John 3:1-17
Pentecost 1 year B Sermon Trinity Sunday
"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.
How many of you remember learning this verse off by heart as a child? Only when I was a kid… it was only begotten Son. I didn’t learn what a begotten Son was until I was almost 50… and studying the Trinity. And it’s no coincidence… that this story is set down for today… for Trinity Sunday.
Yeah…I remember the verse…but I don’t remember hearing the story of Nicodemus when I was child…Maybe because it's a weird story for kids. There’s the whole mystery of the Trinity in this story…and lots of tricky stuff about birth and wombs…
But today it’s important to go deep into old Nicodemus’ predicament…having to sneak out to visit Jesus under the cover of darkness. You see Nicodemus… is quite a powerful guy…
a wealthy and aristocratic Pharisee.
Back in the day… these Pharisees had the reputation…
of being the top people… an exclusive religious party… which never had any more… than six thousand members… at any one time. They were called the chaburah…the brotherhood… and they sought to bring about the kingdom of God…
through perfect obedience to the law.
To become a Pharisee you had to swear in front of at least three witnesses… to spend the rest of your life… keeping every detail of the Law… not just those in the bible…
but thousands of detailed rules and regulations they’d created over centuries…to show what it really meant… to take their religion seriously.
And Nicodemus wasn’t just any ordinary Pharisee...he was one of the ten elite members of the Sanhedrin…the ruling council…
with jurisdiction over every Jew in the world. Their power was far-reaching… and included the job of weeding out false prophets. Maybe that’s why Nicodemus is quick to tell Jesus…
he’s not spying him out.
Slide words
"Rabbi, we know you’re a teacher from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you’re doing…apart from the presence of God." [pause]
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But it’s amazing Nicodemus wants to talk to Jesus at all.
Here’s a distinguished respected Jewish aristocrat… who’s come to have a deep and meaningful talk in the dark…
with a homeless upstart rabbi…from a family of carpenters.
But Nicodemus does come… despite his status… his heritage, his prejudice, and his religious persuasion. [pause]
It makes you wonder if Nicodemus is really satisfied with his life. It makes you wonder…if something’s missing from his life…and Nicodemus is looking for it.
Yet Jesus responds mysteriously:
Slide words
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God…
unless they’re born again.
It’s not sign and wonders that are important but the changes in your heart and the way you live…and these are like a new birth.
The original Greek word our storyteller John uses…actually has three meanings… tied up in one idea…
but there isn’t one English word… that can get all these meanings across… so our translators use two or three words…
‘born again’ or ‘born from above’
There’s a sense of a radical new beginning,
of doing something over again for a second time,
and a strong sense of this new thing coming from God…
from above…
Nicodemus question is heavy with a kind of bitter sarcasm.
Slide words
"How can a man be born when he’s old?
Surely he can’t enter a second time into his mother's womb!"
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In Nicodemus experience… access to God’s power and favour … is about perfect obedience to the law. Nicodemus would love to make that happen…but he just doesn't think it’s possible…
because all his life…he’s been trying to do in his own strength.
Nicodemus suspects there’s more to it…if Jesus can do it…
he just doesn’t know what it is…and Jesus kids him about this… because Nicodemus is supposed to be a
guiding light to Israel…
Yes there’s more to it…Jesus tells him you’ve got to undergo a kind of rebirth …
You know this powerful image… this metaphor of rebirth…
runs right through the New Testament… and always…
related to Jesus main message…the coming kingdom of God …
where all people will learn they’re loved by God…all people will look around themselves and see only the children of God…
only their brothers and sister… the family of God…
where reigns justice compassion mercy and peace.
A new family… not just made up of an elite chosen people but pagans and gentiles. Where people share in the life of the eternal God….
The need for rebirth was as true for Israel as a nation…
as it was for Nicodemus as an individual. And for us…
But Nicodemus wants to know how …
So Jesus speaks again of divine mystery:
Slide words
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit… is spirit." we’re talking about God’s work here…Jesus tells him…only God can bring about this kind of rebirth…by ourselves we’re just humans…God’s creatures – limited…easily frustrated easily tempted off the path.
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We lack the ability to love the way God loves…the kind of love that's necessary in God’s family. To be born again, to experience rebirth into God’s family, means we accept our frailty and weakness…
we accept we can’t get there by our own efforts. And beside Jesus says…no one can put limits on what God can do.
Slide words
‘The spirit is like the wind and the wind blows wherever it pleases…So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
We can't see it, we can't understand it, and we certainly can't control it. But we can see its results. We can see where people are empowered to live lives of love…[pause]
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At the heart of Christian faith is a mystery…
which must be experienced to be understood.
Instead of making a doctrinal statement about the Trinity
…John tells a story.
Nicodemus is invited…we are invited… to experience the mystery of the Trinity…revealed by Jesus. With Nicodemus we are invited to open ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit…to transform our lives…so we can be reborn into a new family…
so he can follow our brother Jesus…
so we can do the will of God on earth… as it is in heaven.
That is salvation and it’s God’s initiative in Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
Slide words new image
For God so loved the world.
Let us pray…
Beloved God, for some of us the oughts and the shoulds, the obligations and demands, the commitments and structures, the systems and expectations and assumptions, have crowded out our relationship with you. Blinded us to the freedom and joy …excitement and comfort of knowing you…of sensing your presence. Somewhere along the way our religion has started to feel more and more like law and not like good news.
Our understanding of grace has slipped into works. Our joy in you has become weariness. Our burdens seem heavier and heavier.
Yet you approach us in Jesus… and invite us to rebirth in the Spirit.
Holy Spirit we ask you to move among us now…enliven us…birth something new in us.
Speak to each of us of our need for you…
help us receive your grace in a fresh new way today.
Holy Spirit we invite you to come to us now in Jesus name
as we wait in silence.
Silence
