Jesus had to contend with….(2)

The story of Nicodemus has long been a challenge for many of the folks in the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions…

            …it has that phrase that has kind of taken on a life of its own…

                         Jesus saying to Nicodemus: “You must be born again.”

There was a time when this was quite a bone of contention among Christians…as if there was a slightly higher rung of believers…

            An advanced group of Christians called “born-again” Christians. 

                        That might suggest your faith was a little higher octane—than the regular, bargain basement believer…

                                    Some advanced spirituality.  Well, as you might imagine, this sometimes—actually often--caused problems and rifts within churches and within families…

There were those whose noses were tilted up just a bit…those who considered themselves a little more genuine as believers…24 karat…

            And others who wondered, doubted, even despaired—is my faith not real? Have I just been fooling myself?

            ---because I don’t know how to think of this being “born again” business. It’s mysterious and odd ---what am I supposed to do with that?

Well…that was my question early this week too--as I started thinking about this story which—years ago, I often wanted to just forget!!

            What is at stake here…when Nicodemus has this conversation with Jesus?

                                                …and why did Jesus say what he did?

There are some clues to be gathered from looking at all four of the Scripture passages for this week…

Each of the four passages—underlines the need for faith. 

            Faith which goes beyond being able to touch and hold in hand…

                                                Beyond being able to measure and demonstrate and prove…

                                                            --beyond what is visible and touchable—empirical

                        Faith in what you cannot necessarily see…but you believe. Trust.

                                    It’s not just a “what you see is what you get” life/world. There’s something immeasurably deeper, higher, wider, longer…and invisible…

      -- Another thing which this week’s readings highlight is that faithis not something which I deduce or arrive at… sort out on my own...

Oh—I become engaged with it, wrestle with it, exercise it…and own it personally--but it’s not something which I produce or earn…

                        It comes, initially, as a gift…a mysterious gift from the invisible Spirit of God

And then—still one more thing about our readings this week—faith involves a journey of sorts.

We see all of this—already with Abraham and Sarah…

            One presumably ordinary day—they heard something…and they were all ears…

            They somehow knew that the voice they were hearing was the voice of God!!

            And then went far beyond just debating with each other—did you hear what I heard?  

                        They packed up their life…and left relatives and the family home and homeland…

                                    And headed out to???

What possessed them to do that?

            They believed it was possible not only, but they believed the gap between the invisible world and the visible world they knew…that gap had been bridged.

            God spoke to them…and they believed what he said…

                                                        They had faith enough at that point to trust his promises….

                                                            Of children, and a place, and God’s ongoing presence.           

And Paul, in the reading from Romans—Paul too, waxes eloquent about the faith of Abraham and Sarah…they weren’t declared righteous because they were such law-keepers—

                        They were declared righteous because they had such faith!

                        To leave what was secure and familiar…and head out to “God knows where!!!”

That doesn’t happen unless a person has come to believe that God’s voice bridges the gap between heaven and earth.  A mysterious thing it is—God initiates. Abraham and Sarah join in. And a journey begins. Literally. And spiritually. Both.

This week’s psalm, 121, says--in my walking, my journeying…I lift my eyes…I pray…because?????

                        Because I believe that my voice reaches the ear of God…

                                    No matter how overcast it is…God sees me…

                                                And his hand reaches from heaven to earth…

To say that…to believe that and trust that—is a testimony of faith!

Why pray at all—unless we believe the gap between earth and heaven…

                                                The visible and invisible—is bridge-able.

                        God hears us. The Creator, full of compassion for all that is, and all who are

And then we come to Nicodemus. The gospel story.

                        Somebody else on a journey…trying to sort things out…

sneaking out to talk to Jesus…

                                    …literally a short journey, but figuratively, spiritually, a much more significant journey…

            --John highlights this by telling us that Nicodemus came at night.

            Nicodemus is a high-ranking Pharisee. He’s a member of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. Rabbi, he says, we know you are a teacher come from God…your miracles, your healings…I mean, the only way you can do the things you do—is because God is with you in a powerful way…

            So they know about Jesus…and they respect that he has God-given gifts…

But how can they know for sure…

            How can Nicodemus know for sure—that Jesus is the Promised One???

They know so many good things about Jesus….

            But do they believe in Jesus?

                        That requires faith.

