Lent Two 2014

Today's lessons contain several warhorses of the Christian Faith
including verses that have been worked to death by radio and TV
evangelists for decades. Our Gospel contains the context for John 3:16
which also forms the basis for John Stainer's much-sung lugubrious
anthem. Romans gives us a Biblical history of salvation referring back
to today's Old Testament Lesson though the pericope stops short of
completing the passage. The passage from Genesis forms the root of the
Judaeo-Israeli belief that they are God's chosen people beginning with
God's pact with their ancestor Abram in a passage that attains to
extreme hubris. Psalm 121 forms the basis for the John Campbell's "Unto
the Hills", number 488 in my old Red Book but mysteriously missing from
the new Cherry hymnal though so much I consider crap did make it in.
With material that has been so overworked finding a fresh approach could
be a challenge.

Lent One considered the true nature of sin and evil. Today's theme is
God's Salvation made manifest in Christ Jesus. The means of Grace have
always been God's gift to mankind though made dramatically evident
through the life and death of his Son Jesus Christ. Our theme since the
beginning of this church year has been that of Light/Word that
enlightens the darkness/ignorance, (unknowing). At Christmas the Word
was made Flesh and dwelt among us.

In today's Gospel we meet Nicodemus a member of the Sanhedrin who had
the opportunity to meet with Jesus face to face but chose to do so under
the cover of darkness because being seen with Jesus could have
compromised his position in the Jewish hierarchy. Once more the idea of
light dispelling darkness. Nicodemus' curiosity creates the opportunity
for the expounding of many of the basic tenets of Christian Faith. Once
the writer launches fully into his sermon Nicodemus is forgotten and not
mentioned again until much later. Either Jesus was much prone to
speaking of himself in the third person or this passage is in summary a
statement of God's Salvation through Christ. Nicodemus is not mentioned
again until he argues before the Sanhedrin that Jesus deserves his day
in court before they condemn him Joh_7:50 and finally in Joh_19:39 when
he arrives with 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus' body for
burial. No other mention is made of him.

How many of us are like Nicodemus. Remembering the Sabbath Day to keep
it holy at least by showing up on occasion for worship Sunday morning
and then forgetting about it the rest of the week. Treating God's grace
like an insurance policy to which one should pay lip service, just in
case. We may not be persecuted for being Christian but more and more we
live in a secular society where having no religious affiliation has
become acceptable. Worse, the observance of Christian Festivals in our
schools and other public places has become unacceptable. We may print
"In God We Trust" on our coinage and swear on a Bible in court but the
concept of this being a Christian Land is no longer a given.

Today we have moved from Abram's assurance that if he is faithful to his
God he will be blessed and be a blessing to others and the world he
lives in. To the Psalmist's assurance that the Lord who is ever vigilant
will always protect his faithful. To the assurance in Romans that it was
Abram's faith that kept him in good standing with his Lord and that the
same protection is available to all, Jew and Gentile alike. And finally
to John where Nicodemus comes to Jesus because the signs and wonders
Jesus has performed convinced him that this must be a Rabbi inspired by
God.

So lets have at it. The Grace of God is a freely given gift of the Holy
Spirit to which the receiver must be open. The ability to be open to
that grace is also a gift of the Holy Spirit which apparently Nicodemus
did not possess. The rebirth mentioned is the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit. The wind referred to is the Holy Spirit which at Pentecost
filled the whole house. The serpent referred to in verse 14 is that in
Num_21:8. The lifting up of the fiery serpent upon which the Israelites
had to look to be saved from poisonous snakebite is compared to Jesus
crucifixion. [It has also become the symbol of the Hippocratic Oath
sworn by all physicians.] Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection are
the incarnation of that promise sealed by the sending of the Holy
Spirit. That grace is not earned by good works but by belief/faith in
God's mercy. But, and there's always a but, the irony of the situation
is that faith is evidenced in repentance, a turning away from sin. Those
who have truly repented will not return to the same behaviours they just
confessed, as Jesus said to the harlot, go and sin no more. Whereas one
cannot earn this Grace by good works, the response to God's Love as
expressed in his Forgiveness of Sins will be made manifest in the Good
Works we do in response to that Love a point made most clearly in the
book of James. Finally the expression of that charity is between the
believer and his/her God to be made in secret, not for public show.

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

The pericope stopped short of this passage. Since we cannot escape our
sinful nature we require the assistance of the Kingdom of God through
the Church, Jesus' Body on Earth. The Fellowship of All Believers, the
Communion of Saints sustains and supports us. We meet Jesus through the
Communion of Saints and the Sacrament of Communion celebrated with
fellow believers. Just as the Psalmist expressed:

Psa 121:4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

So Jesus says:

Mat_28:20b lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

Another much quoted passage among television evangelists is:

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to
become children of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Compare with:

Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.

Whereas deathbed confessions may merit God's Forgiveness and Grace a
soul so ill-prepared for eternity must be weak in the Spirit hence the
concept of purgatory. For those who wait so long have missed the Joy of
God's Salvation and the opportunity it affords for growth in the Spirit.