Second Lent
John 3:1-17; Genesis 12:1-4a; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
My son suggested I take a look at the web listing and tell him what I thought. So I went to the web site and read: "Simple. Innovative. Technologically Advanced. These are all words that describe the Power Wave 455. This next generation power source utilizes Waveform Control Technology(TM) for the finest arc in the industry. The Power Wave 455 is a high efficiency inverter designed for unprecedented ease of use and performance. Sophisticated software in the unit controls the waveform for reduced arc spatter, fumes, and an exceptionally smooth arc. This multi-process machine can be completely optimized for any arc process within its capabilities." And all, I noticed, for the low list price of only $4,982. What a deal. I had no idea what I was looking at although some of you might recognize arc-welding equipment. Or try these directions. Using 31/4 mm needles cast on 29 stitches, work 5 rows in garter stitch. Row 6 knit and slip 5 stitches onto a stitch holder. 24 stitches change to 4mm needles and proceed as follows. 1st row. Knit. 2nd row. Purl 1 no stitches, purl one, purl 2 together, yarn over needle, knit one yarn forward, yarn around needle, purl 2 together, purl 1 repeat from asterisk. I know these words are knitting instructions but I have not the foggiest idea what any of it means.
Sometimes even understanding the words doesn't help. But what about these instructions. "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 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. 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." These are words we understand without a great deal of difficulty. Unless we consider who these words were being spoken to. A 75 year old man and his childless wife comfortably settling into their senior years in the town of Haran in northern Mesopotamia. This was not a business promotion or even an invitation to be part of some new retirement community. This was a challenge to leave everything that was familiar, safe and secure and head out into the unpredictable unknown. As easily understandable as the directions are. there is nothing easy about them. They require a trust me response that most of us are not likely to share or give. We may want to live by faith but it is an informed faith filled with questions. The Bible tells us "So Abram went as the Lord had told him." There are few of us who can claim to have so given our lives over to God that we acted and lived by such unquestioning faith.
We have much more in common with the other man in our lessons for today. Nicodemus in our Gospel text. Here was a Pharisee. A teacher of the law. And a leader of the Jews. Possibly even a member of the Sanhedrin. the supreme religious court of Jerusalem. A man of exceptional discipline and obedience to the 613 laws of the faith. A man who marked the passage of time with the rituals of the holy seasons and days. A man who knew all there was to know about being in right relationship to God. A true son of Abram. Nicodemus comes to Jesus with words of affirmation and praise. You are a true teacher of the faith. He tells Jesus. You are a Rabbi. and you are from God for only God can do the things you do. This is a bold declaration. It should be good news to Jesus and Nicodemus alike. But Jesus replies in words that suddenly challenge Nicodemus to leave the familiar. Jesus suggests that faith is not a matter of the law or good deeds or orderly rituals. Jesus speaks of a new way. a new birth. At this point Nicodemus becomes confused and so do most of us. The confusion has to do with how we hear the words. what we recognize or do not recognize in them. Our reading for today has Jesus saying, "no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." This is a translation of a Greek phrase that can be translated two ways. "Born from above" or "born again." Nicodemus gets hung up on the idea of birth when someone is already alive. Most of the religious world is more likely to get hung up on the phrase "born again." There are few adults who have not had the encounter sometime in their life with the evangelical Christian who asks, "Have you been born again?" The problem with this question is that it sounds like we can choose to be born again. That there is something we do or fail to do in relationship to this second birth. Nicodemus actually asked the same question only more literally. "Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Obviously this has nothing to do with natural childbirth. or even adoption.
But it does have to do with the most fundamental question of birth. Why? Why is this child born into an upper middle class family in suburban Chicago in the United States of America while another child is born into an AIDS ravaged, famine stricken, violence torn corner of the Sudan in Africa. The answer, Jesus suggests, in blowing in the wind. Only in this case we also need to remember that the Greek word translated as wind can also be translated as Spirit. The answer lies in the Spirit. An answer as elusive as the wind. We live in a time of correctness not unlike that which had been created by Nicodemus and the Pharisees. The correctness of right religious language in Nicodemus' day has been replaced by the political correctness of our day. The order of proper religious rituals have been replaced by the busy calendars of events for young and old which establish our place in school, society, business and even church. We live in a day and time when even the unexpected is anticipated if not carefully planned. We call them contingency plans or worse case scenarios. There are those who would like to scoff at our modern priorities and rituals. But it is hard to dismiss certain values that we hold. We want to believe that God credits goodness. Desires liberty, freedom and justice. and rewards those who commit themselves and work hard. The American way is self-reliance. That we earn what we get, only some get a lot more rewards than others. The belief in do it yourselfism has motivated our welfare reforms and spurred our economy. But while this all may produce some interesting social policy and create the basis for some successful political campaign platforms. It is actually very poor theology. Lousy religion.
