The Holy Trinity

June 7, 2009

Sermon by Pastor John Marboe

The Holy Gospel according to St. John. (John 3:1-17)

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 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.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

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

The Gospel of the Lord.

Dear friends: Grace to you and peace from God our Maker, from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, and from the Holy Spirit of God.

Our text today teaches us, in the words of Martin Luther, “the Gospel in miniature.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved or healed through him.” God loves the world. God loves the world, no exceptions.

God loves the world, if you think about it, with a risky love. If you think about the way in which God has come into the world in the form of Jesus, into a dangerous world, into a problematic world, into a world full of sickness and pain, and violence and danger, it’s a risky love. God made himself vulnerable, not powerful but vulnerable. That’s the kind of love that God has shown in the world. As Christians, we are called not to insulate and to isolate ourselves, but to go as well into the world with that same kind of love.

I was invited this last week to the opening of a Mosque by a friend and colleague of mine, Mohammed Elakkad. Mohammed is a leader in the Islamic Institute of Minnesota and a Professor of Agronomy at the University of Minnesota, an immigrant from Egypt some 45 years ago to attend the University of Minnesota. He’s stayed ever since. He has sought for years to create bonds of understanding, relationship, and peace across faith divisions, especially in behalf of the increasing population of Muslims in our city and state.

So my friend invited me to Burnsville this last Friday night, where they were opening the Burnsville Mosque. I accepted the invitation, not knowing what to expect. Mohammed asked if I would say a few words. I didn’t think much about it. I said, sure, I would gladly bring greeting on behalf of Immanuel Lutheran Church and the St. Paul Interfaith Network. I thought just a word or two of greeting would be expected.

I arrived, and was warmly greeted at the door. I walked in and realized this was a very different sort of event than I had expected. The first person that I ran into was U.S. Representative Betty McCollum. The next person I ran into was the Mayor of Burnsville. The next person I ran into was the personal representative of Senator Amy Klobuchar. And then I realized the place was full of national and local political dignitaries.

I was ushered up onto the stage, to sit between Betty McCollum and the Mayor of Burnsville. And I looked around and I realized that they all had prepared remarks. The representative of Amy Klobuchar held a personal letter from the Senator to be read. I looked and I noticed that Betty McCollum had brought a gift—a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol—on behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives. The mayor had a prepared speech And I had prepared… nothing! I looked at the program for the evening and realized, with some gratitude, that I was last on the schedule to speak. It gave me time. I also noticed that my remarks came under the heading, “Interfaith Remarks.” And so I scrambled in my head and thought, “What shall I say?” “What shall I say?”

I share this experience with you today—and I will get to what I ended up saying, so don’t worry—but I share this with you today because I believe that, right now, we live in a historic moment in world history. It is a historic moment in Christian, Muslim, Jewish relations. It’s a historic moment when matters of faith and how we regard each other of different faiths, even locally, even here in our city, have huge implications for the kind of world that our children and our grandchildren will see; whether there will be peace through relationship and growing understanding or war and enmity. It’s a dangerous time, but also a time of great opportunity. And we Christians, we Lutheran Christians, we Lutheran Christians of Immanuel Lutheran Church even, have a part to play in this unfolding drama.

I got to my turn, and I rose to speak. I greeted the crowd in the Muslim way, “Salaam Άlaykum,” which means in Arabic, “Peace be upon you.” And also in the Lutheran way, “The Lord be with you.” And I was impressed how many people knew the response, “And also with you.”

I brought a blessing to that new house of prayer from Immanuel Lutheran Church and from the St. Paul interfaith Network, where I serve on the steering committee. I told them, to begin with, that I was a product of an interfaith marriage. You see, my grandfather was a Norwegian Lutheran, the son of immigrants; and my grandmother was a Bohemian Catholic, the daughter of immigrants. They met and they fell in love on a train ride out to Montana, when they were in their twenties, in the ‘20s. They met and fell in love. I still have the letters from my grandfather back to his mother, trying to explain, with many words and consecutive letters, who this woman was in whom he had met. Finally, after many letters trying to soften the blow, he admitted that she was a Catholic. On the back of that letter are notes scribbled from his mother to his older sisters, “What shall we do with him?” “What shall we do with him?” They threatened to disown him if he did not break it off. But they stuck it out, lucky for me, they stuck it out; they stayed married. And in the end, relationship overcame prejudice, relationship overcame prejudice; and the family bonds were preserved, despite this interfaith scandal.

Well, the Muslim community laughed, just the same way you did, when they thought about it being a scandal that a Lutheran and a Catholic would marry in the 1920s. But it was a scandal; it was serious. This kind of interfaith relationship was unacceptable to both families. I said to those in the Mosque, “Thankfully, Lutherans and Catholics have come a long way in understanding one another and building relationships. But religious prejudice still remains in our culture, strong as ever. It’s just that the groups have changed.” And they all understood very well what I meant.

I went on to say that I appreciated the speech by our President this last week, reaching out to the Islamic world on behalf of our nation. I appreciated a short line, a single line, a little-noticed line, perhaps the shortest line in his speech. It was a theological statement, in just five words. He said this: “Faith should bring us together.” “Faith should bring us together.”

“Now, think about that,” I said, “This is a counter‑cultural statement. The average person on the street would not necessarily think that strong faith would bring people of different faiths together, but rather quite the opposite. Don’t you think? Strong faith divides people whose faith traditions are different, right? But I believe that it’s true. Faith should bring us together, because faith is not the certainty that I am right and you are wrong. Faith is rather belief in the one God who loves everyone.”

And with that, I finished and sat down. Afterwards, I was startled by the strength of the thanks and the honor that I received from the leaders of the Islamic community and their members, both for just coming and for the words that I spoke. I was a little embarrassed because I was getting more attention than Betty McCollum. I wondered about that. Why, I thought, so much attention for somebody who is not a dignitary, not famous, not well‑known, just a Lutheran pastor who showed up? Then I realized the reason. I was the only Christian representative in attendance, the only faith leader who was not Muslim in attendance. Only one Christian leader came, and it meant the world to them.

The scripture teaches that God so loved the world that God came in the person of Jesus, into this dangerous world. God did not send his Son to condemn the world but that the world might be healed through him, saved and healed through him.

One estimate is that there are roughly 250,000 Muslims in Minnesota; a quarter of a million Somali Muslims in Minnesota; not to mention the 70,000 Hindu in the metro area; and here in St. Paul is the largest Hmong population in the world.

The world has come to us, and Lutherans are responsible. It’s our own Lutheran Social Services and congregations like this one that have made that happen, reaching out in kindness to people in need. Many probably originally thought that these people would come and they would assimilate, and maybe even leave their own religions behind. But as the mosques and the temples begin to appear, it’s clear that religious diversity as we have never known is here.

We are not all the same, and not all religions are the same. But our faith, our Christian faith, teaches that God’s love for the world is universal and without condition. We have the chance today, as Christians in St. Paul, to model for the world that relationship and understanding can overcome fear and hate, without compromising an ounce of our Christian faith. Shall we?

The Gospel, our Gospel, is that God’s love is not limited and is for everyone… even for you and me. How then shall we regard our newest neighbors, who seem so different to us now, but who for sure one day will be marrying our children and our grandchildren?