Sunday of the Holy Trinity June 7, 2020

Holy Trinity
John 3:1-17
June 7, 2020

“Perfection”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

A few minutes ago you said these words, “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,” and so forth. You said the Creed. Now you may not have realized it but you were giving and reciting THEE PERFECT answer to all of life. It was like someone rattled off all the biggest questions of life, “Hey, is there a God? What is man? Who am I? Why are we here? Why’s there evil in the world? Is there any hope?” And then you raised your hand and rattled off thee perfect answer to all of those questions, “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth…And in one Lord Jesus Christ…And I believe in the Holy Spirit….” There truly is only one perfect answer to life.

It’s like when you put together a puzzle. You know that there’s only one perfect piece that goes into each place. If you try putting pieces in the wrong places, it might kinda fit or look almost right. But it’s not perfect. There’s only one perfect piece that makes it all right.

Or it’s like when God was searching for a companion for Adam in the Garden of Eden and He was bringing animals to Adam to name them. And God is saying, “None of these are right. They don’t fit.” And then He made THEE PERFECT companion. There was only one perfect answer for humanity—male and female. It’s perfect. Can you imagine if we only had women running around? Or if we only had men running around? What a terrible thought.

The Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is the only perfect answer to life. He’s the only God that fits. The only God that makes everything right. The only God that perfectly explains what the world is, who we are, why there’s evil and what’s the answer to it, and what’s the direction we’re headed. God is perfect.

And here’s the joy. The perfect answer to your life is being brought into this one true perfect Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and being reunited with Him, baptized and born again into Him, forgiven in Him, and living in Him. “For God so loved the world [that’s the Father] that He gave His only Son [that’s Jesus] that whoever believes in Him [that’s the work of the Holy Spirit] should not perish but have eternal life.” The perfect answer. The perfect God. I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

What other answer are you going to give? Friends in Christ, someone’s gotta give answers! There are big questions and big problems in the world. Someone’s gotta give a satisfactory answer. Why did George Floyd die? Why are some people stealing and rioting in return? What’s a real answer to racism versus a bunch of wrong answers? Why are there viruses, pandemics, and plagues? Why am I depressed all the time? Why are some people rich and some are poor? Why did my best friend die? Someone’s gotta give an answer to all the “why” questions. And there’s only one perfect answer: Father—Son—Holy Spirit. He has given us those answers in Himself. Say it loudly and confidently and certainly, “I believe.”

Now this doesn’t happen by accident. You don’t just all of a sudden stumble on to the perfect answer while you’re driving down the road one day. God is the one who shows us that He’s the answer. He’s the One who gives us the Creed. Who gives us the answer. He’s the One who works in our hearts to say, “I believe.” He does it through the Word and Sacraments.

The account of Nicodemus in the Gospel reading today shows us how this works. Nicodemus came to Jesus with questions. Nicodemus had his own creed but it wasn’t totally matching up. He believed in God but He didn’t know Jesus. So his creed wasn’t right. And he knew because he says to Jesus, “Rabbi, no one can do these signs you do unless God is with Him. So what gives?”

And Jesus basically says, “If you’re going to understand…if you’re going to have the perfect answer to life….if you’re going to get God’s answer to all of the questions…then you must be born again.” You must be given a new creed. The Spirit must work on you. And you must come to know and believe in the Son. Whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.

Nicodemus has his own creed. But it wasn’t right. He didn’t know Jesus. So his puzzle wasn’t looking right. It wasn’t fitting together perfectly. But Jesus worked in his heart and gave him the perfect answer—gave him a better creed. He gave Nicodemus faith in the Triune God. The Father who loved the World. The Son who was given for the world. And the Spirit who gives faith. The perfect answer. And we know that creed was sinking into Nicodemus’s heart because when Jesus dies on Good Friday, Nicodemus is one of the men there to help bury His body.

God works through His Word and through Holy Baptism to give us a better answer to this world—to give us the Creed. To give us faith in the Triune God. Everyone in this world has a creed of some sort. Everyone believes something. Everyone has some sort of answer to all the why questions. Whether they believe there is no god, only matter or nature. Or whether they believe that nature is god like all these New Age spiritualities. Or whether they believe in some vague concept of god but don’t really know who He is. Everyone has a creed. Everyone believes something. The trouble is that most people in the world haven’t taken the time to ask, “Does my creed really answer all the questions? Does ‘what I believe’ explain everything?” Because all other creeds fall short somewhere. There’s only one perfect answer—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now that doesn’t mean that you can understand God perfectly. Of course not. God is a grand mystery. A Lutheran pastor said one can fully understand God as much as one can scoop up the entire ocean with a spoon. Yet in His Word He has revealed Himself to us and given us all we need to know. In Holy Baptism He brings us into Himself—into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He gives us the Creed—what to believe about Himself.

And here you have it in John 3:16 in simple beauty. First, God the Father loves the world. God loves the world. He made it all and made every one of us. He loves Nicodemus. He loves George Floyd. He loves the policemen who killed George Floyd. He loves all people no matter the color of their skin. He loves the people who are stealing and rioting. He loves the people who are peacefully protesting. He loves the people who died of coronavirus. He loves those who are convinced we should all be wearing masks and He loves those who are convinced no one should be wearing masks. He loves those who are sick. Those depressed. He loves those who are rich and those who are poor. Every single person in this world is made in the image of God. He made it all.

And how do we know He loves every single one of us? Because He gave His only Son. He gave Jesus for you! And for every other sinner. Here, finally, is the real and perfect answer to all our sin. He gave Jesus. To suffer and die in our place and to unite all people together in His body.

And how then are we saved from this world of sin and death? By believing. By the Holy Spirit’s work in the Word and Sacraments. Whoever believes in Jesus will not die but will have eternal life.

So there’s your answer. There’s THEE answer. Don’t take the Creed lightly. We have this habit of saying the Creed without much thinking about it. We just kinda mumble through it as if everyone knew it and it’s just some boring exercise we do at Church. But this is no light thing. This is the perfect answer to all of life—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what turned Nicodemus’s life upside down. This is the Creed we live by every day. And we ought to speak it confidently. And clearly! And certainly! Because Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the perfect answer. God is perfect. And through faith we are made perfect in Him. For God the Father so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus that whoever believes in Him through the power of the Holy Spirit will not die.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.