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St. Charles Episcopal Church - St. Charles, IL

March 29, 2011 ~ The 2^nd Sunday in Lent ~ Year A

Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17

The Rev. Elizabeth Meade

Good Morning. Today is the Second Sunday in Lent. Last week, we considered Temptation: both the temptation Adam and Eve faced, as to whether or not they should eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil in the wilderness.

As we journey through Lent together, we are invited to look at the temptations we face, and how we respond to them. Choice after choice: good choices, bad choices. There will always be temptations, and there will always be choices because God gave us free will: the freedom to make our own choices. We will often mess things up, and last week, we saw how Adam and Eve made theirs. Today’s readings continue that theme of temptation and choice, but with a twist. Today’s readings invite us to consider the choices we make in our relationships with God and with each other.

The Old Testament reading we just heard is, of course, about Abram’s choice to leave Ur, to wander some 900 miles through Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Israel and Egypt before settling in Canaan. No maps, no GPS, nothing other than God’s nudging. Listen again to the text: The Lord said to Abram,

"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…. I will bless those who bless you…. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went….(Gen 12: 1-4a)

So ……. Would you have gone? Would you have gone without a map, without any knowledge, to some distant land you’d never heard of or seen before? Would you go just because there was an inking in your heart that God wanted you to go? Imagine that. As I imagine it, I wonder how I’d respond……………..           And it’s not just about Abram’s choice, to follow God’s command. How about Sarai? I wonder how I’d respond if Gary said, “C’mon, Lizzie. God is promising us a great life in Mogodishu.”        

Being called by God to leave everything you know: your lands, your family, your security, your vocation, and start walking. Walking a new path on only a vague promise. So Abram went. Would you?  

Lent invites us to think about that. How do we respond to God’s invitations?

Now, let’s fast forward almost 2000 years from Abram and Sarai to the scene we are confronted with in the Gospel. I could stay with Abram and Sarai all morning, but we have this interesting lithograph in front of us depicting Jesus and Nicodemus – so we’d better get to it. I have to tell you, I started out with five or six images of Nicodemus and Jesus. It was hard to pick one. I asked Fr. Bill for help. “What do you think,” I asked? “I don’t know. I like them all,” he said. Finally, I narrowed it down to my favorite two, and asked him again. “What do you think,” I asked again. “I don’t know,” he e-mailed me back, “Those are my two favorites as well.” Free will, you know. Choices; and choices are hard. So finally I chose this one.

Nicodemus and his famous secret night time visit to Jesus. It’s a lithograph from 1904. It appeared in the Providence Journal, back in the day when things scriptural could co-exist with things secular. The headline reads: “Jesus, Saviour of the World.” Then, below the header is cited: John 3: 1-21 – which is today’s Gospel passage. And then my favorite expression of all; imagine this in your daily newspaper: “GOLDEN TEXT.” Don’t you just love that? GOLDEN TEXT! The “Golden” text, John 3:16, is a verse we’ve all heard: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that

whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It’s interesting that the editor of this edition defines the “Golden Text” as John 3:16 when the picture depicts Jesus and Nicodemus. With that picture, I’d have expected a line about being “born again from above”, but when all is said and done this one line that is so favored by street corner evangelists is one that Jesus spoke ONLY to Nicodemus. He did not utter those words to his disciples, or to the masses. He didn’t include this most famous verse in his Sermon on the Mount. NO. He spoke those famous words only to Nicodemus: Nicodemus alone.

And then we see Nicodemus – a leader among the Jews, the text says. A fine man: a Pharisee. We can see from the picture that he is a man of means: look at his robes. And a man who is really listening: Look at his concentration. Yet Nicodemus came under the cover of darkness, to speak with Jesus privately.

This is interesting on so many levels. Nicodemus came at night. See the stars in the lithograph? See the lantern there by Jesus’ foot? Nicodemus may have been curious about the Galilean rabbi, but he also knew the consequences of associating with him; he knew on some level that he, a distinguished member of the Nicodemus made a choice and took the risk. And Lent invites us to look at our choices as well. It invites us to look at the temptations we face, and what choices we make.

Lent invites us to listen more deeply for the stirrings within us; asks us to listen carefully for God’s movement in our souls, and for the Tempter’s counter-movement in our souls.

So what is drawing you right now? Who is calling you? And how will you respond?

Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus, somehow. He risked a lot to come to Jesus, and made the decision to do so. He tries, initially, to flatter Jesus: “Rabbi we know you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do the signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” But Jesus sees right into Nicodemus’ heart; knows immediately what Nicodemus came to hear, so he cuts right to the chase and says: “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Now, I’m aware that this expression, “born again” makes many Episcopalians queasy, but hang in there for a minute. Being born again, in this context, in the way Jesus offers it, is about making choices. It is about being faced, as he himself was in the desert, with the choice between God and Tempter, and choosing the better way. Being “born again” is not about altar calls, or judgment, or coercion. It’s about making a very personal choice to live for good; to live for God. It’s a choice most of us we make not once, but every day of our lives. It is a decision we make to walk with God.

To leave the comfort of familiar surroundings in order to serve God – or not.

To claim our inheritance and identity as Children of God – or not.

To feed a stranger – or not. To dig a well – or not. To love someone – or not.

These are the choices we confront every day.

I’ve often heard it said, “Character is how you respond when you think no one else is looking,” and I would add to that by saying, Christian “Character is a VICTORY, not a gift.” We will always have temptations to face. We will always have to choose between God and the Tempter. But remember this: as we continue to make choices for God over the Tempter, we are transformed. We will be Spirit led people. We will become who we worship.

Nicodemus was facing a choice. We don’t know what he did. He disappeared into the night. We do know that he never publically proclaimed himself a disciple of Jesus, but we do see him twice more in this gospel of John. Once he is making a vocal attempt before the Sanhedrin to keep Jesus from being persecuted. (Jn. 7:50-51) And at the end of the book, we see that it is Nicodemus (and Joseph of Arimathea) who prepared and wrapped Jesus’ body for burial.

Would those concerned about public salvation say Nicodemus was “Saved?” I don’t know, but I think that the fact that the gospel writer leaves us in semi-darkness about Nicodemus’ status in the kingdom of God is a message in itself. It is a gentle reminder for us to be more concerned with our own actions, our own choices, than to be judging the actions and piety of those around us.

This Lent, we are invited to come into right relationship with God. We are invited to welcome in the Spirit, and to receive the gift of faith that enables us to believe. The Spirit transforms us. The Spirit lights our paths. See that lovely lantern there – at Jesus’ feet? That’s the Spirit. Like Nicodemus, we are offered Light. Do we choose to stand in it, or to retire to the darkness? The Light will always be there, inviting us in. Welcome it. Amen.