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.
When we were Baptized, we received the Holy Spirit. When you were Baptized, the pastor said," I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. "
And then later on in the service, the pastor says "the child’s name, "child of God you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever", and while saying these words the pastor makes the sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead.
At that point, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. and we have the rest of our lives to live in that Spirit and allow it to do it works.
Being born of the Spirit is not an act which we accomplish, but it is an act that God does on our behalf.
"Being born from above is not something we do. We are not the "actors". It is something done to us (by God). In a similar way, being born the first time was not something we did. Our physical births were caused by powers far beyond our infantile abilities and understanding. Being born is something that happens to us from powers outside of ourselves."1
Being born again is not something which we do, it is the Holy Spirit which does the action. It is the wind of the Spirit which is active in our lives. Unlike the normal wind, this wind is something which we cannot feel, but we must believe, have faith that it is active in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is not some vague idea, but as Lutherans we believe that is it part of the Holy Trinity. The three faces or persons of God. God the father, who created, God the redeemer in Jesus Christ who saved, and God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies, or makes us Holy.
The Holy Spirit is not a thing or an it, the Holy Spirit is a person, the third part of the Trinity of God. That person then resides in each of us as we live out our faith lives.
The Holy Spirit is not a thing, or a wind, or something that fills us like water, but the Holy Spirit is a person, the third part of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is not just an influence. So many seem to talk about being filled with the Spirit as if the Holy Spirit were some kind of liquid. They talk about having an ’empty vessel’, an empty jug, and having the Spirit poured in. That is entirely wrong because it forgets that the Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not a substance, not a liquid, and not a power like electricity. We all tend to fall into this error. We even tend to refer to the Holy Spirit as ’it’, forgetting that the Holy Spirit is the third Person in the blessed Holy Trinity."2
When we cry to God for anything it is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity that bears witness with our own Spirit that allows us to cry to God, to "Daddy God". "Mother God".
When we say that the Spirit himself bearing witness, what does that actually mean. It means To give grounds for believing in the existence or presence of
So the third part of the Trinity gives our Spirit the grounds it needs to believe in the God who is three in One.
As we pray to God through the Spirit we are in the words of - Andrew Murray
True prayer is the living experience of the Holy Trinity. The Spirit’s breathing, the Son’s intercession, the Father’s will, these three become one in us.
A son came home from Sunday school and was confused about the Holy Trinity. His conversation with father.
Parent (Dad)
Child (Son)
C: Dad, I got a question.
P: What is it, Son.
C: Well, today in Sunday School, we talked about God.
P: God, huh. Maybe you should talk to your mother.
C: Come on, Dad.
P: Okay, Son, what is your question?
C: Well, our teacher was trying to explain the Trinity, you know, God in three persons?
P: Son, I REALLY think this is a Mom question, don’t you?
C: Dad....
P: All right, what is your question?
C: Well, I guess it is just confusing. I mean, I have never met a Trinity before.
P: What do you mean, Son.
C: Everyone I know is just one person, not three.
P: I see. And this worries you?
C: It’s just confusing, Dad. I mean, who is this Trinity God supposed to be?
P: That is a good question, Son.
C: (PAUSE) Well...
P: Well, what?
C: Don’t you have some wonderful parental insight to help me out, here?
P: Right, well, let me think. God is like H2O, you know, Ice, liquid and steam, all H2O, but different make-ups...
C: So God is like water?
P: Well, not exactly. Oh, okay. Let’s try this...your Mother, for instance... She is one person but she is a mother, a wife and a daughter...
C: So Mom is God?
P: Let’s not go there, Son. Let me think....
C: What about the beauty of a flower, or the smile of a baby?
P: What? How is that like Trinity?
C: I don’t know, but when I see something like that, I know that God must have had a hand in it.
P: I would agree with you there, Son.
C: But, which one?
P: Which one what?
C: Which God is involved in something like that?
P: I am not following you here, Son.
C: Well, if God is three persons, which person makes the flowers bloom? Which person breathes new life into a baby?
P: Now wait, remember we have a rule in this house. Mom answers all questions about babies, okay?
C: Not just babies, Dad, everything. Which person paints the colors of the sunset? Which person listens to me when no one else will? Which one?
P: Wow. These are good questions, Son.
C: Which one is it? And how do we know? And who decides? And do they ever argue with each other?
Do they live in the same place? Can you see them all, or just some of them? How can you tell them apart? Are they identical? Is it just three, or could it be four, or five, or more?
P: (LONG PAUSE - staring at Child) Son, the Trinity is like an apple, it has a core, the meat of the apple and the skin...
C: Dad?
P: Or maybe, like a three-leafed clover?
C: You don’t know do you?
P: Or a triangle?
C: I’ll go ask Mom, or whoever she is!
P: Or three interlocking circles....?3
As the child in the conversation says:
C: Which one is it? And how do we know? And who decides? And do they ever argue with each other?
Which one is it. It is all one and three at the same time. The Trinity is not a vague doctrinal experience, but it is personal. The Trinity is God relating to each of us on a personal level. The Trinity is not some puzzle to be solved, but a relationship to be lived.
Which one is it? It is all three.
How do we know? We have a relationship with the God who wills, the Son who intercedes and the Spirit who lives in us .
What name is the name of my God?
I told you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
But that is three.
Yes, but it’s only one.
Amen
1 Brian Stoffregen Faith Lutheran Church, 1000 D St., Marysville, CA 95901 e-mail: b.stoffregen@worldnet.att.net
2 "Life In The Spirit - in Marriage Home and Work" - Lloyd-Jones, pg 47 1973 Baker Books from www.sermoncentral.com Contributed by: Clark Tanner
3 This was written by Charlie Woodward Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church Westerville, Ohio
