Famous Not-Last Words

Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus yields one of the most famous verses in all of Scripture – so famous it shows up at football games! But it’s the verse AFTER it that really makes the difference.

John 3:14-21

[Jesus said,] ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

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Dear friends, grace to you and peace this day, from our God of infinite love through Christ who embodies that love.  Amen.

For God so loved the world.

Oh, such famous words.  So famous that they are generally scrawled on a piece of poster board to be held up in the seats in the end zone for every time a field goal or extra point is kicked in a football game.  John 3:16.

But as with so many stories about Jesus – Context. Is. Everything.

This particular reading of this famous passage is odd in that we are barging in on the middle of a conversation.  If we had no other information, we might well ask “so who was Jesus talking to – himself? His disciples?  What kind of audience was this?”

And it turns out that these are the critical questions.  The ones that might help us in our journey to see Jesus and maybe even understand the cross.

Let’s turn back a few verses, to verse one of this chapter 3 of the gospel of John.  Let’s shed some light into this darkness, to borrow a phrase of Jesus.

Remember from last week’s readings, that Jesus has just caused a bit of an uproar by turning over tables and scattering people selling sacrificial animals in the temple.  I imagine that word has gotten around about this.

And so in verse 1 of Chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to see Jesus.

Now, Nicodemus is a Pharisee.  And already in the story, the Pharisees are feeling like Jesus is threatening their lofty status.

Nicodemus feels something different.  However, he comes to see Jesus at night when he’s not likely to be seen.

Some might say Nicodemus is a chicken.  Why doesn’t he just do this in broad daylight?  But I would say that he’s prudent to a fault.  I would say that his soul has been stirred by Jesus in a way that he’s never experienced before – but that he senses its danger as well.  I give him credit for NOT turning away, but rather answering the yearnings of his heart while understanding the critical importance of choosing how and when to proceed.

But then his time with Jesus breaks things open for him that I truly believe changed his life.  Mind you, this isn’t the last we hear of Nicodemus; he’s around after Jesus’ crucifixion too.

When Jesus talks about the serpent, he brings it up because Nicodemus will be quite familiar with that story of Moses.  Jesus tends to zero in on where folks are at so that he can reach them more directly.

But ultimately for me, the thing Jesus says to Nicodemus that is profound for me is not John 3:16, but rather John 3:17:

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

I wonder if Nicodemus heard that night, the incredible love and grace that saturates that sentence.

God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Because everything that Jesus says after verse 16 seems so directed at Nicodemus.

It’s as if he is saying, look – I know that as a Pharisee you’re supposed to do things a certain way.  But the God we worship, the God whom we call Yahweh, is not keeping score.  God loves you, full stop.  Even if you walk away from your Pharisee position, God still loves you, full stop.

You may have operated in darkness, Nicodemus, but you can move into the light.  Your works will tell the truth about you.

Jesus’ words, I believe, are causing a tectonic-like shift in Nicodemus.  He senses that the world he’s inhabited, the way he’s done his work to date, is not exactly in the light.  But these words from Jesus tell him that he can absolutely turn and go a new way.

Instead of looking in at himself, Nicodemus is encouraged to look to Jesus.  Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Luther called this self-absorption “curvatus in se” – curved in on the self.  We might call it narcissism.  Whatever its name, it is a state of being that completely ignores the needs of the neighbor and the world.

And this is what is really fundamentally changed by an encounter with Jesus.

Because now, while we might not fully understand the whole thing about the cross, what we are beginning to understand is that we no longer have to spend all our waking moments trying to prove to God, or to whatever we call the Divine, that we are worthy of love.

Because God. Moves. First.

God loves us, period.  I know I say this a lot.  And I do that because I think it’s good for you and I to be reminded of it, a lot!

Instead of being entirely absorbed with ourselves, thinking that we have to improve this or that or do a better job at something else in order for God to love us – God loves us before we are even born.  “I formed you in your mother’s womb,” says the prophet.

For Nicodemus, this is truly earth-shattering.  He’s grown up in a world where the law is EVERYTHING and you have to follow all the rules so that you are good enough.

But Jesus says to him, look, rules are fine.  But if following the rules keeps you from loving and serving your neighbor, then those rules aren’t worth the papyrus or stone they’re written on.

Dear friends, in this particular time in history, in the hopefully-last-months of a global pandemic, and in a time where what we thought of as “normal” is up for discussion – Jesus’ words might give us some guidance in these days.

For Jesus, it’s about love.  It always has been, and it always will be. 

Following Jesus means fully embracing a working model of love.  Love for oneself, for one’s friends, for one’s neighbors, and even for the stranger.

It reflects a shift in God’s way of being to the world, from retributive justice to restorative justice.

Retributive justice seeks retribution – payback.