Why did God pick Abraham? We are tempted to believe that Abraham was blessed by God because he was a model of faithfulness. He gives his nephew Lot the better lands. He's willing to sacrifice his only son to God's request. He seems to obey God's every command for him. Yet in our second lesson for today the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans challenges such thinking. Abram had his doubts. Lots of doubts and he practiced some major deceptions and committed some rather significant sins. It was not that Abram chose to do everything he needed to do to impress God. God is not impressed. Humanity is impressed. Human history takes note. Abram's selection by God was not based on his achievements. It was an act of blessing that was beyond human control and understanding. We want to believe that we are declared righteous before God just like Abram because of who we are. Because we read the Bible. Attend church. Give generously. And distance us from the glaring sins of the world. But that is not what made Abram righteous. It was all God's doing. One commentator on this text has suggested that there are really only two religions in the world—the religion of mercy and the religion of merit. The merit system holds to personal achievement. We earn better grades. Deserve a raise. And achieve salvation. How do you get to heaven? The popular answer is to live right and do good deeds. It is not surprising that America has successfully produced any number of cults and pseudo Christian religions that all emphasize the earn-what-you-get approach to God and heaven. The quest for the right church or religion has become a quest for the one that agrees with my views and priorities and rewards the king of things I want to do. How do you get to heaven? The answer from scripture is you believe and respond.
God said to Abram. Come with me. I have something to show you. but you will have to leave your current life. Jesus said to Nicodemus. You'll never see the kingdom of God with those old eyes and ideas. You need to be born again. Spirit born. And you will have no more control over the Spirit than you do over the wind. What Abram believed. And Jesus taught. And Paul came to know. Is that there is no religion of merit. There is nothing we can do that earns or proves that we deserve a place with God. There is only the religion of mercy. based on grace. We ask the confirmation students, "What did you have to do to be born?" How much effort did that take on your part? There inability to answer is the answer. They, like all of us, did nothing to be born. It was not a choice we made. And if our human birth was nothing more than an act of grace. To be born in this place with these parents. How much more is the gift of salvation a free gift. Unmerited and undeserved.
I was asked the other day the question, "What do I have to do to join your church?" First of all, I stressed, it is not my church. And secondly, all you need to do is believe. "Yeah, yeah, I know all that," he replied. "But just how good do I need to be." The fact is that the church is not just another club or not for profit group to join. There are no minimums. Not even any basic expectations it is more like an invitation to accept. An invitation that has been given to each of us to believe and then respond. We have embarked on the Lenten journey. I don't need to tell you what the Spirit has in store for you. Most of us are not hard pressed to name places in our lives where the Spirit is trying to lead us. There are the parts and pieces of our lives that simply do not fulfill us. There are the things we would do differently. Moments of the Spirit no different from God's invitation to Abram, or Jesus' challenge to Nicodemus. A Lenten journey has begun. If we are truly on the journey we will know it as a place where we are not totally comfortable. It maybe unsettling. Require a reassessment of self. It may involve a real risk of some part of ourselves. New life is like that. It comes only with the death of the old self. Both Abram and Nicodemus knew beyond a doubt that they could not stay where they were. And we know that also. We may have been resisting that knowledge. but we know the sound of God's voice. What we do not know is whether we have the courage to believe. Do we believe enough to trust our careers and money and maybe even family to God. Or do we stay in Haran or wherever it is that we have settled the fact is that no one would be here this morning without some type of relationship with God.
We would not be here today if we did not. Believe that God wants us in this place. And we keep thinking about our lives. The way we spend our days. and the Spirit blowing into and through our lives. The Spirit never really rests. The wind blows. Abram never settled in one place. God kept him moving on. When Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of night it was the first step on a journey, which in his life never ended. Soon he was defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin. And when that effort failed and Jesus was finally crucified Nicodemus was among those who came openly by day to help prepare Jesus' body for burial. And that was only the beginning of his calling to discipleship. There was a new church to build. We journey by faith. Sometimes for an entire lifetime. The oldest charter member of this congregation is dying. His kidney condition is now such that he has only a week to ten days left to live. Yet when I talked with him the other day he was not sad or depressed, only a bit tired. He has lived his whole life in the promise of his baptism and the power of God's grace. As he tells it there have been lots of hills in his life. And God always gave him the strength to climb each hill. Some were bigger than others but none was impossible to climb. Until lately. He lost his leg to infection. And the hills seem to have gotten a lot bigger. He finally realized that he could no longer make the climb by himself. As he said, "it's time to let the man upstairs give me a lift. I have decided to let God take him up the last hill. That is the faith of Abraham. Letting God be God. Letting God do what God does. To live by faith and ultimately die by faith. In order that we might truly be born again. This is truly grace.
Amen