looking at the Trinity gives us insights into the way that human life is meant to be.
If we look at the Trinity it seems that the perfect unity and harmony is maintained by love; by the love of God. There is lots of self-giving going on. The Father gives himself completely to the Son. The Son gives himself completely to the Father. The Spirit is likewise involved. This love and complete self-giving sustains the harmony and unity. This surely gives us an insight into how a Christian marriage might work. Similarly it throws light on how a community can sustain itself and become harmonious. And what about nations and the whole world even?
So as we celebrate Trinity Sunday, let’s ponder the mystery of the Trinity and seek to understand it better. Let’s seek to grow in relationships of love and mutual self- giving like those that we see in the Trinity. And by this let us come to live out ever better what it means to be a human being, created in the image of God.