Restorative justice seeks restoration – welcoming the sinner back into the community.

Are there lessons to be learned along the way – maybe even hard lessons?  Yes, there are.  Sometimes the best lessons involve a bit of pain.  I learned the hard way that if I didn’t replace the cover on the crawl space access hole at my new house, I would fall into that hole.

And that mistake reminds me of Jesus’ words: those who do what is true come to the light.

Those who are willing to admit that they made a mistake, and want to do differently, walk into the light.

It’s not a one-and-done encounter, but rather a way of life.  Even as Nicodemus was confounded by Jesus’ mention of being born again, the point was not that Nicodemus would understand from the start, but that he would keep asking questions.

That he would keep wondering, keep searching, keep journeying.

Because the breadth and depth and height of God’s love for us is beyond our ability to name, let alone comprehend.

Jesus does not say to the disciples, “come along and understand me completely.”

He says “follow me.”

It’s an invitation filled with potential for all sorts of things.

But the one thing that is guaranteed is the love of God through Christ.

For that is what God intended, all along.

And that is some really good news.

Amen.

The World Is About to Turn

In John’s gospel, Jesus’ “temple episode” is not about anger, but about clarity of sight. Instead of looking for God in a building, he suggests, maybe God is standing right in front of you.

John 2:13-22

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸ The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

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Dear friends, grace to you and peace this day from our God of justice and love, through Christ who turns tables over seeking both that justice and that love.  Amen.

Yes, Jesus seems to reach his breaking point in this gospel story today.  Those of us who are conflict-averse might find this story really troubling.

I think it’s important to understand that Jesus doesn’t do any of this just to make trouble or be a jerk.  Maybe you’ve had to deal with someone like that in your life – that person who does stuff like this just to stir the pot, or make you feel uneasy or unsafe.

The important thing to remember here is that no matter what it is Jesus is doing, throughout the gospels, all are invited to join him.  No one is excluded.  Whatever it is that traps you, you are urged to step away from it and step into the freedom Jesus offers.

In order to figure that out here, we need some background.

With the feast of Passover approaching, people are making their way to Jerusalem.  (In John’s gospel, this is only the first time Jesus goes to Jerusalem; this isn’t the episode right before his crucifixion.)  In order for the people to enter the temple, they have to pay a temple tax and they need to offer a sacrifice.

The moneychangers are there to change the Roman currency into temple currency – because of course the impure Roman currency isn’t allowed in the temple.  The animal sellers are there to sell the required animals for sacrifice, from doves for the very poor all the way up to cattle for those with plenty of money.

Now, all of this began as a way to increase one’s devotion to God.  Sacrificing something to God was seen both then and today as a way to return to God a portion of what God has entrusted to us.  The temple tax was likely a maintenance assessment.  Fair enough.

There is a lot of discussion among scholars as to whether there was some rather significant markup going on with these onsite sales.  It would make sense, really.  It’s the convenience factor – would you rather drag the animal along with you from wherever, or just pay a little more money for one right there at the temple?

Kind of like the bottled water on the other side of the TSA checkpoint that will run you $4.  That onsite purchase price may have been a lot more than “a little more money.”

But part of what Jesus is taking issue with here is not the practice so much as how it has taken over as the most important thing.  Going to the temple and offering prayers to God, has been converted from an act of faith and communion with the most high God into a commodity, from which some people make a profit.  And as usually happens in such situations, the poor and marginalized are largely left out of the whole process.  They’re priced right out of the God market.

Access to God has had restrictions placed all around it by people.

Martin Luther had a few things to say about that, as he observed the sale of indulgences spiral out of control.  Indulgences were a medieval system of monetary exchange by which you would literally buy your way out of purgatory.  Luther’s understanding of a God of grace did not line up with indulgences at all, and when he spoke up against them, the Reformation began.

A loving and grace-full God goes way beyond any kind of boundaries that any human might think they can put in place.

I would submit that this is the primary reason people give today when asked why they don’t go to church, assuming they have a belief in God or some form of the divine.

It’s the boundaries.  The rules.  The gatekeeping.  The implicit message that in order to come into a church, a person has to be perfect.

(Dear friends, if that’s the case, then I had better walk out those doors right now.)

But while all of this is troublesome, it’s not John’s ultimate and overarching message.

That message is that God is found in Christ.  God incarnate is Jesus the Christ.

God incarnate is not a building.  We might find inspiration in a building – but God is not incarnate – made truly human – in a building.

God incarnate is Jesus the Christ.

By the actions Jesus takes here, Jesus states “you don’t have to pony up cash to access God.  I’m standing right in front of you!”

The temple system is rendered moot by the presence of Jesus in their midst.  God has exited the building and is standing in the outer entrance.

