Sunday, May 30, 2021

Holy Trinity Sunday
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Acts 2:14a, 22-36
John 3:1-17

He touched my mouth with it, and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.’

We have nearly reached the end of an incredibly unusual school year. I don’t know how those schools that are still meeting virtually are handling the final weeks. In a normal year, the teachers are dealing with children who are anxious for the freedom of summer, so that they can sleep in late and do nothing they do not want to do. Teachers have to keep those children focused on the final work, like exams and projects. They children don’t put all their attention into the school work which can cause poor grades that will affect their future. Some are rushing to get all their work done. They are hiding their faces in their books, studying for those last chances to get their grades up for the year. They are praying that they’ll get lucky, that the tests will have questions with answers they will remember and that the essays are on topics they understand.

Most teachers offer some sort of extra credit work, especially for those students who have struggled with the material. Extra credit work is never required but all students are encouraged to participate. Many choose not to do the work. They think it is a waste of their time. Why go to all that trouble if it won’t do any good? Extra credit is valuable for multiple reasons: the work adds to their knowledge, it trains them in new disciple that will help them in later years.

Many parents nag their kids about the extra credit work; I was as guilty as the next mom. It doesn’t make sense to me not take advantage of every opportunity. Some parents force their children into doing the work, insisting that it isn’t “extra.” There comes a time in a child’s life, however, when parents need to back away and let the children make their own decisions. If they decide not to do the extra credit work, or if they fail to do their best at the end of the year, then they will suffer the consequences. We don’t like to let go because we do not trust them to do what is best for their own future. We are afraid that they will not make the right choices. But if we do not give them the opportunity, how will they ever learn. They will fail once in a while, but they will also succeed. It takes failure and success to learn.

God is our Father, but He never forces us to do anything for His kingdom. He has freely given His grace and we have been transformed into the people of God. He calls us to respond in faith to the work He has begun with Jesus Christ, giving us the gifts and resources necessary to do so, but He never forces us to respond.

Isaiah had a frightening vision: he was standing in the presence of the Holy One, Yahweh of Armies. Based on his religious understanding, Isaiah believed that no human could stand in the presence of God. He said he was a man of unclean lips, which mean he had a deep sense of his sinfulness. He said belonged to a people of unclean lips recognizing the sinfulness of God’s people. The mouth represented far more than we expect; the mouth represented the sinful thoughts, words and deeds of God’s people. Our mouths reveal the state of our hearts. Isaiah knew that he was a sinner and that the people of God were not worthy of anything He might give. He knew that he was doomed; but he wasn’t really doomed. God comforted Isaiah by taking away the fear. The angel burnt off the source of Isaiah’s fear; God cleansed Isaiah’s mouth. God could have ordered Isaiah to do anything, anything at all, and Isaiah would have obeyed because he was grateful for His forgiveness.

God did not make any demands; He simply asked “Who can I send?” Isaiah could have looked at his feet, hoed and hummed and kept his now pain-filled lips shut. He could have walked away. But the mercy of God is overwhelming and we are drawn into His heart. It is amazing that God would seek the help of a lowly, sinful, human being. but He does. He calls us to be actively involved in His work. He sends us into the world. He charges us with the task of telling the lost and dying about the grace of God. “Who can I send?” Isaiah answers, “Here I am, send me.”

Will there be consequences? We won’t be sent to the flaming gates of hell because we do not answer His call. We are tempted to say “No,” especially since it sometimes seems like the things we do will not make a difference. We are simple people with unclean lips. How could my efforts bring any change to the world? We say “Yes” when we experience the incredible forgiveness of God and respond joyfully to His call. We respond when we realize that it is not our effort that brings reconciliation and transformation. Our God is Yahweh of the Armies, the divine Warrior who is LORD Almighty, and He can make incredible things happen through our lowly but grace-filled lives.

My children had a Sunday School teacher when they were young that was overwhelming in size with a deep, booming voice. He had a position of authority in the Air Force. He demanded everyone’s attention with his very presence. I suppose he was like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in the movie “Kindergarten Cop.” He was an imposing being; people looked at him with awe and perhaps a little fear. He is not the one you would expect to be assigned the Kindergarten Sunday school class; it seemed impossible that he could reach them through his rough and powerful exterior.

