February 17 - A call to experience God’s love
A preacher heard that another preacher had gotten into the record books
by preaching the world’s longest sermon.
He wanted to do something like that, but he didn’t think his
congregation would tolerate a sermon that went on for hours. So he announced he
would preach the world’s shortest sermon.
He got a lot of helpful advice.
When the time came for his notable short sermon, he stood in the pulpit,
cleared his voice, and said “Love”. Then
he sat down. Unfortunately ethical
issues, like plagiarism, prohibit me from preaching some else’s sermon, so my
sermon today will be longer - considerably longer - than his.
Today’s lessons all deal with God’s call to faith, which is a call to
experience God’s love. We are presented with two individuals – Abraham and
Nicodemus – who respond to that call in different ways. We are al different, so
as we look at Abraham and Nicodemus, you may find yourself identifying with one
or the other. If nothing else, they show
us how there is more than one way in which we respond to God.
The story of Abraham and Sarah is very familiar. Although it is at the beginning of the Old
Testament, their story inspires more than one New Testament writer. Perhaps that is because the couple is the
first to display the kind of faith that pleases God – that results in Abraham
being called the ‘friend of God”.
Our first lesson briefly recounts the call of Abraham. "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…” Genesis
12:1
It is a call to embark upon a journey – a journey with an unspecified
destination. Accepting the call will
mean that Abraham and Sarah will have to trust God. They will set out believing that God will
continue to provide guidance and direction a long the way. But more than that,
they will have to leave their country and their extended family and the
security of Abraham’s father’s house.
They will be giving up their support system and their comfortable
life. They are asked to trade their
security for the unknown, and to entrust their life and well-being to God’s
benevolent care.
Thus it is a call to new realms of loyalty and purpose – putting God
and His will before everything else.
They are an example of the prayer of the descendants of Abraham, the one
quoted by Jesus last week: Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him. Abraham’s
response is an example of faith – an almost perfect or ideal faith – because he
trusts to Lord completely.
"Abraham believed God,
and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Romans 4:3
A professor who taught Hebrew and Old Testament went on sabbatical to
Abraham’s faith was considered righteous in God’s view. In other words, Abraham’s faith was just what
God expects - the relationship with God that works the way it is supposed to.
Do you have faith like Abraham’s?
The Lord hasn’t called you to go to a far country trusting only in
God’s promise. Yet I think I can see
elements of Abraham’s faith in many of you.
Like he and Sarah, you follow the Lord, serving in your own way, not
knowing exactly where it will lead. And like them, you may not have a lot of
questions. You simply believe in God and
in His promises. You don’t try to
bargain with God, but serve without asking what you’ll get out of it.
Like Abraham and Sarah, you have been faithful for many years…So some
of you may have a faith like Abraham and Sarah - a faith that God reckons as
righteousness.
But at the same time, there is that other dimension of Abraham’s
faith. He is willing to risk what is at
hand for what is yet to be given – to risk what we can see to obtain what we
cannot yet see. Maybe people of faith
should be more like Abraham - restless, ready to dare, trusting only the
promise of God.
But I’m sure many of us don’t feel we have a confident, always trusting
faith like Abraham. So today’s gospel
introduces us to someone with whom we might find it easier to identify:
Nicodemus. You might characterize Nicodemus as curious, yet cautious. Nicodemus
came to Jesus by night. Perhaps night –
darkness – symbolizes a time of confusion and misunderstanding. There is much misunderstanding in their
conversation. Jesus says that entrance
into the kingdom comes “from above”, like being “born anew”. Nicodemus is confused and thinks “anew’ means
“again” – and protests that is impossible. Nicodemus’ conundrum is he thinks in
physical terms, not spiritual ones. He
cannot see the
Jesus invites Nicodemus to be open to the Spirit of God. Faith is not so only fixing in our brains on who Jesus is, as it is exposing ourselves – opening
ourselves – to His Spirit coming into our lives.
Nicodemus, a man educated in scripture, came to Jesus full of
questions. Nicodemus begans
the nocturnal conversation but, by the time it ends, it’s Jesus who is doing
most of the talking. Jesus’ answers became more mysterious and incomprehensible
than ever. Nick seems to be sitting in
dumbfounded silence.
Maybe you have heard enough of Jesus’ teaching to be
confused by some of it. If you are full of questions for Jesus, then
you should take Nicodemus as your patron saint,. Go ahead and ask him whatever is on your
mind. Use all your God-given mental
capacities to try to think about Jesus.
Listen to his word. Give thanks
that Christ wants to be with us, to speak to us, even if we can’t fully
comprehend the wholeness of His truth – even if we’ll be left with more
questions.
Some people think that Christians have figured it all out, and thus
believe with no further questions. And
some do have that kind of faith, like Abraham.
But as well as the Abrahams of faith we also have those who are like
Nicodemus. We’ve got to come to Him and listen to him even when we don’t always
grasp what he is talking about.
Where did that confusing conversation leave Nicodemus?
We meet him again on Good Friday.
After the other guys who had denied knowing Jesus run away, Nicodemus
was one of the few to step forward and say I’m one of his followers. He was one of that little group
who were there to lovingly bury Jesus.
Then Nicodemus doesn’t ask any questions. He simply does what is right. He risks being associated with Jesus. He is a disciple. You don’t have to completely understand Jesus
in order to follow Him, to serve Him. If you will walk with Him, the promise is
that he will walk with you, even as he welcomed that seeker Nicodemus. Faith is not in the understanding, but in the
following
In that confusing conversation, Jesus didn’t answer Nicodemus’
questions in the way he wanted. Rather
Jesus pointed him beyond those concerns to openness to the Spirit. Then Jesus gave him the answer he needed to
hear even though he hadn’t asked that question. For God so loves the world
that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish but
have everlasting life.
The mystery of God’s love is that he love ordinary me and you, even or
especially when we are in emotional and spiritual disarray. Loves me, chooses me.
It is possible for us to reject God’s love and then perish, because
nothing can live for ever without the love of God. But because God loves us, He doesn’t easily
let us go. That’s why God sent His Son,
and that’s why He follows us through our doubts and questions, even our
unfaithfulness and our self-centeredness - our unholy messes.
God loves us through our up-heavings and
down-turnings, through our foot stompings and side-steppings. For God sees us not only as we
are, but also as He calls us to be.
God sees us and everything through the lens of divine love.