Jesus is clear, this whole thing is about God’s love for the world

I am told John 3:16, God loved the world so much …
is one of the best known verses from the Bible.  This passage from chapter 3 of John’s gospel, can feel like a weapon rather than good news to some people. I have known people who have grown up in the church, who have not had a ‘born again’ experience and feel like they are second class citizens in some spaces. And I have met people who have had an amazing ‘born again’ experience, and they live as if they need do nothing more.

Let us look a little closer at what is happening in this passage:

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and Jewish leader comes to Jesus at night.

Why come at night – the last paragraph of the reading helps us here. People do things in the dark they want to keep hidden.  A religious leader seen having a conversation, rather than an argument, with Jesus is not going to go down too well with the other religious leaders. So, Nicodemus tries to see Jesus, on his own, without disciples or crowds.

Then there is a confusing conversation, about being born from above, and what that might mean.

Pharisees, may be seen as the enemy of Jesus a lot of the time, but they were people who tried really hard to keep the rules, all the rules. Jesus tells him that being born from above involves the Spirit. The mysterious Spirit, that blows where it wants to.

And Nicodemus does not understand.

I wonder if what Jesus is trying to get to in the next section is that if someone who is a religious leader doesn’t get this, then there is a problem with the system. [i]

We heard in the Old Testament, how the prophets spoke God’s judgement, and hope, to people. Judgement because they disobeyed God, and hope because God didn’t give up on them. Often the disobedience wasn’t about ritual or tithing, but about justice for the poor, the widow, the traveller.

The system was broken, a system that increasingly was about who was acceptable, or unacceptable.

The system was broken, Jesus came to show people how to love and live, and what it meant to live in relationship with God, not how to tithe herbs.

Jesus gives Nicodemus a new way of thinking.

From the beginning of the gospel of John we have heard that Jesus comes from above but was born physically in the incarnation. Nicodemus has already been born physically but needs to be born spiritually.[ii]

And the Spirit is unpredictable.

Nicodemus, like many educated people, relied on his brain.

And as much as I would like to be able to understand much more of the Bible in terms of knowledge, belief and faith are not about up here [head].
We can know about someone, even God, without ever knowing them.

You can know lots about the royal family or your favourite band, but that doesn’t mean you know them.

This passage is much more about God’s love for us, than how much we know about Jesus.

Here is an image I put up on the Facebook page this week.

https://scontent.fsyd5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/26951920_1520864577960815_1759664941002858639_o.jpg?oh=351238f00e7ee2a01d76b0ace22516ac&oe=5AEE71E2

Another of looking at this passage.

The original text didn’t come with chapters marked out and verse numbers. It can be difficult sometimes to know where one story finishes and the next one starts.

At the end of chapter 2, John writes:

“In Jerusalem during Passover many people put their faith in Jesus, because they saw him work miracles. But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he would not let them have power over him. No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew.

There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader”

What if the story of Nicodemus, is an example of how Jesus knew what was in the hearts of people?

How when approached by Nicodemus, Jesus saw immediately what was going on, a religious leader who is intrigued by what Jesus has been able to do yet isn’t quite sure what it means.

What if Jesus saw Nicodemus for who he was, even in the dark of night, the one who is the light of the world saw Nicodemus.

What if this passage is about Jesus, Jesus who knows us, Jesus who loves us, Jesus who won’t give up on us.

Jesus who will continue to hold us in love, even when that confuses us.

Jesus who is born of water and spirit and invites us into that life.

 “Jesus is clear. This whole thing is about God’s love for the world. In the end, Jesus had to bring it down to the simplest of terms. God loves the world. Jesus came, not to condemn, but to save. People of the light would respond with joy. People of darkness would flee the light. But God would not condemn anyone – God would give his Son before giving up”. [iii]

How do you feel knowing God will never give up on you?

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[i] http://zionelginil.org/god-can-be-confusing/

[ii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3385

[iii] http://zionelginil.org/god-can-be-confusing/

God is on the loose

The first thing to note is that this occurs during Passover.

Passover, the time when they remembered that God had led the people out of slavery in Egypt.

This was one of the major festivals of the Jewish calendar, and a time for people to go to the Temple in Jerusalem.

People would take sacrifices, as required; but if you are travelling for a week, do you really want to be taking a bull or a sheep with you? Even in Deuteronomy [14: 22-26], there is allowance for people to sell their offerings of grain and grapes and animals locally, and use the money to buy their offerings and sacrifices in Jerusalem.

