Trinity Sunday, year A

JOHN 3:16-18
TODAY'S GOSPEL IS INTERESTING. IN ONE BREATH JESUS TELLS US THAT GOD SO LOVED US THAT HE SENT HIS ONLY SON SO THAT WE MIGHT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. HE DID NOT DO THIS TO CONDEMN US, BUT SO THAT WE MIGHT BE SAVED THROUGH HIM. AND THEN, IN THE NEXT BREATH, HE SAYS THAT IF WE BELIEVE IN HIM, WE WILL NOT BE CONDEMNED, BUT IF WE DON'T, WE ARE ALREADY CONDEMNED.
I SUSPECT THAT IF YOU ARE A GOOD, CHURCH-GOING CHRISTIAN, AND YOU ARE, YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM BELIEVING THE FIRST PROPOSITION – THAT GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE SENT HIS ONLY SON. YOU BELIEVE THAT THROUGH JESUS WE WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. BUT I SUSPECT THAT IF YOU ARE A GOOD CHURCH-GOING CHRISTIAN, YOU MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH THE SECOND PROPOSITION – THAT WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN HIM – AND JESUS EVEN SAYS, WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THE NAME OF THE ONLY SON OF GOD; OTHERWISE, WE ARE ALREADY CONDEMNED.
MUCH OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY IS TAKEN UP WITH TRYING TO RESOLVE THESE TENSIONS. IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE ONLY WAY WE CAN AVOID CONDEMNATION, THE ONLY WAY THAT WE CAN BE SAVED, IS BY BELIEVING IN HIS NAME. OF COURSE WE UNDERSTAND THE WORD “BELIEVE” TO BE MORE THAN JUST AGREEING WITH A PARTICULAR PROPOSITION. AFTER ALL, SATAN, THE GREATEST OF THE ANGELS, SURELY BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD. AS JESUS DRIVES OUT DEMONS THEY CRY OUT THAT FACT. BELIEVING, IN GOSPEL LANGUAGE, MEANS THAT WE AGREE WITH OUR WHOLE BEING, NOT JUST OUR MINDS. AND IF WE AGREE WITH OUR WHOLE BEING, THAN OUR CONDUCT REFLECTS THAT WE BELIEVE IN JESUS AND WHAT JESUS TAUGHT. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T BELIEVE? WE ALL KNOW GOOD PEOPLE THAT WE WOULD WELCOME INTO OUR CHURCH WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN JESUS. HOW DO THEY AVOID CONDEMNATION? HOW ARE THEY SAVED?
SAINT AUGUSTINE SAID THAT WE ALL DESERVE CONDEMNATION, BUT GOD, IN HIS MERCY CHOOSES SOME TO BE SAVED. FOR SAINT AUGUSTINE, NO ONE WHO HAD NOT BEEN BAPTIZED STOOD A CHANCE. AND JOHN CALVIN, THE GREAT PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN, BELIEVED THIS AS WELL, AND INSISTED THERE WAS NOTHING ANYONE COULD DO ABOUT IT IF YOU WERE CONDEMNED. IT MAY SOUND UNJUST, BUT REMEMBER, EVEN NEWBORN BABIES ARE BORN IN ORIGINAL SIN. MANY THEOLOGIANS AND PHILOSOPHERS THOUGHT THAT CALVIN AND AUGUSTINE WERE TOO HARSH. SO AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM ARE THEOLOGIANS LIKE RAHNER, WHO SAID THAT, YES, YOU HAVE TO BE SAVED THROUGH JESUS, BUT THERE IS SUCH A THING AS AN ANONYMOUS CHRISTIAN, WHO DOES HIS BEST TO FOLLOW THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD WRITTEN IN HIS HEART. AND THAT IDEA SEEMS MORE IN KEEPING WITH OUR MODERN SENSIBILITIES. AFTER ALL, I CERTAINLY DON'T WANT MY JEWISH AND MUSLIM AND HINDU FRIENDS, AND EVEN MY ATHEIST FRIENDS, TO GO TO HELL. I HOPE THAT BY LEADING GOOD LIVES, THE WILL BE SAVED THROUGH THIS ESCAPE CLAUSE.
