The liturgical calendar is a widely used pattern of organizing worship around biblical seasons throughout the year. It grew incrementally until it was in place by the medieval period, and has maintained that same basic form to this day. It began with the transition from the Jewish Old Testament Sabbath to the Christian New Testament Lord’s Day. By the second century, the biblical accounts of Jesus’ Passion Week had led to the addition of the Easter Season, and by the fourth century the same had taken place with regard to a season celebrating Jesus’ birth.
In its most common form today, this church year calendar begins with Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Following the sequence in the Gospels and Acts leads to the Paschal season of Palm Sunday to Easter, and then to Ascension Day and Pentecost Sunday. As the calendar grew during the centuries, there came the addition of saints’ days and other special festivals, especially in the Western church. In addition, there are now often included prescribed Scripture readings in worship from a lectionary.
Beside the Roman Catholic Church, some form of this calendar is followed in America by more liturgical bodies, such as Episcopal, Anglican, Lutheran, and some congregations within other mainline denominations like Methodist and Presbyterian. But in general, this tightly regimented structure has been rejected by evangelical bodies as being too restrictive, and without biblical warrant. A part of the reason for this has been the desire to avoid prescribed preaching texts in favor of expository preaching through books of the Bible as chosen by the pastor.
But even when the whole calendar is avoided, the vast majority of churches will utilize some of those historically recognized seasons that do follow the biblical accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. And so it will not be unusual in a “non-liturgical” evangelical church to find the observance of Advent and Christmas, along with Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter. But if churches find it acceptable to observe those important biblical events, why not include other just as important biblical events as Ascension and Pentecost?
In the liturgical calendar, Trinity Sunday follows Pentecost Sunday on the next Lord’s Day. While not related to a specific biblical event like those of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, it affords a good opportunity to remind ourselves and to learn more about the biblical revelation of the Holy Trinity. We tend to take this for granted as one of the basics of Christian theology, without frequently considering what a glorious and valuable dimension this truth adds to our appreciation of our redemption.
While the doctrine of the Trinity is not simple, it can be simply stated. We have this from the 17th century Westminster Shorter Catechism, question number 6. “There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” We see this formula from Jesus in the Great Commission as we are to baptize and teach in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At Jesus’ baptism, we are told that the Father spoke from heaven to the Son standing in the river while the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. And that same Jesus said, “I and the Father are one … if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” The Trinity is a great mystery, but an essential and glorious part of biblical Christianity.
One of the beautiful dimensions of this doctrine comes from considering what these three divine Persons were doing from all eternity, before the creation of the universe. They were not pacing around in heaven, waiting for the time when creation was to take place. In fact, there was no such a thing as time, since time was one of things God created; He lives outside of time. No, the three persons (truly persons!) were enjoying each other. Such is the infinite greatness of their personalities that they could have such joy simply by interacting with one another. What does that suggest about what will bring us such great joy in eternity?
One other dimension of the beauty of the reality of the Trinity is the way the Bible describes the unique role of each in our salvation. We find this in one long sentence in Ephesians chapter one. It was the Father who chose us before the foundation of the world. It was the Son who redeemed us by His shed blood. And it was the Holy Spirit who sealed that redemption in our hearts by causing us to be born again.
And so on Trinity Sunday, what hymn might we sing? A good hymnal will have a section about the Trinity, often beginning with Reginald Heber’s great hymn written for Trinity Sunday, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Another which speaks in successive stanzas to each of the three persons of the Holy Trinity is the great 16th century text (in its earliest form), “All Glory Be to God on High.”
The words were written by Nikolaus Decius (1485 – 1541), a contemporary of Martin Luther. He seems to have been a native of Hof, in Upper Franconia, Bavaria. He studied at the University of Leipzig and obtained a master’s degree at Wittenburg University. He became a monk and was in 1519 Probst of the cloister at Steterburg. Having been convinced of Luther’s positions, he left Steterburg in July, 1522, and moved to Brunswick where he was appointed a master in the St. Katherine and Egidien School. In 1523, he was invited by the burgesses of Stettin to work there as an evangelical preacher along with Paulus von Rhode. He became preacher at the church of St. Nicholas. He was probably instituted by the town council in 1526, when von Rhode was instituted at St. Jacob’s, and by 1535 was recognized as pastor of St. Nicholas. He died in Stettin, Germany, on March 21, 1541. Some suspected he was poisoned by his enemies.