Which is more than establishing proof…The signs that Jesus did—miracles and healings—these pointed to a Yes….but on the other hand…there are all these other signs, evidences…that say something else…

The questions Nicodemus had---are questions that face every single generation—to this very moment! If we want empirical, evidence-based, repeatable proof of God…of Jesus as the Way…we’ll run stuck.  There are these positives….and….there these other things.

We have to contend with the fact that it isn’t scientifically provable.

And Jesus has to contend with that same thing in us. All of us.  For us to be willing to trust in what we cannot see…

            Faith is a mysterious blowing of God’s Spirit-wind…

                        And it involves us, engages us fully.   But this is not a self=produced something—it’s actually a gift we receive from God—which allows us to trust, and to hope and to follow…

            And Jesus describes this basic dynamic of faith…as being born again..

                                                            Born anew.

                                                              Born from above…

                                    In John’s gospel, those phrases all mean the same…again, anew, above

            They don’t describe a second level, an advanced faith, a spiritual oneupmanship.

No. They simply describe the mystery of the faith which anyone of us has.

What Jesus claimed, and what we believe is that while none of us has ever been up to heaven,

Jesus---Jesus has.

            Jesus came down from heaven.  God’s gift to this world.

            To provide life…hope…and a visible, in-the-flesh demonstration

                                    ---that Yes!!  Yes, Yes---the gap between heaven and earth

                                                                        Between the visible and the invisible

                                                                                    That gap is bridgeable.

 God demonstrates that in the person of Jesus!! 

 Because there he was…right there in front of their eyes.

                                    Ah—but just seeing Jesus was one thing

                                                And noticing that he could do amazing things—well, all fine and dandy…but is he the son of God?

                        Is Jesus someone in whom a person can believe?  Can trust?          

At one point, the apostle Paul says that all of God’s promises are Yes and Amen in Jesus Christ…

Which is what we confess as a church, and as Christian people

A matter of faith.  We can’t prove it. And to have the faith that we do…to trust Jesus the way that we do—that means that we have been born again. Anew. From above.

Call it whatever you want—it means that somehow, the invisible God has found a way to connect with us…to bridge the gap between heaven and earth…

The more I think about it, the more this image of being “born anew” seems like a pretty rich image…

            Inside the womb, a baby is warm,

cushioned by water,

 nourished by a lifeline

--It’s dark, but safe…sounds muffled some…

            And then, it happens.

                                    Not by a baby’s choice, but by some mysterious signal from beyond the baby…labor begins…and a journey begins…

                        And the safety of what once was…is left behind.

                                    And the light,

                                      And the noise..

                                                And the air—hands flailing, eyes blinking, it’s cold out here!!

But there is a presence there…holding, wrapping, soothing…ensuring life…and this little one, this little one begins a life journey. Not spared from every bump, bruise or injury…but loved.

Once you see Jesus as God’s Son gifted to this world…a journey begins!!

   And then when you see him lifted up…as Moses lifted up that brass serpent in the wilderness…

            Do you remember that story? 

                        To survive the deadly snakes that were all around them, God’s people were asked to look up at still another snake…a brass snake up on a pole…

And Jesus recalls that story why?

                        It might seem utterly strange at first…

…until you think about the irony of that day…

                        When snake-bitten people were healed by looking up at still another snake…

            Which sounds an awful lot like the irony of Calvary’s cross…

                        When mortals…

                                                Creatures who by definition are dying…

                                    Are told that they will find life by looking up…

                                    ---at the form of yet another dying one…

Jesus was lifted up…

                        Nobody in their right mind would call a crucifixion up-lifting…

                                    It was intended as a shaming and a humiliation of the worst kind.

                                    It was intended to terrorize and oppress.

            Yet…in the story of Jesus…the cross is not merely a symbol of death, but by the most wonderful, strange and powerful stirring of God’s Spirit-wind, (a divine alchemy, if you will),

--it is through the cross that life is provided. 

And the heart of God is opened up to reveal the deepest and richest love ever.

Whenever you or I get to wondering if God really is holding all things together…

            Whenever corruption erupts and metastasizes still further

                        Whenever behaviours of the powerful dishearten and disorient us

            And we wonder then if this gap between earth and heaven is really and truly bridgeable…

Remember that the Scripture story from beginning to end, says “Yes—oh yes. That gap is bridgeable. Turn your eyes to Jesus.  Exhibit A. Exhibit A+  !!!           Amen.