SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2024 | AFTER PENTECOST - Holy Trinity (B)

Texts

Old Testament Isaiah 6:1–8

Isaiah 6:1–8 NRSV

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Psalm Psalm 29

New Testament Romans 8:12–17

Romans 8:12–17 NRSV

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Gospel John 3:1–17

John 3:1–17 NRSV

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Good morning,

It’s Holy Trinity Sunday and also Memorial weekend - it is a good weekend to remember we are not alone and that even God prefers to be in a loving fellowship, three-in-one.

Neither of these commemorations are in the Bible, not even Holy Trinity, which is something that developed in the early church and there has been a lot of quarreling about it, finding ways to grasp the paradoxical truth of God being in three persons and yet one, defending against accusations that Christianity is polytheistic or that its doctrines do not hold up against much older religions such as Judaism. Holy Trinity is born out of struggle for identity and meaning. It’s hard to be the new kid on the block, even if you come from a well-established family!

And of course, memorial day can also be a struggle for meaning - a war is a failure of us humans to get along, where many are lost and even more are left grieving, trying to find a path forward through their loss. Civil and religious rituals are enacted to facilitate it, however imperfectly.

And again, not that much different from our theologies of who God is - it is imperfect and it will never fully capture the totality of knowledge. There is always more that we are missing or misunderstanding. In the Book of Concord, the holy trinity is called the highest (and greatest) mystery, three persons in the same one undivided essence, and that, “the entire Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, directs all people to Christ as the Book of Life, in whom they should seek the Father’s eternal election. “

Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 651–656.

It’s less about knowing and more about feeling - God in a loving fellowship - God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit makes sense in the totality of our faith as found in the Scriptures inspired by Holy Spirit and our lived experience in a fellowship of fellow believers. God that loves company, diversity, and is not afraid to share power. In my opinion, it makes more sense than an idea of some God, a lone wolf, somewhere in other dimension, perhaps not really even caring about what is going on “down here.” Instead we believe in a communal God that is very much caring about our losses, our successes, our joys, and sorrows.

Even if we are someone like Nicodemus who is really lost in Jesus’ teaching, despite his education and experience as a teacher of Israel, because again, it is less about knowing and more about feeling what is right. And at that point he wasn’t really ready to accept the realities about Jesus and God. Later in the gospel narrative, he is and becomes Jesus’ follower in secret and helps bury him after his crucifixion.

Watching Jesus and his followers helped him believe, not just knowing the doctrines, which are ultimately always imperfect. Just like many things in our lives, including therapy and grieve counseling. No matter of knowledge will “fix” our grief or sadness, only time, experience, fellowship, and God’s care can transform it, just like with our faith in God in three persons. No amount of knowledge can MAKE us believe in the trinity, but I think we can come to terms with it and make our own understanding of this greatest mystery.

Let us remember that we are not alone and that God, in God’s loving fellowship, cares for us and the whole creation, now and forever. Amen.