THEY AREN'T JUST NICE WORDS
The Beginning and the End
Last Sunday we used the order of worship called “Matins” or “Morning Praise.” And because of that, the final words you heard were from 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” The week before that we began with those same words as we followed the order of worship called “The Service of Word and Sacrament.” The week before that, guided by “The Service of the Word,” we also began with 2 Corinthians 13:14. Whenever we have a baptism the first words to be said in that order of worship are the exact same thing. If we were to have an evening worship service and follow the historical pattern of prayer and praise called “Vespers” or “Evening Praise,” that too ends with these famous words from the end of Paul’s second letter to the congregation in Corinth.
And it’s not just a coincidence, of course. 2 Corinthians 13:14 didn’t just happen to be included in all of these different forms of worship by chance. Nor are these words used so often at the beginning and at the end of worship services because those early Christians just weren’t creative enough to come up with something different. No, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you” aren’t just traditional words. They aren’t just nice words. They aren’t well-wishes for the future. They aren’t the Scripture’s way of saying, “Good luck; I hope everything turns out the way you want it to.” And they aren’t simply cute phrases strung together that sound good at the end of a biblical letter. These words are very important words. These words compose a wonderful and irrevocable blessing from the Triune God himself: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so it is no wonder that Christians for the last two millennia have used these words to begin and to end many of their worship services throughout the world - and why we still use them today. There is hardly a better way to start a worship service in God’s house than with his blessing. And there is hardly a better way to conclude a gathering in God’s presence than with this same guarantee.
God’s Guarantee
And that’s exactly what this blessing is: a guarantee. When Scripture says and when I repeat that “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you” I’m not stating and the Lord himself is certainly not suggesting that the grace and the love and the fellowship of our God might be with you or could be with you or may be with you. It is not something I am wishing for you but don’t really know if it will happen or not. When I recite 2 Corinthians 13:14 at the beginning or at the end of a worship service, I am not really saying anything at all. It is really the Lord proclaiming that the grace and the love and the fellowship of the Triune God will certainly be with you, will most definitely be with you, will always be with you and will never fail. This is God’s guarantee to you. This is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit putting his hands on your shoulders and saying, “I will never let you down. I will never leave you on your own. I will never fail to be there when you need me. My grace and my love and my fellowship will follow you wherever you go and you can count on that for as long as you live on this earth.”
These words aren’t just nice words. These words are a summary of all of God’s promises all at once. These words are God’s pledge to you, his vow that he will remain loyal to you no matter what happens in this life and no matter how you treat him.
A Lesson in Loyalty
We can learn a lesson from this kind of loyalty, can’t we? Because God’s loyalty to us is constant and unchanging. It is fully dedicated and unwavering. It is committed without any qualifications. Our loyalty to God on the other hand? I don’t think “constant” and “unchanging,” “fully dedicated” and “unwavering,” or “committed without qualifications” would be an accurate description of our loyalty in any way. Because sometimes we are faithful children of our Father, but sometimes we are not. Sometimes Jesus is our number one priority, but sometimes he is not. Sometimes we listen to and follow and believe what the Holy Spirit says to us in his Word, but sometimes we do not. And so let’s be realistic here: God the Father can’t count on us to care about him as much as he has cared about us. God the Son can’t count on us to give to him just as he has sacrificed everything for us. God the Holy Spirit can’t count on us to do for him as much as he has done for us. Our God knows us too well! Our God understands us too thoroughly from top to bottom to ever assume that he can depend on us for anything - let alone to be the Christians we are supposed to be. “The LORD knows the thoughts of man,” Psalm 94 says, “He knows that they are futile [pointless, worthless].” And because our God knows us inside and out he is never surprised by our spiritual inconsistencies and lack of dependability. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. He is used to us letting him down.
Which is completely opposite of the way it ought to be! We are the ones that should be loyal to him for everything he has done; he has no reason to be loyal to us! He gets nothing from his loyalty, he gains nothing, he benefits nothing. We are the ones who should be making promises and pledges and guarantees to our God out of thanks and praise and sheer joy; he doesn’t owe us a single thing; he’s not obligated to even speak to us for that matter! And yet here he is as our Creator pledging himself to a corrupted creation. Here he is as the crucified, risen, and ascended King, reigning over unruly and rebellious subjects. Here he is as the one who purified us through faith and brought us into his family, all the while taking care of selfish and stubborn children. We do not treat our Creator, our King, our Caregiver very well at all. We are a little bit disobedient and disrespectful and downright defiant at times.
The Gospel in 3-D
And so what does our God do? When we are rebellious and disrespectful and defiant, what does the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit do? Jesus turns to us in his Word and he quietly says, “I forgive you. And the grace that I have shown you through my death is still with you; it is always with you; it is forever with you.” And the Father turns to us in his Word and he patiently says, “I forgive you. And the love that I have showered on you throughout your life is still with you; it is always with you; it is forever with you.” And the Holy Spirit turns to us in his Word and passionately says, “I forgive you. And the fellowship I have brought you into through faith in your Savior is still with you; it is always with you; it is forever with you.” And the reason why our Triune God says that to us is because he made a promise to us. And the promise of our Triune God does not change. His pledge is permanent. His vow will never be taken back. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit will be with you.” These aren’t just nice words. They are dependable gospel promises. But they aren’t just gospel promises either. They are past gospel facts that are still in effect. These words are really the gospel in 3-D.
