Scripture John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just 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.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Sermon
Welcome to the only Sunday in the church calendar dedicated to a tenet of our theology as Christians: Trinity Sunday, the Sunday when we ponder what it means that we claim faithfulness to a Creator who is One God, and yet, somehow, three Persons.
It’s hard to talk about the Trinity—it’s complicated, it’s speculative, and impossible to grasp, so let’s all rest in that knowledge at the outset. It is impossible to grasp, the truest definition of a mystery. Something experienced, and yet, somehow, still unknown. Our small minds can’t fathom it.
But after perusing the website, “Art in the Christian Tradition,” this week, I would venture to say it is even harder to paint the Trinity, to depict it visually. [1] The image I chose for our church website is this charming painted wooden carving, which can be found in a church in Paszym, Poland. The dove—a symbol of the Holy Spirit—hovers over the Father (typically identified by having white hair and a beard), who is holding the Lamb, i.e., Jesus Christ. I love this image for its simplicity and its color, and for the four blue-eyed evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who surround God.
[2] The Celtic knot that is a symbol for the Trinity is at least 4000 years old—the design pre-exists the doctrine, and is found in many ancient cultures, with various meaning. But as a symbol of love and eternity it was adopted by the church as early as the fourth century to depict the mysterious relationship of our one God in three Persons.
[3] Some attempts at depicting the Trinity are less successful. This anonymous painting from 18th century Lima, Peru is called the “Trifacial Trinity.” Once again, the four evangelists are shown in the four corners, and here angels look up while holding a crown. The most useful part of this painting is the diagram being held by the deity, sometimes called the “shield of faith,” an upside-down triangle which explains the relationships between the persons of the Trinity. Between each of the three Persons—the legs of the triangle—are the words, “non est,” Latin for “is not.” In other words, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Father is not the Spirit. But then, in the center, is the word “Deus,” “God.” A line from each person of the Trinity to the center has the word “est,” or “is.” So, the Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. I don’t have much more to say about the painting other than, I apologize for the nightmares you may have.
[4] This contemporary painting is one of my favorites. It is called “In the Beginning,” and depicts the three persons at the moment of creation, according to our traditions of Old man = Father, Young man with crown of thorns = Son, and Dove = Spirit. But in and amongst them are alphabet blocks, as children play with, and they spell out, or almost spell out, alpha, omega, father, son, Luke, Matthew, and holy. All this, while lightning seems to spark from the Father’s hands.
It's not easy to sculpt or draw or paint this confusing claim that is at the heart of our faith. But we can see where it originated with scripture. All scripture was born in human experiences of God. The gospel stories about Jesus mention him alongside with God, whom he calls Father, and the regular appearance of the Holy Spirit. Remember the baptism of Jesus, as Mark tells it:
… Just as he was coming up out of the water, [Jesus] saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” [Mark 1:10-11]
And there they are—Jesus being baptized with the Spirit as witness and blessing, while God offers commentary, these seemingly three whom the church eventually concludes are truly one.
Our passage from the Gospel according to John also invokes God the Father, and the Spirit, all within the context of a conversation Jesus is having with the faithful Pharisee, Nicodemus. When I first looked at this passage, I wondered whether it’s used for Trinity Sunday because, once again, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all mentioned in this one story. But then I noticed something else.
I think this is a much more genial conversation than we often assume, mostly because we expect Jesus to spar with Pharisees. But the conversations Jesus has with Pharisees are very much in the ancient style of discourse around scripture and faith. It was believed that truth was revealed through conversation, through debate. People verbally jousted about their beliefs and then sat down to a good dinner together, friends.
Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus is less like a disagreement, and more like a dance. Jesus and Nicodemus are dancing around one another. I think they are smiling throughout. Each of them knows that the other is being deliberately provocative. They are enjoying this conversation, both of them seeking greater depth of faith, greater connection with God. Each of them is seeking the truth.
Dancing is an ancient way of describing the relationships between the three Persons of the Trinity. Here, Jonathan Marlowe, a United Methodist minister, offers an analogy:
If any of you have ever been to a Greek wedding, you may have seen their distinctive way of dancing… It’s called perichoresis. There are not two dancers, but at least three. They start to go in circles, weaving in and out in this very beautiful pattern of motion. They start to go faster and faster and faster, all the while staying in perfect rhythm and in sync with each other. Eventually, they are dancing so quickly (yet so effortlessly) that as you look at them, it becomes just a blur…[i]
The church has been using that same word, perichoresis, to describe the relationships of the three Persons of the Trinity for centuries. To put it as simply as possible, it means that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always occupy the same divine ‘space.’[ii] When we see or experience one, we are also seeing the other two.[iii] When the disciples and the crowds and Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, they were also seeing God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
To be able to dance together with someone, you have to be in relationship, even if you’re out clubbing and that relationship is less than 5 minutes old. But the idea of the Trinity as a dance is all about relationship—that God exists in a form that shows us the most deeply loving of all relationships, that God IS relationship, within God and with all creation, and that includes us. In our opening litany of names for the Trinity, we heard the phrase “Lover, Beloved, and Love.” This is what some believe best describes the Trinity. It’s abstract, yes, but it’s also beautifully simple and clear.
Our God is a God in relationship, within God’s own self. And that relationship is so filled with love, that love was poured out into creation, including the creation of you and me. We were created in divine love, and we were invited to be a part of that dance, to take part in that love. I would ask you this: Think of a moment when you knew yourself to be loved, wholly and completely. It may have been the love of a child. It may have been the love of a parent. It may have been the love of a spouse or partner, or friend, or who knows? It may have been God’s love. Our faith invites us to learn to know a God who is love, whose love can even be mirrored or imitated by our own human relationships. Remember that love and remember that God loves you with even greater sweetness, and tenderness, and passion.
[5] The last image I’ll share with you is probably the most famous image of the Trinity, though that’s not what the artist named it. This is the fifteenth century icon by Andrei Rublev, which he called “The Hospitality of Abraham.” It depicts the three angels who visited Abraham and Sarah sitting together, ready to enjoy the feast the couple prepared for them. But it is filled with symbols that suggest the icon is actually about the Trinity. See the bodies of the angels, how they are arranged—they make a circle, a symbol of the oneness of the three. Within the circle is not a plate of food, but a chalice, which suggests the Lord’s Supper and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When Rublev painted this icon, the Trinity was understood to be “the embodiment of spiritual unity, peace, harmony, mutual love and humility.”[iv]
This strange doctrine of the Trinity has something to teach us. The relationships of Creator, Christ, and Spirit show us what unity looks like, what peace and harmony look like, and what mutual love and humility look like. More important than understanding the concept of what the Trinity is, or looks like, is recognizing this: the Trinity invites us to join in the dance—the dance of love and kindness and mutuality. That’s what matters. That we hear that invitation, answer with a wholehearted “yes,” and listen for the music.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Richard DellOrfano, “Perichoresis: An interesting depiction of the relationship of the triune God,” The New Oxford Review, March 14, 2022. https://www.newoxfordreview.org/perichoresis/.
[ii] Gerald Bray, Doctrine of God, 158.
[iii] Kevin DeYoung, “Theological Primer: Perichoresis,” The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/theological-primer-perichoresis/.
[iv] “Trinity” (Andrei Rublev), Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_(Andrei_Rublev).