This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on Sunday, March 14, 2021.
Ephesians 2:1-10
You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
John 3:[1-13], 14-18
[Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe , how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.] And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“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.
“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. 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. 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. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 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.”
The Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
REFLECTION
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Lord, help us do what is true so that the light of your way may be clearly seen. Amen
I’ve taken the liberty to expand today’s assigned reading from the Gospel of John to give context to what is likely the most famous verse in the New Testament, John 3:16 “For God so loved the world… .” This verse comes from Jesus’ first monologue in the Gospel of John which occurs during a conversation in the dark of night between Jesus and Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin who is trying to figure out who Jesus is. Before Nicodemus can ask a question, Jesus makes a statement, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
One of the interesting features running through the Gospel of John is that Jesus reveals himself to those who actively seek him, who want to know him better. Since Nicodemus doesn’t know what to ask, Jesus prods him into asking questions related to baptism which this Gospel identifies as the first step into into recognizing the Kingdom of God. We see this revelatory aspect of Jesus played out throughout John; to the Samaritan woman at the well, to the man blind from his birth, to Mary Magdalene, and toThomas. [See John 4, 9, and 20]
This seeking-Jesus motif gives the Gospel of John a knowing (gnostic) vibe that is expressed in the frequent translation of the Greek verb for faith as “believe.” We need to be careful, however, to avoid treating belief as synonymous with faith. Believing, in John, simply implies recognizing who Jesus is. In John, Jesus bestows God’s healing grace before anyone asks to be healed. Receiving God’s grace is not dependent on one’s belief or faith. Recognizing it does. In this respect the Gospel of John serves as a quasi-catechism.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites Nicodemus to become a seeker and enter into new life with Christ; in essence, to be born again. And so with Nicodemus (who interestingly disappears from the narrative), we enter into the Mystery of Faith signified by the rebirth of baptism into the life of Christ. Baptism signifies the living soul being reshaped by water and the Spirit as a new creation, much like the reshaping of the original creation story in the first chapter of John. So while we are in this world born of the flesh, we are, at the same time, a new creation born of the Spirit (not of the world), as Paul states in today’s first lesson, “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
John 3:16 is Jesus explaining who he is in light of John 1. God the Son, in the person of Jesus, becomes for those who seek Jesus the wellspring of eternal life (John 4:13-14). The essential message of today’s lesson from John, however, is this line, “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.”
It’s easy to lose this line in verses that follow. Jesus didn’t come to hate the world we’re in, with all of its illusions, fears, hatreds and difficulties. After all, God created this world to love it and to be loved by it. God doesn’t want to see it self-destruct. That is exactly why God came to be among us as God the Son, as Jesus, to pull this world out of its addiction to the illusions we have created.
Perhaps the most misunderstood and misapplied verse in today’s lesson from John is, “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.” This verse is not talking about eternal damnation. It is talking about those who in this life and in this world have the opportunity to know Jesus or perhaps know something about Jesus but have no desire to seek Jesus, much less, follow Jesus; those who willfully prefer the darkness that is the world of their making and who, in that sense, are shackled to it.
Sadly, this verse and others in John have led Christians throughout history to become judgmental and condemn others considered “nonbelievers.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares that he has other sheep not of this flock, those who may not know him by name or, as yet, believe he came to redeem them, but who do the works that he started. [See John 10:16 and John14:11] In today’s lesson Jesus recognizes this by saying, “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.”
Scripture is written to give us a roadmap through this life and the world of our making; to expose what is illusionary and to reveal what is true. Scripture sheds light on who we are in God’s eyes;
that we are are so much more than we can possibly imagine ourselves to be and so much less than what we think and see ourselves to be.
One baptism is all that is needed to recognize the grace of God and to remind us that our sins are forgiven, but baptism is not a “one and done” event in this world. Baptism is the starting line between being in this world but not of it. It signifies our entry into the Mystery of Faith; that place of trusting God to accomplish the works “God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” In this life and throughout this life we are in a perpetual state of becoming, of seeing through a glass darkly; a place of faith, a place of seeking, and a place of discovering that we are constantly being sought by Love.
Amen.
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Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
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