Trinity Sunday (Día de la Trinidad)

John 3:1-17

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos...                
Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean agradables a tus ojos, oh, Señor, fortaleza y redentor nuestro. Amén.
 
Uno de los podcasts que escucho habla sobre la Biblia y discute cuidadosamente ideas sobre lo que Dios está haciendo en las Escrituras sin usar lo que llaman "lenguaje de vitrales". Para aquellos de nosotros que pasamos mucho tiempo en la iglesia y en conversación con personas que asisten a la iglesia, olvidamos fácilmente cuántas de las palabras que usamos no tienen sentido más allá de las puertas de la iglesia. Ciertamente, hay palabras extrañas y difíciles como "perichoresis" y "escatología", pero incluso palabras más comunes como "bautismo" y "salvación" son malinterpretadas, y, en este domingo, dentro y fuera de la Iglesia, creo que todos estamos confundidos por el significado de la "Trinidad".
 
Hoy es el Domingo de la Trinidad, uno de los pocos días festivos en la Iglesia que no se centra en una persona o evento, sino en la idea teológica de que Dios es tres personas en una. A menudo, los predicadores intentan explicar la Trinidad, pero las metáforas se desmoronan.
 
Un teólogo escribió:

cuando los seres humanos tratamos de describir a Dios, somos como un montón de ostiones tratando de describir a una bailarina. Simplemente no tenemos el equipo para entender algo que está más allá de nosotros, pero eso nunca nos ha impedido intentarlo.[i]

 
No voy a tratar de explicarlo. Creo que está bien que, como gran parte de nuestra vida con Dios, esté más allá de la comprensión humana.
 
Entonces, ¿por qué celebramos el Domingo de la Trinidad?
 
Bueno, la teología importa.
 
Recuerdo que en el seminario aprendí que la definición de teología es cómo pensamos acerca de Dios. Según esa definición, cualquiera que hable de sus ideas sobre Dios es un teólogo. Cada uno de nosotros.
La teología importa porque todo el mundo tiene ideas acerca de Dios. Incluso las personas que no creen en Dios están diciendo algo acerca de Dios al declarar su incredulidad.
 
Y nuestras creencias acerca de Dios dan forma a nuestra identidad. Como Pablo escribe a los Romanos, "todos los que son guiados por el Espíritu de Dios, son hijos de Dios". (Romanos 8:14.)
 
Y nuestras creencias acerca de Dios dan forma a nuestra respuesta al mundo que nos rodea. Como cristianos, estamos llamados a responder al mundo de manera diferente a como si no estuviéramos siguiendo a Jesús.
 
El Evangelio de hoy es una historia familiar. Nicodemo es un fariseo que viene por la noche a hablar con Jesús, buscando entendimiento.
 
No sabemos por qué viene de noche, pero podemos especular. Tal vez Nicodemo estaba siendo reservado porque seguir a Jesús no era una respuesta popular entre sus compañeros. O tal vez reflejaba su propia incertidumbre acerca de quién era Jesús. Aprovechando la oscuridad, no tuvo que reconciliar sus creencias como líder religioso con su deseo de encontrarse con el que se llamaba el Mesías. No tenía que responder a las preguntas de los demás sobre a dónde iba o por qué.
 
Pero está claro que para Nicodemo, la comprensión es difícil de alcanzar. A cada paso de la conversación, cuando Jesús habla de Dios y de lo que Dios está haciendo, Nicodemo trata de decirlo en términos terrenales. Están hablando el uno al otro o por encima del otro, sin conexión ni entendimiento.
 
Estoy agradecida por Nicodemo, en primer lugar, porque nos muestra que incluso los expertos religiosos de la época luchaban por entender la actividad de Dios en el mundo, ¡y tenían a Jesús allí en la tierra con ellos! Creo que Nicodemo nos ayuda a ver cómo existe una tensión entre lo que entendemos que es el mundo y lo que Dios quiere que sea el mundo.
 
Y segundo, porque la historia no termina perfectamente con Nicodemo de repente teniendo un entendimiento milagroso. Los siguientes versículos dicen que después de que Jesús termina de hablar con Nicodemo, se va y continúa viajando con sus discípulos.
A Nicodemo le queda reflexionar sobre lo que Jesús dijo, luchar con ello y ahora reconciliar lo que creía y lo que había oído de Jesús.
 
