The Power of the Trinity

Cheddington – Trinity Sunday – 3 June 2012

Reading Romans 8.12-17

Brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Gospel John 3.1-17

Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
one God, who was, and who is, and who is to come,
the Almighty.
Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

In the past – many Trinitarian illustrations. One in 3 – 3 in One. Clover leaf. Meat and 2 veg! Ice, water, steam. Apart from showing all persons of Trinity are the same, how do these advance our understanding? Good for children – fully formed Christians require more.

Paul’s language is Trinitarian. Does not focus on doctrine or illustration. Dives right in with a problem. What about our sinful nature? How come it constantly gets the better of us? How can we stop living according to our sinful nature, and live as children of God and heirs of the promise of salvation?

Paul skips over niceties of doctrine and proclaims good news of the gospel into the nitty gritty of realities of trying to live the Christian life as we experience day in day out. This is the fundamental dilemma: the power of sin, dwelling within us, prevents us through our own efforts alone doing what is good and right, despite our best intentions.

According to Paul, the solution to this human dilemma is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

It all sounds very easy, doesn’t it? All we have to do is open ourselves up to the life-giving power of God’s Spirit. We all know it isn’t that straightforward – but it could be.

Nicodemus who at first ‘came to Jesus by night’ never got a chance to explain why he came, or ask a question. Jesus told him he must be born again – born of the Spirit this time. Then Jesus half mocked him when he failed to understand.

The trouble is, temptation is ever present and it’s a powerful and subtle force. Personalise it if you will. The old fashioned 7 Deadly Sins have been replaced with a myriad of sin’s systematic manifestations in modern life. Is it any wonder that most people feel powerless and overwhelmed by its insistent clutches? Like many forms of addiction, many people don’t realise how trapped they are in the grip of such forces.

It’s just like the early days of the Blackberry. We all thought these devices were a wonderful gift and vied to be given one. Only when we got one did we discover it was a ball and chain. We had become enslaved to work. We were available 24 hours a day, and on holiday too in any part of the world.

Once you’ve got a mobile device, it’s almost impossible to give it back. Paul does not see things that way. God’s desire that we receive the true life that God so willingly offers to all, he says. Life is yours! That is a powerful promise, affirmed many times through Paul's letters and again in our passage: if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

The resurrection promise is not for Jesus alone. It is for all of us who are in Christ. No one is so dead to sin that the power of God’s Spirit cannot bring them back to fullness of life.

As Nicodemus was told no one can enter the Kingdom unless they have been born again of the Spirit. Adoption into God’s family as children of God is brought about through the Spirit. The spirit of adoption, through which we become daughters and sons of the Father. Abba is an incredibly personal name for one’s dad. Hardly credible anyone might us it of the Almighty God, who was not even named throughout the Old Testament. A wonderful and mysterious promise indeed.

When words fail us, as we read elsewhere in Romans, the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. As many adoptive parents will attest, such children and loved just as much as those born to the family in the usual way.

Even more staggering is the claim Paul puts forward that through adoption we become co-heirs with Christ. Christ is a joint heir with us: he suffers and is glorified, and we suffer and are glorified with him. What happens to Christ – his resurrection life - happens to us; the glory that is Christ’s - as God's son - belongs to us as well who have become God's children.

Where else is this made clearer than in John 3:16. First Bible verse I ever learned. Perhaps the best known in whole of Scripture. “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Amen