March 22, 2009 Sermon
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Lent 4 – B
March 22, 2009 Allan Conkling
"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."
Nicodemus was no slouch. As an elder of the Temple he would have been an educated man. He came to Jesus by cover of darkness. Why? Was he ashamed? Was he afraid of losing esteem among his friends? We are not told. Some think that he was trying to entrap Jesus but I don't think so. Nicodemus was seeker. He came to Jesus searching for answers. He is the patron saint of seekers. How often do we find ourselves in spiritually dark places, searching for answers?
We are now at the 4th Sunday of Lent. In just 3 weeks it will be Easter. Our Lenten journey, if we have chosen to follow it, is rapidly drawing to a close. During Lent we have been encouraged to examine our relationship with our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. We have been encouraged to turn away from the lesser gods of this world, and redirect our hearts and lives to the One in who is found true fulfillment and purpose in life. Still, many of us are not sure where or how to begin. Doubts and uncertainty often inhibit our spiritual journey. We hear the words that "God so loved the world..." we probably all know friends or acquaintances who are willing to stand on street corners or go knocking door to door with this slogan. For them it is all so simple. However we may find ourselves confused. We turn for comfort to the words of Scripture, only to encounter as we did this morning, the reading from the book of Numbers! Or, we find ourselves getting stuck in, if not convicted by, the words of St. Paul, as in our 2nd reading from Ephesians, chapter two:
"You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived...
"All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh..."
Of course we do! We are human after all. There are many times in my own life when, like Nicodemus, I came to Christ seeking answers, but all I seemed to get were more questions. Many of you have said that the same is true in your spiritual walk. That can prove to be frustrating, as we are not a church that gives simple answers.
On the other hand, the calling of God to re-shape and re-direct one's life is not complex. Nicodemus was offered a simple invitation: to come from darkness into the light. When scripture says that "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," it was as if Jesus was saying to that seeking man:
"Nicodemus, are you open enough to consider a different way?"
Are we open enough to consider that God has a different plan: as individuals, as a church, as parents, as members of the body of Christ in the world?
Beyond the clichéd simplicity of
Nicodemus had to think about this, but for what it is worth, he seems to have been changed by this encounter in the shadows. We are given no indication that he dropped everything and followed, unlike Peter, James or John. That does not mean he was not changed. Later on, after Jesus had died, it was Nicodemus who went along with Joseph of Arimathea to pay his final respects at the tomb. This time in broad daylight.
Martin Luther once said,
"I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all; but what I given into God’s hands I still possess."
What will you do in these last few weeks of Lent? Pray God to "let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made": Jesus Christ our Lord.
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