You see, in this gospel John never says that Jesus is angry in this episode.  That’s the other gospels.  Here, Jesus works to establish himself as the new temple: not going TO God to worship, but God with us.  God has pitched God’s tent among God’s people.

When John has his Jesus say “abide in me”?  That isn’t possible unless Jesus is truly Emanuel, God with us.

It’s not so much that Jesus calls into question the established religion, but more that Jesus in this passage truly embodies the words of John 1:14: “And the word became flesh and lived among us.”

Think about Jesus’ words when he is asked ‘what is the greatest commandment?’  He responds, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart/mind/soul’ and when asked what comes in at #2 he responds ‘love your neighbor as yourself’.  And he makes note that in these two commandments are summarized all the law and prophets.  IOW, this is it in a nutshell.

We hear echoes of that in our first lesson today.  So many times we see the Ten Commandments as the first entry in the Big Book of The Law, mainly written in Leviticus.

But it is God who gave us the Ten Commandments.  Humans imposed the Levitical laws upon one another.

The Ten Commandments are to life what the Ten Essentials are to hiking or outdoor adventure.  The Basics.  The Things You Really Need To Be On Top Of.

The Ten Essentials of Outdoor Adventure are the basic building blocks of how you survive in the wild.  The Ten Commandments are the basic building blocks of how you live together in community.

And it’s all summed up by love.  Love God.  Love your neighbor.

And Jesus gives us the praxis, or the living-out of faith, in his actions throughout his entire life.  He tells us here, stop looking for me in a building.  I’m standing in front of you.  I’m walking alongside you.  I’m breathing in the pain you are feeling.  I’m sharing in the joy you are given.

When we come back into this building – as we are experimenting with this morning – there is no question that being in this space again will be good for our souls.

But far better will be seeing one another’s faces – even behind a mask.  Hearing the tunes of hymns we love, even if it’s not quite safe for everyone to sing yet.

Christ is present in each one of us.  And I wonder if only being able to see one another’s eyes as we return, because of our masks, might not be a gift.

It is said that the eyes are a window into the soul.

Perhaps God’s gift to us as we return will be that we will really be able to see into one another’s soul, and in so doing, catch a glimpse of Jesus the Christ.

Incarnate in human form, in each one of us.

The pandemic has turned over more tables than we can count.  Nearly every aspect of our lives has been impacted.

But do not doubt for a moment that God will make something new of this.

In this time when everything has been turned over, far more than a few tables – surely God is speaking.

Jesus invites us to dwell in his presence, to listen for his voice.  So that we might discern the purposes to which God calls us in this uncertain time.

Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near – and the world is about to turn.

Amen.

Reality Check

This story is the pivot point in Mark’s gospel, when the writer turns from Jesus’ teaching and healing days and towards Jerusalem. Jesus is trying to be honest with his disciples and followers about what this “following” is all about. Let’s just say it’s nowhere near as easy as clicking “follow” on Facebook.

Mark 8:31-38

³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,^[a] will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words^[b] in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

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Dear friends, grace to you and peace this day from God through Christ, who calls us in challenging ways.  Amen.

“Challenging ways” may be something of an understatement, when we consider this lesson.

We may even have heard this lesson as justification for suffering or bad treatment.

But there is so much more here, that this year’s reading of this text revealed for me.  Even single words can make a big difference in how we answer the question “what does this mean for us, here and now?”

And I honestly DO think Jesus challenges us, but not in any way that could be considered cruel or abusive.

Rather, what Jesus is challenging us to do is begin to grasp the concept of the kingdom – the peaceable realm – of God.

Everything Jesus says in Mark’s gospel comes back to this – the idea of God’s kingdom over against the kingdoms of this world.  It’s just a lot more subtle than in Luke’s gospel, which is often considered the “social justice” gospel.

Remember that Mark’s gospel is understood by scholars to have been written during the war between Rome and the Jews, 66-74 AD.  This gospel writer has plenty going on around them to give rise to a comparative-kingdoms approach.  But Mark focuses on getting the important facts down, as quickly as possible; and Mark’s Jesus is very no-nonsense about what his mission really is.

Here’s a single word that when considered, changes our understanding: teach.

Jesus teaches them about what’s to come.  It’s not an announcement read from a scroll, but rather a time of dialogue and contemplation meant to lodge a reality and a concept in the listeners’ understanding.

Mayne you’ve had a truly great teacher or professor in your past, one who really loved to teach.  Not someone who loved to listen to themselves talk – but someone who loved to pass on knowledge and wisdom to others.

I had a music professor like that; who taught opera and voice in the music department of my undergrad college.  Carol Plantamura made opera come alive for a lecture hall full of freshmen who were only taking this class to satisfy a liberal arts graduation requirement.