Y creo que esa es una definición fiel del discipulado:
leer y observar, escuchar y luchar con lo que la actividad de Dios en el mundo significa para nosotros y cómo vivimos.
 
Jesús concluye su conversación con Nicodemo, diciendo las palabras que ahora conocemos tan bien:

Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo el que cree en él no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna. En efecto, Dios no envió al Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para que el mundo sea salvo por él.

 
Y con esas palabras, Jesús describe el poder redentor y lleno de gracia de Dios para unir a las personas en una sola comunidad. Es una comunidad amada y vivificante que nos invita a cada uno de nosotros a la plenitud del amor de Dios por nosotros y por nuestro prójimo.
 
Si bien no sabemos lo que Nicodemo decidió acerca de Jesús, nuevamente podemos especular porque regresa a la historia después de la crucifixión. Esa noche, Nicodemo trae especias y aceites para ungir el cuerpo de Jesús para su entierro. Claramente, él no dejó su encuentro nocturno con Jesús sin cambios, y nosotros tampoco podemos hacerlo.
 
Oremos,
Dios de vida abundante y misericordia,
Gracias por tu Espíritu que nos guía,
Para que Tu Hijo nos enseñe,
Y por tu amor transformándonos
por el bien del mundo.
Amén.

---

[i] Barbara Brown Taylor, citando a Robert Farrar Capon, "Three Hands Clapping", en Home By Another Way, Boston: Cowley Publications, 1999, 152-153.

John 3:1-17

Let us pray…         

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

One of the podcasts I listen to talks about the Bible and carefully discusses ideas about what God is doing in Scripture without using what they call “stained glass language”. For those of us who spend a lot of time in church and in conversation with people who attend church, we easily forget how many of the words we use don’t make sense beyond the doors of the church. Certainly, there are strange, difficult words like “perichoresis” and “eschatology” but even more common words like “baptism” and “salvation” are misunderstood, and, on this Sunday, inside and outside the Church, I think we are all confounded by the meaning of the “Trinity.”

Today is Trinity Sunday, one of the few festival days in the Church that is centered not on a person or event, but on the theological idea that that God is three persons in one. Often preachers attempt to explain the Trinity but the metaphors fall apart.

One theologian wrote,

when human beings try to describe God we are like a bunch of oysters trying to describe a ballerina. We simply do not have the equipment to understand something so utterly beyond us, but that has never stopped us from trying.[i]

I am not going to try to explain it. I think it’s okay that it, like so much of our life with God, is beyond human understanding.

So why do we observe Trinity Sunday?

Well, theology matters.

I remember in seminary learning that the definition of theology is how we think about God. By that definition, anyone who talks about their ideas about God is a theologian. Every one of us.

Theology matters because everyone has ideas about God.
Even people who don’t believe in God are saying something about God by stating their unbelief.

And our beliefs about God shape our identity. As Paul writes to the Romans, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:14)

And our beliefs about God shape our response to the world around us. As Christians, we are called to respond to the world differently than if we are not following Jesus.

Today’s Gospel is a familiar story. Nicodemus is a Pharisee who comes at night to speak to Jesus, seeking understanding.

We don’t know why he comes at night, but we can speculate. Perhaps Nicodemus was being secretive because following Jesus wasn’t a popular response among his peers. Or perhaps it reflected his own uncertainty about who Jesus was. Under the cover of darkness, he didn’t have to reconcile his beliefs as a religious leader with his desire to encounter the one being called the Messiah. He didn’t have to answer questions from others about where he was going or why.

But it’s clear that for Nicodemus, understanding is elusive. At each turn in the conversation, when Jesus talks about God and what God is doing, Nicodemus tries to frame it in earthy terms. They are talking at or over each other, without connection or understanding.

I am grateful for Nicodemus, first, because he shows us that even the religious experts of the day struggled to understand God’s activity in the world, and they had Jesus there on earth with them! I think Nicodemus helps us see how tension exists between what we understand the world to be and what God intends the world to be.

And second, because the story doesn’t wrap up neatly with Nicodemus suddenly having a miraculous understanding. The next verses say that after Jesus finishes speaking with Nicodemus, he leaves and continues traveling with his disciples.

Nicodemus is left to ponder what Jesus said, to wrestle with it and now to reconcile what he believed and what he has heard from Jesus.

And I think that is a faithful definition of discipleship:

to read and observe, to listen, and to wrestle with what God’s activity in the world means for us and how we live.

