GOD’S SPIRIT WOULD LIKE TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO EACH OF US
John 3:1-17
Rev. Paul Wrightman 5/19/24
TODAY IS PENTECOST SUNDAY,
WHICH IS CELEBRATED FIFTY DAYS AFTER EASTER SUNDAY,
AND IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS
IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
THE ORIGINAL DAY OF PENTECOST
IS DESCRIBED IN CHAPTER 2 OF THE BOOK OF ACTS,
WHERE WE ARE TOLD THAT GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT
DESCENDED ON 120 OF JESUS’ FOLLOWERS,
WHO HAD GATHERED IN THE UPPER ROOM.
THERE THESE 120 DISCIPLES – BOTH MEN AND WOMEN –
HAD THE AWESOME EXPERIENCE OF BEING FILLED
WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE RISEN JESUS.
THIS REAFFIRMATION OF THE REALITY OF EASTER
EMPOWERED THEM TO ACTUALLY LIVE OUT
THE GOOD NEWS WHICH JESUS HAD TAUGHT,
AND MOVED THEM TO SHARE THIS GOOD NEWS WITH OTHERS.
GORDON BROWNVILLE’S SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
TELLS ABOUT THE GREAT NORWEGIAN EXPLORER
ROALD AMUNDSEN, THE FIRST TO DISCOVER
THE MAGNETIC MERIDIAN OF THE NORTH POLE
AND TO DISCOVER THE SOUTH POLE.
ON ONE OF HIS TRIPS, AMUNDSEN TOOK
A HOMING PIGEON WITH HIM.
WHEN HE HAD FINALLY REACHED THE TOP OF THE WORLD,
HE OPENED THE BIRD’S CAGE AND SET IT FREE.
IMAGINE THE DELIGHT OF AMUNDSEN’S WIFE, BACK IN NORWAY,
WHEN SHE LOOKED UP FROM THE DOORWAY OF HER HOME
AND SAW THE PIGEON CIRCLING IN THE SKY ABOVE.
NO DOUBT SHE EXCLAIMED, “HE’S ALIVE!
MY HUSBAND IS STILL ALIVE!”
SO IT WAS WHEN JESUS RETURNED TO THE FATHER.
HE WAS GONE, BUT THE DISCIPLES CLUNG TO HIS PROMISE
TO SEND THEM THE HOLY SPIRIT.
WHAT JOY, THEN, WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT
DESCENDED AT PENTECOST.
WE CAN HEAR THE DISCIPLES EXCLAIMING TO EACH OTHER:
“HE’S ALIVE! HE’S STILL ALIVE!”
RATHER THAN PREACHING DIRECTLY FROM
THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF ACTS THIS MORNING,
I’VE CHOSEN TO BASE THE SERMON
ON THE THIRD CHAPTER OF JOHN’S GOSPEL,
WHERE JESUS HAS A MONUMENTALLY IMPORTANT
CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS.
WHAT JESUS SAYS TO NICODEMUS IN THEIR DIALOGUE
IS HIS CLEAREST EXPRESSION OF HOW A PERSON
CAN CONNECT IN A LIFE-GIVING WAY TO GOD.
BUT THIS CONVERSATION IS ALSO QUITE A CHALLENGE
TO UNDERSTAND.
IN JOHN’S GOSPEL, JESUS OFTEN COMES ACROSS AS SOMETHING
OF A ZEN MASTER, ANSWERING QUESTIONS
AND MAKING OBSERVATIONS THAT OFTEN COME ACROSS
AS NON SEQUITURS TO US.
IN OTHER WORDS, SOMETIMES WHAT JESUS SAYS
DOESN’T SEEM TO FOLLOW FROM WHAT COMES BEFORE,
AS WHEN POOR NICODEMUS, AFTER GIVING JESUS
A HUGE COMPLIMENT BY SAYING, “RABBI, WE ALL KNOW
YOU’RE A TEACHER STRAIGHT FROM GOD. NO ONE COULD DO
ALL THE GOD-POINTING, GOD-REVEALING ACTS YOU DO
IF GOD WEREN’T IN ON IT,”
ONLY TO HAVE JESUS RESPOND “YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
TAKE IT FROM ME: UNLESS A PERSON IS BORN FROM ABOVE,
IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE WHAT I’M POINTING TO –
TO GOD’S KINGDOM.”
