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February 17, 2008
George Bennett - Student Associate Pastor
"Show me the Holy! It's a God Thing"
Genesis 12:1-4a
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from
your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I
will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3
I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse;
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told
him; and Lot went with him.
John 3:1-17
3 Now there was a Pharisee named
Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 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.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the
kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 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?” 5 Jesus
answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the
flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do
not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8
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.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these
things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel,
and yet you do not understand these things? 11 “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. 12 If I have told you about earthly
things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about
heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the
one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “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.
17 “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.
Prayer
Eternal God, we pray that not only this service – readings, music and sermon be
received as you intend us to receive them, but that our Redeemer present in the
Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts and our actions all the days of our lives. In
Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Last week we started our journey into the season of Lent. We are reminded that
we are following Jesus into the wilderness on a forty-day journey of fasting and
self-denial. Many of us have made choices to sacrifice something from our daily
lives like coffee, chocolate, or television. These offerings are intended to
remind us of Jesus' period of lack. Others choose to add something devotionally
to their lives like these bracelets made by members of our local church, or
additional prayer times, or even extended time devoted to studying the Bible.
Like the offerings of denial, these offerings of devotion act in our lives as a
reminder. They remind us of the fact that Jesus intentionally chose to spend
this time in the wilderness in prayer and contemplation. He chose to be among us
and share our fleshly lives. He chose a life of ministry that would end on
Calvary.
I want you to think back over your week and recall how the way you have been
practicing Lent has affected your life. For me, I have been asked to explain
this pretty little bracelet on more than one occasion. The glass beads are a
variety of shades of blue and purple, and mine has a single red bead in the
shape of a heart that really tends to draw people's attention as they see it
stretched over my hairy arm; and people just have to ask, "what is that all
about?" The bracelet also reminds me of its presence as it tries to fly off my
arm when I throw a softball at my daughter's practices, and when I sleep or type
I feel the beads digging into my flesh.
My sister-in-law was telling me about her week without chocolate. She has become
aware of all the places that chocolate has weaved its way into her daily life,
and she is surprised at the extent of denial that was brought about by choosing
to live without this one ingredient. She found herself skipping ice cream with
the family, passing on cookies that had a chocolate crust, and missing her
favorite coffee drink.
So here we are after the first week of Lent, and many of us could be noticing
that we have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about our own
inconveniences, even to the point of distraction at times. It has been ten days
since this journey has begun, and we are like many of the Biblical people that
have made journeys into the wilderness. We want to know where all of this is
leading. Following Jesus is fine and all; but if we knew where he was going, we
might be able to tell him a shorter way of getting there. Is it helpful that we
have this scripture about "eternal life," or is the term "eternal life" just a
buzz word; jargon that only the "in group" of Christ followers can understand.
If we really want to know, we can take the journey with Nicodemus from the story
that we just heard.
Exegesis
The gospel story that we are digging into has the Characters Nicodemus and Jesus
taking us through a three step process of understanding; and since this story is
set in the gospel of John, I find it helpful if we take the time to remind
ourselves of the world view that is unique to John. The location of the Kingdom
of God is a key difference. The first three gospels locate the Kingdom where…?
Yes, over there, in the future, not here, but with John the Kingdom of God is
always…? Exactly. Up, above us and continuous. It is like a giant canopy has
been stretch over the earthly world called the Kingdom of God, and we are able
to experience revelations from that Kingdom breaking into our world at times in
our life. Like all of the events in our weather systems, these revelations come
into our lives on their own terms and we know not where they come from or where
they are going.
Into this setting, we have a conversation between Jesus and a man named
Nicodemus. I'm just going to call him Nic. The conversation has three parts to
it, and the pattern of the conversation has as much to say as the words
themselves. You may recall the questions that children ask. Children have the
ability to start with open ended question like, "what is that?" and get more
specific through the conversation. Many of us adults on the other hand, want to
show that we are bringing along our own base of knowledge; so, we frame our
questions in statements that express what we know. At another point in the
gospel, Jesus says, unless you come like one of these (meaning children), you
will not enter the Kingdom of God. Let us see how Nic approaches Jesus.
The first step in being a disciple of Jesus is coming to Jesus or seeking Jesus,
and that is how this story begins. 3Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a
leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night… This description is loaded with
meaning. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus is a religious leader in the community, and
Jesus later refers to him as a "teacher of Israel." He is expected to know God.
The fact that he came to Jesus makes him a seeker and some one to whom I can
relate. Additionally, he came to Jesus by night or in the dark. The gospel of
John uses dark and light as symbols of ignorance and wisdom, and the writers of
John want us to know that Nicodemus resides in the camp of ignorance. So, what
we discover is that Nic is a God fearing, respected person in the community that
is seeking Jesus even though he is ignorant or in the dark about some of the
spiritual truths that are understood by the writers of John's gospel.