That’s the popular thing again in theatres right now: 3-D movies, three dimensional objects and characters that seem to jump out of the screen at you. It doesn’t appear to be a two dimensional flat screen that you are watching but a vivid in-your-face experience that is happening all around you. This blessing from 2 Corinthians 13:14 is the gospel in three dimensions. It is the same picture, the same Good News of salvation that you already know, but it is the gospel with three sides to it: a vivid in-your-face experience that is happening all around you. Because the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is the gospel shown to us in Jesus’ birth, his life, his suffering, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and now in his reign. From another angle the “love of God” is displayed in his creation, the giving up of his Son, his continual guidance and protection, his constant direction and his Fatherly care. And then from a third angle the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is vividly displayed in the waters of baptism and the meal of the Lord’s Supper, the faith he has supplied us with through the Word of God and the peace, joy, comfort, and encouragement that he gives us every day through that same holy book. They aren’t three different gospels; and it isn’t a new gospel. It is the same old gospel that you have known for years - just three persons of the Triune God working together in three different ways to make it happen. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” These aren’t just nice words! They are words of pure gospel. And they aren’t just church words either. They are words to take home with you every day.
They aren’t Just Church Words
It’s true that we usually only hear 2 Corinthians 13:14 at the beginning or at the end of a worship service. But they aren’t meant to stay here. They aren’t meant to be left floating somewhere up near the florescent lights of a storefront or in the rafters of a church building. These words, this blessing, is meant to be grasped by the heart and taken home in the soul. This promise of your Triune God is meant to remind you every day of what he accomplished for your salvation in the past and what he promises to do for you in the future. It is meant to comfort you when you are sad, to forgive you when you sin, to encourage you when you are down, and to give you hope when this life is not worth living. These words are some of the greatest words in all of Scripture. Some of the simplest. Some of the most familiar. But some of the most powerful. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” These aren’t just nice words. These are the words and the promises and the gospel accomplishments of your Triune God. These are the words of your salvation. Enjoy them every time they are spoken here in church. And carry them with you every day of your life.
Amen.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” - 2 Cor. 13:14
The Beginning and the End
Last Sunday we used the order of worship called “Matins” or “Morning Praise.” And because of that, the final words you heard were from 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” The week before that we began with those same words as we followed the order of worship called “The Service of Word and Sacrament.” The week before that, guided by “The Service of the Word,” we also began with 2 Corinthians 13:14. Whenever we have a baptism the first words to be said in that order of worship are the exact same thing. If we were to have an evening worship service and follow the historical pattern of prayer and praise called “Vespers” or “Evening Praise,” that too ends with these famous words from the end of Paul’s second letter to the congregation in Corinth.
And it’s not just a coincidence, of course. 2 Corinthians 13:14 didn’t just happen to be included in all of these different forms of worship by chance. Nor are these words used so often at the beginning and at the end of worship services because those early Christians just weren’t creative enough to come up with something different. No, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you” aren’t just traditional words. They aren’t just nice words. They aren’t well-wishes for the future. They aren’t the Scripture’s way of saying, “Good luck; I hope everything turns out the way you want it to.” And they aren’t simply cute phrases strung together that sound good at the end of a biblical letter. These words are very important words. These words compose a wonderful and irrevocable blessing from the Triune God himself: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so it is no wonder that Christians for the last two millennia have used these words to begin and to end many of their worship services throughout the world - and why we still use them today. There is hardly a better way to start a worship service in God’s house than with his blessing. And there is hardly a better way to conclude a gathering in God’s presence than with this same guarantee.
God’s Guarantee
And that’s exactly what this blessing is: a guarantee. When Scripture says and when I repeat that “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you” I’m not stating and the Lord himself is certainly not suggesting that the grace and the love and the fellowship of our God might be with you or could be with you or may be with you. It is not something I am wishing for you but don’t really know if it will happen or not. When I recite 2 Corinthians 13:14 at the beginning or at the end of a worship service, I am not really saying anything at all. It is really the Lord proclaiming that the grace and the love and the fellowship of the Triune God will certainly be with you, will most definitely be with you, will always be with you and will never fail. This is God’s guarantee to you. This is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit putting his hands on your shoulders and saying, “I will never let you down. I will never leave you on your own. I will never fail to be there when you need me. My grace and my love and my fellowship will follow you wherever you go and you can count on that for as long as you live on this earth.”
These words aren’t just nice words. These words are a summary of all of God’s promises all at once. These words are God’s pledge to you, his vow that he will remain loyal to you no matter what happens in this life and no matter how you treat him.