JUST AS DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES
AND DIFFERENT SKILL SETS,
THE FOUR GOSPELS, MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN,
TELL THE STORY OF JESUS IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
JOHN’S GOSPEL IS THE MOST DIFFERENT OF ALL.
BIBLICAL SCHOLARS THINK THAT JOHN WAS A TEENAGER –
POSSIBLY NO MORE THAN FOURTEEN OR FIFTEEN YEARS OLD –
WHEN HE BECAME A DISCIPLE OF JESUS,
THAT HE SPENT THE REST OF HIS LONG LIFE
MEDITATING ON THE WORDS AND DEEDS OF JESUS,
AND THAT THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
HE REGULARLY SHARED HIS MEDITATIONS WITH
EVENTUALLY WROTE THEM DOWN.
UNLIKE THE OTHER APOSTLES, JOHN HAD A ZEN-LIKE MIND
WHICH RESONATED WITH THE ZEN-LIKE QUALITIES OF JESUS.
LET US SUPPOSE THAT JOHN, WHOSE GOSPEL WAS WRITTEN
AFTER MARK, MATTHEW, AND LUKE,
WAS NOT QUITE SATISFIED WITH THEIR PRESENTATIONS,
AND DELIBERATELY SHARED HIS VERSION
OF THE LIFE AND MEANING OF JESUS
IN A MYSTICAL, ZEN-LIKE WAY
TO BRING OUT DIMENSIONS OF JESUS
THAT THE OTHER GOSPEL WRITERS HAD MISSED.
SO MUCH BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION,
WITH THE ONE FURTHER ADDITION THAT SINCE I’LL BE
REFERRING TO THE TRINITY IN THIS SERMON,
I’LL BE USING THE USING THE TERM “FATHER” INSTEAD OF “GOD,”
TO ECHO TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN TERMINOLOGY.
IT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL SERMONS ON TODAY’S TEXT
TO EVEN BEGIN TO FULLY MINE ITS MEANING.
ALL I HOPE TO DO TODAY IS TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW –
SOMETHING LIKE PROGRAM NOTES
TO A SYMPHONY BY MAHLER OR BEETHOVEN –
ON THE MAIN MOVEMENTS GOING ON IN THIS PASSAGE.
WE KNOW FROM OUR TEXT THAT NICODEMUS IS A PHARISEE,
AND NOT ONLY A PHARISEE, BUT A RELIGIOUS LEADER.
THE SPECIFIC PHRASING MEANS THAT NICODEMUS HAD A SEAT
ON THE JEWISH SUPREME COURT, OR SANHEDRIN.
ALL THE GOSPELS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT, ON THE WHOLE,
THE PHARISEES WERE ANTAGONISTIC TO JESUS.
NICODEMUS, HOWEVER, IS CURIOUS ABOUT JESUS,
AND WANTS TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM.
BUT BECAUSE HE IS A LEADING PHARISEE, PEER PRESSURE DICTATES
THAT HE NOT BE SEEN CONVERSING WITH JESUS
IN THE CLEAR LIGHT OF DAY.
SO NICODUMUS SEEKS OUT JESUS BY COVER OF NIGHT.
JESUS CAN TELL THAT NICODEMUS IS A SINCERE SEEKER OF TRUTH,
AND GIVES HIM A CRASH COURSE IN LIFE’S BASIC CHOICES.
THIS IS WHAT JESUS IS GETTING AT IN HIS PUZZLING STATEMENT
“UNLESS A PERSON IS BORN FROM ABOVE,
IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE WHAT I’M POINTING TO –
TO GOD’S KINGDOM.”
NICODEMUS, OF COURSE, IS CONFUSED BY THIS STATEMENT.
I SUSPECT THAT JESUS – ZEN MASTER THAT HE IS –
HAS PURPOSEFULLY MADE THIS CONFUSING ASSERTION
PRECISELY TO ELICIT A QUESTION FROM NICODEMUS,
AND IN THIS WAY TO HIGHTEN HIS ENGAGEMENT
WITH THEIR CONVERSATION.
THUS TRIGGERED, NICODEMUS ASKS “HOW CAN ANYONE BE BORN
WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN BORN AND GROWN UP?
YOU CAN’T RE-ENTER YOUR MOTHER’S WOMB AND BE BORN AGAIN.
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING WITH THIS ‘BORN-FROM-ABOVE’ TALK?”
JESUS’ RESPONSE TO THIS QUESTION BY NICODEMUS
IS ONE OF THE MOST MOMENTOUS ANSWERS
THAT JESUS EVER GIVES ANYONE.