The conversation between Nic and Jesus tells us that Nic was much more aware of
his role as "leader of the Jews" than he was of the fact that he possessed
ignorance. The first exchange is not even a question. Instead, Nic tries to tell
Jesus who he is, and Jesus volleys with a statement that helps our Pharisee
understand that he shouldn't be so sure of himself. He 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.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I
tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born (ANOTHEN).” What
Nic did was to attempt to put Jesus in a box. He described Jesus insufficiently
as simply a teacher with connections. Jesus' statement is small but it has a
double meaning. I used the Greek word ANOTHEN because this word with two
meanings helps Jesus to guide Nic into a more open position. The word ANOTHEN
means both "again" and "from above." Both of these meanings are important in the
world view of John that we described earlier, but Nic feels like he needs to
pick one meaning or the other rather than both. Let's look at where his decision
leads him.
The next exchange has Nic a little confused, but he is clearly a little more
open; at least he is able to ask a question instead of making an ill-fitting
description of Jesus. Step two goes like this
4 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?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no
one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the
Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You
must be born from above. (ANOTHEN)’ 8 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.”
Jesus continues to use the word ANOTHEN, in so doing affirms that both of its
double meanings are intentional. He also helps Nic and we picture the world the
way that the writers of the Gospel are using it, but for Nic the explanation
leads him to the last point in his transformation.
This short relationship with Jesus has been a journey of transformation and
enlightenment. The more Nic is able to engage Jesus, the more his questions
become like those of a child. At the same time, Jesus gives us more and more
information as the questions take a tone of humility. The most childlike
question of all ends Nics transformational journey.
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these
things be?” and Jesus answer is
13 No one has ascended into heaven except the
one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “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.
17 “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.
Now that Nic has asked the most open question he could, Jesus has told us about
eternal life. He gives us his mission, which is that the world might be saved
through him, and that everyone may have eternal life; and he gives us the key to
understanding that mission as well. Even though Jesus has not completed his
ministry in the world when he is having this conversation, he refers to his own
ascension as if his entire life had already happened. Jesus gives voice to our
witness, the witness of the church. The son of man, the revelation of God for
us, has burst into this world and returned to the Kingdom of God. Then he says
that we should see this revelation the way the Moses story was seen. After the
Hebrews walked into the wilderness with Moses, they started complaining. They
were spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about their inconveniences
and the distraction had brought about a plague of vipers. Moses saw his people
snake bit and suffering in the wilderness and he pleaded with God.
8 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.” 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and
put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would
look at the serpent of bronze and live. Num. 21:8-9
The gift of God is the gift of life to a snake bit people. Through Jesus, this
gift is life eternal. The writers of John want us to know that in both cases the
gifts had to be lifted up in order to have an affect on the community. The word
that is used for lifted up also means exalted. When the staff of Moses was
lifted/exalted, the people had life, a gift from God. When the cross of Jesus is
lifted/exalted, the people had life eternal, a gift from God.
Hermeneutic
Well, I guess our friend Nic sure got an ear full, but what does this mean to
us? What does life eternal look like? How can we even begin to appreciate this
gift?
If we start thinking about this gift as something that we will be able to open
at a later date, a gift that is a promise for the life after we leave this
world, we may be making a big mistake. The gift of life that God gave the
Hebrews in the desert was cashed in immediately, and I truly believe that the
gift of life eternal has the same terms.
The theme of Lent that we are using "Follow the Leader: What Would Jesus…?"
gives us a way of living in this world the way that Jesus lived in this world.
Hopefully, you will join us after the service, in the parlor for our adult
Sunday school class on Charles Sheldon's understanding of what it looks like to
live "In His Steps." These gospel stories tell us that the eternal life of Jesus
burst into this world with acts of mercy like feeding the hungry, healing the
sick, resistance to violence, and speaking out against oppression. When we look
to Jesus and open ourselves to the possibilities of our lives, we are born
ANOTHEN (both again and from above). We are living life eternal. We become
expressions of the Kingdom of God bursting into the world, healing the world,
mending the lives of the broken hearted.
This is the good life, but I dare say it is not simply a personal relationship
with God that defines it. God's gifts through both the staff and the cross had
to be lifted/exalted because they were gifts to the multitude. Someone with a
"personal salvation" could have had the symbol of life brought to his or her
bedside; but with the staff exalted, a community of believers could lift the
snake bit among them to the proper point of view. Isn't this the meaning of
church? Aren't we promising in the covenant of Baptism today to share in each
other's lives, each other's daily lives, each other's eternal lives? Don't we
see the cross as a way to know that Jesus not only died, but also was raised and
ascended? If so, we see Jesus exalted. Following the leader is following the
leader all the way. As a community, we remind each other to see God's gift
exalted, to see that the path we follow is the path of life eternal, and to
encourage each other along the path. As a community, some of us cry out, "Show
me the Holy!" and others stand ready to point to Jesus exalted.
Amen.
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