You would be mistaken because that man had the softest heart. He not only reached the children, he gave them a very solid foundation on which their faith was built. They say that everything you need to know you learn in Kindergarten, and it might just be true of those children who were blessed to have that man as their Sunday school teacher. The children were so calm and it had nothing to do with fear. They found joy in his presence.

The words in today’s Psalm remind us of this type of person. The teacher’s deep, booming voice certainly rattled the nerves of the airmen under his supervision, but that same voice made Kindergarteners feel welcome and gave them the best news any child can hear: you are loved. The psalmist describes God as powerful, majestic, strong, full of might. He is Yahweh of Armies, the LORD Almighty! His voice breaks the cedars and makes the heart of the nations skip a beat. The voice of the LORD strikes like flashes of lightning and rattles the world.

The LORD sits enthroned over history and over the future. He is King over everything past, present and future. This same Lord has the power to bring down giants, to end nations, to turn the universe to dust. Yet, what does this Lord do? He gives strength to His people and blesses them with peace. He can rattle all creation, but with that same voice He gives us the best news we can hear: we are loved. He is worthy of our fear because He can reduce us to nothing, but we stand in awe rather than fear but because we have been given a vision of His glory. We then glorify God with our praise and thanksgiving.

A friend of mine once told me a bit of shocking news. It was about the death of a celebrity and it was shocking news. I hadn’t heard it, so I began to surf the internet to find out the details for myself. It took a long time, too long, to find anything at all. This was news that would not have been missed by any of the news outlets. I was eventually able to find an old story that revealed this person had been reported deceased previously, but he was absolutely alive. The “news” my friend gave me was a hoax.

That happened many years ago, but we all know how easy it is to fall into believing the headlines on the internet. I follow one satirical site that is constantly posting headlines that make me wonder “Could this be true?” and then I look at the reporter and realize it isn’t. People post photos every day that make claims in the captions that are not true. Those posts go viral and many people believe the falsehoods. Unfortunately, many base their political and religious opinions on those false stories. I confess that I’ve fallen into the trap too many times myself.

We can’t believe everything we hear or see, especially if we are getting second or third person accounts of a story. It is even more vital today to discern what we read on the internet because we can all be easily fooled.

Have you ever been in a conversation that turned into a debate because everyone had heard different versions of the same story? “I heard ten were killed.” “The radio just said fifteen.” “The news website reports that the sheriff said the early figures were too high, there were only two killed.” Not a pleasant example, but the confusion is more distressing when the reporters can’t get the story correct. When the dust has settled on the situation and someone takes charge of the information, we can finally get the real answers to our questions. Unfortunately, in today’s world we can receive news immediately and the reporters are more than willing to continue talking even if they do not know what they are talking about.

We don’t know how Nicodemus came to hear the message Jesus was sharing with the crowds. He may have been lingering on the edges of the crowd listening to Jesus speak, but he was obviously concerned about being seen with Jesus. He was part of the leadership that was considering what needed to be done about Jesus. According to John, Jesus had just cleared the temple and He was amazing the crowds with miracles and they were beginning to believe in Him. He had offended the leadership with talk of destroying and rebuilding the Temple of God. They didn’t realize He was talking about his body. They laughed at the thought of Jesus rebuilding a building that took their forefathers forty-six years to build. Jesus was quickly making enemies, and Nicodemus wasn’t sure what might happen to him if he showed an interest in what Jesus was doing. He wanted to know more, so he went there in darkness.

Whether he heard the words from Jesus, or had just heard the stories that were being told about him, Nicodemus needed to clear up the confusion in his mind. Something he heard made him think. It made him desire understanding. Nicodemus took what he heard and sought out Jesus. Jesus answered him directly, but continued to ponder because it did not all make sense. Something must have planted a seed of faith because Nicodemus later argued for fair treatment for Jesus (John 7:50) and helped Joseph of Arimathea with the burial of Jesus’ body. We don’t know if he ever really understood, but we do know that he became more open with his support of Jesus.

