LENT 2 A    March 12, 2017                                                   

SCRIPTURES     

• Genesis 12: 1-4a. God initiates a covenant with Abram, and Abram enters it by leaving his country and family. Moving from the particular to the universal. 

- We call this a faith journey because the destination was known only to God.

- "I heard him call, "Come and follow.  My gold grew dim, my soul rose up and followed him.  Who wouldn't follow if they heard that call”. Lindy

- Abraham is a central figure in three faith traditions:  Islam, Judaism, Christianity.

• Psalm 121  Tone 5 in D minor with the sung response.

• Romans 4:1-5, 13-17. Abraham was made righteous — not by works, but by trusting God.

• John 3:1-17. Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night. Jesus tells him, "You must be born from above.”

SCRIPTURES (John 3:1-17)

-The Greek word anõthen can mean either "from above" or "again." Nicodemus takes it to mean "again," whereas Jesus has the first meaning in mind as is evident from the ensuing conversation

-As long as people consider Christianity as something we do, are they not trying to control the Spirit -- telling it where and where to blow? Stoffregen

-Malina and Rohrbaugh in "Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John," build on the idea that one cannot usually aspire to a higher (social) level than where one is born. Jesus is able to return to God because that's where he is from. However, those who have been "born from above," are also able to return there, because that's where we are now from.

-Being born from above is not something we do. It is something done to us (by God). In a similar way, being born the first time was not something we did

- Christians are called the "Children of the light"

-"Eternal" does not mean mere endless duration of human existence, but is a way of describing life as lived in the unending presence of God.

-The "serpent" (v. 14) is mentioned in Numbers 21:9-11: the people were bitten by poisonous snakes; some died; others became gravely ill. Instructed by God, Moses mounted ("lifted up") a bronze snake on a pole. Those who looked at this emblem (trusting in God) were healed, lifted up, given life. Now Jesus would be the one lifted up.

-The story of Nicodemus invites the reader to grapple with the issue of genuine faith that goes beyond mere belief on the basis of miraculous signs.

SERMON  - A Nicodemus type faith.  Based on miracles, visible proofs, extraordinary events.  Talk about the difference between belief and faith.  Religion is easy, faith is much more risky.  Abraham not knowing where he was going. 

-The Divine call then is to trust the creative, transforming power of God in our lives, the call that urges, entices us into an unknown future, a future that is filled with new possibilities. (We are a pilgrim people, see illustrations)

-The symbol of Jesus on a pole indicates that the problem with us is us -- and that Jesus is the solution. Stoffregen

QUOTES

-   Man is strangely amphibious, inhabiting two worlds.

- The spirit is what we see with rather than what we see.  Yancey

-Spiritualize the material or materialize the spiritual? Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,

-"Bring me a worm that can comprehend a human being, and then I will show you a human being that can comprehend the Triune God!" John Wesley

-As Dag Hammarskjold said, "For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes."

-Like Nicodemus, despite all our accumulated experience and knowledge (or because of them), we are old people. White

-“It takes as much faith to believe that there is no God as it does to believe that there is.”

- A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, called out of darkness, into his marvelous light"  (1 Peter 2:9)

- At midnight, all cats are gray.

-We are like asthmatic people. God's spirit has taken away our narrowness...Latin for anxiety is angustia means narrowness. H.Nouwen

- " I see, it's like a light bulb came on in my head"

-  Take the Holy Spirit out of the church and 95% of what we are doing will go on.

- Rejoice that we have a savior that keeps evening hours.  Rejoice that our God works the night shift.  Willimon

ILLUSTRATIONS

-An architect tells how must of our older buildings are distinguished because they don't have enough light.  We have demanded more and more illumination, brighter buildings, more lights.  "In a way, that's a shame because it's the shadows that make a building beautiful.  Shadow, the interplay of light and dark, is a key element in architectural beauty."

-The Abraham story in particular is like a fine violin, though very old, when played with passion and finesse, expresses the human condition soulfully, poignantly. No matter how many times the fine violin is played, or the great story told, it is never tiring. At each hearing, new nuances can be found in the narrative, new relationships within the story discovered, new depths of human experience reflected.  

- We are a Pilgrim people. We don't know where we are going,  what it will be like when we get there, etc....but we know that God is on the journey with us.  Lindy

-A scientist walking through the jungle saw piles of wood as if someone was going to start a fire. He discovered that the apes, mimicking man laid the pieces of wood down. The only trouble was that the apes were missing the spark needed to finish the act.

HUMOR

-These texts are pregnant with possibilities

-Nicodemus reminds me of that Television station, Nick at night.

-Too many of the "Born again Christians" were breech births. Lindy

-Discouraged again, eh, Charlie Brown?" "You know what your whole trouble is? The whole trouble with you is that you're you!"

 Charlie asks, "Well, what in the world can I do about that?"

 Lucy answers, "I don't pretend to be able to give advice...I merely point out the trouble!"

CHILDREN

- Can you see the wind, oxygen, C02, gravity, stars in daylight,

-The little fish asks his mother, "Where is the ocean?" Answer. "It's all around you" it fills your holes. 

PRAYER PHRASE

- You are the Lord of the night as well as day. 

- ....we fail to hear you call.  We are too busy, the world is too noisy.  Sometimes what we hear is not what you mean.  Sometimes we fail to hear what you whisper.  Many times we listen backwards...hear only what you said centuries ago or hear only what you say to OTHER people.  O God, help us with our deafness.  Lindy

Mail comments to:  lindyblack@me.com