It was in 1523 that he wrote “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr” (“Alone to God in the highest be glory”) a German paraphrase of the Latin “Gloria” that had been adapted by Luther in 1525 in his German mass. Decius’ hymn was first sung on Easter Day on April 5, 1523 at Braunschweig. He adapted the tune from a tenth century Easter chant for the Gloria text. He also wrote the hymn “O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig” (“O Lamb of God, Innocent”). Johann Sebastian Bach used “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr” in the opening chorus of his famous “St. Matthew Passion.” The music for the chorale has been the source of numerous organ chorale preludes by many composers, including not only Bach, but also Felix Mendelssohn, Max Reger, and Sigfrid Karg-Elert. It is Bach’s harmonization that is generally used today. The text was translated into English by Arthur Tozer Russell in the late 19th century.
But the translation most often found in hymnals today is that by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878). She is best known for her translations of German chorale texts, having written more than any other person. They are not only true to the original German words, but also flow in the most beautifully polished lyrical poetic expressions. She is remembered today primarily for these, and her translations are the primary reason for the revival of German chorales in English-speaking churches. Check the indices of authors and translators in modern hymnals, and you will inevitably find a large number of hers. These will include “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” “Now Thank We All Our God,” “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right,” “Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying,” “Soul, Adorn Thyself with Gladness” and “Jesus, Priceless Treasure.”
Educated originally by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and her interest in German hymnody. Her interest in German hymns was sparked by Chevelier Bunsen, the German ambassador to England, who presented her a copy of “Andachtsbuch,” a German devotional book with German hymns, which opened the treasures of German hymnody to her. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. She was a pioneer in promoting women’s rights, and put much of her effort into the encouragement of higher education for women. She also translated biographies of German Christians who promoted ministries to the poor and sick, and compiled a handbook of biographies of German hymn authors in 1869. She died suddenly from heart disease on July 1, 1878, at Monnetier in Savoy, France.
Examining the text now, it is clear that this is a hymn that celebrates the Holy Trinity. With each person of the godhead praised in successive stanzas for His unique work in our redemption.
In Stanza 1, attention is drawn to God in the fullness of the three persons united in their divine oneness as God. What stands out is His providential care for His people, befriending us, protecting us, blessing us, and pouring out His goodness upon us.
All glory be to God on high, Who hath our race befriended!
To us no harm shall now come nigh, The strife at last is ended.
God showeth His good will to men, And peace shall reign on earth again;
O thank Him for His goodness!
In Stanza 2, attention is drawn to the Father. He sits enthroned in the heavens and is worthy of the praise and worship we render to Him. His rule as sovereign is characterized by power, justice, and wisdom. What His will ordains is sure to come to pass.
We praise, we worship Thee, we trust, And give Thee thanks forever,
O Father, that Thy rule is just And wise, and changes never.
Thy boundless pow’r o’er all things reigns, Done is whate’er Thy will ordains:
‘Tis well for us Thou rulest.
In Stanza 3, attention is drawn to the Son. His unique work has been to offer Himself on the cross to atone for all our sins. We can never cease to be amazed that the Lamb of God has been willing to come from the heights of heaven to rescue such unworthy sinners as we.
O Jesus Christ, Thou only Son Of God, Thy heav’nly Father,
Who didst for all our sins atone And Thy lost sheep dost gather.
Thou Lamb of God, to Thee on high From out our depths we sinners cry,
Have mercy on us, Jesus!
In Stanza 4, attention is drawn to the Holy Spirit. His work is to cause us to be born again, applying Jesus’ shed blood to our account, and then to go with us through life as our divine Comforter / Counselor. We need His power to avoid the snares of the devil.
O Holy Ghost, Thou precious Gift, Thou Comforter unfailing,
O’er Satan’s snares our souls uplift And let thy pow’r availing
Avert our woes and calm our dread. For us the Savior’s blood was shed;
We trust in Thee to save us.
Here you can hear this wondrous hymn for Trinity Sunday.