Jesus concludes his conversation with Nicodemus, saying the words that are so well-known to us now:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but 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.

And with those words, Jesus describes the grace-filled and redemptive power of God to unite people together in one community. It is a life-giving, beloved community that invites each one of us into the fullness of God’s love for us and for our neighbors.

While we don’t know what Nicodemus decided about Jesus, again we can speculate because he returns to the narrative after the crucifixion. That night, Nicodemus brings spices and oils to anoint Jesus’ body for burial. Clearly, he did not leave his nighttime encounter with Jesus unchanged, and neither can we.

Let us pray,

God of abundant life and mercy,

Thank you for your Spirit leading us,

For Your Son teaching us,

And for your love transforming us

All for the sake of the world.

Amen.

[i] Barbara Brown Taylor, quoting Robert Farrar Capon, “Three Hands Clapping,” in Home By Another Way, Boston: Cowley Publications, 1999), 152-153.

Day of Pentecost

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

Last week, we remembered the Ascension of Jesus, when he left the disciples with the promise that they would receive power from on high, and today the Acts text tells us what happened ten days later when the disciples and “Jews from every nation were gathered” were filled with the Holy Spirit, but today’s gospel returns us to a time when Jesus is still with his disciples, before the crucifixion.

These verses are part of what’s called the “Farewell Discourse” and it is the second time we hear this promise from Jesus, that he will send an Advocate to the disciples when he leaves them. (14:16, 15:26, 16:13)

So, what does it mean that we have an advocate?

The Spanish word for lawyer is “abogado” or “advocate” and certainly, one definition of an advocate is “one who pleads in a court of law”, but advocates have other public roles, too, pleading for the care of the vulnerable or becoming a champion for a cause or policy in the public square. We speak favorably of “patient advocates” and “guardians ad litem” who advocate for children in cases of abuse or neglect.

When Jesus promises that he is sending an advocate to us, he is acknowledging what we are so often reluctant to admit – that we are vulnerable, and that we are we are dependent upon God for our understanding and for our strength and endurance, against the powers and principalities of this world.

After all, Jesus has traveled with Peter and the other disciples, and has seen how they still do not understand when he tells them that He is the Messiah, sent by God to us. He has heard their questions and misunderstanding and confusion. He knows that, like our ancestors in faith before us, we will falter, and we will continue to need God’s salvation from our brokenness and sin.

And so, he promises to send an Advocate who will intercede on our behalf, and who will defend us against the powers that rebel against God and draw us away from God.

Other names we hear for the Holy Spirit are helper, comforter, or counselor, but in his description, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit both an Advocate and the “Spirit of truth” and promises that this Spirit will abide with us and in us. (14:17)

Psalm 43 when the psalmist is addressing God, also says,

“O, send out your light and your truth; let them lead me,….”

So, on one hand, yes! we have an advocate who is for us. But I think we are also guided by this same advocate,who is the “Spirit of truth”, to speak truth into difficult situations and be advocates for others.

A preacher I know tells the story of a woman who was suffering from addiction who found herself in despair one night. Somewhere along the way her mother had given her the phone number for a counselor, and, at some point in that very long night, as the minutes stretched into hours, she pulled out the scrap of paper, and called the number.

She poured out her story to the person who answered the phone. The two of them stayed on the line talking until daybreak. In the early morning light, the woman thanked the person on the phone and complimented them for caring so well, and for listening to her, saying, “How long have been a counselor?” And the person answered her, saying, “I have to admit that the number you called was a wrong number. I’m not a counselor. I’m a nobody. But I knew I couldn’t hang up on you [i]

And today, when the woman tells this story, she says, “It only takes a tiny pinhole of hope to let grace come flowing into your life.”

In faith, we are guided by God’s light and truth, through God’s Holy Spirit, and when we show up for others, in our words and actions, we are ambassadors of the hope that is in us through Christ Jesus.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “…hope that is seen is not hope…. ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” And it occurred to me that hope can be a difficult thing to explain.

One could say a hope is a dream, an aspiration, even a wish. But it is more than that. Poet Emily Dickinson wrote,

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,…[ii]

And Dickinson isn’t wrong, hope is unstoppable.

But Christian hope is grounded in the knowledge of Christ Jesus and of the truth of the gospel that tells us “God so loves the world that God gave God’s only Son …in order that the world may be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17) 

When Jesus is speaking to the disciples, he says that they “are to testify because they have been with him from the beginning.” But that doesn’t mean that we are off the hook!

