In our gospel reading for Trinity Sunday, Jesus meets with Nicodemus, a man with plenty of attitude. Nicodemus is a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the leaders of the religious community, and Nicodemus is also a Pharisee - well trained in scripture, and living a life of proud piety. So Nicodemus comes to Jesus thinking he knows everything there is to know about God. Jesus is HARSH with Nicodemus, as he is to all people with attitude. Jesus declares to Nicodemus that his God is standing right in front of him, revealing himself to him, if only he would listen. And what Jesus reveals to Nicodemus is what we've called Trinity, the ongoing mystery of 3 in one, through which God is at work in every aspect of our lives....
Back in February of 2008, I went to Pastors' Study Conference and learned about a sermon format called “the four pages of the sermon.” Not to get too deep into how the sausage gets made, the format says the first page should dig into the LAW presented in the readings – in other words, the ways in which the disciples or Israelites or Pharisees or whoever were falling short or committing sin. The second page should dig into how WE are falling short or committing sin in similar fashion, to show us our need for the grace of Christ, which is what a sermon is supposed to do. The third page should then dig into the GOSPEL presented in the readings – in other words, the ways in which Jesus or the Spirit or the Father deliver grace and forgiveness. And the fourth page should dig into how WE receive grace in a similar fashion, to give us hope and comfort, which is what a sermon is ALSO supposed to do. The benefit of using a consistent format is that over time, people get used to it, and it makes it easier to grasp and focus on the main points. In other words, the sermon becomes more predictable.
And there's nothing wrong with being predictable, if it's working – what's wrong is when we LIMIT ourselves, or others, to doing ONLY what is predictable. We make it clear with our attitude that if others did something we considered “out of character” for them, WE would have a problem with that. Because we like the comfort of knowing IN ADVANCE, what people will do in every situation.
Nicodemus thinks he knows in advance what GOD will do in every situation. And so he comes to Jesus, and the first words out of his mouth show where his attitude is at, “We KNOW that you are a TEACHER who has come from God.” Maybe Nicodemus thought he was being generous to Jesus, in a condescending way, by affirming him as a fellow teacher. Anyway, Nicodemus' attitude is clear - “God, I know exactly what you are up to. The peasants have been failing to follow the Law to your satisfaction, and so you have sent a new teacher among us to clarify the Law. Very predictable.” To which God responds, “Nicodemus, unless I am living within you and make things known to you, you have NO CLUE what I am up to. You can't even SEE my kingdom, unless you have been born from above.” Nicodemus is as shocked and flabbergasted as if the sermon ended right here, in Jesus' name....Amen.....Just kidding! You were shocked for a second there, right? A shocked Nicodemus blusters out “How can these things be?” Jesus makes it clear: the only one who really knows what's going on in heaven is the one who came down from heaven – himself. God is free to do whatever God chooses – God is not limited to doing what Nicodemus expects him to do.
We too, would like to think that WE have God all figured out. We would love to be able to say that, thanks to the storehouse of knowledge we learned in Confirmation class, that we can interpret what God is up to in any situation. We go through tough times, and based on the Bible and our past experience, we say, “this is just a test of our faith. As long as we continue to trust God through this, he will get us through.” But someone with different interpretations and different past experiences with God might say, “these tough times are punishment for not doing enough for God's kingdom.” And someone else might say, “God is preparing to rescue us from these tough times in dramatic fashion so that his glory will increase.”
If we put God in a BOX of being a rewarder of faith, what happens when we trust him and things go poorly for us anyway – do we LOSE our faith? If we put God in a box of being a punisher of sins, what happens when things go very well for us – do we assume that God finds us PERFECT? If we put God in a box of being a seeker of glory, what happens when things are boring and mundane for us – does that mean God is ABSENT?
And think about our attitude towards prayer. We would love to be able to say, “as long as you pray for rain using these words we learned in confirmation class, fast for 24 hours, and have an umbrella always at your side – God has NO CHOICE but to be predictable and grant your request.” Because then the control of the situation would be ours. We think God will have to keep answering all our prayers to our satisfaction, because that's who God is for us, that's the box we keep God in. But God is free to do as he chooses. God is free to be UNPREDICTABLE, and do new things. Even if that means to us, God is a mystery.