A Sermon Inspired by John 3:1-21
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. And, no, you have not
clicked on the wrong sermon link. This is a Christmas tree, right
here in the middle of a sermon on the 5th Sunday in Lent…just two
weeks before Easter.
In the upside down, topsy turvy world we are living in during
the time of COVID-19, people are searching for little bits of hope and light
wherever they can find them amid these dark, scary, and sometimes monotonous
days of staying inside and keeping our distance from one another.
And…well, people have gotten creative!
At first, I just heard rumors,
but then I started to see with my own eyes…pictures popping up from friends far
and wide, from communities like Tupelo, MS and Elmira, New York,[1]
pictures of Christmas lights on front porches, twinkling across hedges, shining
bright through windows. Each Christmas light display a surprising oasis of hope
and peace in the middle of the maddest March I’ve ever experienced.
But, Christmas lights are not
the only way creative folks have begun to shine light and share love. There have
also been community-wide bear hunts all across the nation. Maybe, you’ve heard
about them?! Neighbors are placing teddy bears and stuffed animals of all kinds
in their windows, near their mailboxes, some even on the roofs of their homes
for children of all ages to “hunt” for as they count them on an afternoon walk
or a joy ride in the car. We even have our own bear hunt happening in McNairy
County right now![2]
What an amazing way to help parents entertain their cooped-up kiddos with
familiar cute and cuddly toys, small signs of hope and community even in this
unusual and unfamiliar landscape for us all!
While we could choose to let the
safe and necessary practices of staying home and social distancing isolate us
from one another, we can also choose to be creative with how we show God’s love
to our neighbors. If we have eyes to see, we will find the light even in these
dark days.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the
middle of night, under the cover of darkness, searching for a little light from
this teacher he believes is sent from God. Nicodemus must have been watching
from the background, or maybe he had heard through the grapevine, because he
knows that this Rabbi Jesus has performed some miraculous signs, like turning
water into wine. Nicodemus, a successful and self-confident leader in his
community, approaches Jesus directly, curious to find out more about who Jesus
is and what exactly he is up to. I imagine Nicodemus had all sorts of questions
he was hoping to ask Jesus, but before he can ask any of them, Jesus is ready
to dive headfirst into a conversation by answering a question Nicodemus didn’t even
ask. Jesus loves to do this—answer questions people don’t ask, offer observations
that seem to come out of left field and throw people off center.
And, so, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “I
assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom”
(John 3:3). Your translation of the Bible may say “born again” or “born from
above” or, like mine, “born anew.” These are all different ways of saying the
same thing. Whatever words are used, we might be left feeling as confused as
Nicodemus does. “How is that possible Jesus? What do you mean we must be born
again?”
Jesus, always interested in offering
light to the darkness of our human understanding, explains that to be born
again is not a literal birth of womb and water but to be born of God’s Spirit.
To be born of God’s Spirit is to believe in Jesus. And to believe in Jesus is
to live into the promise of abundant and eternal life.
Often, we have diminished the fullness
of Jesus’ words and limited our own understanding of being “born again.” For
some of us, we use “born again” as a secret code, to count who is in and who is
out, to mark who’s been saved and who still needs to get right with God. We condense
all of the gospel down into one single verse—John 3:16—latching onto the
promise of eternal life as we say the sinner’s prayer and, then, sit and wait around
for heaven.
But, I’m not sure if that
captures the fullness of what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus as he explains what it
means to be born again, to be born of water and the Spirit, to be born anew by
believing in Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to only offer us life after death. Jesus
says in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Jesus came to bring life into the here and now, to give us meaning and purpose
and joy where there used to meaninglessness. Life is not just a gift for after
death! Life is a gift to the believer now!
Yes, now, even during this
pandemic crisis where life as we know it is changing day by day. How are you experiencing
the abundant life of Jesus in new ways in this strange season? Are you pausing
to give thanks for the sunshine this week that certainly brought some much
needed light to our dreary days? Are you enjoying seeing and waving to neighbors
you know and some neighbors you may not have met before all of this as you walk
your neighborhood? Hopefully from a safe, social distance, of course? Are you savoring
the community that happens over a phone call as you talk with loved ones and
friends, maybe some you hadn’t spoken to in a while? How are you living the life
Jesus gives us to the fullest right in this very moment?