And although we did not meet Jesus face to face during his earthly ministry, we do have the testimony of our ancestors in faith - generations upon generations of those who came before us, who testify to the ongoing power of God in their lives.

And today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth is alive in us, and we too can be witnesses to those who may not yet know the truth of God’s love for each and every one of us.

Let us pray,

Holy and loving God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus who came and lived among us to show us your boundless love.

Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to us to advocate for us when we turn away from you, and to guide us and lead us in truth.

Help us to show up for those who are hurting and vulnerable, that all may know your love.

We pray in your Holy name,

Amen.

---

[i] Pastor Taylor Mertins, “Crackers and Grape Juice” podcast, May 17, 2021.

[ii] Emily Dickinson, “‘Hope’ is the Thing with Feathers” from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.

Ascension of our Lord (La Ascensión de nuestro Señor)

Lucas 24:44-53

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos… Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestro corazón sean aceptables ante tus ojos, oh Señor, fortaleza nuestra y redentor nuestro. Amén.

El evangelio de hoy es la historia de la Ascensión: cuarenta días después de la resurrección, Jesús se despide definitivamente de los discípulos que lo acompañaron a lo largo de su ministerio terrenal.

Aunque Lucas es el único escritor del evangelio que incluye un relato de la Ascensión, hay escolares que dicen que este día es tan importante como la natividad, la crucifixión e incluso la resurrección.

En el nacimiento, vemos cómo Dios viene a la tierra como un ser humano que experimentará todos los altibajos que ofrece la experiencia mortal.

La crucifixión exige que veamos cómo nosotros mismos somos cómplices del rechazo del amor de Dios por nosotros.

Y la resurrección nos asegura que el pecado y la muerte nunca tendrán la última palabra; que Dios es victorioso sobre todas las cosas. 

Pero la historia cristiana no termina con la resurrección.

Si bien escuchamos promesas similares de Jesús en el evangelio de Juan, el relato de Lucas sobre la Ascensión es la primera vez en los evangelios sinópticos (los evangelios de Mateo, Marcos y Lucas) que se nos promete que el Espíritu de Dios estará con nosotros después de que Jesús se haya ido de nuestro vista. 

La promesa que se da es que Dios enviará “poder de lo alto”, el mismo Espíritu de Dios, el Espíritu Santo. (v. 49) y que los discípulos o seguidores de Jesús serán revestidos de este poder.

Cuando escucho la promesa de que seremos revestidos de este poder de lo alto, recuerdo cómo Jesús, después de su propio bautismo y tentación en el desierto, “regresó en el poder del espíritu” para comenzar su ministerio terrenal. (Lucas 4) Y también escucho un eco de las palabras de la acción de gracias por el bautismo que recuerda: “Todos los que son bautizados en Cristo están vestidos de Cristo” o “están revestidos de Cristo”. (ELW 280; Gálatas 3:27)

Uno de los dones del bautismo en nuestra comprensión luterana es que se trata de la acción de Dios por nosotros. Recuerde, ¡Dios recibe todos los verbos!

Dios es quien nos llama hijos de Dios,

y Dios es quien nos equipa para la vida como discípulos.

Nos presentamos y recibimos el don de este sacramento, para ser llamados hijos de Dios.

El bautismo es el comienzo de nuestra vida de fe, y regresamos a la comunidad de creyentes, y especialmente a la mesa, para ser nutridos en esa fe, una y otra vez.

En el Pequeño Catecismo, Martín Lutero enseña que el Espíritu Santo es Quien nos llama, nos santifica y nos mantiene en la fe. No es posible por nuestro propio entendimiento o fuerza, sino sólo por la obra de Dios en nosotros.

En el evangelio, cuando Jesús promete que recibiremos el poder del Espíritu Santo,

nuevamente se nos recuerda que es Dios quien nos transforma,

y nos hace testigos de todo lo que Dios hace posible.

El poder que se nos ha dado es Dios obrando a través de nosotros.

Nunca es poder sobre los demás, para avergonzarlos o coaccionarlos.

Y nunca es por nuestro propio interés.

Siempre se nos da poder para compartir con otros que ellos sabrán que el amor de Dios es para ellos también.

Es el poder que vemos cuando Jesús derriba barreras y crea una bienvenida más amplia.

Es el poder que vemos cuando Jesús sana a los que han sido expulsados y ama a los que han sido ignorados.

