Second Sunday of Lent
Questions in the Wilderness
John 3: 1-17
Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching
How can you be born again?
I wonder how much do you have to grow, so that, like a child in a mother's womb, your place of nurture can no longer contain you?
How much do you have to grow so that you have to be propelled into a different reality? Not to do so means the very place that formed you might become the place of your death.
Lent offers us a challenge and an opportunity to explore new ways of being and thinking and to ask new questions of God, ourselves, and each other.
Lent is a time of reflection and, for many, a time of denial. What should I not take into myself so that I might move and grow my spirit?
What could I abstain from, what am I willing to withdraw from, that would position me for the new life that is possible?
Are we willing to withdraw from a particular world view?
Are we willing to abstain from being right in order to be more just?
Are we willing to suspend our disbelief so that a better world is possible, so that we can be different, so that we can really make a difference?
It can be particularly hard for those of us who think very concretely to let go and truly experience this wilderness where the Spirit has led us. Nicodemus is one such thinker, and he tries so hard to understand that he ends up missing the point. In this case, the metaphor becomes a tool to put words around what is impossible to comprehend.
Of course, these metaphors and abstract ideas are followed by one of the most well-known verses in Christianity: John 3:16. Often used to summarize the entire Gospel story, John 3:16 is a simple, direct, concrete verse in an otherwise esoteric chapter. Unfortunately, we tend to memorize John 3:16 without the important addition of John 3:17. John 3:16 is sometimes turned into a weapon against "unbelievers," but verse 17 offers the corrective that condemnation was not the point.
Based on John 3:1-17
Music this week:
A Song Must Rise
Empty Me Out
Water, River, Spirit, Grace
Totally Available
Welcome to This Circle
All Belong Here (The Many)