I PARTICULARLY LIKE THE WAY THAT EUGENE PETERSON,
IN HIS RENDERING OF JESUS’ REPLY,
BRINGS OUT THE UNPARALLED IMPORTANCE
OF THE DECISION INVOLVED IN CHOOSING
TO BE “BORN FROM ABOVE.”
ECHOING THE ACCOUNT OF GOD’S CREATION
IN THE FIRST VERSE OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FIRST BOOK
OF THE BIBLE, GENESIS, JESUS CHALLENGES NICODEMUS – AND US –
BY STATING DECISIVELY:
“UNLESS A PERSON SUBMITS TO THIS ORIGINAL CREATION –
THE ‘WIND-HOVERING-OVER-THE-WATER’ CREATION,
THE INVISIBLE MOVING THE VISIBLE, A BAPTISM INTO A NEW LIFE –
IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO ENTER GOD’S KINGDOM.”
JESUS IS HANDING NICODEMUS – AND US –
THE KEY TO ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD HERE.
IT IS UP TO NICODEMUS – AND US –
TO DECIDE FOR OURSELVES WHETHER TO USE THIS KEY OR NOT.
IT’S NOT THAT GOD IS TRYING TO KEEP ANYONE OUT
OF GOD’S KINGDOM. THIS BECOMES CRYSTAL CLEAR
TOWARD THE END OF OUR TEXT WHEN JESUS SAYS:
“THIS IS HOW MUCH GOD LOVED THE WORLD: HE GAVE HIS SON,
HIS ONE AND ONLY SON. AND THIS IS WHY: BY BELIEVING IN HIM,
ANYONE CAN HAVE A WHOLE AND LASTING LIFE.
GOD DIDN’T GO TO ALL THE TROUBLE OF SENDING HIS SON
MERELY TO POINT AN ACCUSING FINGER, TELLING THE WORLD
HOW BAD IT WAS. HE CAME TO HELP, TO PUT THE WORLD
RIGHT AGAIN.”
GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THE SELF-DESTRUCTIVE
WAYS OF OUR WORLD, GETTING CAUGHT UP IN VARIOUS FORMS
OF VIOLENCE TOWARD SELF, OTHER, AND GOD’S GOOD CREATION,
IS SOMETHING THAT NONE OF US CAN AVOID.
BUT GOD WANTS TO HELP US OUT HERE.
SO GOD OFFERS US A DIFFERENT PATH,
A PATH THAT LEADS TO PEACE AND WHOLENESS.
TO CHOOSE THIS DIFFERENT, HIGHER, PATH BY CHOOSING HIM
IS WHAT JESUS MEANS WHEN HE SPEAKS ABOUT
HAVING TO BE “BORN FROM ABOVE.”
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS ARE CERTAINLY NOT WRONG
WHEN THEY INSIST THAT BEING “BORN AGAIN”
MEANS ACKNOWLEDGING OUR BROKENNESS
AND “ACCEPTING JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR,”
BUT ALL TOO OFTEN, “ACCEPTING JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR”
MEANS SIMPLY BELIEVING THE RIGHT THINGS ABOUT HIM,
DOCTRINAL THINGS LIKE “JESUS SAVES,”
OR “JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD,” AND STOPPING THERE.
WE SHOULD NOTE HERE THAT WHEN JOHN IN HIS GOSPEL
USES THE VERB “TO BELIEVE,” HE DOES NOT MEAN
INTELLECTUAL ASSENT, BUT AN ACTIVE TRUST
EXPRESSING ITSELF IN ACTIVE OBEDIENCE.
WHAT JESUS HAD IN MIND WHEN HE TOLD NICODEMUS
THAT ONE HAS TO BE “BORN FROM ABOVE”
WAS NOTHING LESS THAN JOINING WITH HIM
IN BRINGING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
SO A PATTERN OF LIVING ON OUR PART
THAT EMBODIES JESUS’ OWN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,
RELENTLESS COMPASSION, EXTRAVAGANT WELCOME
AND AFFIRMATION OF THE OTHER – ALL WITHIN THE
CONTEXT OF CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE – IS,
TO USE ACADEMIC JARGON REGARDING TEXTBOOKS,
NOT ONLY RECOMMENDED, BUT REQUIRED.
