St. John 3:1-17
May 27, 2018
The Holy Trinity B
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday—a day devoted to confessing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, concerning our great God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This day is also a reminder that we can’t put God in a box. We can’t fit God neatly inside
On most Trinity Sundays we pull out the Athanasian Creed with all of its “coeternals” and “incomprehensibles.” But today, instead, we used Luther’s creedal hymn: We All Believe in One True God. It’s a hymn so lively, so robust and meaty, that it sometimes takes seven musical notes just to sing one syllable of text! And when you finally make it to the “amen” you still feel like you haven’t quite said enough. And that’s good. For if we could fully comprehend the mystery of the Holy Trinity, then the Holy Trinity wouldn’t be much of a God.
All we can do is to confess what God has revealed to us—no more and no less. And that’s really the point of it all. God tells us who He is. God reveals Himself in the Scriptures. And by the grace of God we aim to confess exactly what God has revealed. And when all is said and done at the end of this day, we might not be any closer to understanding God or explaining Him. But we will have confessed Him, and worshipped Him, and received His gifts—and you can’t do much better than that.
Talking about the Trinity also has a way of stirring up the skeptics. Skeptics are those people who have to question almost everything. Skeptics are those people who can’t accept any ambiguity or inconsistency or mystery. If you can’t line up all your ducks in a row, the die-hard skeptic won’t be satisfied. Skepticism isn’t always a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. But there is also a cynical skepticism—a toxic, sinful skepticism that can be both self-justifying and faith-destroying.
We all know people who are skeptical when it comes to Christianity. They are everywhere these days. They seize on what they perceive to be some inconsistency in the faith we confess, and use that inconsistency as an excuse to check out of the faith and, in some cases, to ridicule us for being so gullible. Their train of thought often begins with the love of God: If God is so loving, then why is there a hell? Why doesn’t this loving God save everyone? Or, If God is so loving, then why is there so much evil in the world? Why doesn’t God do something to protect the innocent? This skepticism about God’s love provides the skeptic with a handy excuse to justify his unbelief and to live life on his terms and according to his rules.
Serious skeptics have been around for a long time. In fact, in today’s Holy Gospel Jesus encounters a skeptic named Nicodemus. But don’t write-off Nicodemus too quickly. If Nicodemus were alive today, living in the Milwaukee metro area, he would fit right in to one of our North Shore neighborhoods (and not just because he was Jewish). Nicodemus was a prominent and successful Pharisee. He was well-educated. He was respected and affluent. He was a tax-paying, law-abiding citizen—a man you’d be glad to have for a neighbor—a man who fits the bill for zip code 53217.
Nicodemus was also a skeptic. Notice, first of all, that he came to see Jesus at night. In the darkness, it was “safe” to visit the Savior. None of his fellow Pharisees would see him. He wouldn’t have to take a stand for or against Jesus since he came privately at night. And yet, Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus. And Jesus did not rebuke him or refuse to see him or answer his line of questioning. But those questions allowed Nicodemus to keep Jesus at arm’s length—allowed Nicodemus to be in control—to keep things on a theological level and to avoid getting too personal.
Nicodemus begins his conversation with Jesus with a little small talk and flattery. But Jesus has no time for that. His concern is bringing people into the kingdom of God—including skeptics like Nicodemus. Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus attempts to steer in a different direction by launching the skeptic’s favorite question: How? “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus clarifies: “You must be born of water and the Spirit,” pointing Nicodemus to Holy Baptism. Once again, the skeptical Pharisee asks, “How? How can these things be?” Skeptics love “how” questions because there’s no end of them. It keeps everything hypothetical and theoretical and impersonal.
Sometimes we’re more like Nicodemus than we’d care to admit. Sometimes we too like our religion hypothetical and theoretical. It’s “safer” that way; because it doesn’t require anything from us—no repentance, no faith, no forgiveness for those who sin against us. It’s “safe” to be skeptical—always to be asking questions like, “How can this be? And how can that be?”
In fact, it’s far easier to stand around asking theological questions all day than actually to do what God requires and to believe what God promises. It’s easier to ask questions about when divorce is permissible than it is to actually love and honor the spouse God has given you. It’s easier to discuss adultery than it is to actually lead a sexually pure and decent life in what you say and do. It’s much easier to talk about God in the abstract than it is to fear Him, love Him, and trust Him as YOUR God—the God who created your body and soul—the God who redeemed you with His precious blood—the God who sanctifies you and shares His holiness with you so that you might be holy as He is holy. It’s so much easier to play the skeptic and ask, “How can this be?” than it is to speak from the heart and say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” That sin has the power rightly to prevent us from ever entering the kingdom of God.
This is why you must be born again—born of water and the Holy Spirit. On your birthday you were born dead—stillborn in sin and separated from God. You may have topped the APGAR charts and been the best baby in the nursery. But flesh gives birth to flesh and you inherited your father Adam’s sin. You can’t fix it. You can’t compensate for it. You must be born again. And this is God’s gracious work in you. You didn’t get to decide when to be born the first time, and neither can you decide to be born again. God the Holy Trinity does it all.
What Christ accomplished for all the world in His cross and resurrection, He gives to you personally in the water of Baptism. Your baptism means that Christ was lifted up on the cross for you and for your sins—and in Him you have been lifted up to resurrection life. He doesn’t want your skepticism. He wants you to trust Him—to take Him at His Word.
Jesus came to be the Savior of all—to be the Savior of skeptics like Nicodemus. For all the diversions and all the objections that skeptics may raise, there is one perfect answer: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” Let that sink in for a moment. In the face of a thousand questions, this we know for sure: God gave His Son for you—gave Him to bear your sins and to open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The Triune God will stop at nothing to bring even you into His eternal kingdom.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of skeptics. Somewhere along the way, Jesus’ words and the Holy Spirit had their way with old Nicodemus—for Nicodemus shows up again at the end of John’s gospel. But this time He comes not as a skeptic by night; but He comes boldly as one who loved the Lord Jesus—who cared for the corpse of Jesus and laid Him to rest temporarily in the tomb. This was not the same Nicodemus. This was a new Nicodemus—a Nicodemus who knew what it was to be born again. Keep Nicodemus in mind when it comes to the skeptics you know and love. Commend them in prayer to the Holy Trinity. Always be prepared to give them an answer for the hope that you have in Jesus.
There was a time in my life when I would have been numbered among the skeptics—a time when I questioned even the most basic teachings of the faith—and did so with a spirit of pride and arrogance. But God, who is rich in mercy, rescued me from that hell of my own making. And as Jesus shows us today, that’s just what our God delights to do—to deliver us from always asking “how?” to confessing what we cannot explain—to believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
And, if you have questions, ask them. Ask them not as skeptics, but as sinners forgiven in the blood of the Lamb. Ask your questions as those who trust that the Holy Spirit will indeed lead us into all truth. Let’s keep asking our questions, but ever believing and always rejoicing that Jesus Christ is the Savior of skeptics.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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