The Holy Trinity - 6-7-09

The Church Season of Pentecost
The Holy Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (June 7, 2009)

“The Holy Trinity”

Readings:
Psalm 29
Isaiah 6:1-7
Romans 11:33-36
John 3:1-17

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 3rd chapter of St. John, especially the following verse:

John 3:1-17 (NIV)

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [Jesus said] 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

You’ve been there before. You’ve been talking with someone about something that was absolutely clear. Your explanation was flawless. Your logic impeccable, very detailed, well thought out and right to the point. In fact, you were quite proud that you could explain something so clearly that anyone would know exactly what you’re talking about. Maybe succinct is the best term, you could think of, short, precise, no wasted words. And then you finish your sentence and the person, looks at you with kind of a sheepish look, amazed at your words, but a little too embarrassed to come right out and say, “What in the world were you just talking about?” So being polite you ask a simple question. A probing question meant to get them back on track with your words and thoughts. So, you say it in another way, but the result is the same, they’re lost, and they don’t understand neither your words nor your meaning.

Welcome to the world of Nicodemus. Because when Jesus said to him, “8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”(v. 8) So Nicodemus asked, “How can this be?”(v. 9) Nicodemus, didn’t understand. What Jesus had said was outside of the box for Nicodemus, totally beyond his realm of thinking. What he did know was, that Jesus was a teacher. And he said that Jesus was from God, because there was proof. Or at least he enough proof that something beyond the realm of man had been achieved by this man Jesus Christ. So Nicodemus said Jesus was from God, because he had concrete evidence, something which he saw, something which he had heard. So if you think about it, Nicodemus would fit in well with us. He could have well been born 2000 years later, somewhere in the United States, probably in Missouri, in the “Show me” state. He could see that Jesus was from God, but somehow couldn’t understand how he needed to be born of the Spirit, and so neither could he grasp the idea of,

The Holy Trinity

We too are a lot like Nicodemus, having a hard time understanding the necessity of rebirth in the Spirit. Having a hard time understanding the reality of the Triune God, the Holy Trinity. Nicodemus knew of God, and he knew of Jesus, but that third part about being born in the Spirit put him over the edge. But that was okay, whether he knew it or not, he was being moved by the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not embarrass Nicodemus, Jesus taught him using something that he and anyone else could grasp with their minds. The example Jesus used was something everyone takes for granted, the wind. Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”(v. 8)

Everyone can relate to that. We can hear the sound that the air makes as it rushes through the trees, or how it may make our flags snap, how it fills the sails in a sailboat, how it takes away our hats, and ruins our umbrellas. All of examples may not span all of history, but you get the idea, there are things that we can’t see that still exist. Things which can’t be grasped by reaching out and grabbing them, but they are there just the same.

So Jesus takes time to bring Nicodemus and us along to encourage him in the faith. Jesus tells of all the main central Christian truths: The Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit); the necessity of rebirth through baptism; that Jesus is true God and true man in one person; that the crucifixion of Jesus which saves all men; that the new life of the believer compared with the dead life of the unbeliever; that faith saves, unbelief damns; and that Jesus is the Light of the world.

Most of you hear those things explaining who God is and you know them because you’ve heard them all before and they’re nothing new to you. But many people in our world lack any knowledge of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Though we try to explain the Trinity with analogies from mathematics, or forms of water, truly it is very simple as someone said long ago, “We were enemies of God, yet He sent Christ, His most precious possession, for the sake of such enemies. We had gone astray and were unaware of our great affliction, and even less in search of help; but God came to our aid without our desiring it. We had fled from Him, but He has called us back. This must, indeed be great love. His beloved Son came into the world, suffered death for our sins, gave His Father perfect obedience, was lifted onto the wooden cross [like the brass serpent [Numbers 21], and thereby obtained the forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal bliss. And thus the lost treasure has been restored (2:19).”(Johann Gerhard)

Whether you understand what you’ve heard or not, God the Father loved you so much that when He created you that, “He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(Jn 3:16) That is the true love of the one God.

Whether you understand what you’ve heard or not, God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ was stripped, beaten, and crucified so that your sins would be forgiven. His love cuts so deep that His blood continues to be poured out, and His body continues to be given to us on this altar, even on this very day. That is the true love of the one God.

Whether you understand what you’ve heard or not, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. And the Holy Spirit, made you His own in the water and Words of your baptism. He continues to, “call (you) by the Gospel, enlighten (you) with His gifts, sanctify and keep (you) in the true faith.”(SC) That is the true love of God.

All of this is the epitome of the very simple concept of the Trinity, or the complete devotion, for you, from God in three persons. God knows of all your pain, your suffering, weaknesses, and yes even all your sins. He hears your prayers. He hears your confessions, He gives you forgiveness. He gives eternal life for all who have been reborn in the waters of Holy Baptism. He shows His love in giving His Son to die on the cross. So even if God’s love for you is so incredibly great, that it is hard for you to understand, know that His love is genuine. For the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit one God bring you His love. Jesus said, “So it is with everyone born of the Spirit,” and so it is for you. Amen

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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