There are many people who try to tell us what the Bible says and how we should live according to God’s Word. We live in community and God has given us teachers to help us understand. But Nicodemus was a teacher and he needed to continue to learn. He didn’t know what to believe, so he sought knowledge and pondered what he heard. We have an advantage. We live after the crucifixion and resurrection, after Pentecost when God sent His Spirit to His people. Now when we hear things, we have the Spirit, along with the Church and the written Word, to help us see what is true and what is not. With His help we can share the message of Jesus with the world, so that others might also receive the gift of the Spirit and learn what it means to be loved and forgiven by God. We might still not understand completely, but the Spirit gives us enough faith to believe God has forgiven us and that He calls us to new life in Jesus.

There is nothing of our faith more confusing than the Holy Trinity. What does it mean that He is three in one and one in three? What does it mean that there is a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and yet there is only one God?

Three in one, one in three is beyond our ability to comprehend. We can come up with dozens of different analogies to help us explain the doctrine, but those analogies always come up short. Something limits the validity of those human explanations of a divine reality. Take, for example, the analogy of water. Yes, water can be liquid, gas or solid when it is warm, hot or frozen, but it can not be liquid, gas and solid at the same time. It is alright that we can’t reduce the Trinity to simple human terms. If we could, God wouldn’t be God.

While knowledge is not a bad thing, and our connection with our God grows stronger as we seek and study and learn about Him, there are some things that must be accepted by faith. Unfortunately, too many are willing to reject Christ because they can’t accept doctrines like the Trinity which they find foolish and beyond proof. So when confronted by something like the Trinity, how do we respond? Do we stand before God like Isaiah and raise our hands when He asks who will go? Do we sneak around at night hoping to find answers? We who have been given the power of the Holy Spirit can say “I believe,” living according to the spirit in faith and trust and hope no matter what circumstances we face, knowing that God is God even when we can’t fully understand what that means.

There are people in my life that think I know everything. I would not agree with that assessment. I am of the mind that the more I learn, the more I don’t know. Yet, I do know a lot. I have been writing this devotional for decades, and you can’t be in God’s Word daily without having some understanding. I’ve written multiple Bible studies, and you can’t teach God’s Word in a way people understand without having some understanding. Yet, I can almost hear Jesus asking me the same question He asked Nicodemus. “Are you the teacher and don’t understand these things?”

This is particularly true about the Trinity. I get it, really I do. God is three in one and one in three. He is the Godhead, three persons or essences of the same One. He is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are dozens of possible analogies that get bandied about at this time of year trying to explain to our limited human minds this incredible and impossible concept. I read through the Athanasian Creed and try to grasp the seriousness of this doctrine, but I can’t come up with the words that will silence the critics and nonbelievers. How do you teach something that is completely beyond our grasp so that others will receive it with faith?

“How can this be?” “Are you a teacher and yet do not understand?”

No, Jesus, I don’t understand. Not fully. So much about what is happening in the world around me does not make sense. I see the issues from too many points of view. I see what you have said and what you have not said and what everyone interprets from the words you have said, but I still have doubts and concerns. I know enough to have an opinion, but not enough to be assured that it is what you truly want me to understand. Then you throw Bible texts at me with the expectation that I will know and understand what you mean.

Add to that the problem of too many differing opinions! People of faith see the world from different points of view. Some believe we should do one thing and insist that the Bible says that is the answer. Others see the problem differently and insist that the Bible supports their point of view. Unfortunately, they are, in many ways, both correct, and yet that doesn’t solve our problem. We simply don’t understand and we end up fighting with one another because we can’t come to an agreement. Soon we are faced with yet another tragedy and we still can’t understand. Nicodemus didn’t understand, because what he’d heard from and about Jesus didn’t fit into his “box.” He must have had a glimmer of faith, but the things Jesus was saying did not quite fit into his knowledge. God is greater than our human brains can ever fully understand. It is ok that there are mysteries about God that we have to take on faith. After all, what is the point of worshipping something, or someone, that is less than or equal to ourselves? Would a God we completely understand be worthy of our awe and praise?

