[0:00] Today is the feast day for the Holy Trinity. It might seem a bit odd that our gospel text contains the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus from John chapter 3 for this particular feast.
[0:19] In our gospel text, we do not read language of how the three persons of the Holy Trinity are one in essence or being. We do not read how essence is different from personhood.
[0:35] We do not have a philosophical apologetic of the divine nature or attributes of God. Instead, we have a story about Jesus telling Nicodemus that one can only enter the kingdom of God if he or she is born of water and the spirit.
[0:55] Our Lord really confuses Nicodemus by telling him that he, that is Nicodemus, must be born again.
[1:08] Nicodemus, like so many today, believe that Jesus was talking about physical birth and the amniotic fluid as it relates to water and natural birth.
[1:19] But Jesus informs this Pharisee, this ruler of the Jews, that this truth is from heaven, just as he, that is Jesus, has come down from heaven to offer his own life, to be lifted up on the cross so that we might have eternal life.
[1:40] In other words, the way one is born again is through the sacrament of holy baptism, which connects us to our Savior's work on the cross and his victory over death by way of his resurrection.
[1:58] It's interesting that for around the first 1500 years of the church, Christians did not debate, they didn't argue about the necessity of baptism and what this sacrament actually does.
[2:17] There were arguments about the deity of Jesus or the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and they were prominent. But the early church understood that God, the Holy Spirit, regenerates people by using water that is hallowed, that is hallowed and connected to the name of our triune God as the means for the life-giving washing away of sin and the entrance into new life.
[2:47] The church didn't debate that. I'd like to suggest something that is very important about why we read this text here in John chapter 3 on this feast of the Holy Trinity.
[3:05] It's not about making tangible arguments about the role of God as it relates to the nuances of philosophy and theology.
[3:19] Our entrance and communion with God is not contingent. It is not contingent upon how well we can articulate this mysterious doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
[3:33] It's about being connected to God by entering into his family by way of the sacrament of holy baptism.
[3:44] That's how we know God. Baptism is our entrance into new life, which is eternal life. Baptism is the way we are transferred from the dominion of darkness into the light of God.
[4:02] It is where we receive God's name as our own. It is not merely a symbolic act. It is the means by which the Holy Spirit brings us into full fellowship with the Father through the work of the Son.
[4:22] Our sinfulness is washed away in holy baptism, and we are given new life. And this new life provides us with a new identity.
[4:35] Something Ian talked about in his sermon last week. We are given a new identity as we are made one with God. And we are inheritors of the kingdom of God.
[4:48] Nicodemus struggled. He struggled in this conversation because he was attempting to understand that which is from heaven by the sole use of his intellect.
[5:03] He was trying to figure out what does this born again mean? He was attempting to make sense of the kingdom of God by rationalizing his way to God.
[5:15] Now, let me be clear. Reason is a gift from God. But reason, human reason, is frail and has limitations.
[5:25] We can't explain the depths of human suffering or tragedy or provide adequate reasons for why such tragedies happen.
[5:39] We can't fully understand nor articulate the beauty of the majestic mountains and the vast oceans that decorate our planet. We can't understand and fully pinpoint with precision the exact distance of the stars.
[5:56] We talk about light years, but with exact precision, we're in awe. We do not know the exact age of the planets of the earth, although we observe them in all their grandeur.
[6:11] We do not know the exact same way.
[6:41] We do not know the identity of Jesus every time of God. This mystery of the purple Finn . Turn, upper half half half half half half half half hal-groned the body of them. This point of faith to the Lord and to help with 뿌� worry. This mystery of his divine love.
[6:52] And this begins at the waters of holy baptism. And just as newborn children are called to grow and mature in life, we are called to deepen our love for God and live as truly grateful children.
[7:06] We do this by exercising our trust in him. allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and govern our lives according to the word of God until we step over the threshold of this life and enter into that realm of eternity where our communion with God will be made fully manifest.
[7:29] You see, Jesus has already parted the seas of destruction so that we now pass from death to life through the waters of holy baptism as you all witnessed just a few weeks ago with the baptism of little Juniper Lisenby.
[7:50] We have been rescued from the slavery and death brought about by sin through baptism and we are called now to walk the road of faith, a life of trusting in God rather than ourselves.
[8:12] And that journey will end in glory everlasting with all the saints surrounding the throne of God giving praise to our great God and creator.
[8:24] But until that time, we are to remember daily our baptism, our entrance into the life of our creator and redeemer and live in the true joy of this eternal family that we have now joined, that we have become a part of by giving of ourselves to the worship and service of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives now and forevermore.
[8:56] Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.