The Three-In-One God
Sermon
It's said that one of the things which distinguishes human beings from animals, is the use of humour. On most occasions, when a small group of people gather together for almost any reason, humour is part of the agenda.
On moving to a new area and meeting new people, many of those who start as strangers to each other tentatively experiment with mild attempts at humour, often in the form of gentle teasing. As the relationship develops so confidence develops too, so that really good friends can say almost anything to each other, and can even appear to outsiders to be quite rude.
One test of how well you feel you know someone is whether or not you dare to tease them.
Although Nicodemus came to Jesus by night in today's gospel story, it perhaps wasn't the first time they'd met, for their conversation reveals an intimacy which perhaps wouldn't have been possible between strangers.
When other Pharisees began their conversations with Jesus by saying something like, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher sent from God," the implication is that they're trying to trick Jesus into saying something stupid or blasphemous, and Jesus treats them accordingly (eg. Matthew 12:38, 19:3). But when Nicodemus begins his conversation that way, Jesus treat the question seriously for he knows it's a genuine inquiry.
And as the conversation develops, so Jesus introduces a teasing note. They've been talking about being born again, and Jesus deliberately uses a word which can also be interpreted as being born from above. But Nicodemus misses the play on words and hearing only, "You must be born again", is unable to cope with that concept. "How can anyone enter his mother's womb a second time?" he asks. So Jesus teases him. Jesus responds with, "You a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?" You can almost see him smile as he says it.
That would have been a risky remark to have made to a complete stranger, for it sounds quite rude and the stranger would probably have taken offence at that point and left in high dudgeon. But Nicodemus quietly listened to Jesus' words and we're left to assume that he began to get a glimmer of understanding of what being "born from above" might be about.
Jesus begins to explain his words. Being born again and being born from above really does have two meanings, he says. We all have a physical birth, and that's a birth which is quite literally from water since the waters break at the time of birth. But those who want to experience eternal life must be born again in a different sort of way; they must be born from above, from God. And so those who wish to experience eternal life must be born of water, the physical birth, and of Spirit, a new birth in God.
Jesus goes on to talk about this new birth from above, again using a word which has a double meaning. He uses a word which means both "Spirit" and "wind". "The wind blows where it will," Jesus says, "and so it is with the Spirit."
Like the wind, the Spirit is not under the control of human beings. Human beings can detect its presence, but cannot chart its precise movements. The Spirit is a mystery beyond human knowledge and control.
There was no doctrine of the Trinity, the three-in-one God, when John's gospel was written, but this passage about Nicodemus brings together God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So the seeds of the doctrine of the Trinity are explained by Jesus in this passage.
The doctrine of the Trinity didn't fully emerge until 300 years later, in the fourth century. In the earliest days of the church, during the first three centuries of Christianity, there was a huge amount of confusion over Christian doctrine, giving rise to a great many heresies.
Most of those heresies concerned Jesus, for during those 300 years his fame really spread abroad, and Christianity grew enormously. It wasn't until a century of so later that people began to think very much about the Holy Spirit.
Some people claimed that Jesus didn't really die on the cross; others claimed that he did die on the cross but that he didn't feel any pain. Others thought that Jesus was completely human with no divinity whatsoever, and yet others thought the absolute reverse - that he was completely divine with no humanity whatsoever.
In the year 325 a council of all the bishops was called at Nicea to put an end once and for all to all the heresies and the bickering. And so the Nicean creed was born, and was signed by all but two of the bishops. And we continue to say it largely unaltered to this day in our church services.
And the Nicean Creed was the first formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, the first time the Church came to any sort of agreement over God the Father - source of all being, God the Son - Jesus the Word of God or the human face of God, and God the Holy Spirit - the God within each human being.
Human beings have struggled ever since to make sense of the doctrine, for how can there be three distinct and separate Gods, yet only one?
One way of making sense of it is to say that God the source of being acts either as Father, or as Son, or as Holy Spirit. But that's actually an ancient heresy, for all three may be present and active at the same time.
Another way of making sense of it is to say that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subject to God the source of all being, the Father. But that's another ancient heresy, for Christianity says that all three are equal and co-eternal.
Perhaps in the end there's no making sense of it, for if we believe in the divinity of Jesus we simply have to accept the doctrine of the Trinity as a mystery, as one of the many paradoxes of Christianity.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each complete in themselves and separate from each other, yet they are each fully God and fully one, with no separation at all between them.
And it's good to struggle with these mysteries from time to time, for we humans can relate to God and receive from him not just in the black and white of one, but in the technicolour of three. And that makes our lives much richer and more rewarding.