Folks who had a far more intimate relationship with test tubes than music found themselves leaning in to Dr. Plantamura’s enrapt descriptions of the plot lines of the operas we studied.  She could have easily read from notes or shown slides (mind you, this was LONG before PowerPoint) but she told us an epic tale.  And she told us how the devices of opera served to move that tale along.  We were mesmerized.

But even the greatest teacher cannot overcome a pupil’s stubbornness.  And so in our story today we have Peter – God love him – who just cannot get his head wrapped around what Jesus is teaching.

This idea that the MESSIAH should die?  Nope, not ok.  Peter is remembering everything he ever learned in synagogue about ‘Messiah’ and nothing Jesus is saying makes sense.

But that’s not what Jesus is talking about.  Jesus is going to a much broader place, one that has no boundaries.  And so as any experienced teacher does with a rebellious pupil, Jesus basically tells Peter to sit down and shut up and listen.

And just as Jesus’ message is broader, he then brings it to a broader audience.

For his audience, to “take up one’s cross” can be taken as a subtle reference to an anti-Roman guerilla recruiting slogan – use the oppressor’s tool against them.  But for Jesus, it’s something particular.

If we post-Enlightenment folks say that it means “to willingly submit to arbitrary suffering” is, I think, diminishing Jesus’ core message.

For Jesus, the focus is on the action one does, not allowing that action to be stifled because of potential consequences.  AND the focus is not on arbitrary unknown suffering.  Because if Jesus’ primary mission was to die, then really – what’s the point of the resurrection?  It becomes a meaningless footnote.

We KNOW this is not true!

For Jesus, to take up one’s cross means to live fully into Jesus’ mission of love and justice and mercy for all of God’s creation.  ALL, meaning all.  No one is excluded.

Now, might that bring on unwanted consequences?

I think we know the answer.

And in that answer, we break open the underlying truth: if love and justice and mercy bring a bad reaction, then the system that reacts badly is the problem.

Jesus is calling out systems, not individual people.  When Jesus gets into it with the religious authorities, he would like nothing so much as for them to step away from the destructive system in which they are trapped.

(Side note: there was one Pharisee who did step away: Nicodemus.  His nighttime session with Jesus was a game-changer in more ways than one.)

The over-arching story in Mark is that Jesus dies because powerful humans oppose both his healing mission and, more specifically, the disruption that such a mission brings to established law and order. They don’t know it, but Jesus’ opponents are opposing the in-breaking reign (“kingdom”) of God.

What does that look like today?  Where do we see that now?

When people of color are fully enfranchised to vote: that is disruption to established law & order.

When women are welcomed across the threshold to places where they used to be unwelcome: that is disruption to established law & order.

When folks with plenty of position and privilege join the ranks of those who have neither of the above, to bring about systemic change: that is disruption to established law & order.

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus must die because his commitment to human healing will not falter.  The Son of God will not dial down his ministry to spare his own life, or even to ease his suffering. His commitment to the healing of humanity literally knows no limits. And neither—Easter tells us—does God’s life-giving power.

That said – when we come up against the very real possibility that this is what Jesus asks of US – we are understandably shaken.

“Understandably” because human history has cast us in a place where the status quo of the empire has been our norm, our entire lives.

But now, we stand in a place of transition.  The status quo has been on lockdown in one form or another for the last YEAR.

So when we talk about “back to normal” we all know in our heart of hearts that it’s time to redefine “normal.”

Because “normal” before the pandemic was a system and a structure that still, all these thousands of years after Jesus walked this earth – that still is oppressive to the vast majority of people.

Some insider information here: that – is – not – normal.

Dear friends, Jesus calls us to push back against these systems and structures.

Jesus calls us to recognize those places where the powers-that-be of this world hold folks down, and say “no more!”

Jesus calls us to own the places in our lives where following him is nothing more than a lifestyle, and the places where that lifestyle can continue unencumbered – and shift all that to a life change.

Because it is a life change that ripples out, like a pebble thrown into a pond, and affects everything it touches.

Even if it is something as seemingly small as shifting your thoughts – those ripple out too.  And the energy of the universe responds.

Jesus calls us to love, and mercy, and justice.  Jesus does not call us to suffering.  But the flip side to this divine work is that the world may not see it for the divine work that it is, and so suffering may follow.

Mother Teresa said it well in her observation that when you do good, others may mock you.  “Do good anyway,” she said.

For it is in such actions that we confound the status quo and confuse the powers that be.

When we answer hatred with love.

It is as Dr. King said: Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.

Love is following in the way of Jesus.  Even when the world laughs at us.

But that laughter will melt away in the gratitude of one whom your love has told, maybe for the first time in their life, they are a welcome and beloved child of God.

Amen.