A Lesson in Loyalty
We can learn a lesson from this kind of loyalty, can’t we? Because God’s loyalty to us is constant and unchanging. It is fully dedicated and unwavering. It is committed without any qualifications. Our loyalty to God on the other hand? I don’t think “constant” and “unchanging,” “fully dedicated” and “unwavering,” or “committed without qualifications” would be an accurate description of our loyalty in any way. Because sometimes we are faithful children of our Father, but sometimes we are not. Sometimes Jesus is our number one priority, but sometimes he is not. Sometimes we listen to and follow and believe what the Holy Spirit says to us in his Word, but sometimes we do not. And so let’s be realistic here: God the Father can’t count on us to care about him as much as he has cared about us. God the Son can’t count on us to give to him just as he has sacrificed everything for us. God the Holy Spirit can’t count on us to do for him as much as he has done for us. Our God knows us too well! Our God understands us too thoroughly from top to bottom to ever assume that he can depend on us for anything - let alone to be the Christians we are supposed to be. “The LORD knows the thoughts of man,” Psalm 94 says, “He knows that they are futile [pointless, worthless].” And because our God knows us inside and out he is never surprised by our spiritual inconsistencies and lack of dependability. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. He is used to us letting him down.
Which is completely opposite of the way it ought to be! We are the ones that should be loyal to him for everything he has done; he has no reason to be loyal to us! He gets nothing from his loyalty, he gains nothing, he benefits nothing. We are the ones who should be making promises and pledges and guarantees to our God out of thanks and praise and sheer joy; he doesn’t owe us a single thing; he’s not obligated to even speak to us for that matter! And yet here he is as our Creator pledging himself to a corrupted creation. Here he is as the crucified, risen, and ascended King, reigning over unruly and rebellious subjects. Here he is as the one who purified us through faith and brought us into his family, all the while taking care of selfish and stubborn children. We do not treat our Creator, our King, our Caregiver very well at all. We are a little bit disobedient and disrespectful and downright defiant at times.
The Gospel in 3-D
And so what does our God do? When we are rebellious and disrespectful and defiant, what does the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit do? Jesus turns to us in his Word and he quietly says, “I forgive you. And the grace that I have shown you through my death is still with you; it is always with you; it is forever with you.” And the Father turns to us in his Word and he patiently says, “I forgive you. And the love that I have showered on you throughout your life is still with you; it is always with you; it is forever with you.” And the Holy Spirit turns to us in his Word and passionately says, “I forgive you. And the fellowship I have brought you into through faith in your Savior is still with you; it is always with you; it is forever with you.” And the reason why our Triune God says that to us is because he made a promise to us. And the promise of our Triune God does not change. His pledge is permanent. His vow will never be taken back. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit will be with you.” These aren’t just nice words. They are dependable gospel promises. But they aren’t just gospel promises either. They are past gospel facts that are still in effect. These words are really the gospel in 3-D.
That’s the popular thing again in theatres right now: 3-D movies, three dimensional objects and characters that seem to jump out of the screen at you. It doesn’t appear to be a two dimensional flat screen that you are watching but a vivid in-your-face experience that is happening all around you. This blessing from 2 Corinthians 13:14 is the gospel in three dimensions. It is the same picture, the same Good News of salvation that you already know, but it is the gospel with three sides to it: a vivid in-your-face experience that is happening all around you. Because the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is the gospel shown to us in Jesus’ birth, his life, his suffering, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and now in his reign. From another angle the “love of God” is displayed in his creation, the giving up of his Son, his continual guidance and protection, his constant direction and his Fatherly care. And then from a third angle the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is vividly displayed in the waters of baptism and the meal of the Lord’s Supper, the faith he has supplied us with through the Word of God and the peace, joy, comfort, and encouragement that he gives us every day through that same holy book. They aren’t three different gospels; and it isn’t a new gospel. It is the same old gospel that you have known for years - just three persons of the Triune God working together in three different ways to make it happen. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” These aren’t just nice words! They are words of pure gospel. And they aren’t just church words either. They are words to take home with you every day.
They aren’t Just Church Words
It’s true that we usually only hear 2 Corinthians 13:14 at the beginning or at the end of a worship service. But they aren’t meant to stay here. They aren’t meant to be left floating somewhere up near the florescent lights of a storefront or in the rafters of a church building. These words, this blessing, is meant to be grasped by the heart and taken home in the soul. This promise of your Triune God is meant to remind you every day of what he accomplished for your salvation in the past and what he promises to do for you in the future. It is meant to comfort you when you are sad, to forgive you when you sin, to encourage you when you are down, and to give you hope when this life is not worth living. These words are some of the greatest words in all of Scripture. Some of the simplest. Some of the most familiar. But some of the most powerful. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” These aren’t just nice words. These are the words and the promises and the gospel accomplishments of your Triune God. These are the words of your salvation. Enjoy them every time they are spoken here in church. And carry them with you every day of your life.
Amen.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” - 2 Cor. 13:14
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