Sermon March 20

Genesis 12:1-4 p. 8
. 12Now 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. 2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I 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.”
4So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

This is the Word of the Lord…….Thanks be to God

In the weeks of Lent, we will be hearing the stories of people who heard Jesus’ message, who saw Immanuel, God with us. Here is the story of Nicodemus, taken from the Gospel according to John

John 3:1-17 p. 863
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He 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.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus 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?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The 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.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus 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. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that 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. 18Those that believe in Him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.
This is the word of the Lord…..Thanks be to God


It was a dark and stormy night. At least, it was dark night outside, and inside Nicodemus’ heart…..pretty stormy. For Nicodemus goes to Jesus in the night, under cover of darkness. Nicodemus has a lot to lose, if he is seen consorting with Jesus. Nicodemus is a pillar of the community: a Pharisee, meaning he is educated, revered, a kind of lawyer, an expert on the Bible. And he is a member of the Sanhedrin-the ruling party in politics. So he can’t be seen talking with Jesus. It just wouldn’t be right. It just isn’t done.
And yet—and yet, there is something there. Nicodemus is drawn to Jesus. Nicodemus has seen Jesus in the Temple. He has seen the signs performed—and in the gospel of John, signs are the miracles God gives—and signs are also evidence, pointers to who Jesus is. So Nicodemus has seen the evidence, and he is so close—he says to Jesus “no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God”. He is so close—but he just can’t bring himself to say it. Just prior to this, other people have seen Jesus in the Temple, and we are told “many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing”.

Perhaps it was also night when Abram heard God’s call. I imagine Abram, unable to sleep, looking out of his tent flap, at all of the stars of heaven. And he hears God’s voice. God calls him to give up everything—his land, his inheritance, his people—to go—where? To a land, an unnamed land, that God will show him. And, then, God tells Abram that he will be both blessed—and a blessing to others. Through you, God says, all the families of the earth will be blessed. So, Abram goes. Abram risks a lot—his whole life, in fact. And all the families of the earth, being blessed by an old, childless couple, seems to me no more astonishing than talk of being born again. The apostle Paul talks about Abraham, and says that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3). Abram believes God, and obeys, and goes.

So after hearing about Abram, I’m a little frustrated by Nicodemus. Really—I want to say- really? You have seen the signs, you are intrigued enough to risk going to see Jesus in person, and yet….you just can’t believe. You just can’t make that jump. Jon Walton says Nicodemus is like someone buying a car, kicking the tires, even taking the car out for a spin, but just not quite ready to sign the contract. We might describe Nicodemus as “spiritual, but not religious”. What is getting in the way? I want to ask Nicodemus. How much evidence do you need? How many signs? What are you afraid of--your family? Your job? Your community? Prestige and status? Are you afraid of losing your reserved parking space near the Temple?

But then, I remember that the gospel of John is understood to have been written at a time when Christians were getting thrown out of the synagogue. The first Christians in that place were first, Jews, who had come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And they wanted to stay where they were, remain Jews, but also worship Christ. And the synagogue was not having any part of that. They were thrown out, cut off from family, disowned by all who knew them and loved them and could not understand just what they saw in this Jesus guy.

So in some ways, the depiction of Nicodemus is sympathetic—knowing the back story, we can perhaps understand why he comes to Jesus under cover of darkness.

But I also am a little frustrated with Jesus here. Nicodemus comes to him, and begins a conversation, begins opening up—and Jesus then answers a question that is not asked and starts talking about Spirit and flesh and wind…..in ways that make no sense at all. And he talks about being born again. Or being born from above. Or being born anew. The word means all three of those things. So it’s no wonder Nicodemus is confused. And Jesus even throws Nicodemus a bone: “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” So Jesus is giving Nicodemus an in—Nicodemus is already beginning to see the kingdom of God—he just—can’t quite…make himself say it. There is a story about a farmer out in Iowa, who got married. And he had a pretty little wife, a good wife…and he loved her. He loved her so much, one day he almost told her. Nicodemus is right on the cusp of believing, and saying……and he’s not quite there.
And then, after all this confusing talk about being born, and wind and Spirit and the Son of Man being lifted up, Nicodemus asks what is an entirely reasonable question: in fact, it is the same question Mary, Jesus’ mother, asked when she was confronted with the angel “how can this be?”
And Jesus turns to Nicodemus—not to shame him, but with love, and humor, and compassion: “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you don’t understand these things?” Well- here’s the deep irony—these are not things to understand, these are not things to learn and digest and memorize, like facts—the wind blows where it will, you must be born from above…..they are things to believe, things not of reason, and thinking, but things of the Spirit and the heart. And then, Jesus says this, this phrase that we all memorized, that we see on placards and posters at football games and at roadsides…..John 3:16-
A saying that is so true, and so radical, that we, like Nicodemus, can’t understand it- “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.” And then the next verse, which doesn’t make it onto the posters- “For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world—the Greek word for judge there is krisis- like crisis,--not to judge the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus always creates a crisis for those he encounters by calling from them one of two responses: either belief or unbelief. And Nicodemus was certainly having a crisis, that night.
Kosmos—is the word we know as cosmos, or world, or universe—but in Biblical speak, and especially in the gospel of John, “cosmos” is all who are against God and against Jesus Christ. The enemies of God. The unbelievers. Even—perhaps especially--the ones who threw the early Christians out of the synagogue, who cut them off, who refused to have anything to do with them.
This is how much God loves us. God sent Jesus into the world, in order that the world—the God hating world—might be saved through him. But rebellious, sinful, prideful people—us-- kept getting it wrong, rejecting God, keep choosing darkness rather than light. God tried with a most unlikely pair- Abram and Sarai, called from far away, childless, to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. And in Jesus, we see God’s great love for the whole world again. God’s astonishing love lifted up, on the cross, and then, lifted up, again, in resurrection and new life.
We do not know, really, just what Nicodemus chose. He came, and left, in darkness. But I do wonder, and hope. Later in the gospel, he gives a half-hearted defense of Jesus to the Pharisees. And he, with Joseph of Arimathea, who is described as a secret believer, brings myrrh and aloe to the tomb, to bury Jesus. Some think that Nicodemus’ bringing such an exorbitant amount of spices to bury the body- nearly 100 pounds! showed his lack of faith, his inability to look for a resurrection. But perhaps it was a gift of extravagant price, much like the woman who poured out the nard, that expensive lotion, on Jesus’ feet. Perhaps his acts of defending Jesus and bringing spices to the tomb were acts of love and devotion and apology and faith.
But whatever Nicodemus chose, God sent Jesus for him. And for us. Perhaps there are many ways of coming to believe. For isn’t that what the gospel of John says, near the very end?
John 20:30-31 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Perhaps Nicodemus was coming to believe…..was being born from above. How can this be? We want to ask. We have no “born again” moment in Nicodemus’ life, that we know of. We hear no testimony about his “moment of salvation.” And Jesus has pretty strong words to say about people who love darkness rather than light. But Jesus reminds us the Spirit of God blows where it will…..which is good news, for us who are in darkness, who are in dark and stormy nights, who are constantly in need of being born again, being born from above. Amen