Lectionary for Trinity Year B
Opening Sentence. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s glory. Isaiah 6:3
Collect. Father, we praise you: through your Word and Holy Spirit you created all things. You reveal your salvation in all the world by sending to us Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Through your Holy Spirit you give us a share in your life and love. Fill us with the vision of your glory, that we may always serve and praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading. Romans 8:12-17. This week marks Trinity Sunday in the Christian calendar. Although there is no direct naming of God as Trinity there is a wealth of material in the Bible to demonstrate that the concept of God as Trinity is accurate. God is Creator and also Father. Jesus is Coequal and Coeternal with the Father and is anointed by God to be Saviour of all humanity. The Holy Spirit is present at creation, present in the ministry of Jesus and at Pentecost was poured out on humanity as had been prophesied by the prophet Joel. It is with this unified sense of God that we read our passage today.
Paul is urging all the believers to take stock of who they are in the Spirit. He is saying that when we consider all that God has done for us we owe all of our life and living to him. Drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit poured out for all believers from Pentecost on we can live in a way that pleases God. It is as we appeal to God for help as from a beloved father that we draw on the certainty that through Jesus Christ we are accepted as adopted children. In the ancient world even an adopted slave was able to share in the inheritance of the family.
We need not be afraid that God will fail to hear our plea. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that continues to give us the confidence to face life in a world which is estranged from God. Through the Spirit we turn away from the ways of the world and look always to the way of Jesus Christ. As children of God we long to do only those things which honour the godly family to which we belong. Jesus fulfilled his mission to show the loving nature of God and to draw those who believed away from the ways of disobedience to living in harmony with God. It is as we walk in obedience to God that we too accept our position as God’s children.
The power of God to give us life and enable us to walk in righteousness is undeniable. Experience keeps telling us that it is keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus at all times which seems so difficult. The pull of the world to take us away from the things of God is strong. The more we focus on the world and its temptations the harder it is live as God’s children. It is God’s Holy Spirit that gives us the power to live as God desires. Pleasing God needs to be our sole aim. To resist the world will lead us into suffering for it means putting aside the aims of self and obeying the commands of Jesus. However when we do obey Jesus the reward is a life of peace and contentment: a life lived in obedient harmony with God.
Prayer. Lord God and Father of us all as your children we give you thanks for your love and care. We thank you for the blessings and benefits this privilege affords. All thanks and praise we offer to you for in Jesus Christ his resurrection has broken the bonds of sin and death and set us free to be alive in Him. Grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit we may always walk in the light as Jesus himself walked in the light of your love. We pray for those who suffer because they follow Jesus Christ. For those who are so afraid that they follow in secret. We pray for the day when all God’s people will be able to worship and praise you for all the blessings that flow from your salvation. Amen
Reading. John 3:1-17. We have looked at this passage on other occasions for it contains many facets. Nicodemus is an important leader in Judaism. The way that Jesus addresses him in verse 10 suggests that he is one of the key teachers of the Torah at this time. Though Nicodemus is willing to listen to the teaching of Jesus he struggles to grasp the meaning for it is a new way of being included into the family of God. From a Jewish perspective anyone who can claim heritage as a descendant of Abraham was considered to be a member of God’s family by rights. A Gentile could become a proselyte, (a follower of Judaism) by undertaking a cleansing process. Such a person had to repent, be baptised, (washed), and reclothed with new garments. When Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again it did not fit with his Jewish understanding. Nicodemus’ question in verse 9 is not sardonic, he simply does not understand. In practical terms a baby has to be fully formed before it can survive outside the mother’s womb. In order for a child of God to survive it too needs to be fully formed and this is achieved only with the aid of the Spirit. We are born as flesh and blood but it is the Spirit who cleanses us and reforms us so that we are ready to be in full relationship with God as Father. Paul likens this process as being “clothed with Christ” (Galatians 3:27) Without the Spirit we are forced to remain estranged from God.
At this point Jesus reminds Nicodemus of the salvation that comes to the Israelites in the wilderness from God’s assurance that the serpent being lifted up will save them. Crucifixion was never mentioned in polite company but Nicodemus would have from the passage in Numbers that it is God, and only God who can save a person from death. Theirs was the sin but it was God who provided the remedy of salvation.
It is then that John records one of the most remembered passages in the bible for many Christians. God gave his Son so that everyone who believes in Jesus as the Messiah will have eternal life. Belief does not save us, for that implies it is something that we have to do. It is the work of the Spirit through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross which gives us knowledge of salvation. It is the work of the Spirit who clothes us in Christ and then we are reborn to a living hope for we become children of God by his grace.
In this passage we learn that God does not come to condemn the world rather through Jesus, God is reaching out with love to bring renewal and hope to all those who will believe.
Prayer. God and Father of us all, we praise you for your infinite love in calling us to be a Holy people, a royal priesthood, a universal church; and in giving us your son Jesus Christ our Lord to be the head of the church and the shepherd of our souls. We thank you that by his death he has overcome death and having ascended into heaven has abundantly poured out his gifts by the Holy Spirit; making some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers; to equip your people for the work of ministry and the building up of the body. May we as your servants, use your gifts wisely and grow in grace day by day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. (Adapted from The Methodist Prayer Book, 1975)
Collect. Eternal God, we see your face in Jesus Christ, and your Breath blows among us and all around. May your everlasting arms enfold us as we are brought to birth, and filled with the Spirit of life; in the name of Jesus, the Word made flesh. Amen.
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