The Second Sunday in Lent
Many of you know that I am a Red Sox fan. I think that they have a pretty good team this year. A lot of their players were injured last year and they have better hitting. I hope the pitching can hold up, but in General, I believe in this team. What do I mean when I say that I believe in them? I believe they have what it takes to win. That’s my faith in them. I could also say that I think that they have the right spirit. They know how to get through a tough season. They have character. In this way they have a spirit that their fans admire – the fans of Red Sox nation.
There are two ways of thinking about faith. We trust in the promise of another. We trust that someone will do what he or she says they will do. This is how Abram (Abraham) has faith in God. God tells him to go to another land. Abram goes, but the manifold blessing is all the work of God. Abram shows great faith in moving, but also in believing that God would be what Abram imagines. Abram is giving up a family tradition of Paganism in the land of Babylon. He will settle in a new land with a new way of life.
This may be captured in the psalm. The old paganism believed that a god resided on every high hilltop. The psalmist looks at these many hills and wonders, “from where is my help to come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Abram’s God is higher than the many hilltops and maker of the whole world (not simply a local environment.) Abram believes in God’s promises, but also in God’s control over everything.
This is the way that we make sense of Jesus’ cryptic words to Nicodemus. The Pharisee comes with good intentions to either test Jesus or learn more. It may be that he is coming in the night because he is cowardly, or because he is pious, because the middle of the night is the time to study Torah. Before he can offer any questions, Jesus tells him that we have to be born from above or anew. While Nicodemus ponders the biological difficulties with re-entering the womb, Jesus tells him that it is the work of the Spirit. How are we born again, or from above, or anew? It is by faith. God promises it and we believe it.
Just as any birth, the one born does nothing to gain life. The one born has no say. They simply come into being by the loving act of another. So are we born a second time into new life with God.
But there is another dimension of faith. We believe in the power of God. We believe in the loving sacrifice of Jesus and his resurrection. But we also share faith. We don’t just believe in Jesus. We believe as Jesus does. We share faith not just in the truth of Jesus; we believe the same way that he does. We believe that the Spirit of God exists, but we also believe that God’s spirit dwells in us and guides us in the right way. If we are having struggles as a church in this place and time, perhaps it is not because we lack faith in Jesus, it’s because we lack the faith of Jesus.
When we try to do the will of God, we look at our hands and think about our abilities. We imagine the resources we have in our bank account and think about how much free time we have in our schedules. Then we try to find some good things to do with our resources. We give some food to the hungry. We try to act nicer. We try to think well of our neighbor. Then we wonder why nothing changes. I don’t want to ignore the importance of many people doing their small share, but we fail because we try to do God’s work with our resources.
If we have faith in God, what are the limits? Can’t God do anything? Why do we limit God to what we can pull out of our wallet or do with our hands? If we share the faith of Jesus, we would be willing to empty our hands and let go of everything we think we can do. Instead we would be listening for the voice of God, ready to work through us. If we really shared the faith of Jesus, imagine what God could do through us? Would there be any limit? Perhaps this is why God works such powerful things through the poorest people. We have all heard stories about third world communities being able to overcome great difficulties. Maybe because they have nothing else, they can more easily rely on God.
I have the example in my own household of newborn child. My granddaughter is constantly learning and discovering. She has no ideas about limits. She has no idea about anything. She trusts she will be heard when she cries. She is content to discover the world as it unfolds. She sleeps without a single care (when she sleeps). God doesn’t want us to become simple or childish. God wants us to trust that the most outrageous claims and blessing of God are all true. We work and we worry about how we will make them come about. All along, God is ready to bless us if our arms weren’t already so full with all the things we think we need to do.
Our lives aren’t about doing – doing the right thing, or doing more good things. Our lives are all about the new thing that God is birthing through us. As we pray and listen and seek the will of God. It’s never about being better or good enough to be blessed. We are already blessed. We are already forgiven of whatever it is that burdens us with guilt. (I already pronounced absolution. It’s all true.) Our life of faith is to discover how God will live through us and let it happen.
I'll try to post my sermons more quickly. Let me know if this is helpful.