The temple tax was not to be paid with Roman coins, so money changers were a required part of the system.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the gospel of John is thought to have been written down about the turn of the first century.[i]  The reconstruction[ii]  of the Temple in Jerusalem begun under Herod the Great, who ruled until just after the birth of Jesus.  The temple was again destroyed in 70 AD.

This means that the Gospel if John was not written in its final form until after the destruction of the Temple.[iii]

So, what might this passage tell us?

Not to have a cake stall in the church?

John has Jesus saying: Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace

Is that only animals, or any form of commerce?

I suspect this passage is considered difficult because we read it at face value, and we look for today’s equivalents of selling sheep and cattle and doves in the foyer of the church.

John was writing to let people know who Jesus was:

 “Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.” John 20:30-31 (CEV)[iv]

“these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God”

John isn’t writing to tell us everything Jesus did, but who Jesus was.

The Temple was the centre of Jewish sacrificial religious life. You could hear or read the Scriptures in the Synagogue, but certain things were only celebrated at the temple.

For centuries the Temple was the place where the people of Israel perceived God to be. I know some people now who believe God is only present in a church building.

The temple was a place to gather as a people, to worship God. But for some it had become fulfilling a duty, and making the right transactions.

I have heard it said that this is a time of transition, but I wonder if ever since time began, there hasn’t been some kind of changes going on.

In turning over the tables of the money changers, in driving out the animals from the Temple, Jesus is saying, things are different now.

“When Jesus, the Word made flesh, comes, …, everything changes. And among the first of these changes is that there is no longer a need to sacrifice, as God will interact with God’s people in a whole new way.”[v]

A few of our readings in the next few weeks challenge the established religious wisdom of the day.

Here I think we are being asked to consider what is at the heart of worship.

In 2 weeks, it will be where do we rightly worship, and later does worship give life.

Why do you come to worship?

We can, and I hope you do, worship God at other times and in other places. Here I am talking about this peculiar activity of meeting together, such as we are doing this morning.

Why do you come to worship?

[space]

Is it because you are on a roster,

or you have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning,

or out of habit?

One way I think of our worshipping life together, is as a community that strengthens and encourages each other,

as we hear the Scripture read,

as we pray together,

as we sing,

as we share some reflections on the Scriptures

as we spend time together, with God and with each other.

Being a follower of Jesus is not always easy,

there are social pressures

and family expectations

and are our own human limitations.

Why do you come to worship?

[space]

A quote:

What if church is not the place we go to encounter God

but the place from which we are sent to encounter God?

what if it’s the place of preparation,

not the destination?

What if the point of church is to attune ourselves to God

so that we can more clearly notice God out in the world?[vi]

What if this time together is not the ‘high’ point of your spiritual life,

but a time to celebrate who we are and who we belong to

a time to retune our God antennas,

our ears and eyes and hearts to see and hear God more readily,

to love more

Which has me wondering, what do we need to worship God as a community of faith?

Looking around this building, what could we do without?

I could do without the pulpit,

what could you do without?

[space]

What helps you connect to God?

What from this place, helps you to recognise God when you are in other places?

[space]

In many conversations in churches worldwide, there are some common issues, such as:

reduced attendance at worship

an absence of younger people,

what does it mean to be at mission?

what does it mean to be a person of faith?

how do we talk about faith today?

or should we talk about our faith

the early Christians had questions to grapple with as well, questions like:

do gentiles need to be circumcised?

what is the role of women in the church

are we part of the Jewish religion? – that one was answered when Christians were expelled from the Synagogues.

Towards the end of the first century, the questions revolved around:

who was Jesus?

how did he relate to God?

if Jesus is divine, how is he also human?[vii]

This passage we heard this morning, speaks about the difference between God residing in a building, and God dwelling in our lives.

My experience is that God dwelling in us, can be life changing,

earth shattering,

bone-jarring

terrifyingly life changing.

because we no longer have a set of required sacrifices

we can no longer pretend that God is only in one place

we can no longer say, I have done my duty

Here is a story:

"Before he became a bishop, Bishop Will Willimon was for many years the chaplain to Duke University. Willimon says he got a phone call once from a father who was very upset. The man was mad because his daughter had gone on a mission trip to Haiti.

The father blamed Willimon for influencing his daughter who had attended chapel at Duke while she was a student there. [I think the father wanted his tuition money back.] He said, “She’s got a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Duke University and now you’ve got her all excited about digging ditches in Haiti! She’s talking about becoming a missionary! She’s talking about doing this sort of thing for the rest of her life! I hold you personally responsible for this ridiculous idea!”

