Imperfect Nicodemus - Sermon for Lent 2 2017

Sermon:

Text: John 3:1-19

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who does great things with us.

            I was listening to a podcast last week and the host said that he thought about calling his sermons throughout Lent as Jesus and pals, since today we meet Nicodemus, next week is the Samaritan woman at the well, then the Man born blind, and then the raising of Lazarus. But, the problem with his idea he said was that the first week in Lent, Last week’s lesson of Jesus and the Devil tempting him, hard to call it Jesus and pals, when one of the pals would be the devil, and being a temptor is not a very pally thing to do. It’s so close to being good, Jesus and pals, but then the devil has to go and ruin the idea. But, we still have starting today 4 different interactions of Jesus with other people as we continue with Lent. And in each interaction we get one more identification by Jesus of who he is, and what he came to do, all foreshadowing his death on the cross.

            Today we meet Nicodemus. Frankly I love Nicodemus, we know so little about him, he only shows up in John, and only 3 times, here, once later in a scene where the other Pharisee’s want to have Jesus arrested for no reason, Nicodemus steps up and reminds them, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” To which they accuse him of being a Galilean. The final mention of Nicodemus is at the very end of John, the second to last chapter, where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take Jesus down from the cross, wrap him in linens and embalming spices and place him in the tomb.

            The reason that I love Nicodemus, is that he could be many of us. He hears of Jesus, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and when he arrives, the temple grounds are full of money changers, which enrages Jesus so much that he makes a whip of cords, drives them all out of the temple grounds. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, hears of this occasion, he hears the other Pharisee’s already talking about what to do with this rabble causer, at least three years before his death, Jesus returns to Jerusalem in John for 2 more Passover festivals. Nicodemus hears of Jesus, and like many of us, is curious about who he is. He wants to know more, he wants to know who Jesus is.

            So, he goes to Jesus at night, in the dark, to make sure he is not seen by the other Pharisees, hiding on his journey to Jesus. And he shares with Jesus who he thinks Jesus is so far.  “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God;” And Jesus responds in a way by telling him, it’s so much more than that. And he gives some answers saying, It’s all about being born not just once, but being reborn, born not of flesh, but Spirit. How can these things be? Nicodemus asks.

            The line by Jesus is often read as talking down to him, You are a teacher, you idiot? And you don’t understand this. But, I think Jesus is being a teacher himself, here, saying more like, oh, you are a teacher and you’ve never heard. You didn’t know?

            I want to read to the very end of the chapter now, adding verses 19-21 to the end of our reading.

¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that 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. ¹⁸ Those 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. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹ But 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.”

            I love Nicodemus, because he is us, he hears the words of Christ, and it changes him. It’s so often said that he must be evil at heart since he comes at dark, if he was honorable he would have come in the day. Maybe he started with false intentions, but when he comes to Jesus here, he is one who is true, who comes to the light, he comes to Jesus, the light, he comes not sure, not understanding everything, not standing up declaring to the world, I know Christ! I know my salvation is sure. No, he comes to Christ, unsure, unclear, concerned, questioning.

            So often that is us. Sometimes we can be completely secure in our faith, nothing wracking our world. But, so much more often we are questioning, what about this happening to me, what about the cancer, what about my job.   Jesus, How can these things be?

            And just as Jesus answered Nicodemus, Jesus answers us.

¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

            Jesus is raised on the cross, he goes to death for us, he takes on our sin, he takes on our questioning, our insecurities and our fears.

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.

            Jesus goes to death for us, not because we have it all figure out, not because we know all the answers, but because God loves us. It all comes down to that, love. Not our perfection, not our understanding, not of great things we may do, but God’s love.

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.

            Jesus comes to us, to die by being raised on the cross, and to be resurrected on the third day, not to condemn us in our sins, but to save us from them. This is not a new condemnation like the flood, but a new exodus and salvation so much more than Moses.

²¹ But 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.”

            It’s not that we are in the light already, or that we are the light, it’s that we come to the light, drawn through the words of Christ, drawn through the waters of baptism, where we are reborn through spirit anew.

            I love Nicodemus, because he is me, he is you. An imperfect person, who in the end carries Christ to the tomb. Who doesn’t have the answers, who doesn’t always dwell in the light, who hides in darkness and shadows because of fear about what others think. But, in the end, Christ still works in him amazing things.

            We don’t always know the answers, we don’t always want to ask the questions, we are fearful about the thoughts of others, but in us Christ will work amazing things. Through our baptisms, through being reborn, being saved, being loved, through Christ, we can do so much.

Amen.