Greg
Many of you know that I am a Red Sox fan. I think that they have a pretty good team this year. A lot of their players were injured last year and they have better hitting. I hope the pitching can hold up, but in General, I believe in this team. What do I mean when I say that I believe in them? I believe they have what it takes to win. That’s my faith in them. I could also say that I think that they have the right spirit. They know how to get through a tough season. They have character. In this way they have a spirit that their fans admire – the fans of Red Sox nation.
There are two ways of thinking about faith. We trust in the promise of another. We trust that someone will do what he or she says they will do. This is how Abram (Abraham) has faith in God. God tells him to go to another land. Abram goes, but the manifold blessing is all the work of God. Abram shows great faith in moving, but also in believing that God would be what Abram imagines. Abram is giving up a family tradition of Paganism in the land of Babylon. He will settle in a new land with a new way of life.
This may be captured in the psalm. The old paganism believed that a god resided on every high hilltop. The psalmist looks at these many hills and wonders, “from where is my help to come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Abram’s God is higher than the many hilltops and maker of the whole world (not simply a local environment.) Abram believes in God’s promises, but also in God’s control over everything.
This is the way that we make sense of Jesus’ cryptic words to Nicodemus. The Pharisee comes with good intentions to either test Jesus or learn more. It may be that he is coming in the night because he is cowardly, or because he is pious, because the middle of the night is the time to study Torah. Before he can offer any questions, Jesus tells him that we have to be born from above or anew. While Nicodemus ponders the biological difficulties with re-entering the womb, Jesus tells him that it is the work of the Spirit. How are we born again, or from above, or anew? It is by faith. God promises it and we believe it.
Just as any birth, the one born does nothing to gain life. The one born has no say. They simply come into being by the loving act of another. So are we born a second time into new life with God.
But there is another dimension of faith. We believe in the power of God. We believe in the loving sacrifice of Jesus and his resurrection. But we also share faith. We don’t just believe in Jesus. We believe as Jesus does. We share faith not just in the truth of Jesus; we believe the same way that he does. We believe that the Spirit of God exists, but we also believe that God’s spirit dwells in us and guides us in the right way. If we are having struggles as a church in this place and time, perhaps it is not because we lack faith in Jesus, it’s because we lack the faith of Jesus.
When we try to do the will of God, we look at our hands and think about our abilities. We imagine the resources we have in our bank account and think about how much free time we have in our schedules. Then we try to find some good things to do with our resources. We give some food to the hungry. We try to act nicer. We try to think well of our neighbor. Then we wonder why nothing changes. I don’t want to ignore the importance of many people doing their small share, but we fail because we try to do God’s work with our resources.
If we have faith in God, what are the limits? Can’t God do anything? Why do we limit God to what we can pull out of our wallet or do with our hands? If we share the faith of Jesus, we would be willing to empty our hands and let go of everything we think we can do. Instead we would be listening for the voice of God, ready to work through us. If we really shared the faith of Jesus, imagine what God could do through us? Would there be any limit? Perhaps this is why God works such powerful things through the poorest people. We have all heard stories about third world communities being able to overcome great difficulties. Maybe because they have nothing else, they can more easily rely on God.
I have the example in my own household of newborn child. My granddaughter is constantly learning and discovering. She has no ideas about limits. She has no idea about anything. She trusts she will be heard when she cries. She is content to discover the world as it unfolds. She sleeps without a single care (when she sleeps). God doesn’t want us to become simple or childish. God wants us to trust that the most outrageous claims and blessing of God are all true. We work and we worry about how we will make them come about. All along, God is ready to bless us if our arms weren’t already so full with all the things we think we need to do.
Our lives aren’t about doing – doing the right thing, or doing more good things. Our lives are all about the new thing that God is birthing through us. As we pray and listen and seek the will of God. It’s never about being better or good enough to be blessed. We are already blessed. We are already forgiven of whatever it is that burdens us with guilt. (I already pronounced absolution. It’s all true.) Our life of faith is to discover how God will live through us and let it happen.
I'll try to post my sermons more quickly. Let me know if this is helpful.
Greg
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