"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?"
(John 3:1-9 KJV)
Call them riddles. Call them mysteries. We can even call them conspiracy theories. There are things about life and faith we simply do not understand. I am not going to suggest that we resign our efforts to understand. Of course not. The search is on!
This coming Sunday congregations around the world will be celebrating Trinity Sunday. How to explain the Trinity is a challenge that isn't ever completely accomplished to our satisfaction. I have always enjoyed employing the Athanasian Creed as our confession of faith when I led worship on Trinity Sunday. I could not help but smile as I looked at the many shell-shocked faces who had just confessed this faith. Most of them seemed to have had no clue what the church teaches and what we believe. There were usually questions about why we believed and confessed all of that following the service as they were amazed by that confession that many of them had never heard before.
Nicodemus was amazed at the many miracles that Jesus performed. He was also a little surprised and confused when Jesus told him he had to be born again; born of water and of the Spirit if he wanted to see the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus response was don't be so surprised at this. "The wind blows where it will blow." And, it does. The Spirit blows where the Spirit will blow. The Spirit will enlighten those whom the Spirit will enlighten through the word of God.
The great mysteries of life in this world and in the Kingdom of God will never completely be solved in this life. But, whether or not we know everything about how the new life actually comes about; we know this much: it comes about because God our Father is the creator of all things visible and invisible; Jesus is our savior who died that all who would believe in him would receive forgiveness of sins and inherit places in the presence of God Almighty; the Holy Spirit who enlightens us that we might have faith in that which we are not able to see with our own eyes.
Nicodemus didn't understand everything. Neither do we need to understand all the intricate details of the workings of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We don't need to understand because by faith we know their reality.
In addition to the Athanasian Creed the Lutheran Church also teaches and confesses the Apostle's and the Nicene Creeds. In the third article of the Nicene Creed found in Luther's Small Catechism we teach and confess that without God the Holy Spirit enlightening us we cannot come to faith. Our faith is not something that we conjure up but is a gift from God.
"I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean? — Answer.
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true."
Our understanding of the totality of God is very limited. We cannot fathom all who God the Father and creator of all is; who or why God the Son was willing to sacrifice himself for us. But, regardless of our lack of understanding we are thankful that God the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens us keeping us with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.
God's Peace - Pr. J.