IN OTHER WORDS, IT’S NOT ENOUGH
FOR CHRISTIANS TO RUN AROUND PROCLAIMING
THAT “JESUS IS LORD.”
THE ONLY WAY THAT THAT OVER-USED PHRASE
CAN HAVE ANY REAL CONTENT IS IF IT IS FLESHED OUT
IN OUR OWN WALKING OF THE ACTUAL WAY OF JESUS.
FOR ME, THE CONTEMPORARY THINKER
WHO MOST CLEARLY LAYS OUT THE IMPORT AND IMPLICATIONS
OF WHAT JESUS REALLY MEANS BY BEING “BORN FROM ABOVE,”
IS RENE GIRARD, A RECENTLY DECEASED PROFESSOR
AT STANFORD AND AT THE SORBONNE IN PARIS.
GIRARD OBSERVES THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS, WITHOUT EXCEPTION,
ARE BORN INTO A VIOLENT, BROKEN WORLD.
THIS BROKEN WORLD, THROUGH BROKEN PARENTS,
BROKEN LEADERS, AND BROKEN SOCIAL SYSTEMS,
DETERMINES THAT EACH OF US IS BORN WITH
A “PATTERN OF DESIRE” THAT INCLUDES STRONG ELEMENTS
OF REVENGE, RETRIBUTION, AND AGGRESSION.
IN OTHER WORDS, OUR BASIC “PATTERN OF DESIRE”
IS ONE THAT INEVITABLY TENDS TOWARDS VIOLENCE.
ACCORDING TO GIRARD, VIOLENT HUMANKIND
WOULD HAVE LONG AGO DESTROYED BOTH OURSELVES
AND OUR WORLD IF GOD HAD NOT MADE AVAILABLE TO US
AN ALTERNATIVE “PATTERN OF DESIRE”,”
A “PATTERN OF DESIRE” WHICH GIRARD SEES
STRONG GLIMPSES OF IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
AND MOST FULLY EMBODIED IN THE LIFE, TEACHINGS,
DEEDS OF POWER, AND REDEMPTIVE DEATH OF JESUS.
FOR GIRARD, GOD RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD
AS GOD’S PERSONAL AFFIRMATION THAT THE WAY OF JESUS
WAS AND IS THE WAY OF GOD.
THUS, EACH HUMAN BEING IS FACED WITH A DEFINITIVE CHOICE:
EITHER TO REMAIN WITH THE VIOLENT
SELF-AND-OTHER DESTRUCTIVE “PATTERN OF DESIRE”
THAT EACH OF US IS BORN INTO,
OR TO CHOOSE TO BE “BORN FROM ABOVE”
BY EMBRACING THE NEW AND LIFE-GIVING
“PATTERN OF DESIRE” EMBODIED BY JESUS.
THIS IS PRECISELY THE CHOICE THAT JESUS IS OFFERING NICODEMUS.
THIS IS PRECISELY THE CHOICE THAT JESUS IS OFFERING
TO EACH OF US.
THIS LEADS US TO THE FURTHER QUESTION:
HOW DOES ONE ACTUALLY DITCH THE SELF-DESTRUCTIVE
“PATTERN OF DESIRE” OF OUR BROKEN SELF
AND OUR BROKEN WORLD AND PUT ON THE LIFE-GIVING
PATTERN OF DESIRE THAT JESUS LIVED AND TAUGHT?
HERE THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPT OF THE TRINITY –
ONE GOD BEING SIMULTANEOUSLY FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT –
CAN BE QUITE HELPFUL.
INNUMERABLE PAGES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY THEOLOGIANS
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE TRINITY.
MOST EVENTUALLY GIVE UP AND SIMPLY DESIGNATE THE TRINITY
AS A “MYSTERY” WITH A CAPITAL “M.”
I DON’T THINK THE CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AS TRINITY
NEEDS TO BE THAT DIFFICULT, SO I’M OFFERING
MY OWN PERSONAL “CLIFF NOTES:”
WE SIMPLY NEED TO REMEMBER THAT THE EARLIEST CHRISTIANS
HAD ALREADY EXPERIENCED GOD AS FATHER THROUGH JUDAISM.
THEIR EXPERIENCE OF JESUS CONVINCED THEM THAT
JESUS COULD BE NOTHING LESS THAN THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD.
AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS,
THEIR EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT PUSHED THEM
TO SAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS JUST AS MUCH GOD
AS FATHER AND SON.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE EARLIEST CHURCH WAS NOT BASED
ON INTELLECTUALLY FIGURING OUT GOD,
BUT ON EXPERIENCING GOD IN THREE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAYS.
