Wordplay

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday June 7, 2009, Trinity Sunday.

Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

In 1981, Kurt Vonnegut published a sermon called Palm Sunday. One of the points he makes is that any joke translated out of its native language is doomed. He goes as far to say that any joke told in the King James English is doomed to sound like Charlton Heston. Reading this week’s gospel lesson I am inclined to agree. Admittedly, the New Revised Standard translation does not sound much like Charlton Heston, but it isn’t Larry the Cable Guy either. Lost in the translation of this text are some well crafted puns.

The first pun Jesus shares with Nicodemus is found in verse three. Ordinarily, this is translated “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” This is the translation found in the New King James, the Revised Standard, and the New International Versions. The majority of translations read like this, but not the New Revised Standard Version. The NRSV says, “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” How in the world do hundreds of years of translation move us from “again” to “from above?”

In a metaphysical, theological conversation, we might be able, after some contention, to concur that these readings can be equivalent, in a broad philosophical sense. In a broad way, the “again” of traditional translation can lead us to say that this rebirth comes “from above.” Frankly, this sort of argument sounds like the sort of thing philosophers talk about after cocktails during a soiree at a conference. Honestly though, this isn’t very funny and I promised you a pun.

There’s an easy explanation really; the Greek word used can either mean “again” or “from above.” It’s kind of boring, isn’t it? It’s just a translation thing. But did Jesus mean: “again” or “from above?” The Greek word used here is found five times in John’s gospel, and only in this instance is it ever translated as “again.” Every other time this word appears in John’s gospel, it is translated “from above.” So by the “majority rules” school of linguistics, we should say “from above” instead of “again” in all of these cases. Also, there is another Greek word for “again” which is used in John’s gospel. So with consistency in mind, it would make sense that if John had meant to say “again” here, the other word would have been used.

But here’s the joke… Perhaps Jesus wanted Nicodemus to consider both “again” and “from above.” What does it mean to be born “again?” What does it mean to be born “from above?” I like to think that Jesus was using the pun here. Perhaps he meant both. We must be born again—from above. Jesus uses a bit of wordplay to force Nicodemus out of not one, but two comfort zones. To be born again and born from above must have been unnerving for the Pharisee. Nicodemus even asks “how can a man be born after growing old?” Jesus answers Nicodemus by talking about birth in the Spirit, as well as from the womb.

The second pun is found in verse eight. Jesus tells Nicodemus that “the wind blows where it chooses and you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Here again, the pun gets lost in the translation. The word for wind and Spirit are the same. Everywhere in scripture you find the words wind and spirit, they come from the same ancient Greek or Hebrew word. So everyone who is born in the Spirit is moved by a force that we can neither see nor discern. We are also not able to discern where the wind will take us.

The third pun is found in verse fourteen, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” This pun is easier to find in English. The Old Testament reference about Moses and the serpent is found in Numbers 21. Here, the Lord gives Israel victory over the Canaanites. Israel promptly offers thanks to the Lord by complaining about food and water.

So the Lord sends a brood of vipers to bite the people. Some even die. The people promptly recognize the error of their ways. “‘We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you [Moses]; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’”[1] Moses did this, he lifted a bronze serpent upon a pole and all who saw it were revived.

When we read that the Son of Man must be lifted up, often (and rightly) we think that he must be exalted. And this will come to pass in John’s gospel; Jesus will be lifted up by his Father after his resurrection and glorious ascension. He will be lifted as our Lord and Messiah first by Peter, then by the apostles and disciples and we continue to lift, to exalt, the name of Jesus. The Lord God even lifts Jesus during his baptism and the transfiguration.

Jesus will be lifted up, just as the serpent was lifted up—upon a pole, upon a tree, upon the cross. And just as all who saw the snake lifted up upon the pole were healed, all who know the sacrifice Jesus made on behalf of all creation are made whole and participate in the healing of creation. Jesus was lifted up, Jesus is exalted.

One of the truths of translation is that every translation is also an interpretation. Beginning with the Latin of the early Roman church and moving into the English translations authorized by King James and beyond, every time the bible is translated, it is also interpreted for a different society and culture. This is unavoidable. It is the nature of language; words are symbols that point to things and concepts. Shakespeare said “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,”[2] but it was Mad Magazine who added, “yes, but would you pay the same price for a dozen stink weed?”[3]

We all use words as symbols in our daily lives. But sometimes, some of the symbolism is lost. In this case, it’s a matter of not knowing the nuances of ancient languages and cultures. We can be informed about these things, we can learn. We now know that we must be born again from above. We know that the words for wind and Spirit are the same in both Greek and Hebrew, and the Spirit moves us as the wind moves us. We also know that the lifting up of Jesus is done in our hearts and our hands and our voices, as well as on the cross.

In verse three, Jesus tells us about the person of God. Jesus tells us that we can only see the kingdom of heaven when we are born again from above. Only when we receive this second birth, a birth that comes from God, can we ever see the kingdom of God. Jesus tells us that the Spirit that blows us like the wind is in control of our lives. We can never control the wind; we can only be controlled by it. Finally, Jesus tells us that just as the serpent was lifted up, Jesus would be lifted up. And yes, Jesus is lifted up on the pole of Roman execution as he is lifted up in exaltation by his father and by us. Three little pieces of wordplay we receive from a very smart, very witty Messiah.

In this wordplay, John gives us a taste of what the trinity looks like. Here we get a look at how Jesus describes himself, and the rest of the Godhead to Nicodemus, a teacher who believed.

This is Trinity Sunday. It is the day that the church celebrates the triune God, God in three persons. To discern the Triune God, God who is three in one, we have to look beyond individual words of scripture. We can only discern the trinity through additional interpretation, a little more word play. So let me begin by saying we testify that there is one God, and God is presented in scripture in three different persons traditionally called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

One of the controversies of the trinity is that people of other faiths see “God in three persons” and think we believe in and pray to three gods. This is not so. We recognize that God is present in three distinct persons, but are all from the same essence of God. God exists in separate persons in eternal relationship with one another. They are distinct, but inseparable. They are present in different means, but in only one way. One may send another, but this does not suggest subservience of one to another.

We also testify that each of these persons participate with the others in every realm of the creation. Some in the church have quit referring to the trinity with the gender specific names of the persons. Instead, formulae like “creator, redeemer, and sustainer” are used to refer to the modes in which God operates. This “God in three modes” does not accurately describe the scriptural witness of the triune God. All three persons of the trinity behave as creator, redeemer, and sustainer. These roles are not delegated to any one person of the trinity.

It’s said that Jesus doesn’t answer questions very well. And this is true for us, but this is how Rabbis talked to one another. This conversation with Nicodemus is an example. It’s confusing for us; it is probably confusing to other Rabbis too. Maybe this is the point, trying to seek and find deeper truth; the Rabbis play a theological game of “Stump the Band.” So here Jesus stumps the Pharisee Nicodemus with his words. Jesus shows Nicodemus the seed of the trinity so that he may understand and believe. And believe so that he may not perish, but have eternal life. Indeed, as our reading ends, God sent the son so that the world may be saved through him.

[1] Numbers 21:7-8
[2] Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2
[3] Unknown, I was very young when I read this