We were made in His image, but too many want a god who is made in our image. Too many want to fix the world with human ideas and actions, but forget that only God can make things right in the end. Perhaps the concept of the Trinity is a reminder for us to be humble and remember that we are limited in ways that God is never limited.

Nicodemus wanted answers. Thankfully most of those who come to me bring me questions about about which I can usually find the answer. However, there are definitely things that I don’t completely understand. I struggle with some of parables and stories of sacrifice and war. Why are there so many curses in the Psalms? Did the miraculous things that happened in the Old and New Testament really happen? If God can stop the sun, then why can’t He cure my friend’s cancer? The crucifixion was a necessity to make things right, I don’t really understand why God couldn’t choose another way. “Why did God...?” is a question I don’t think I’ll ever be able to answer with certainty. And perhaps I shouldn’t even try. I can’t possibly know the mind of God or His motivation, but I can trust that He knows what is good and right and true.

The hard part of doing God’s work in the world is that there will always be people asking the hard questions. They don’t understand and they want answers. When confronted by those questions, how do we respond? Do we sneak around at night hoping to find answers? Or do we volunteer to go wherever God is sending us? We can truly do this work because we have something that will help us: the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit will put faith into the hearts of those who hear and receive His grace. We don’t have to have all the answers; we are called to simply go wherever God sends us and do whatever He is calling us to do. He does this with a promise: “I will be there with you.”

Isn’t it amazing that the most beloved of scriptures (John 3:16) would be found in this confusing text? Nicodemus wanted to understand. He knew there was something about Jesus worth pursuing, and though he was frightened he sought answers. He did so at a time when the whole work of Jesus was not yet complete. He had not yet died or resurrected. He had not ascended to heaven or sent the Holy Spirit to help His disciples. He was just beginning to reveal Himself to the world and Nicodemus wanted to know more.

I often joke about all the questions I'm going to ask when I get to heaven. I am sure you’ve thought of a few questions, too. If you could sit down with Jesus and just listen to Him like Nicodemus, what would you ask? What issues have weighed upon your mind? What confuses you about His parables? What fears and doubts do you have? What is your, “How can this be?” question? Do you think about asking Jesus to answer, perhaps at a heavenly bar over margaritas or under a shady tree by a babbling brook?

We can imagine this conversation and hope for it, but is that what we will experience when we do get to heaven? Will we still want to sit down with Jesus and ask the questions that have troubled us throughout our lives once we have entered through those pearly gates? Probably not. As a matter of fact, the truth is that we will be so awed by what we experience when we finally stand in the very real presence of God that we won’t have any more questions. We won’t care about those issues or worry about our doubts or fears. We will fall on our knees along with the multitudes that went before us to worship the God who is.

I think the message for this Holy Trinity Sunday is that it is ok to believe in the mystery of God even though we will never fully understand it. We don’t have to explain it. We don’t have to have answers to all those unanswerable questions. We don’t have to worry about Jesus asking us the question, “Are you a teacher and yet do not understand?” because we have faith that Jesus will do what He has promised to do even if we can’t wrap our brains around it all. Our quest for answers might just send us on maddening internet search that makes us more confused because it becomes harder to hear God’s voice in the midst of the noise.

“How can these things be?” We might never really know, but that’s ok. God is greater than we can imagine, thank goodness. For a God that we can imagine could never accomplish the work that the Trinity has accomplished in time, in space, and in the hearts of all those who believe. We are not called to understand, but to believe and to take our faith into the world for the sake of those who need to hear the words of Jesus that cleanse our lips and our whole beings. God did so love the whole world that He sent His own Son to save it. This simple but powerful message is given to us to share not just in deeds but in the words that will save our neighbors so that they, too, will join us in singing God’s praise for eternity.

Yahweh of the Armies, the Lord God Almighty, said to Isaiah, “Yes, you have unclean lips, but I can make you clean,” and then invited Isaiah into His work in the world. He does the same for us. Are we willing, like Isaiah, to answer, “Here I am, send me”? There is work to do in this world, and though our eternity in heaven is not dependent on our going where God sends us, we have been given an incredible gift that demands a response. Are you ready to go where He leads?