How would you start a conversation with Jesus if you had the chance? Might be challenge enough to be able to utter anything much less something coherent.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus at nighttime, presumably because he was a religious leaders and so he had a reputation to protect. Jesus had become popular, but he was an outsider who did not always say things or do things that were considered orthodox by those who were recognized as authorities.
Nicodemus is one of those authorities, but he sees something special in the miracles Jesus has performed, so he's willing to take a step outside his acceptable circles to interact with Jesus. He'll only take a minimal risk however; he'll come under cloak of darkness.
He starts out proclaiming his brilliance, "We know you are a teacher who has come from God." Starting a conversation with Jesus by proclaiming what you know is probably not the advisable way to begin. Jesus responds, "No one can see the Kingdom without being born from above." I think this is Jesus' way of saying, You haven't a clue, Nic. All of the sudden Jesus is talking a language that Nicodemus doesn't understand at all. It's clear that Nicodemus, though he is a religious leader, knows very little about the spiritual life. Sometimes those who seem to be closest to the truth are actually furthest away. As a pastor, I am very aware of this danger.
Anyone who affiliates in some way with a religious organization should be aware of this danger, because most religious organizations lay out some kind of path to follow to gain maturity and stature in faith. Yet, according to Jesus, the Spirit of God is like a wind that blows in very unpredictable ways. We're currently reading, as a church, Sara Miles' Jesus Freak, which is her story of how the Spirit has affected her life and ministry, although some of her practices have been difficult for her church to understand or approve of.
Have you been born anew (or from above, since the Greek word here could mean either)? How did it happen? Or is it happening or yet to happen?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Okay, Beloved, Now What? Matt. 4:1-11
As the gospel writers tell it, immediately after Jesus is baptized and the voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased," God's Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness where he suffers deprivation and is confronted by his own human need. The tempter comes along and begins his offers with, "If you are the son of God..."
The close proximity of these two scenes suggest to me that the gospel writers are trying to show us that the temptation story is about Jesus' identity, and it should lead us to wonder what Jesus will do with his knowledge that he is God's messiah. Will he use his status to alleviate his own human suffering and thus render him invulnerable to the basic human needs that all humans share or will he fully enter into the human condition? Buddha said that life is suffering. Would the son of God willingly enter into this life or use his powers to rise above it?
You know the answers because you know the temptation story. Jesus refused to turn stones into bread, throw himself down from the temple tower hoping for the deliverance of angels or seek earthly rule. Rather, he walks this lonesome valley like the rest of us and uses his power to alleviate the suffering of others.
The seeds of Jesus' resurrection are found in these decisions he makes in the wilderness because when he chooses to live a fully human life, he, of course, is choosing to die a human death. So even in the first Sunday of Lent, we can see a foreshadowing of Easter.
Given that in your baptism God has claimed you as his/her beloved, what are you doing with your considerable powers? And if you are presently in the wilderness, what kind of choices are you making?
The close proximity of these two scenes suggest to me that the gospel writers are trying to show us that the temptation story is about Jesus' identity, and it should lead us to wonder what Jesus will do with his knowledge that he is God's messiah. Will he use his status to alleviate his own human suffering and thus render him invulnerable to the basic human needs that all humans share or will he fully enter into the human condition? Buddha said that life is suffering. Would the son of God willingly enter into this life or use his powers to rise above it?
You know the answers because you know the temptation story. Jesus refused to turn stones into bread, throw himself down from the temple tower hoping for the deliverance of angels or seek earthly rule. Rather, he walks this lonesome valley like the rest of us and uses his power to alleviate the suffering of others.
The seeds of Jesus' resurrection are found in these decisions he makes in the wilderness because when he chooses to live a fully human life, he, of course, is choosing to die a human death. So even in the first Sunday of Lent, we can see a foreshadowing of Easter.
Given that in your baptism God has claimed you as his/her beloved, what are you doing with your considerable powers? And if you are presently in the wilderness, what kind of choices are you making?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The King's Speech, Matthew 17:1-9
The best picture award at the Academy Awards this year was for The King's Speech. I saw it and also thought it was a fantastic movie. Here was this very powerful man who had a flaw--at least for him and the rest of the royal family--that made him vulnerable to feelings of shame and to ridicule from others. He worked hard and with the help of others, overcame his stammer in time to offer encouragement to his people at a dark time in British history. When the king speaks, people listen.
This Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. All the lectionary scriptures tell of the experience of encountering a mysterious, awe-inspiring God.
In Exodus 24:12-18, Moses goes up to Mt. Sinai to receive God's commandments and is enveloped in a divine cloud. To the people of Israel below, it didn't look like a cloud but rather a devouring fire that Moses walked into. Frightening!
Psalm 99 begins: "The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!"
And in Matthew 17, Jesus is transfigured on the mountain and appears with Elijah and Moses. Peter, James and John have some ideas about how to sustain this glorious occasion so that everyone who wishes can behold it; he wants to build some dwellings. But suddenly there appeared a bright cloud (a lot of clouds in these sorts of stories; what do you make of that?), and a voice from the cloud says, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" The disciples fall to the ground in fear.
It is clear that when this King speaks, he doesn't have any problem communicating. The natural reaction is fear and trembling.
How might this connect with the life of faith? When have you trembled in the face of a reality larger than you? Is an awe-inspired trembling healthy sometimes?
This Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. All the lectionary scriptures tell of the experience of encountering a mysterious, awe-inspiring God.
In Exodus 24:12-18, Moses goes up to Mt. Sinai to receive God's commandments and is enveloped in a divine cloud. To the people of Israel below, it didn't look like a cloud but rather a devouring fire that Moses walked into. Frightening!
Psalm 99 begins: "The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!"
And in Matthew 17, Jesus is transfigured on the mountain and appears with Elijah and Moses. Peter, James and John have some ideas about how to sustain this glorious occasion so that everyone who wishes can behold it; he wants to build some dwellings. But suddenly there appeared a bright cloud (a lot of clouds in these sorts of stories; what do you make of that?), and a voice from the cloud says, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" The disciples fall to the ground in fear.
It is clear that when this King speaks, he doesn't have any problem communicating. The natural reaction is fear and trembling.
How might this connect with the life of faith? When have you trembled in the face of a reality larger than you? Is an awe-inspired trembling healthy sometimes?
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