Sunday, February 17, 2008
John 3:1-17
Minister of Discipleship
I must
begin this morning with a Lenten Confession.
But, before you pick up those pencils and get ready for something juicy
to jot down, let me tell you this is not a “Jerry Springer” kind of
confession. It is, however, a very
serious sin…this about the sin of judgment.
My confession is that for many years as I have read and studied this
passage of scripture, I have often judged Nicodemus and found him quite lacking
as a follower of Jesus Christ. Think
about it for a minute. First, he isn’t
very committed. Remember the verses we
read last week in chapter 1 – now THOSE were real disciples. As soon as John points out Jesus and tells
them he is the Lamb of God, they immediately begin to follow him. And, they even go so far as running off to
find others to introduce to Jesus.
Nicodemus sneaks around, late at night, in the dark when no one will see
him talking to Jesus. He doesn’t seem
to be very sure of or very proud of his relationship with Jesus. Secondly, He doesn’t seem to understand the
whole “born again” concept. It’s right
there in Jesus’ own words, you need to be born again to be saved…that IS what
Jesus is saying, right? Why does
Nicodemus struggle with this so much – Jesus said it, just do it and save your
soul! Let’s face it, Nicodemus is just
not the model of a good “born again” Christian…..or is he?
This is
where my confession gets really difficult.
The longer I have thought about Nicodemus, the more I have begun to
think as Pogo once said, “we have seen the enemy and it is us!” Let me take you on my journey of
enlightenment. Who was this guy,
Nicodemus? He was a good, religious
man. He spent much of his day studying
the scriptures. And, he didn’t
just study them, he put them into
practice. He was looked up to by many
in the religious community as a leader and was even on the religious
council. I’m not sure if they served
meals before the council meetings back then, but if they did, he would have
been there! Think about this for a
moment, doesn’t that sound a lot like the kind of person we are looking to be a
leader in our churches today – good person, studies the Bible, trys to follow
what the Bible teaches in her/his daily life, respected for his/her faith,
nominated to be on the church council and other church committees. Are you getting a little worried that maybe
this Nicodemus story is closer to home than you thought? Let’s continue on…
Yes,
Nicodemus was a stellar example of a good, religious person. Which also meant that he saw himself as
someone who would be able to judge those around him based on the standards of
conduct outlined in the scriptures. In
fact, that was part of his “job description” as outlined by the religious
community. The religious council of
which he was a part was supposed to judge people’s behaviors and their
life-styles by interpreting God’s Word given to them in the scriptures. This is where he begins to have his dilemma
with Jesus. You see Jesus and his
little band of followers were not the ideal picture of “good, religious
folk.” Their life-styles and
backgrounds weren’t always so “clean.”
They didn’t know or at least didn’t seem to care about all the proper
interpretations of Biblical conduct.
They didn’t care who they spent time with and, in fact, seemed to go out
of their way to spend time with “unclean people” and sinners.
Nicodemus suspected that Jesus
would never get elected to the religious council, and yet, there was something
about him – a gentle, yet powerful presence of love. It is no wonder that Nicodemus is confused. Here is a man who seems to really love God
and knows God’s law, but he also loves those who are breaking that very
law. He acknowledges the importance of
the earthly human life and growth process (as all good Jews did), but he also
claims that there is another birthing process and another growth process that
must take place. Jesus seems to be
saying that there is some kind of gap between the daily life of people – even
“good religious people” – and eternal life.
And, God has sent Jesus to bridge that gap by showing the way to live a
life that begins and ends in the loving presence of God. I guess it is time to just go ahead and say
it out loud: I don’t think most of us
religious folk understand this message of love any better than Nicodemus
understood it so many years ago.
Just like
Nicodemus and his religious community, we have heard the words of scripture
that teach us how to live “good,” “moral” lives and we think that once we have
been born and raised by our parents and the religious community that we know
all we need to know about living this human life. In fact, also like Nicodemus and his religious community, we
think we know how to do this good, moral living so well that we are ready to
make judgments about how others are living out the human life. Philip Gulley and James Mulholland put it
like this: we know the scripture tells us “only a good tree bears good fruit”
(Luke 6:43-44) and somewhere along the line instead of seeing this as our
encouragement to bear good fruit we have seen it as our license to become fruit
inspectors. [If God Is Love – Recovering Grace In An Ungracious World by
Phillip Gulley and James Mulholland, pg 111]
There are so many stories I could tell about how the church has been
about the business of “fruit inspection” instead of about the work of helping
people learn to abide in the branch of love we call Jesus Christ bearing the
fruits of the Spirit.
Let me
share just one story with you from my years in the oil business. This was still during the “boom” days when
the oil and gas were flowing. It was a
hectic time in the oil and gas accounting area! I happen to notice that one of our supervisors seemed overly
stressed. I knew she was a Christian and
active at her church, but still something seemed to be very wrong with
her. When I had the opportunity to talk
with her I learned that she was in the midst of a messy divorce and her church
was ostracizing her, telling her that, as a divorcee, she was a sinner and
could not fully participate in that church.