BUT WE DON'T KNOW. THE CHURCH ALLOWS THAT SALVATION IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN JESUS, BUT HOW POSSIBLE? COMMON? RARE? SHE DOESN'T SAY. OBVIOUSLY, ITS HARD ENOUGH WHEN YOU ARE A MEMBER OF CHRIST'S OWN CHURCH.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE TRINITY SUNDAY. GOD IS THE FATHER WHO IS AT THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE, UNKNOWABLE, BEYOND UNDERSTANDING. AND YET HE REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN JESUS, THE SON. BUT EVEN THOUGH JESUS REVEALS THE FATHER, FOR YOU AND I TO ACCEPT THIS REVELATION, THERE MUST BE THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO REVEALS ALL THAT IS TRUE. YOU WILL SOMETIMES HEAR PEOPLE SAY THAT WE ALL BELIEVE IN THE SAME GOD. I REMEMBER A DISCUSSION WITH A HINDU FRIEND WHO INSISTED THAT EVEN THOUGH HINDUS HAVE TEMPLES TO THOUSANDS OF GODS THROUGHOUT INDIA, THEY ARE REALLY JUST AS MUCH ONE-GOD PEOPLE AS CHRISTIANS, JEWS AND MUSLIMS. FOR A HINDU, ALL THE “GODS” ARE JUST WAYS THAT THE GOD SHOWS HIMSELF. BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT WE DON'T ALL BELIEVE IN THE SAME GOD. ONLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO IS THREE PERSONS IN ONE BEING. ONLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT SO THAT HE CAN TAKE ON OUR HUMANITY AND REDEEM IT. ONLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO HAS CHOSEN TO SUFFER AND DIE IN OUR PLACE AND ACCEPT OUR PUNISHMENT FOR SIN.
I HOPE MY NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDS WILL NOT BE CONDEMNED. I HOPE THAT CARL RAHNER IS RIGHT AND NOT AUGUSTINE AND CALVIN. BUT TODAY'S GOSPEL TELLS US THAT WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN JESUS; THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. IF I AM TO BELIEVE IN HIM, I BETTER DO ALL I CAN TO KNOW HIM. IF I WANT TO KNOW JESUS, THE BEST WAY TO KNOW HIM IS TO START WITH HIS LIFE AND HIS TEACHINGS, AND THE EFFECT HE HAD ON THOSE FIRST CHRISTIANS. IF WE STUDY SCRIPTURE AND PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT ENLIGHTEN US, ALLOW US TO RECEIVE THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER BROUGHT TO US BY JESUS, IT WILL HAPPEN.
THE SECOND BEST WAY TO KNOW JESUS IS TO KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN MOLDED IN HIS SHAPE. OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO ARE SAINTS ARE ICONS OF JESUS; WHEN WE LEARN ABOUT THEM, WE SEE THAT JESUS SHINES THROUGH. THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND THEIR WRITINGS HELP US TO KNOW JESUS.
BUT I DOUBT THAT MY NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDS CAN BE PERSUADED TO READ MY BIBLE OR STUDY THE SAINTS. SO THAT MEANS THAT IF I WANT THEM TO BELIEVE IN JESUS, IF I WANT THEM TO KNOW JESUS, IT IS UP TO ME TO LIVE A LIFE THAT REFLECTS JESUS. SOMEONE SAID THAT FOR MOST PEOPLE, THE ONLY BIBLE THEY WILL EVER READ IS YOU AND I.
MAYBE NEARLY EVERYONE GETS TO HEAVEN. MAYBE GETTING TO HEAVEN HARDLY EVER HAPPENS. BUT JESUS SAID THAT WE WILL NOT BE CONDEMNED IF WE BELIEVE IN HIM, AND TO BELIEVE IN HIM WE HAVE TO KNOW HIM. SO AT LEAST I KNOW THAT MUCH. BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT I MAY BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SALVATION AND CONDEMNATION FOR MY FRIENDS WHO DON'T KNOW JESUS. THROUGH MY BAPTISM I BECOME ONE WITH HIM. AND JUST AS JESUS REVEALS THE FATHER TO THOSE WHO ARE PREDISPOSED TO THIS REVELATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, IT'S MY JOB AS WELL TO REVEAL THE FATHER.
TODAY ON TRINITY SUNDAY LET US THANK GOD THAT HE HAS SHOWN US SOMETHING ABOUT HIMSELF, SHOWN US WHAT KIND OF GOD WE HAVE. AND LET US TAKE JESUS SERIOUSLY; MAY OUR LIVES BE BIBLES FOR THE PEOPLE AROUND US.