What I learned today - Preaching My Way to Faith: Sermon

2^nd Sunday in Lent (A) March 8, 2020

John 3:1-17

Best gift ever!

Who doesn’t love a do-over? I know I do! We make mistakes, we learn through the process of failure, we gather new information, all of that helping us to do things differently the next time. Second chances give us the opportunity to begin again, make things better, or get closer to right choices we should have made before.

Jesus calls us to live in a world of second chances… actually, it’s a world of infinite opportunities to be forgiven and continue growing into the Kingdom of God. Second chances are a gift from God. In return, we are called to reflect that same forgiveness with others. Second chances are easy to believe in when they are offered to us. But offering those same second chances to others – well, that’s a little harder, and that will often trip us up as we live in Christ.

Today’s gospel lesson tells a story of how we often misunderstand the gift of second chances. In John’s gospel we encounter Nicodemus, a leader in the Jewish community, who came to Jesus under the cover of night to ask questions and understand Jesus for himself. Now this was a big deal, because Nicodemus was an interpreter and monitor of the law. His job was making sure that every “I” was dotted and every “T” was crossed when it came to observing the Law. The Jewish people, who believed themselves to be the chosen ones, didn’t just live by the Law of Moses… they sought and understood God in the perfection of ritual as defined by the law.[i]

Jesus, of course, upset that apple cart. Nicodemus understood that Jesus was different, saying “Rabbi, you must be from God because no one could do the things you do if God’s hand were not guiding you…” Then comes the “but...” “I’m sure you’re right, Jesus, but I don’t understand.” Jesus easily responds, increasing, not lessening Nicodemus’ struggle. Jesus tells him that no one can be a part of the kingdom of God until they are born “anothen.”

Now I don’t usually throw around a lot of Greek or Hebrew in my sermons, but today I’ll make an exception. It is important for us to understand that this Greek word “anothen” is a complicated word. If you read verse 3 in multiple translations, you will get two different readings. Some will translate this word as “again” or “anew,” while others will render its meaning, “from above.” Often, translators will choose one of the meanings and list the other as a footnote below. More recent translations have taken a different position. They understand that this word was chosen specifically because it transmitted both meanings at the same time. Jesus is actually saying, “you must be born anew from above to understand who I really am.” It’s a reflection that biblical translation is a spiritual process as much as an intellectual one.

Back to our story: Nicodemus doesn’t get it. He focuses on this idea of “born again.” “How can this happen?” He asks. “We can’t get back inside our mothers’ wombs. The thought of such a thing is just ridiculous.” Wearied, Jesus responds, “How can I tell you about heavenly things if you don’t understand about earthly things?” he asks. “Let me make it simple. God did not send his son into the world to tear it down or to condemn it, but to save all who would believe in him.”

When I was growing up, every nationally televised sporting event showed a guy in a rainbow wig, holding up a sign with this bible reference… John 3:16. And when I heard people talk about what they thought that verse meant, it was usually focused on the idea that salvation comes through belief… because seems to be what Jesus is saying. And the more I live, the more unsatisfactory that answer is.

What is my belief in comparison to Jesus’ power to save us? My belief doesn’t measure up, even on my best days, and I’m sure it never will, not enough to be the foundation of my salvation. Classic interpretations of this verse in particular can make and if/then link between belief and an entrance ticket into heaven. And unless we are careful, we can be tricked into thinking that’s as far as we need to go.

Last week, I read a Lenten devotion on this passage. The writer made a few connections that made salvation feel like less of a “me” centered activity and more the miraculous gift it really is.

First, these verses are not talking about what happens to us when we die. One of our biggest mistakes is seeing our belief in God and Jesus as our entry ticket into heaven. That’s not why Jesus lived, died and rose again. When the gospel writers talk about the Kingdom of God and Eternal Life, it’s not about never-ending existence after bodily death. “Eternal life” is about abundant life here and now. We are called to live out eternal life every day. This day, right here, we are living in the Kingdom of God. For the writer of John’s gospel, Jesus is the entry way into eternal-life-right-now. This is the real definition of salvation.

The second “ah ha” came for me when I considered how we think of these verses being exclusively focused on people. But think about this: Jesus didn’t say, “For God so loved human beings that God gave his only son…” Jesus said, “God so loved the cosmos” (“world” is “kosmos” in Greek) that he gave his Son. That includes flora, fauna and fungi; earth, wind and fire; seas, rivers and puddles; rocks and clouds; protons, electrons, neutrons and quarks; blackholes, nebulae and dark matter. God loves all of it because all of it is created from God’s love. [ii]

In addition to the creation stories from Genesis and John 1, this verse (3:16) reminds us of why it’s so important to take care of the whole of creation. Call the current conditions in our world whatever you like… God gave the first humans responsibility for caring for the things that God created, and those responsibilities are handed down to us. Stripping the land of its resources and filling it with our wasteful excesses is a similar behavior as we encountered last week. Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree in the mistaken belief that they could be like God… that there would be manageable consequences from their behavior. They were wrong.

The last point I appreciated surrounded the word “gave.” We often think of Jesus giving his life for us – the gift defined in sacrificial terms. But what if we think of the gift as an experiential role model. God gave us Jesus, to teach us how to think and how to live and how to love, so we could continue to do it when he was gone.

Jesus was not the Messiah they were expecting. He was a servant king, not a warrior king… a teacher, not a political ruler… one who lived among the least, the last and the lost, not in the halls of a palace or a temple. Instead of doing whatever he could to live, he was willing to die instead, for people who misunderstood and abandoned him all along the way. The words in these verses, especially verse 16, really do tell us something important about our Savior and our God.

I’m going to start closing this down by asking us to consider one verse more. I’d like for us to add verse 17 to the discussion. "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.” It’s the climax of the passage, and a reminder that salvation, not condemnation, is always the name of the game.

Our Savior is one who believed in second chances, so much that he gave us an unlimited number. When we mess our lives up, again and again, we are given another chance to repent, another chance to recommit our lives to him, and another chance to begin again, always a gift of mercy and love.

Eternal life is life shaped by and utterly dependent on God’s love. It is not simply life in heaven after death. It begins the moment believers entrust their lives to Jesus. It doesn’t take a 100% commitment in the beginning. God can go a long way on the time drops of belief and faith we bring to the table. God does pretty miraculous things with our mustard seed-sized faith. With the gift of eternal life, we enter into God’s reign, in the here and now. We become citizens of God’s kingdom, submitting to God’s rule and depending on the Spirit’s guidance because we are grateful, not because we are afraid. Citizenship in God’s reign is not a solo affair. Believers are reborn into God’s new family, always working together, and encompassing the needs of the whole world – the cosmos.

Jesus invites all of us to receive life as God’s gift. The crucified Son of God shows us God’s love, scorned and rejected but triumphant. In God’s mercy we are not merely forgiven, but made whole, remade in God’s image, and called to be participants in God’s new creation.[iii]

Thank God for second chances. Best gift ever!