She was devastated! The church
had been her life and her stronghold.
Now where could she turn when she needed healing the most? I tried to convince her to visit us at the
Methodist church where I worshiped, but she was so hurt, she didn’t see how any
church would welcome her or take her in.
Her church had totally convinced her as to what was “good” behavior and
an acceptable lifestyle. So, now that
she didn’t live up to those standards, she was “bad” and sure no one would
accept her. It broke my heart. I wish I could tell you that she finally
came to our church and began a new life, but I lost touch with her when I left
town and don’t know if she ever found the healing she so badly needed. That is the problem with judgmental religion
– instead of bringing healing, it brings condemnation. And, that is why Jesus Christ came – to
bridge that gap.
Look
carefully at the words Jesus speaks to Nicodemus at the end of their
encounter. Listen to the whole message,
not just the part you are used to hearing: “For God so loved the world that He
gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but 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 3:16-17] Notice the distinction between condemnation
and salvation. Those who call
themselves followers of Christ – those who claim that Christ is “in” them –
Christians – must understand this distinction.
If God did not send Jesus Christ into the world to condemn people, than
how can we as his followers think that we are called to such a role? Who told us to be “fruit inspectors” instead
of those who bear good fruit and provide the soil where others can grow and
bear good fruit? If God did not send
Jesus into the world to condemn the world, then why do religious folks think
that they can look at someone’s culture, race, lifestyle or even the choices
they have made in their life and determine whether they are worthy of God’s
love? If God did not send Jesus into
the world to condemn the world, then why do issues such as: abortion,
homosexuality, divorce, alcohol, war, capital punishment bring the church to
places of conflict, causing even deeper gaps and separation? If God did not send Jesus into the world to
condemn the world, then why do “good” church people often turn away when they
are confronted with people who don’t look like them or smell like them or make
the same choices they do? Isn’t that
why Jesus speaks these now famous words to Nicodemus, the “good,” religious man
– God so loved THE WORLD that God sent Jesus to bridge the gap created in part
by “good,” religious people who misunderstood what they read in the scriptures
and forgot their role as bearer of good fruit.
Jesus
wanted Nicodemus and ALL the Nicks and Nikkis of the religious world to
understand that we are ALL born into the human race with all that entails. Then we are called to be born once again, to
be born from above, so that from this second “birthing” we can grow up in the
Spiritual family, the family where we learn to love all and treat all with
respect just like the Head of the family does.
It is interesting to note that the word we read in scripture as “salvation”
is actually the word for healing, a salve for body and soul. All of us who have been born into this human
life carry around hurts and brokenness of some sort. We have all been bruised by choices that we have made or choices
that others have made that have affected our lives. That is why we need the second birth, the birth from above to
wash over us bringing renewal and fresh life. The church is called to be the
place of second birth, the place where all can come to find healing. The church
should be the place that saves us from the brokenness of the human life; the place that bridges the gap between
condemnation and salvation. In the
church, all the world should find not the power of judgment but a different
power, a power that cannot be found in the human realm alone, a power from
above, a power of healing and forgiveness and eternal life. Are we ready to help people find that
power? Are we ready to love people where
they are until they are healed enough to know that powerful source for themselves?
One of the
ancient traditions for the season of Lent is the tradition of fasting. Often we think of this as giving up
something for Lent. But, I was reminded
just last week of a wonderful meditation by William Arthur Ward called “Fasting
and Feasting.” Ward challenges us to
“fast” from certain behaviors so we can then feast on another behavior that
will bring new life—might I say life “from above.” I have included the first section of his meditation in the
bulletin insert. I suspect William Ward
has read the story of Nicodemus once or twice during his life and has come to
understand what John 3:16 &17 are really trying to say to us! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all people could
learn to fast and feast like this – if we could learn to bridge that gap
between judgment and the healing power of God we call salvation?
We are
going to end by having a brief time of prayer to read over these words and then
ask God to help us begin our time of fasting from judging and all those
negative thoughts that hurt and bring suffering so we may be born again into a
new life of Christ, unity, light, and healing…
Fasting and Feasting by William Arthur Ward
Lent should be more than a
time of fasting.
It should also be a joyous
season of feasting.
Lent is a time to fast from
certain things and to feast on others.
It is a season in which we
should:
Fast from judging
others; feast on the Christ indwelling
them.
Fast from emphasis on
differences; feast on the unity of all
life.
Fast from apparent
darkness; feast on the reality of
light.
Fast from thoughts of
illness; feast on the healing power of
God.
Fast from words that
pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting
pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on nonresistance.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion.
Fast from personal
anxiety; feast on eternal Truth.
Fast from
discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that
depress; feast on verities that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that
weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from shadows of
sorrow; feast on the sunlight of
serenity.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from problems that
overwhelm; feast on prayer that
undergirds.