As the conversation went on, Willimon discovered that the girl’s parents had been life-long Presbyterians. They had made sure that their daughter was baptized when she was a baby. They had raised her in the church. They had read her stories from the Bible when she was a little girl and they had taken her to worship and Sunday school and sent her to youth group.

Willimon finally lost his patience and said to the father, “You’re the ones who introduced her to Jesus, not me! What did you expect? What did you expect would happen when you took your daughter to church for all those years?

After a moment of silence, the father replied, “Man, we just wanted her to be a normal old Presbyterian. We didn’t want it to change her life or anything!”"[viii]

let’s face it

God is on the loose,

in our lives and in the world,

and who knows where that will lead.

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[i] Sacra Pagina, The Gospel of John, [ the Liturgical Press, 1998] p2

[ii] http://www.windowintothebible.com/the-temple-at-the-time-of-jesus

[iii] Sacra Pagina, p 12-13

[iv] Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

[v] http://www.davidlose.net/2015/01/john-2-13-22/

[vi] https://www.facebook.com/1417287124985228/photos/a.1428361660544441.1073741828.1417287124985228/1516416161738990/?type=3&theater

[vii] Sacra Pagina, p 20

[viii] https://www.facebook.com/fpcboise/posts/10152361785000095

What a Gift

These passages from Matthew and Luke, enlarge the story of the birth of Jesus. Matthew writes very little about the birth, but then writes about the visit from the Magi, the killing of the children, and Mary and Joseph and Jesus going to Egypt.

Luke includes the visit of Joseph and Mary and Jesus to the Temple, to make their offering for the birth of a child. Here they meet Simeon and Anna. Simeon who recognises Jesus as the Christ, Anna who praises God when she sees the child.

How did you feel when you heard about the birth of a child of a close friend, or a grandchild?

How did you feel when you first heard about the birth of Jesus?

For many of us, we have heard the story so often, we don’t remember the first time we heard it, and we have lost the sense of excitement or shock or emotion of first hearing about the birth of Jesus.

Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple when they went to make their offering for the birth of their son. And they meet Simeon, we imagine him to be old, but nothing in the story suggests that.
Simeon recognises the baby as the Christ,
speaks of light and peace
the honour this child will bring to his people
and … then … the words he speaks to Mary “you, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger.”

Anna, sees the baby and sings praises to God – “She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.”

The people who travelled from the east were excited, eagerly travelling for many days, weeks or even months to see who it was who born with such a star. Those in Jerusalem were not overjoyed, they were upset and frightened.  I find both responses amazing.

I can’t imagine following a star, just because it’s a special star. These people, probably astrologers, but maybe priests,
didn’t know where the child was to be born.
Didn’t realise that his birth was not into a royal family.
They had no idea who they were looking for.
They thought it was a baby born to be king,
but for them that was born into a royal bloodline, in a palace.
Not born in a stable.
To these people, someone born with such a star to mark their birth was special,
special enough for them to pack up and to travel,
to pay their respects to such a special child.

I also find the response of Herod and Jerusalem amazing. This was a baby, how much of a threat could a baby be – Herod would be unlikely to still be in charge by the time the baby grew up. But such was the family way of handing on power that even a baby was considered a threat. Not someone to keep an eye on, and see what eventuates, but a threat to be wiped out just in case, and kill a lot of others to make sure the threat was done away with. And as we know from the end of the story, Jesus was a threat to Herod, but not in the way Herod had thought.

There were people who followed a star to see this child who had been marked by the heavens as special. Travelling far, bringing gifts with them. There were people willing to kill many children to do away with the perceived threat posed by this one child. Today around the world, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, by having Christmas, a holiday in many countries, special food and traditions, including giving gifts. But beyond the food and celebration, how do we respond to God’s gift to us, this gift of ultimate love, of God becoming human.

Star Gifts

This morning, I have a gift for you. There is some information about this on the front page of the Grapevine.

In these 2 baskets there are stars, each has a word written on it. When the baskets are passed around please take a star, turn it over and have a look at the word. Just as the magi followed a star to be close to Jesus, I pray that this word will speak to you this year, and will encourage you in your relationship with God through Jesus. If you would like to talk with me about your word, we can do that.

Hand out Star Gifts – if you received one on Wednesday please don’t take another one.

We receive gifts from God in many forms. As we think about the gift of Jesus, from birth to crucifixion and resurrection, how do you respond to that gift.

How we respond to God’s gift is up to each one of us to decide.
But if we look in the manger, be prepared to be changed.

If we hang around the stable be prepared to see the light.

If we open ourselves up to God, prepared to know we are loved,
maybe we will find ourselves loving people,
and accepting that God loves even people we disagree with.