Encounters with the Holy: Nicodemus and New Life in Jesus
Rev. Kristen A. DelMonte
The Community Church of Sebastopol
The Fourth Sunday of Lent - March 22, 2009
John 3: 11-21
Hmmm….This text is so rich and complex. Some pastors break this text up into the two sections, first, the beginning where Nicodemus and Jesus exchange dialogue, and second, the long, drawn out discourse of Jesus that John is so famous for writing. Since this passage is so complicated and full of irony, I feel that it is important to read the whole passage, even if we can’t unpack the whole it all in one sermon. I know Gene is breathing a sigh of relief.
This is also the passage that has the language that progressive Christians dread: it is the “born again” passage and the “For God so loved the world…” passage. Which, if you have ever watched a sporting event on TV, you would recognize this as the shorthand on the cardboard sign that says “John 3:16”. I would love to actually ask one of those fans if they truly believe that because they believe in God that God will grace their favorite football team with eternal life for this season. But I digress.
Regardless of where we first heard this passage or read the placards, when we speak of this passage in John, many of us have very strong, personal opinions about this passage and about the people who live by this passage. I think even when we read the John 3:16 cardboard sign during a Raiders game, strong feelings about this passage arise. We are tied to those feelings and opinions and sometimes, despite our best intentions, those feelings prevent us from looking at something from a different perspective or uncovering a new understanding.
This reminds me of a story from Barbara Brown Taylor, I have heard it before and you probably have too.
‘ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a woman who set out to discover the meaning of life. First she read everything she could get her hands on--history, philosophy, psychology, religion. While she became a very smart person, nothing she read gave her the answers she was looking for. She found other smart people and asked them about the meaning of life, but while their discussions were long and lively, no two of them agreed on the same thing and still she had no answer.
Finally she put all her belongings in storage and set off in search of the meaning of life. She went to South America. She went to India. Everywhere she went, people told her they did not know the meaning of life, but they had heard of a man who did, only they were not sure where he lived. She asked about him in every country on earth until finally, deep in the Himalayas, someone told her how to reach his house--a tiny little hut perched on the side of a mountain just below the tree line.
She climbed and climbed to reach his front door. When she finally got there, with knuckles so cold they hardly worked, she knocked.
"Yes?" said the kind-looking old man who opened it. She thought she would die of happiness.
"I have come halfway around the world to ask you one question," she said, gasping for breath. "What is the meaning of life?"
"Please come in and have some tea," the old man said.
"No," she said. "I mean, no thank you. I didn't come all this way for tea. I came for an answer. Won't you tell me, please, what is the meaning of life?"
"We shall have tea," the old man said, so she gave up and came inside. While he was brewing the tea she caught her breath and began telling him about all the books she had read, all the people she had met, all the places she had been. The old man listened (which was just as well, since his visitor did not leave any room for him to reply), and as she talked he placed a fragile tea cup in her hand. Then he began to pour the tea.
She was so busy talking that she did not notice when the tea cup was full, so the old man just kept pouring until the tea ran over the sides of the cup and spilled to the floor in a steaming waterfall.
"What are you doing?!" she yelled when the tea burned her hand. "It's full, can't you see that? Stop! There's no more room!"
"Just so," the old man said to her. "You come here wanting something from me, but what am I to do? There is no more room in your cup. Come back when it is empty and then we will talk.” ‘
The lesson from the old wise man is one that we must be aware of at this point. We must try and clear our minds of everything that this passage has meant to us in the past. All that weighs us down and lifts us up. We must let it go and let us start again with this passage.
Let’s begin with a little background. What do we know about Nicodemus and who is this man that visits Jesus in the still of the night? Well to begin, Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews. He was an older man who knew his Jewish scriptures well. He was also a man set in his ways and beliefs. He comes to Jesus by night, under the cloak of darkness, not to be seen by anyone. Why is this important?
It is important because for the Johannine community, the community that this gospel was written, for believing in Jesus took courage. The Johannine community was a community just trying to survive—to stick to what they believed in and not open opportunities for others in the community to go back to their original Jewish beliefs. Members of this community converted to Christianity later in their lives—they weren’t born as Christians. And, as this community formed and lived, they began to be ostracized from their wider Jewish community. So much so, that some of them outwardly followed Judaism but secretly were Johannine Christians. Knowing this, the fact that Nicodemus was an “outward” Jew but “inwardly” he was curious about Jesus, speaks to those who were in the same situation of the Johannine community and who were, possibly, about to go back to the Jewish religion because being a Christian was hard, scary and dangerous. In understanding this historical background of who the writer was writing too, we can witness the importance of Jesus’ confusing dialogue with Nicodemus with a different light.
Nicodemus approaches Jesus and before he even asks him a question, Jesus begins. They go back and forth and Jesus says, “do not be astonished that I said to you; you must be born again.”
Ahhh….the born again part. When I was in college, I’m not sure that I had ever really met someone who had been “born again.” But, when I graduated and moved to the south—I met a few people.
Once while I was baby-sitting two kids, their favorite restaurant –Chick Fil-A - was having a family night. It was a fundraiser for a church and the church had canvassed the neighborhood and passed out fliers for discounted meals. The mom asked if I wanted to take the kids since it was just down the street. Sure, not a problem. We arrived kind of early—I’m like that. And were busy eating our meal when other members of the church arrived. There was one really cute family; a mom and a dad and two really cute kids under the age of five or six. I noticed them because everyone else in the restaurant seemed to know who they were. They sat down with their meal and the kids began to play with the toy that they had gotten from the kid’s meal, then the kids got up and were running all around with other kids. I was enjoying my chicken strips when the two kids came up to my table and handed us a card. I think you know where this is going. The card contained information from John, Chapter 3 and explained that Jesus died for my sins and that I needed to be “born again” in order to have the gift of God’s love for all. The paragraph was followed by a prayer that I was supposed to recite and the address of their church. Hmmm…to be born again in the Chick-Fil-A restaurant. That, if I were to have one, was definitely my dream of how I would be saved. Forget Saul’s conversion story from Acts, this was how I wanted to meet my savior—alone, in an ordinary fast food restaurant eating mediocre food and while watching two kids play on the indoor playground. It brings tears to my eyes. It was a hard moment in my life. It was hard not to be angry and it was hard not to laugh at the situation. But, later, as I reflected on what had happened, I realized that they, just like Nicodemus, have misunderstood.
That passage where Nicodemus encounters Jesus is so confusing that it is extremely hard to follow. And I think that’s the point. Jesus explains something and Nicodemus is so set in his ways that he misunderstands everything that Jesus has to say. Nicodemus is like the woman in the story of the wise man and the tea. And, sometimes, we too think we understand everything that we mis-understand the obvious.
This part about being born again is commonly mis-read for those who don’t speak Greek. Because in Greek, the word for born again is “anothen” which means both “from above” and “again” or “anew.” Born-again Christianity has taken this word and flattened it to have only one meaning. But, in order to truly understand this passage, one must read it with the historical context in mind and by understanding the dual meanings that it has. You can’t take only one meaning but you must read it with both. Therefore, when reading, it should say, ‘Nicodemus, You must be born from above or again.’
When reading this text, we read it in a way that Nicodemus couldn’t. We can see the crazy confusing dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus. We can follow the give and take of the conversation and we can understand what Nicodemus misunderstands. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that in order to receive what Jesus has to offer, in order to understand Jesus, Nicodemus has to let go of what he knows and be “reborn”. This expression that Jesus uses, challenges Nicodemus to move beyond surface meanings to a deeper understanding of faith.
Likewise, in Lent, we take this time to refocus on Jesus and our relationship with him. It’s not a time to put Jesus into little boxes of presupposed beliefs, but a time to take a chance, a time to let go of what we know and allow God to creep into our lives in a new way. Perhaps it is a time to be reborn ourselves and to move beyond to a deeper understanding of Jesus.
What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Well, I think that Jesus demonstrates this himself. To believe in Jesus is not an instantaneous occurrence where we are suddenly saved by reciting a short prayer or declaring Jesus as our savior. No, to believe in Jesus is to learn from what he did. And what was it that he did? He demonstrated that with the true meaning of John 3:16…that God so loved the world.
God so loved the world that Jesus worked to share that love to all people, regardless of whether they were Jew or Gentile, slave or free, man or woman, gay or straight, black or white. Jesus brought together those who were outsiders and welcomed them at his table, his kingdom. Jesus didn’t lurk about in the middle of the night, taking a cowardly stance like Nicodemus; instead he walked with courage from town to town spreading his message of love from God to all. And he didn’t stop. At no point did he shrink away from that message. Not even when his life depended on it.
Jesus calls us to follow in the same way. Jesus never says to take a moment and become an instant Christian. Instead, Jesus says, “I am the way….” Well, the word “way” isn’t a “time” or a “place.” The word “way” means a road, a path, a journey. Following Jesus is setting out on a path, a journey and letting Jesus meet us where we are. That is what is means to be a pilgrim, a Christian—to set forth on a journey that is personal and honest.
If Jesus wasn’t going to meet us “where we are on our journey” then why are there so many examples of this in the Gospels? Jesus meets the people in the Gospels exactly where they need to be met.
For Nicodemus, this meant to be re-born, opening up a mind that has been set in it’s ways. It meant taking a chance on Jesus and allowing his spirit to be re-awakened and born anew. Some of us can relate to Nicodemus—we need to be born again in order to move forward with our faith.
But some of us are like others in the gospel. Some of us are like the rich man who came to Jesus and asked about the way of “life,” and Jesus encouraged him to obey his commandments. And when this young man said that he had, Jesus said, “then you must give away your money and follow me.” And yet some of us are like the lawyer who asked Jesus who was his neighbor and Jesus answered with the Good Samaritan story.
Never once does Jesus say that these people must be born again. That is what’s great about Jesus, his message is for everyone even if we are not in the same part of our faith journey. And yet, because of our experiences, even if the passage is not speaking directly to us, we can learn from it also.
So, what is it that we can learn from Nicodemus? When we began this Lenten season, the days were still short and the nights were long. It was a dark time in our lives—both in reality and metaphorically. Darkness bookends this passage with Nicodemus. And yet, Jesus tells him to see the light. Now, as we come closer to Easter, the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter. We are moving forward in our faith, and we are traveling closer to the light. Who we are today is different than who we were a month ago.
During Lent we are on a specific faith journey, we are looking in all of the cracks for the light to shine through. What we can learn from Nicodemus is the same thing that the woman having tea with the wise man learned. We must allow Jesus to meet us where we are in our lives, to breath through and to clear our minds of all pre-conceived notions, to take a risk, be courageous and open up our hearts to be transformed by God. Is anyone ready for tea?