Worship As Resistance IV - Nicodemus - A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent March 10 2024

N.B. This sermon is presented as a monologue from Nicodemus during Jesus’ trial before Pilate.

GOSPEL: John 3:14-21

The holy gospel according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

To explain the salvation of God to the religious leader, Nicodemus, Jesus refers to the scripture passage quoted in today’s first reading. Just as those who looked upon the bronze serpent were healed, so people will be saved when they behold Christ lifted up on the cross.

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He 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.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus 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?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The 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.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“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. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 16“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.

 17“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. 18Those 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. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But 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 gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Well, I’d better introduce myself,

for those who don’t know me,

my name is Nicodemus.

I’ve been called a few different things:

A teacher of Israel,

a Pharisee,

a member of the Sanhedrin,

a secret follower of Jesus.

I’ve studied the Torah since I was a child,

and God’s Word has captured me.

I wanted to live my life in the search of Truth,

and live out my faith.

Turns out that’s easier said than done:

the search for Truth,

living the faith.

You heard the story about my encounter with Jesus:

It was a crisis:

believe - or don’t.

Walk in the light - or in the darkness.

Live faith or live evil.

I had my doubts about Jesus,

I suppose I still do.

I believe,

but I’m still saying “How can these things be?”

Speaking of “how can these things be?”

Have you heard about this trial?

The same Jesus of Nazareth,

charged with sedition,

treason,

terrorism,

I suppose blasphemy could be in there too.

I’m going to be called as a witness before the jury

this Wednesday evening.

How did it ever get this far???

The State vs. The King of the Jews.

The whole thing makes me sad.

It kinda feels like God is being put on trial,

by us,

humans,

God’s creatures,

made in God’s image.

This trial is the pinnacle of human hypocrisy and arrogance.

And - at the risk of being arrested myself,

the whole thing is rigged,

there’s no way Jesus comes out of this trial alive.

I suppose I’m finally showing my true colours,

yeah, I do believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God,

and I do want life in his name.

It’s like he already knows he is going to die,

and he takes it on, willingly.

Jesus has no fear of death.

I think this is what Jesus was trying to tell me that night.

He talked about Moses and the serpents in the wilderness,

a story we both know well.

It’s like any time there is suffering,

or a threat to the community,

we forget that God has been with us,

and that God provides a new way

even in the valley of the shadow of death.

The poisonous, fiery snakes were a real threat.

Many Israelites died from their bites.

Our God loves to do a new thing!

They came to Moses,

they confess their sins,

they plead for God to take away the serpents.

They pray for God to save them.

They were unable to save themselves.

And God does save them,

but not in the way they ask.

God does not eliminate the serpent threat.

God’s new thing:

“make a poisonous serpent,

set it on a pole,

and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.”

It’s a new thing that I find confusing.

It sounds like making an idol,

it feels not unlike the golden calf.

Yet this is God’s command:

a new way of healing amidst the threat of death,

look to the serpent and live.

Here’s the difference:

The people created the golden calf,

God’s creativity built the serpent on the pole.

Don’t resist God’s creativity!

Jesus says, Just as Moses lifted up the serpent,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in him

may have eternal life.

He didn’t define “lifted up”

but, thinking about this trial,

I’d bet Jesus will be lifted up on a tree,

he’ll be crucified on a Roman cross.

So I got to thinking,

I want to live my faith,

and this is such a threatening time,

not unlike Israel in the wilderness.

so is Jesus saying I can look to him

- lifted up -

and I’ll live?

Can it be so simple?

Look to Jesus and live?

I mean, I believe,

but also - How can these things be?

Jesus is not afraid to die.

But we are.

And not just individually are we afraid to die,

but religiously.

I’m a Pharisee,

and our whole purpose is preserving

the Hebrew faith and culture,

in the correct way.

And why not?

The Lord is our God,

and we are God’s people.

But I can’t help but wonder if we’re getting it wrong.

At least we aren’t like the Sadducees:

everything’s all Greek to them!

For the Sadducees, it’s only the written Torah, nothing else.

God has spoken through the Prophets,

we listen to the Prophets.

And as I say that…

I’m not so sure we are really listening to the Prophets.

We’re all about purity and cleanliness,

making Holy the everyday world,

And it looks to me like we are just preserving our power.

It ought to be all about worship.

And worship is not just something we do on the Sabbath.

Worship of God is the way of life

for God’s faithful people,

and worship ought to include resisting that which resists God,

rejecting that which is in opposition

to God’s will.

No backdoor deals,

no handshakes in the night;

Walk in God’s Light.

