Trinity Sunday

         Today is Trinity Sunday – a day that is – if nothing else cloaked in mystery.  The early fathers of the church tried to contain the mystery of God in the creeds that we profess, but containment is never a possibility when the Spirit of Pentecost is swirling around.  Sometimes it’s best just to let mystery be mystery and enjoy the view.  Barbara Brown Taylor wrote:  “We would probably be better off if we left the whole subject alone, but if you’ve ever lain on your back looking up at a summer night’s sky full of stars then you know how hard that is to do. You lie there thinking unthinkable things such as what is out there, exactly, where it all stops, and what is beyond that. You lie there wondering who made it and why and where an infinitesimal speck of dust like yourself comes in. After a while you either start making up some answers or else you go inside where it is safe and turn on the television.”  ~Barbara Brown Taylor

I think that if there had been televisions around in the 1^st century Nicodemus would not have turned it on - even though he certainly was confined by the same ole same ole of religious life.  If John’s Gospel is correct about his spiritual journey, he was a restless sort of person.  He was the one thinking the unthinkable thoughts and wondering about the who and the why of Creation.  Today’s reading is the first of three times that we meet Nicodemus in John.  The most familiar encounter with Jesus is the one we heard today.  Nicodemus was a religious leader, a teacher of the law and familiar with the writings of Hebrew scholars and of the prophets.  He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin.  People came to him for counsel, for help with interpretation of the scripture, for decisions about how the Law impacted their daily lives. 

Nicodemus was a pretty important figure and I think he must have been pretty savvy as he knew that given his station in the Sanhedrin he should not be seen associating with Jesus.  From the religious establishment’s perspective Jesus was a trouble maker, a thorn in the side of the Temple authority which Nicodemus represented.  And yet it seems that Nicodemus saw something in Jesus that his heart longed to know.   Nicodemus saw in Jesus a spirituality that seemed to him to be firmly rooted in God.  And he wanted a taste of that.

So under the cover of darkness these two spiritual leaders met and talked.  Nicodemus is curious about the “signs” that Jesus has done.  He has heard stories of healing, of compassion, and of wisdom that go beyond the ordinary and he wants to understand how all of that fits into the tradition, law, and praxis of being a good Jew and a learned rabbi.  But just as he is about to say what he perceives about Jesus is true, Jesus slips him a riddle.  “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  I always get this picture of Nicodemus with a look of incredulity “Say whaaaaaaat?”  That does not make sense.  Perhaps Nicodemus was stuck in the literal – only seeing things through the lens of this world - rather than the lens of God’s world…because his response to Jesus’ nonsensical statement assumes that limited vision.

“How can someone reenter the mother’s womb”  But Jesus is far from that literal train of thought.  Jesus is using symbolic, spirit-filled language.  He is trying to get Nicodemus to understand that unless he can think outside the box of religious rigidity and absolutes, then he will not be able to understand the gift that God has given.  Acceptance of God’s love and the willing discipleship that follows, says Jesus, is more than the correct observance of particular religious practice or belief.  In fact, being bound by routine or literal thinking may in fact hinder one’s ability to see God’s love swirling around them.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that he of all people, a leader in the synagogue, a pillar of the religious community - should be able to see God’s work being done all around him.  

“ 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.” 

In the newsletter I offered a poem from Mary Oliver which reflected her deep spirituality focused on the mundane things of life – birds, trees, walks in the garden or on the seashore – but it was the final lines that really drew me in to her poem… 

“Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.”

It is never much fun to be in a conversation with someone who believes that they have all the answers to every situation or question - most especially when that situation or question involves faith or belief.  In all honesty I suspect that we have all been “that person” at some point.  I know I have.  When we think we have the answer to the question in hand we become like a cigar boat at Thunder in the Sound, racing ahead and leaving everyone else in our wake.   

For Nicodemus it may just be more than he can comprehend.  Jesus asks Nicodemus how can he know about the things of God when he cannot see past the nose on his face.  We, as the 21^st century readers of this gospel, already know the story of how we can know these things of God.  We know them through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus himself.  But Nicodemus does not have this advantage, and so Jesus tells him of God’s unlimited love, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life”.   It is also through God’s gift of redemption that we come to be in relationship with God.

God’s intention for us is never to condemn or to alienate.  God’s intention for us is pure unadulterated Love.  God so loved the world that God gave God’s self so that we all might resonate with that Love.  But like Nicodemus, unless we first reach into the darkness of our souls and ask “what is it that draws me into the fullness of God”, then we will be in the same hole as Nicodemus.    Jesus’ answer to us is the same as it was to Nicodemus, we must open ourselves to the transforming Spirit of God that comes from above.  We must be born again, not of flesh and not of our doing, but through the Grace of God.  Amen