Tomorrow, March 16, 2014, the Gospel reading (Lent 2A) focuses on Jesus's encounter with Nicodemus. It is John 3:1-16, if you are interested and consider reading to verse 21.
I've always have had a certain ambivalence about this text. I think I may have realized why.
Nicodemus is Pharisee which means he is well schooled in the scriptures and practices of his religion. Their concern was with preserving the traditions of their people for future generations.
This is where I come in. Nicodemus and I have a lot in common. I attended Lutheran Day Schools K-8. I was raised in Lutheran Church basements and went to Valparaiso University, a school in the Lutheran tradition, where I studied church history and theology. I then went to Christ Seminary - SEMINEX in St Louis, MO where I got a superb grounding in pastoral ministry.
For Nicodemus in has day and me in mine the world has shifted. The world we were trained for looks less and less like the world around us.
So Nicodemus goes to Jesus - as I do - to ask for some clarity. "What's up?" And what we both hear is a bit unsettling. "The wind blows where it will blow. You see, hear and feel it all around you but you can't tell where it comes from or where goes. That is how it will be..."
So I think I see too much of myself in Nicodemus for my own comfort. I identify with his increasing confusion as the conversation goes on. Does he walk away shaking his head muttering. "That's 30 minutes I'm never getting back"? Maybe, but if so that can be only part of the story. Because this is not the last time we find Nicodemus in John's Gospel.
He's with the Council as they begin to get worried about the things Jesus is saying and doing. There he reminds the group to at least follow their own rules of due process.
And he's at the cross, helping to take down Jesus dead body and seeing that it gets a decent burial.
I've been thinking about a song we use to sing in one of those Lutheran Church basements long ago. The chorus went this...
For Christ is changing
Everything,
Everything,
Everything.
Where do you see sings of the Spirit of the risen Jesus changing things in the world today?
I've always have had a certain ambivalence about this text. I think I may have realized why.
Nicodemus is Pharisee which means he is well schooled in the scriptures and practices of his religion. Their concern was with preserving the traditions of their people for future generations.
This is where I come in. Nicodemus and I have a lot in common. I attended Lutheran Day Schools K-8. I was raised in Lutheran Church basements and went to Valparaiso University, a school in the Lutheran tradition, where I studied church history and theology. I then went to Christ Seminary - SEMINEX in St Louis, MO where I got a superb grounding in pastoral ministry.
For Nicodemus in has day and me in mine the world has shifted. The world we were trained for looks less and less like the world around us.
So Nicodemus goes to Jesus - as I do - to ask for some clarity. "What's up?" And what we both hear is a bit unsettling. "The wind blows where it will blow. You see, hear and feel it all around you but you can't tell where it comes from or where goes. That is how it will be..."
So I think I see too much of myself in Nicodemus for my own comfort. I identify with his increasing confusion as the conversation goes on. Does he walk away shaking his head muttering. "That's 30 minutes I'm never getting back"? Maybe, but if so that can be only part of the story. Because this is not the last time we find Nicodemus in John's Gospel.
He's with the Council as they begin to get worried about the things Jesus is saying and doing. There he reminds the group to at least follow their own rules of due process.
And he's at the cross, helping to take down Jesus dead body and seeing that it gets a decent burial.
I've been thinking about a song we use to sing in one of those Lutheran Church basements long ago. The chorus went this...
For Christ is changing
Everything,
Everything,
Everything.
Where do you see sings of the Spirit of the risen Jesus changing things in the world today?
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