So on this Trinity Sunday let's rejoice in God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Who knows, maybe the doctrine of the Trinity says something about God's sense of humour!
On moving to a new area and meeting new people, many of those who start as strangers to each other tentatively experiment with mild attempts at humour, often in the form of gentle teasing. As the relationship develops so confidence develops too, so that really good friends can say almost anything to each other, and can even appear to outsiders to be quite rude.
One test of how well you feel you know someone is whether or not you dare to tease them.
Although Nicodemus came to Jesus by night in today's gospel story, it perhaps wasn't the first time they'd met, for their conversation reveals an intimacy which perhaps wouldn't have been possible between strangers.
When other Pharisees began their conversations with Jesus by saying something like, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher sent from God," the implication is that they're trying to trick Jesus into saying something stupid or blasphemous, and Jesus treats them accordingly (eg. Matthew 12:38, 19:3). But when Nicodemus begins his conversation that way, Jesus treat the question seriously for he knows it's a genuine inquiry.
And as the conversation develops, so Jesus introduces a teasing note. They've been talking about being born again, and Jesus deliberately uses a word which can also be interpreted as being born from above. But Nicodemus misses the play on words and hearing only, "You must be born again", is unable to cope with that concept. "How can anyone enter his mother's womb a second time?" he asks. So Jesus teases him. Jesus responds with, "You a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?" You can almost see him smile as he says it.
That would have been a risky remark to have made to a complete stranger, for it sounds quite rude and the stranger would probably have taken offence at that point and left in high dudgeon. But Nicodemus quietly listened to Jesus' words and we're left to assume that he began to get a glimmer of understanding of what being "born from above" might be about.
Jesus begins to explain his words. Being born again and being born from above really does have two meanings, he says. We all have a physical birth, and that's a birth which is quite literally from water since the waters break at the time of birth. But those who want to experience eternal life must be born again in a different sort of way; they must be born from above, from God. And so those who wish to experience eternal life must be born of water, the physical birth, and of Spirit, a new birth in God.
Jesus goes on to talk about this new birth from above, again using a word which has a double meaning. He uses a word which means both "Spirit" and "wind". "The wind blows where it will," Jesus says, "and so it is with the Spirit."
Like the wind, the Spirit is not under the control of human beings. Human beings can detect its presence, but cannot chart its precise movements. The Spirit is a mystery beyond human knowledge and control.
There was no doctrine of the Trinity, the three-in-one God, when John's gospel was written, but this passage about Nicodemus brings together God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So the seeds of the doctrine of the Trinity are explained by Jesus in this passage.
The doctrine of the Trinity didn't fully emerge until 300 years later, in the fourth century. In the earliest days of the church, during the first three centuries of Christianity, there was a huge amount of confusion over Christian doctrine, giving rise to a great many heresies.
Most of those heresies concerned Jesus, for during those 300 years his fame really spread abroad, and Christianity grew enormously. It wasn't until a century of so later that people began to think very much about the Holy Spirit.
Some people claimed that Jesus didn't really die on the cross; others claimed that he did die on the cross but that he didn't feel any pain. Others thought that Jesus was completely human with no divinity whatsoever, and yet others thought the absolute reverse - that he was completely divine with no humanity whatsoever.
In the year 325 a council of all the bishops was called at Nicea to put an end once and for all to all the heresies and the bickering. And so the Nicean creed was born, and was signed by all but two of the bishops. And we continue to say it largely unaltered to this day in our church services.
And the Nicean Creed was the first formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, the first time the Church came to any sort of agreement over God the Father - source of all being, God the Son - Jesus the Word of God or the human face of God, and God the Holy Spirit - the God within each human being.
Human beings have struggled ever since to make sense of the doctrine, for how can there be three distinct and separate Gods, yet only one?
One way of making sense of it is to say that God the source of being acts either as Father, or as Son, or as Holy Spirit. But that's actually an ancient heresy, for all three may be present and active at the same time.
Another way of making sense of it is to say that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subject to God the source of all being, the Father. But that's another ancient heresy, for Christianity says that all three are equal and co-eternal.
Perhaps in the end there's no making sense of it, for if we believe in the divinity of Jesus we simply have to accept the doctrine of the Trinity as a mystery, as one of the many paradoxes of Christianity.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each complete in themselves and separate from each other, yet they are each fully God and fully one, with no separation at all between them.
And it's good to struggle with these mysteries from time to time, for we humans can relate to God and receive from him not just in the black and white of one, but in the technicolour of three. And that makes our lives much richer and more rewarding.
So on this Trinity Sunday let's rejoice in God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Who knows, maybe the doctrine of the Trinity says something about God's sense of humour!