For me, I see abundant life in
God’s creation all around us as spring blooms and buzzes. It may just be me,
but there is something extra sweet in the song of the birds singing in the
trees this spring. And, maybe it’s my imagination, but I don’t remember hearing
them sing all day long before. But, this week, as I read my daily devotion, as I
participated in more than one online meeting and Zoom video call, as I wrote this
sermon, as I called and checked in on folks to see how they were doing, there always
seemed to be the sweet melody of a robin or a mockingbird singing in the
distance, a soundtrack to the beauty of God’s creation.
But it’s not only what we notice
with our own eyes when life slows down a bit that reveals the abundant life
Jesus has planned for us. If we are paying attention, the crisis of this
pandemic is revealing just how directly our everyday actions affect another
crisis that many of us have been willfully ignoring. For years scientists have
warned the world about the catastrophic effects of global warming and climate
change. Gradually shifting weather patterns resulting in more rain and more
floods, rising sea levels, melting ice caps, more extreme weather like
hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires are all signs of the crisis of a rapidly
changing climate that will jeopardize the world’s food supply, threaten the
livelihood of millions, and drive people from their homes in regions that will
become uninhabitable. Unless the world’s nations agree to drastic measures to
reduce greenhouse emissions significantly, scientists warn the rise in the
world’s temperatures will create droughts that severely affect 350 million
additional people around the globe and contribute to driving around 120 million
people into extreme poverty. Last year, Time magazine named Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old
climate activist, their person of the year for 2019. In her interview, Greta
shared, “We can’t continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is
a tomorrow.”[3]
A tomorrow for our children and grandchildren.
Yet, for many of us, we rarely,
if ever, think about global climate change, much less how the daily decisions
we make—like where we go and how we get there, what we eat and what we buy—contribute
to the problem. Around the world, as we have stayed in to slow the spread of
coronavirus, less cars have been on streets, less planes in the air, less factories
running day and night…and something has happened. The air is clearer. In
heavily polluted places like China, Italy, South Korea, New York City, London, and
Los Angeles where the air is usually full of smog, there are instead clear blue
skies.[4]
It is clear – human activity is the
primary contributor to pollution and climate change. Perhaps Jesus is inviting us
to see the benefits and possibilities of a simpler, more environmentally-conscious
life…where we not only live life to the fullest but our life and our choices
enable others, especially those most at risk to suffer from the ravaging effects
of climate change, to experience abundant life as well.
Because, ultimately, whether we
are born again and born of the Spirit is revealed in how we treat one another, especially
the least of these. We witness to our trust in Jesus and our assurance in his
promises when our faith goes public, when it changes our outward words and
actions, when we move from the darkness to the light. In the Gospel of John,
the themes of light and darkness are major symbols. Darkness represents
unbelief, while light represents belief in Jesus and the new life he offers to
those who believe. For Nicodemus, who first comes to Jesus under the cover of
darkness, it’s never really clear whether he moves into the light. He shows up
two other times in John’s Gospel, in chapter 7 where he seems to give a
lukewarm defense of Jesus against the antagonism of other religious leaders and
in chapter 19 where he joins Joseph of Arimathea, who is identified as a secret
disciple of Jesus, to help bury Jesus’ body. What we can say is that Nicodemus
isn’t ready to declare his faith in Jesus in the light of day when we meet him
in today’s Scripture passage. In other words, Nicodemus isn’t ready or prepared
for the new life Jesus is offering to actually change his life.
When you and I put ourselves into
the story, in the place of Nicodemus, the question for us might be this: “Even if
we declare our belief in Jesus in broad daylight, are we still hiding the shadows
if our lives don’t change?”
A disciple sees God’s light
shining in the darkness. A disciple finds meaning in confusing times. A
disciple finds direction and builds community in a lost and lonely world. A “born
again” disciple discovers the kingdom of God in Jesus’ actions and then changes
their heart and life to follow Jesus and be like him in the way they live and
love.
Perhaps the greatest test of the
faith that God is growing in us through these days of distance and fear will be
if we return changed to our lives the day after the crisis ends. Will we be
more loving? More generous? Will we be kinder and more patient? Will we still
say “Thank you” to grocery store cashiers and truck drivers and hospital
custodians and really mean it? Will we invest in our closest relationships with
meaningful conversation? Will we live more simply so that others may simply
live? Will we care for the creation that cared for our souls with sunshine and
blue skies when the world seemed to come crashing down?
You could hear Jesus’ words “be
born again” as a command, a requirement to receive eternal life. Or we could
see them as the loving invitation of a Savior beckoning us to abundant life
now, an invitation to allow God to work in our life in surprising ways, so that
we can come out of this darkness and into the light.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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