It seems to me this is what Jesus is talking about,

but my fellow Pharisees are sure resisting him,

in fact, they were part of the scheme

to arrest Jesus,

to have him put to death.

It’s all back-door deals and secrets with them lately,

handshakes at night.

Now I find myself resisting the resisters,

resisting my fellow Pharisees.

You might have heard about one such resistance:

It was during the festival of booths,

Officers were sent to arrest Jesus

and the Pharisees were upset that Jesus was not arrested.

I said to them “Our law does not judge people 

without first giving them a hearing

to find out what they are doing, does it?”

I was just standing up for him,

resisting the arresting rhetoric,

trying to give Jesus a fair shake.

My fellow Pharisees are worried Jesus will tear it all apart.

I get it.

I mean, I didn’t just hear about Jesus cleansing the Temple,

I was there.

God’s Temple had become a marketplace,

as though you can purchase forgiveness

so long as you do it the right way,

and that right way is way sure easier if you’ve got money.

This has to change.

But for many people,

living in a constantly changing world,

the Temple,

the place of worship

should be the one place that doesn’t change.

But Jesus’ mission - God’s mission - is about change:

Jesus puts it this way:

The kingdom of God has come near.

Repent - change your mind, 

change your focus

away from self and towards God,

and believe in the Good News.

It seems following Jesus means constant change.

The whole Jesus terrorist thing?

I dunno,

Jesus said tear down this Temple

and I’ll rebuild it in three days.

I get the feeling Jesus wasn’t talking about the building,

he was pointing at himself.

Perhaps time will tell what Jesus really meant.

But it sure came across as a threat:

not just to the building,

but to the religious system.

I mean, can you imagine

hearing that your place of worship is under threat,

that these walls might crumble?

that this house of faith might not exist some day?

I imagine you might fight to keep things from dying,

but what if God is cleaning house?

What if God is doing a new thing?

What if Jesus is tearing it apart?

What if the walls need to come down?

We Pharisees remember our ancestors being taken away into exile.

We remember that even when the house of faith was torched

God was with us,

and so we worshipped in our exile,

in that land,

as hard as it was.

There might be threats to the religious systems

but that’s no threat to God.

I know we believe God lives in the Temple,

in the Holy of Holies,

but I’ve always thought God is bigger than that,

almost like we are trying to contain God in that box.

God can’t be contained.

God moves and blows like the wind!

I thought the whole point of the Temple

is to be the place where our worship

leads to God’s people joining God’s work

of justice and mercy,

but all I see are barriers:

insiders and outsiders.

If you ask me, the real threat isn’t Jesus,

it’s the collusion between the religious authorities and the Romans.

Though collusion might not be the best word,

it’s not exactly a secret that the Romans and the religious

are in cahoots.

This trial is happening during the Passover festival,

a remembrance of God’s saving power,

freedom from captivity from the colonial powers of Egypt,

God’s gift of freedom and life

to God’s people,

And that’s what Jesus is talking about,

The Gospel, the Good News is from God,

not Caesar,

Freedom to the captive,

the oppressed go free,

release of the prisoner.

This is the kind of work God does,

and the kind of work God invites us into,

the kind of worship that really matters.

I’ve kept the Torah since I was a child.

I’ve always thought of the Law as a gift from God

a way of life that I can live in gratitude

for God’s saving power.

But it’s like the Torah is being turned into

some kind of code

for who is in and who is out,

do the right things and you are holy:

do the wrong things,

believe the wrong way

and you’ll burn.

That’s when our walls get torn down,

when we trust in ourselves to save, to survive

rather than trusting in God ‘s grace

to bring us new life.

I should wrap up here,

you look like you’re ready to sing.

I came to Jesus searching for Truth,

Here’s the Truth,

Jesus’ truth,

we can’t save ourselves.

But God can.

God loves all.

God is like a loving parent,

and God gets a little protective, even angry

when one child is hurting another,

God desires freedom for God’s children,

the bonds of slavery eliminated,

the bonds of sin and death, eliminated,

God’s love for all proclaimed.

Jesus reminded me that the focus of our worship,

the focus of living our faith

ought to be like the prophet Micah:

Do justice,

love kindness,

walk humbly with God.

Or like Hosea,

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

I believe God is doing a new thing with Jesus:

Everlasting life - Jesus calls it.

The threat of evil and death remains,

but Jesus isn’t afraid of dying.

God will provide a new way.

In God’s wisdom,

we all die: humans, plants, animals, insects, institutions,

none of us live forever,

Yet just as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness

so must the Son of Man be lifted up

that everyone who believes in him

may have everlasting, eternal life.

Thanks be to God. Amen.