PERSONALLY, I FIND IT HELPFUL TO THINK OF THE TRINITY
IN TERMS OF THREE PREPOSITIONS.
PREPOSITIONS ARE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE RELATIONSHIPS.
I SEE GOD AS FATHER AS “ABOVE” ME; GOD AS SON AS “WITH” ME;
AND GOD AS HOLY SPIRIT AS “WITHIN” ME.
THREE PREPOSITIONS – ABOVE, WITH, AND WITHIN.
ONE WAY OF LOOKING AT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PENTECOST
IS TO SEE IT AS GOD BECOMING PROGRESSIVELY MORE PERSONAL:
GOD AS FATHER CAN BE SOMEWHAT DISTANT.
GOD AS FATHER HEARS THE CRY OF HIS PEOPLE,
“O, THAT YOU WOULD TEAR OPEN THE HEAVENS
AND COME DOWN!” (Isaiah 64:1)
AND COMES DOWN TO BE “WITH” PEOPLE
BY BECOMING A PERSON IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.
AND WITH THE RETURN OF JESUS TO THE FATHER,
GOD SENDS GOD’S SPIRIT – WHO WE KNOW FROM SCRIPTURE
TO BE NOTHING LESS THAN THE SPIRIT OF JESUS HIMSELF –
TO DWELL “WITHIN” US, EMPOWERING US TO LIVE
THE WAY THAT JESUS LIVED.
FATHER, SON, SPIRIT – ABOVE, WITH, WITHIN.
AS WE ALL KNOW, LIVING LIFE AS A CHRISTIAN
IS NOT ALWAYS AN EASY ROAD TO WALK.
I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY,
I FIND MYSELF RATHER REGULARLY SLIPPING AWAY
FROM THE NEW, BAD-HABIT-BREAKING, LIFE-GIVING
PATTERN OF DESIRE THAT I FIND IN RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS,
AND BACK INTO MY OLD, SELF-DESTRUCTIVE,
OCCASIONALLY THOUGHT-VIOLENT,
AND OFTEN THOROUGHLY SELFISH PATTERN OF DESIRE.
IN OTHER WORDS, EVEN AS A CHRISTIAN
I FIND MYSELF THINKING AND ACTING
IN UN-CHRISTIAN WAYS ALL TOO OFTEN.
SOMETIMES I SHARE THIS FRUSTRATION
WITH FELLOW CHRISTIANS, ONLY TO BE GIVEN
THE PLATITUDE THAT IF I WOULD JUST TURN EVERYTHING
OVER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, EVERYTHING WOULD BE FINE.
WELL, I DO TRY TO LIVE IN CONSCIOUS CONTACT WITH GOD’S SPIRIT,
OR, AS ST. PAUL WOULD SAY, TO LIVE “IN CHRIST.”
BUT I STILL FIND MYSELF ALTERNATING BETWEEN
BEING “BORN FROM ABOVE” AND SLIDING BACK
INTO MY OLD, DEAD-END SELF.
THE ONLY ANSWER I HAVE FOUND TO THIS DILEMMA
IS TO MAKE THE CHOICE TO BE “BORN FROM ABOVE”
EVERY DAY, AND SOMETIMES SEVERAL TIMES A DAY
WHEN THINGS GET ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING.
I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT BEING A CHRISTIAN
IS LIKE RECOVERIUNG FROM AN ADDICTION –
IT’S ONLY POSSIBLE TO DO ONE DAY AT A TIME.
AND OVER THE YEARS I’VE COME TO SUSPECT
THAT GOD ACTUALLY WANTS IT THIS WAY.
AFTER ALL, THERE’S NO BETTER WAY FOR GOD TO HAVE
THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP THAT GOD WANTS TO HAVE
WITH EACH OF US
THAN FOR GOD TO ALLOW US TO CREATE OUR OWN FAILURES,
THEN TURN BACK TO GOD FOR FORGIVENESS AND STRENGTH,
A TOUCH OF GRACE, AND THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO KEEP ON
IDENTIFYING WITH THE WAY OF JESUS,
NO MATTER HOW IMPERFECT OUR IMITATION OF HIM MAY BE.
ONE NEEDS TO BE REBORN IN GOD’S LOVE EACH AND EVERY DAY.
AMEN.