One God, Three Faces

Holy Trinity Sunday

John 3:1-17

"One God, Three Faces"

3:1 ¶ Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him."

3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?"

5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ’You must be born anew.’

8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."

9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can this be?"

10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony.

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

As many of you know, I had my internship in Wisconsin at Chippewa Falls, near Eau Claire, we have returned there many times to visit with friends. As we travel through Minnesota, one of the towns we pass through has a court house in the middle of their square and on top of that building there is clock tower. On the tower is clock, the clock which has four faces, so no matter in which direction you are coming into that town and around that square, you can see the hands and the face of a clock, telling you what time it is. During one trip, I stopped to think whether there are four different clocks running each set of faces and hands, or whether there is one clock somehow running those four faces and hands. It is a mystery, how those faces and hands on that clock tower really work .

At the same time, a thought also popped into my mind, isn’t that the same mystery we have concerning God as three persons, the Trinity. We have God, the father, creator, God, the son, the redeemer, God, the Spirit the comforter, the counselor, the one who makes us holy. We see the three faces of God, but we have only one God. Like that clock on the tower, God has three faces, but only one God. Each face of God tells us something about God. God, the father, creator tells us about the God of the universe, God who creates, God who is powerful. God, the son, Jesus, shows us the love of God, the saving, redeeming quality of God. Then we have God, the Spirit who shows us the God who is with us through all the circumstances of our lives. God the spirit ,who brings the Father and the Son into our very souls, hearts and minds.

This Holy Spirit thing is difficult to understand. Jesus was trying to have Nicodemus the concept of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ’You must be born anew.’

8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."

Jesus is telling Nicodemus that the Spirit which came on Pentecost will cause a person to be born anew. This means that the person will be a new child in Christ.