God Is Not A Banana
A Sermon for Trinity Sunday
May 26, 2024
The Rev. Robin Teasley
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.” John 3:1-17
A friend of mine once attempted a children’s sermon about the Trinity. She sat down with the children and had a basket of bananas in her lap. Holding up one banana she asked the children, "how many bananas am I holding?" They all answered, “one!” So far, so good. Then she cut the one banana into three equal parts and asked the children, “Do I still have one banana?” Some of them answered yes, others said no. See how this gets complicated?
Then she explained that it was indeed still one banana, just in three equal parts. She explained how each part was banana, each part had a peeling and fruit inside, and then she gave a banana to each of the children to take home. She ended her message with a question, “Later on, when you eat your banana, what are you going to think about?” And one precious child said, “God is a banana!” This is what happens almost every time we try to explain the Trinity!
Understanding the Trinity is a lifelong endeavor, and many have tried to explain it. Once I told my priest I finally understood the Trinity and he lovingly said, “if you think you understand the Trinity, you are probably a heretic!” Even our best analogies will eventually fall apart, so if you are hoping to hear an explanation of the Trinity this morning, I am likely to disappoint you. I could tell you, as many have said, that the Trinity is a mystery, and this is true, but it’s more than that. It’s important to know that this doctrine evolved out of historical, theological, scriptural, and political debate over a period of time spanning hundreds of years.
The early Christians needed a way to explain who God was to each other and to those outside of the Church. So, all the good first and second century Christians got busy attempting to do this, which resulted in a great deal of heresy. Then they began to argue with one another about what God wanted and how scripture was interpreted, and this caused much division in the Church. Gee, this sounds familiar!
The first ecumenical council was called in 325 at Nicaea. Think of this as a giant Vestry meeting that lasted a really long time! And this meeting was called, not by the Church, but by the Emperor Constantine. You see, Constantine was sure God had given him his huge empire, and so he was determined to keep this generous God happy. He wanted to end the arguments that were beginning to cause division in his empire. This first council, and a number of others which followed it, resulted in the Nicene Creed and a doctrine of the Trinity.
The Creed was the best way the early Christians knew to describe God and even then, it was not a complete description. John of Damascus, a sixth century monk and bishop said, "It is plain, then, that there is a God. But what God is in essence and nature is absolutely incomprehensible and unknowable. God then is infinite and incomprehensible; and all that is comprehensible about God is his incomprehensibility." Was that helpful?
In our Gospel reading, Nicodemus has come to visit Jesus because he has seen and heard many things, and like all of us, he has questions and he has doubts. His assumptions about who God is, and how God acts have been turned upside down. On some level he understands that Jesus has come from God, but then Jesus brings the Spirit into the equation, telling Nicodemus that he must be born from above, born of water and the Spirit. This idea was as difficult for Nicodemus to understand as the Trinity is for us to explain!
Nicodemus expressed the kind of confusion we can all feel when we stumble over our own preconceived notions of who God is or how God acts. Jesus is offering Nicodemus, and us, a beautiful and radical truth; that the Spirit of God can come and blow through our preconceived notions and tightly wound ideas to open us to the possibility of new life, to being born anew.
This new life is transformation that comes from God, who is always re-creating us by opening our minds to new ways of understanding. We may have a difficult time explaining this transformation, but perhaps we can recognize times when we have experienced it. And the Trinity may just help us recognize these experiences.
At the very core of theological explanations of the Trinity is the idea that Father, Son, and Spirit are, in essence, a community. While each is distinct they move as one, always connected, always complementing each other. We see the Trinity as community made visible when we see volunteers helping people in the midst of disaster, like those helping in the Midwest after the recent tornados. We see the Trinity here at St. John’s when we bring donations for the food pantry, and care for parishioners in their time of need. The Spirit reminds us of the truths Jesus taught us, and of God’s love for all of creation, empowering us to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world.
And yet, we may wonder, does the doctrine of the Trinity matter? How many of us are thinking about church doctrine when we are awake in the middle of the night and can’t sleep for worrying, when we argue with our spouse, or when we receive an unexpected diagnosis? Probably not many of us are pondering the doctrine of the Trinity in those times! But maybe the nature of God does matter to us in times of worry, conflict, fear, or loss. Because when life is disrupted, that’s often the time when we may begin to ask questions, have doubts about our faith or need some help. And when we, like Nicodemus, are out searching for light in the darkness, it is our community of faith, as an image of the Trinity, which will sustain us.
Perhaps this concept of the Trinity as community can help us see that defining the Trinity is less important than living the Trinity. As a congregation that lives the Trinity, we are called and sent by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. While we may come to church for all kinds of reasons, we do not exist merely to be a social club or a service organization. We exist because of the relationship we have with God, and with one another.
In a moment we will confess our faith in the Triune God. As we say the Nicene Creed, notice when a word or phrase causes you to stop and question your understanding. This is the work of the Trinity. This is good and holy work, and it is ongoing.
One of the gifts of the Episcopal Church is that we invite the questions, we wrestle with the hard things, and learn through our experiences together. It’s not always easy, but it guarantees that we will grow in knowledge and love of God. We are a community of faith, relying on one another for wisdom, support, forgiveness, and speaking truth in love. We are individuals and we are one body, committed to our individual and communal relationships with one another and with God.
Children’s sermons and analogies don’t always work and God is not a banana, but if a banana helps remind us of all of this, I imagine God says that’s just fine.
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