Delivered by Rev. Ellen Brantley
Sunday, June 7, 2009
SERMON: Power,
Presence, and Promise
TEXT: John 3:1-17
When my
children were younger they had their defiant moments, as all children do. I gave a command; they refused to obey. But I found a trick that was almost
fool-proof in getting them to move. I
guess I can tell you about it since they are now in their even more obstinate tween and teen years.
The trick was I would count.
“One, two,” and before I ever got to “three” they were rushing to do as
I said. The interesting thing is that I
don’t recall ever telling them that “three” was the magic number. Nor did I tell them what would happen if I
got to three – at least not in specific terms.
I might have said something more general, like, “If I get to three,
you’re in big trouble.” It took very
little effort on my part: a particular
glare in my eyes and just the lifting of a finger or two, and I didn’t even
have to get up from my chair. It worked
like a charm!
Now that
they’re older, I wonder if I should be looking for signs of trauma or
inordinate fear of the number three!
Anyway,
there is a kind of superstition, or at least a common belief that bad things
come in threes. You lose your wallet;
your husband breaks his leg; and the kids get chickenpox all in the same
week. In the three years that he’s been
here, the pastor in Crane had his church burn to the ground, suffered a
motorcycle accident, and his wife was in a car accident. Sometimes it even seems like death comes in
threes.
But today
being Trinity Sunday, let’s focus on the many good things that come in
threes. At the top of the list, of
course, is God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our Creator, Redeemer, and
Sustainer. From the lectionary verses
chosen for today, I find the Trinity to be full of POWER, PRESENCE, AND PROMISE.
In Psalm
29, from which came our Call to Worship, we find an image of the POWER of God
in a mighty storm: “Ascribe to the Lord,
O heavenly beings ascribe to the Lord glory and
strength…. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory
thunders…. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord flashes
forth flames of fire. The voice of the
Lord shakes the wilderness…. The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forests bare; and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’” Can’t you just hear the claps of thunder, see
the flashes of fiery lightning, feel the force of the wind that makes the
ground tremble and twists the trees into pretzels? As Creator, God here demonstrates dominance
over all creation, stirring the seas and moving mountains. God is King of heaven and earth, and as his
creatures, we are to bow down and worship.
The Psalm ends with a prayer that God will share this power with his
people and use it for our well-being:
“May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!”
Indeed, it
is a powerful voice that can speak things into being and create a universe out
of nothing. I think we sometimes forget
the power of God because we’re so much more focused on what a gentle, loving
being God is, especially as the person who came to us as a baby. God in the flesh, Jesus was Emmanuel, “God
with us”, the PRESENCE of God on earth.
Furthermore,
from Romans, we learn that we are “children of God”, having received a spirit
of adoption. And just as God is the
Father of Jesus, by the Spirit, God is a Father to us. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus and can
have the close, familial relationship with God that Jesus had with his Father. We, too, can call God, “Abba” or “daddy” or
“dad” as Jesus did. Within this family
reside all three persons of the Trinity, and we are called into that
relationship. We are children OF God,
heirs WITH Christ, and led BY the Spirit.
When we become a part of this family, we learn what it is to know the
PRESENCE of God.
A man,
looking for evidence of God whispered, “God, speak to me.” A meadowlark sang, but the man did not
hear. So the man yelled, “God, speak to
me.” Thunder and lightning rolled across
the sky, but the man did not listen. The
man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.” A star shone brightly, but the man did not
see. The man shouted, “God, show me a
miracle.” A life was born, but the man
did not notice. So the man cried out in
despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know you are here.” God reached down and touched the man, but the
man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
Before he
was crucified, Jesus gave his PROMISE that he would leave for us an Advocate in
the person of the Holy Spirit. “I will
not leave you orphaned…. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I
have said to you.” (John 14: 18,
26) Of course, this is the same Spirit
that Jesus told Nicodemus about when he talked of being “born from above”, born
of water and Spirit. “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.”
When we are
born of the Spirit, we have the PROMISE of entrance into the
Listen to
this adaptation of the 23rd Psalm, titled The Great Shepherd.
The Great Shepherd is my constant companion.
There is no need that cannot be filled.
Whether God’s course for me points to the mountaintops of glorious
ecstasy
Or to the valleys of human suffering,
God is by my side, and is ever present
with me.
The Great Shepherd is close beside me when I tread the dark streets of
danger,
And even when I flirt with death itself, I will not be abandoned.
When the pain is severe, God is near to comfort.
When the burden is heavy, God is there to lean upon.
When depression darkens my soul, God touches me with eternal joy.
When I feel empty and alone, God fills the aching vacuum with power.
My security is in God’s promise
to be near me always,
And in the knowledge that the Great Shepherd will never
let me go.
(Leslie Brandt, Psalms Now)
The Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit are full of POWER, PRESENCE, AND
PROMISE.
When we
realize how completely God has given himself to us, how can we do anything less
than return our whole selves – body, mind, spirit, time, talent, treasure – in
thanks to God? As God relates to us
through POWER, PRESENCE, AND PROMISE, perhaps we might look at our response in
like alliteration. God calls us to give
of ourselves in PRAISE, PARTNERSHIP, AND
PRAYER.
To the Father
who comes to us in POWER and “sits enthroned as king forever,” we must give all
honor, worship, and praise. To the Son who was, and is, and always will
be a constant PRESENCE in our lives, and who sacrificed himself for us, we need
to be in partnership with him in
baptizing and teaching, in making disciples and sharing the love of God. And to the Holy Spirit who fulfills God’s
PROMISE to never leave us or forsake us, we need to be in constant prayer for inspiration and strength to
live in accordance with God’s will.
This
message is to my children and to all God’s children: The number three will never get you into
trouble as long as you remember the POWER, PRESENCE, AND PROMISE of God, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In
response to all God’s gifts, let us join in praise, partnership, and prayer… to
the glory of God!
AMEN.