Es el poder de Dios obrando a través de nuestras palabras y acciones, a través de nuestras voces, nuestras manos y nuestros pies.

En el siglo dieciseis, Santa Teresa de Ávila fue una noble española de raíces judías. [i]  Fue una Monja carmelita y mística, escribió las siguientes palabras que creo que son una comisión del Día de la Ascensión para nosotros y para todos los que seguimos a Jesús:

Cristo no tiene ahora ningún cuerpo, excepto el tuyo.

No hay manos, ni pies en la tierra, excepto los tuyos.

Tuyos son los ojos con los que mira.

Con compasión en este mundo.

Al reflexionar sobre lo que significa para nosotros estar revestidos del Espíritu Santo y el poder de Dios, que siempre seamos Cristo para aquellos con quienes nos encontremos.

Oremos…

Santo Dios,

Gracias por tu Hijo Jesús que nos muestra lo que puede ser tu reino aquí en la tierra.

Ayúdanos a recordar siempre que nunca nos dejas ni nos abandonas.

Tu Espíritu Santo prometido está con nosotros, fortaleciéndonos y capacitándonos para ser tus testigos en el mundo y mostrar a otros tu amor. 

Ayúdanos a vivir como tus discípulos. 

Amén.

---

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila

Luke 24:44-53

Today’s gospel is the story of the Ascension: forty days after the resurrection, Jesus says a final farewell to the disciples who have accompanied him throughout his earthly ministry.

Although Luke is the only gospel writer who includes an account of the Ascension, there are scholars who say this day is just as important as the nativity, the crucifixion, and even the resurrection.

In the nativity, we see how God comes to earth as a human who will experience all the highs and lows that mortal experience offers.

The crucifixion demands that we see how we ourselves are complicit in rejecting God’s love for us.

And the resurrection assures us that sin and death never get the last word; that God is victorious over all things.

But the Christian story doesn’t end with the resurrection.

While we hear similar promises from Jesus in John’s gospel, Luke’s account of the Ascension is the first time in the synoptic gospels – the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke -that we are promised God’s Spirit will be with us after Jesus is gone from our sight.

The promise that is given is that God will send “power from on high”, the very Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. (v. 49) and that Jesus’ disciples, or followers, will be clothed with this power.

When I hear the promise that we will be clothed with this power from on high, I recall how Jesus, after his own baptism and temptation in the wilderness, “returned in the power of the spirit” to begin his earthly ministry. (Luke 4) And I also hear an echo of the words from the thanksgiving for baptism that remembers, “All who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ” or “been clothed with Christ”. (ELW 280; Gal. 3:27)

One of the gifts of baptism in our Lutheran understanding is that it is all about God’s action for us. Remember, God gets all the verbs!

God is the one who calls us children of God,

and God is the one who equips us for life as disciples.

We show up, and we receive the gift of this sacrament, to be called children of God.

Baptism is the beginning of our life of faith, and we return to the community of believers, and especially to the table, to be nourished in that faith, again and again.

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther teaches that the Holy Spirit is the One who calls us, makes us holy and keep us in faith. It is not possible by our own understanding or strength, but only by God working in us.

In the gospel, when Jesus promises that we will receive the power of the Holy Spirit,

we are again reminded that it is God who transform us,

and makes us witnesses of all that God makes possible.

The power that is given to us is God working through us.

It is never power over others, to shame them or to coerce them.

And it is never for our own self-interest.

It is always power that is given to us to share with others that they would know God’s love is for them as well.

It is the power we see when Jesus breaks down barriers and creates a wider welcome.

It is the power we see when Jesus heals those who have been cast out and loves those who have been ignored.

It is the power of God working through our words and actions, through our voices, our hands and our feet.

In the sixteenth century, Saint Teresa of Avila was a Spanish noblewoman with Jewish roots.[i] A Carmelite nun and a mystic, she wrote the following words that I believe are an Ascension Day commission for us and for all who follow Jesus:

Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks
With compassion on this world.

As we reflect on what it means for us to be clothed with God’s Holy Spirit and the power of God, may we always be Christ to those whom we meet.

Let us pray…

Holy God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus who shows us what your kingdom can be here on earth.

Help us always remember you never leave us or forsake us.

Your promised Holy Spirit is with us, strengthening us and empowering us to be your witnesses in the world, and to how others your love.

Help us live as your disciples.

Amen.

---

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila