Sermon 16th March 2014

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Adrian Parkhouse, continues our Lent Study.

Journey to the Cross:  John 3: 1-17

“”So you are a teacher of Israel ... and you do not recognise such things?”” v.10.

1.              I knew – at least I thought I knew - that I had talked about Nicodemus already this year.  But I simply couldn’t remember what I had said! Or even what the passage was that I had spoken on – except that I was pretty sure it was not our passage today or either of the two other occasions we meet Nicodemus in John’s gospel.  What was it?  So frustrating -  but I needed to check:  it would be awful to have stood up today  and said exactly the same as I said last time (though if even I can’t remember what I said, who am I trying to fool in thinking you would?).  It was not on the Parish blog as worship together talks aren’t posted there and no sign of it in my Sermons folder on the PC.  Grrrr!

2.              I found it in the end – but perhaps here lies a first thought for today:  how much do we want to hear, how much do we want to remember, how much do we want to be affected by the words of Jesus?  The question is especially relevant since the account of the meeting with Nicodemus contains two of the most familiar and repeated verses in the whole Bible: “no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again” (v.2) and “For God so loved the world that he gave ...” (v.16).  So very little new may be said.

3.              We are travelling the road to the cross during Lent beginning that journey with Jesus in these early chapters of John.  In fact I found that my earlier talk had been on John ch.1 and I had looked at the concept of labelling ourselves and others and Nicodemus’ name (with that of the others we will meet in the weeks ahead) had cropped-up as I suggested that Jesus would set about challenging the labels we wear – as he challenged the label Nicodemus wore:  So you are a teacher of Israel ... and you do not recognise such things? 

Let’s explore Nicodemus’ labels for a moment because it is helpful to understand where he stands: we are told he was a Pharisee, we are told he was on the ruling council, and as his name is Greek, we can infer he was well-educated.  He is “an establishment man”.

                  But he is also a man who wants to raise a question;  an enquirer, and from what is to follow a genuine, an interested  enquirer.  His is not a question like other Pharisees were to throw at Jesus to trap him:  “is it right for us to pay Caesar or not?”.  Perhaps the seriousness to him of his enquiry explains why he came at night – to ensure personal access to Jesus, away from the pressure of his peers, his fellow Pharisees.

                  He was a religious man.  The Pharisees were devout Jews - “separated” (the meaning of the word), committed to upholding the holiness of God through strict obedience to the Torah.  When Nicodemus came on this night-time mission, as a Pharisee, he will have come already certain that God would work through his people, Israel, believing too perhaps that the tribes were being re-gathered in the Promised Land, and now wanting to understand if perhaps, just perhaps, a messiah might be coming and the nation be saved.

                  If that does not sound an appealing sort of character, perhaps we should look ahead to Nicodemus’ role on the later occasions he appears in the drama:  in John 7 he argues that Jesus should be dealt with justly, according to the Torah, and given a fair hearing before being condemned:  “are you a Galilean too?” they ask; and then immediately after Jesus is taken down from the cross and his body given to Joseph of Arimathaea  for burial, Nicodemus appears laden with spices and helps prepare the Lord’s body for burial.

4.              But that is all we know:  we are left to guess what he had taken from this night-time meeting and how it affected him – though these later incidents lead persuasively to the conclusion that this justice and compassion came from a man who may have been changed as a consequence of what he experienced.

                  What might have changed him?  What was it that may have convinced this man that Jesus was actually more than just the miracle worker that he gave as the reason for his visit?  Because miracles may be attention-grabbing but as we know from elsewhere in scripture, contrary to Nicodemus’ assumption, visible signs are not the sole preserve of God’s team (eg 2 Thess 2:9).

                  Jesus took this reference to what is visible (a man cannot see the Kingdom of God unless ...) and then put forward a concept which went to heart of how Nicodemus had to change – unless he is born again (from above).   Why does this go to the heart of Nicodemus’ stance?  Because for him physical birth as a Jew was the guarantee of Kingdom membership, it was enough;  but Jesus requires a second, a wholly different birth, a birth not related to history or ethnicity.  A spiritual beginning.

                  Initially Nicodemus struggles with the imagery; but his second retort (how can things like this happen?) suggests he has begun to grasp the significance, as Jesus, probably referring to the promises in the Torah and the prophets, chides him (you a teacher and you do not recognise such things?) before emphasising his own authority(we are witnessing to what we have observed) and providing the most succinct statement of God’s work of love – aimed at Nicodemus -  he seems to be saying, “loves the World Nicodemus, the World;   so that everyone, Nicodemus, everyone who believes shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  Nicodemus think again about the grace of God.

5.              The other gospel writers report frequent sayings of Jesus which advise listeners to change.  “You must change your hearts—for the kingdom of Heaven has arrived.”(Matt 4:17).  With John the account is different:  Jesus meets individuals face to face and speaks of what they need to address to experience the Kingdom:  today we see Nicodemus’ need to open his mind to the  vastness of God’s grace – then his faith will be well-founded.

6.              This week’s Lent postcard offers us an abstract work by the French artist Robert Delauney.  Abstract art gives each and every individual an opportunity to see what they will see in the painting – you may see the planets of the universe while I see the contrast of light and dark.  Individual interpretation – drawing on our individual experiences of life, good and bad.  John’s description of the road the cross is similarly individual.  Jesus takes time with individuals to establish their experience and identify a pathway to change.  And change can be hard and the need for it does it not stop when we have been born again.

                  Perhaps I am back to labels and their being challenged?  Sorry.

                  Amen