( Romans 11:33-36 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Akündigungen587.23 KB ]
The table is set. Our hosts have taken their seats - God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And ....they do not want to remain alone, but have invited. We, dear congregation, are the guests at this feast. We are here and the celebration can begin.
But what is there to celebrate? Let us listen to the Apostle Paul, who takes the floor with our sermon text and, as is fitting, gives a short opening speech on the celebration:
Reading of the text
What more can one say, dear congregation... What a beautiful speech. Beautiful, poetic words. Almost a little mysteriously, Paul's words hover over us as a congregation. Everything seems to be said, and yet much also remains mysterious.
There they are, the three questions: "Who has known the mind of the Lord?", "Who was his counsellor?" "Who gave him something that God would have to give back to him?" And I think of the "Three ???", the radio plays that I liked to listen to myself and listen to again today with my children - children's detective stories. When the three question marks hand in their calling cards in their first case, we learn the following about them:
The Three ??? - We take on every case.
"The question marks mean unsolved mysteries, unsolved riddles and special questions of all kinds."
That fits. We too stand before our God sometimes with three question marks or even more. We stand before God with questions and we encounter unsolved mysteries with God. But God also gives us answers to our questions and occasionally also puts exclamation marks. And the confirmands are already learning these. And so now three more speakers rise, our confirmands: (speak apostolic confession of faith, and: A toast to the host and to us)
To us?
We encounter the great creation of God, and we are a part of it.
We encounter death and resurrection in Jesus Christ and receive the promise that the resurrection is also for us.
We receive baptism as a sign that we are united with God, and we are given the power of the Spirit. God reveals himself to us, shows himself to us, and we are taken into it since Pentecost. Into the history of God and the world. That is what the Holy Spirit does. He takes me along on the journey.
And so it can still be understood today that Trinity Sunday is also "The Feast of the Creeds". Evangelical and Catholic Christians celebrate it. The Feast of Trinity has only existed since the 10th century, and for a long time there were differences as to whether it should be celebrated at all.
In our hymnal we find two confessions: the apostolic and the Nicene. We have just heard one of them, and the other was spoken earlier in the congregation.
The confirmands learn the apostolic confession of faith like generations before them. It is important because it is our calling card as Christians.
But God is nevertheless much more than we can say with the Creed.
Paul makes it clear in the sermon text: God cannot be grasped. Not with words, not with the mind - simply unfathomable. He is always one thought ahead of us. He is greater than we can think. With the sermon text and our confession of faith, the dilemma for us humans becomes very clear when we ask about God.
On the one hand, the realisation that God is greater than we can imagine. For the questions Paul asks do not really want to be answered. For of course it is not possible for any human being to investigate the meaning of God, to be his counsellor or to demand something back from God. Everything dissolves in infinite greatness. This leaves us humans with wonder, but also with many questions.
On the other hand is the Creed. In brief sentences, it summarises what there is to say about God and his saving action. From the creation of the world to eternal life, everything is named. The incomprehensible in Paul is put together in the Creed like an instruction leaflet on life and faith for us humans. And we speak it. The Christians of the early church in the fourth century agreed on these sentences to assure themselves of their faith. They have been passed down through the centuries.
With the Creed we pronounce what Paul verbalises and expresses in a hymn of praise to God, God remains a mystery to us.
When we confess our faith, we are saying: God does not only leave question marks, but he is a God who has a relationship with himself in Father, Son and Holy Spirit and who wants a relationship with us and who has revealed himself to mankind.
With the words of our Creed we open a door into the history of God's salvation. By saying it together, we break open the limitations of our words and give God in his diversity a larger space again. Words alone would limit God. The great thing about the Creed is not the words spoken, but the hope and faith that the Creed brings to us. Speaking in community opens up this new dimension of the community of faith - globally and especially through all times.
A well-known theologian, Fulbert Steffenski, has compared faith and its traditions to a tent. Many people have been guests in this tent, have woven their hopes into it and their experience with God. They have carried on their faith, sung songs and said prayers, and through this the diversity and greatness of God shines forth. And I too am a guest in this tent of faith - and with every stay it becomes my home. I am a guest, but also a host and hostess. I invite you with my stories, songs and prayers. The tent offers me protection and comfort, yet allows me to be mobile. It is permeable to the hopes that others had before me. And there is still room for my hopes and for the greatness of God.
In everything we say, sing and confess about God, the faith experiences of other people resonate. So let us think big of God and also of our common faith and not only ask questions, but also put exclamation marks with our lives.
We can do that, because God also thinks big of us. From the first day of creation to the resurrection on the last day. Amen