Sermon - Trinity Sunday - John 3:1-17

About a month ago there was a viral video going around about the pope speaking with a little boy. The boy’s unbelieving father had died and now the sobbing boy asked the pope if his father is in heaven. Now obviously this is a sensitive issue, and it would have been much better had this been dealt with privately not in front of a bunch of people and cameras. Nevertheless, it was dealt with publicly and the pope answered publicly.

The pope first answered the little boy by telling him that his father was a good man. He concludes then that because the boy’s father was a good man, therefore God would take that good man to be with Him in heaven. It’s an emotional tear-jerking video showing the pope holding a sobbing boy close to himself. But ultimately, the pope comforts the child with a lie, promising hope where that poor boy doesn’t have any hope. 

The Athanasian Creed, which we just confessed states quite clearly “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this:...” The creed goes on to describe the Christian faith and concludes by reiterating: “This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” Being a good man doesn’t get you into heaven. Rather, faith in the Triune God, imparted to us at baptism, gives us the right of entrance into the Kingdom of God.

It’s not only the ancient Christian Athanasian creed which Christians have confessed for centuries that says this, but Jesus Himself teaches Nicodemus (and us) that salvation doesn’t come by being a good man, but salvation comes through rebirth of water and the Spirit. 

You see, Nicodemus thought Himself to be a good man. Afterall, he was “a man of the Pharisees” and “a ruler of the Jews.” So he, with his great authority and pride sought out Jesus to compliment him, saying: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him.” Nicodemus, in His great pride, thought he was being quite kind and cordial by seeking out this Jesus, this poor carpenter’s son from the village of Nazareth, and saying such flattering things to Him. Nicodemus was a good man who had faith in Himself to reach heaven, as is evidenced by Jesus’ rather stark reply.

Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus later reemphasizes this, saying “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” So can you imagine the look on Nicodemus’ face at this point? Here he comes to Jesus, thinking to flatter Him with his presence, and then Jesus slaps his pride right off of his face by telling Nicodemus that he won’t get into heaven by being a good man but only by being reborn of water and the Spirit. Ouch. Burn. That’s gotta hurt.

Jesus says the same thing to us today. He says, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” From birth we are all in the same boat as Nicodemus. We have all been born of the flesh, we’ve all inherited the same narcissistic trait of sin which leads only to everlasting death. All people who are born of the flesh, no matter how good they are, apart from the Spirit will perish eternally. 

This should make our stomachs turn and make us feel a little sick and uneasy. It means that your neighbor, your friend, your child who doesn’t believe isn’t going to be saved just because they’re a good person. Likewise, you sitting in the pew today won’t be saved because you’re a good person. Many of those people you know who don’t believe today were once Christians who did believe, and they fell away from the Christian faith, and that same thing can happen to you. You could fall away from the Christian faith. So let Jesus’ words be a reminder and a wake up call that we shall only enter the kingdom of God by faith in the Trinity.

Jesus instructs us in the Trinity in today’s Gospel as He describes the work of each person of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Father, is the One who “thusly loved the world, namely that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The pope was correct when He said that God the Father has a father’s heart. For God the Father does care about all people in the world, and it’s His desire that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved through Him alone.

This is God’s desire for your neighbor, your friend, your child, and for you. The Father desires that you would be saved from everlasting death and forgiven for your sins. “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already.” Our state of being at birth is one of unbelief, we are born of the flesh and the flesh gives birth to condemnation. But it’s the Father’s desire that you wouldn’t be condemned but be saved and enter into His kingdom to live with Him forever.

God the Father does this by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the Trinity was lifted up high upon the cross to die and atone for our sins. 

Our sins are real, both the sins we commit daily and the sins we are born with in our flesh, they are real and result in eternal condemnation. We can’t just make our sins disappear by not calling them sins. We can’t make up for it by being good people. Our sin needs to be dealt with, and so God the Son took on human flesh and was crucified for us to atone for our sins. Jesus died for your neighbor, your friend, your child, and for you. God the Son died for you on the cross so that you may have eternal life.

You receive the benefits of God the Father’s love, which was worked out for you in the death of God the Son, by believing in Him and trusting that God’s love is for you. This believing, this faith, is given to you as a gift by God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. When you were born again by water and the Spirit, you were given the gift of faith because you have been reborn by the Spirit and you now belong to Him.

The Holy Spirit gives you this faith through the waters of Holy Baptism. Your baptism drowns the old flesh that you were born with and raises to life a new man who belongs to the Spirit. This new man has faith in the Triune God. Because of your baptism, you are able to believe and trust in God the Father who loves you, you are able to believe and cling to God the Son who died for you, and you are able to believe and hope in God the Holy Spirit who sustains you in this faith each and every day. 

God the Holy Spirit desires that all people would be reborn in the waters of baptism, whether you’re a newborn or a geriatric. “Out of the mouth of babes you have established strength.” The Holy Spirit imparts this faith to all nations, and desires that all people would believe, no matter their background or age. The Holy Spirit calls us to the waters of baptism through His Word that He proclaims from our lips. The Holy Spirit desires to call to faith your neighbor, your friend, your child, and even you.

God the Father loves you, God the Son dies for you, and God the Holy Spirit calls you to faith. This Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in Trinity, Trinity in unity, three persons and yet one undivided God, He is the one who gives you faith and He is the one who we believe in. When we are baptized, we have been united to this Trinity as we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Triune God saves us, we are who think we’re good people but are not. This mysterious Triune God, whose existence and being makes no sense to our human minds, most clearly and simply reveals His love to us in the death of Jesus Christ our Savior who welcomes us into the Kingdom of God.

“I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the three in one and one in three, of whom all nature has creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word. Praise to the Lord of my salvation; salvation is of Christ the Lord!”