Scripture: John 3: 1-17
(1) Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling
council. (2) He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher
who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God
were not with him." (3) In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one
can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (4) "How can a man be born
when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his
mother's womb to be born!" (5) Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can
enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (6) Flesh gives birth
to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (7) You should not be surprised at
my saying, 'You must be born again.' (8) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with
everyone born of the Spirit." (9) "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. (10)
"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these
things? (11) I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we
have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. (12) I have spoken to you of
earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly
things? (13) No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son
of Man. (14) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be
lifted up, (15) that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (16) For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but to save the world through him."
Sermon
I tried to come up with a story to begin this morning's sermon, but everything seemed
too cute or trite on the one hand, or too real on the other. I couldn't find a better
starting point than the story of Nicodemus himself. So let's begin there.
It is a story that begins with fear and shame, and ends with Jesus' words, "God
sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved
through him." In one, relatively brief story we move from shame to acceptance and we
get there by becoming little babies again. On the surface it is an odd process, an odd
journey, but at the deepest level, what Jesus says is True. No wonder we, and even someone
as knowledgeable about the faith as Nicodemus, ask Jesus, "How can this be?"
Nicodemus was a pharisee, a leader of the Jewish people, studied in the law and the
prophets, faithful in his desire to follow God. We also know that he became a follower of
Jesus and part of the early church, which is why his story and name are included in the
Gospel. So it is safe to believe that this conversation with Jesus played both a
significant role in his conversion and becomes a central aspect of the faithful's
understanding of God's intentions for Jesus, and our response to that saving love.
Nicodemus came to Jesus after dark, by night, when the crowds would be gone, when the
pharisee's face could be covered by shadow and no one would know that it was he walking
down the street, Nicodemus approaching the radical rabbi. He came by night because he was
afraid of what others would think of him, ashamed that he, of all people, was going to
Jesus. Wanting to remain covered, wanting to remain small and hidden, wanting to remain
out-of sight for fear someone would see him and seek an explanation of his interest and
weakness, he came to Jesus by night.
Nicodemus came to Jesus after dark, drawn no doubt by his wanting to be uncovered, his
wanting to come into the light, his wanting to be heard and welcomed and known. So
although he could not yet stand in the light with Jesus, he came to him, nevertheless,
much as we come, with our hidden places of imperfection and guilt and shame. He came to
Jesus much as we come, with our longing for healing and acceptance, and our desire to
stand before God fully known and fully loved.
I believe Nicodemus came under cover of night partly because of his sense of shame.
Psychology makes a distinction between guilt and shame. Guilt is what we feel for what we
have done or not done. It is directly related to our actions. Shame is feeling bad about
who we are. It is broader and deeper than our actions.
Most of us move quickly, however, from guilt to shame. We hear criticism of something
we have done and translate it, sometimes instantly, into a comment about what sort of
person we are: we're bad, we're lazy, we're stupid, we're incompetent, we're unlovable,
we're a failure, we're unclean. We assume it is our worth as a person, not just our
behavior, that is being judged and found wanting.
A bad grade means not just that the student should have studied more (which can be
corrected), but that the student is a bad person and a failing grade means she is a
failure.
Being fired doesn't just mean that the company is in bad straits or that management
couldn't find its way out of a paper bag, it means that the employee is worthless and will
never be hired by anyone.
We move easily from direct actions and circumstances that we can correct, or at least
respond to, to a generalized toxic feeling of shame that can only be washed away by an
experience of divine love and acceptance. Jesus describes that experience as being born
anew from above by the Spirit of God.
Street-corner preachers proclaim that we must be born again or go to hell. Fans in
baseball stadiums across the country hold placards directing us to John 3:16 as if it were
a sledge hammer to beat us into salvation. But when one is born, one is a little tiny
baby. So being born again must have something to do with spiritually becoming like a
little tiny baby. And when I look at a baby, hell and sledge hammers do not come mind. And
I don't believe when Jesus spoke of our need to be born from above, such things were in
the mind of God either.
"For God so loved the world that God gave an only son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."
(John 3: 16-17)
No one can enter the kingdom without being born from above, said Jesus, a birth that
occurs not by returning to our mother's womb, but by being born as a child of God with God
as our mother who gives us birth, God as our father who cradles us in his arms. To receive
the kingdom of God, we set aside all our pretensions and protections, all our arrogance
and our ego, all our fear and sin and shame that clings so closely, and we begin again,
fresh and new, just as God's own self came among us as a newborn baby born in Bethlehem.
(While holding Julia Pearl Neuder) Look at this baby and imagine yourself being born
anew of God, even as this little baby was born only a month ago. She cries and is fed. She
cries and is held. She cries and that with which she has filled her diaper is cleaned up
and washed away. She smiles and everyone around her smiles back.
Imagine yourself being cradled in the arms of God, accepted fully and loved perfectly
just as you are, for who you are, without your having done anything to earn it. Imagine
yourself being small and vulnerable and seemingly powerless, knowing that you are safe,
fully trusting your parents to meet your needs only this time your parents really are God.
Born anew, as a spiritual infant, you come into the world hungry for that which will
nourish you; needy for shelter from that which would injure you, longing for the love
without which you cannot thrive.
To receive the kingdom of God, said Jesus, you must be born from above, hungry for God
to nourish you, needy for God to shelter you, longing for God to love you. Those who
receive the kingdom of God are born anew of God, vulnerable and needy enough for God to
wash away the fear and sin and shame that clings so closely, to hold you in the Divine
embrace and love you into being. There is neither a sledgehammer nor hell, but love and
acceptance in Jesus' image of rebirth in God. No wonder Nicodemus cast off his fear and
shame and stood on Good Friday at the foot of the cross.
A baby is not only needy and vulnerable, however, and neither are we when we are reborn
of God. A baby is filled with wonder and awe at all of life, and will be for years to
come. Watch a young child take in the world: he's fascinated by butterflies and ants, by
white clouds against a blue sky and the dew of a foggy morning, by his own fingers and
toes and the eyes of those who love him. He wants to explore everything, know everything,
experience everything. He wanders where only fools would dare to go. Everything that he
can see and touch and taste and smell is a miracle as it truly is a feast for the senses,
an experience to be learned from, an adventure to be lived.
"Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above,' "
said Jesus. Like a newborn baby, you must be free of the fear and shame that have clouded
your eyes and dulled your senses. Be born from God, alert to the beauty that surrounds
you, fascinated by the wonder of the world and the wonder of yourself, awestruck at the
miracles of creation, eager to discover the adventure that is life. Those who are born
from above are open to the miracle of God, the welcome of God, the adventure of God.
Certainly there are ideals and standards that the children of God are to follow, and
they are important for those who have been born from above to learn and live by. Guilt,
when we have not lived by them, is appropriate, for it leads us to change. So it is
appropriate to feel guilty when we have not done what God wants us to do. But we need not
feel shame. Live the adverb, not the adjective: we may do something badly, but we are not
bad people. We will make mistakes, but we are not garbage. We are children of the Living
God, born by the Spirit from above.
"For God so loved the world that God gave an only son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."
God sent the Son into the world as a little babe among us, a babe who grew into the
fullness of God and washes us clean so we who have been reborn can stand fully accepted,
hand-in-hand with Nicodemus, without fear or shame, in the full light and love of God,
this day and forever. Amen.
