He just doesn't get it. But that doesn't stop Nicodemus from baring his soul before Jesus. “How can this be?”
Six years ago, my uncle, Richard
Dinda, passed away. Uncle Rich was one of the smartest men I have ever known.
He was an ordained pastor in the LCMS, Seminary class of 1950, he had five
earned master’s degrees, an honorary doctorate from Concordia Seminary, St.
Louis, was fluent in Latin and Greek, had a working ability in Spanish, and
truly a mind that understood the science of baseball. If he were alive today, I’m
not sure how he would feel about the pitch clock, but he would have totally
agreed that the shift needed to go away. After he retired as a college
professor, he spent 6-hours a day translating old theological works from Latin
into English so people like me could read and understand these books. He died
just short of his 90th birthday, a humble man of God and a servant
of the church. Yet, even though he was a scholar of the Scriptures, he would
open his Bible every day and, Aunt Laura said, there was hardly a day that went
by that he didn’t read something and utter “Hmmph…” because there was something
that caught his eye anew. I tell you this, because as true as that is for a man
who spent seven decades studying the Scriptures from a scholar’s perspective, I
think for all of us there are times when we have to come humbly before the Lord
and admit we don't have it all figured out. We bare our souls like a child,
humbly asking how and why and when, Lord?
Nicodemus was a pharisee. Much like a professor of theology in that day.
Respected for his age and wisdom. A pillar of the community. Seen as a wise man
– certainly no young upstart. But here he was coming at night to find out what
made this Jesus tick. He had questions, but the answers, too, would confound
him.
Jesus, this country preacher from Galillee, probably 20 or 30 years his
junior... with no authority of culture and institution behind him, and no
official connection with the temple. But Jesus was doing things that no one
could explain. His miracles, signs and wonders... these were the calling cards
that got Nicodemus' attention. “We know that you are from God, for no one can do
such things without God” Well he knew that much, but there was much more he
didn't know.
Today some might call Nicodemus a “seeker”. But he wasn't part of Christ’s
kingdom, at least not yet. Jesus took the opportunity to instruct the wise
teacher, and all of us, in some of the basic truths of the faith. And while we
are part of that kingdom, we too have much to learn from this night-time
discourse.
Perhaps the most basic truth here is the one that we know the best. The
“Gospel-in-a-nutshell” passage, John 3:16. Yes, “God so loved the world, that
he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life.” This is why Jesus has come – for the love of God – for a world
that is perishing – for Nicodemus, and for us. This truth, so simple, yet so
profound, has made even the wisest men wonder. But there is so much more to the
kingdom.
Let's back up. Nicodemus approaches Jesus and begins with flattery, “Rabbi, we
know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that
you do unless God is with him." Skillful politics here, buttering Jesus
up? Or is this an honest admission that he really is impressed with Jesus'
works?
Either way, Jesus shrugs off this flattery and gets to the point. He is not
really interested in being praised. He is, always, the servant. Nicodemus needs
to see the kingdom, and Jesus nudges him toward it. You need to be born again,
Nicodemus.
What is Jesus talking about here, “born again”? That's what Nicodemus wants to
know. That's what we need to know. For we certainly want to see the kingdom. We
want to be a part of God's people.
He tells us more: “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit”. And this can
only mean one thing – Holy Baptism. Not
conversion experiences or Pauline moments of blindness turned to sight. Just
simple water and a few Christ-given words. Holy Baptism, this precious gift,
forgives sins, works faith, and yes, brings you into the kingdom. Oh, and by
it, we are born again. Not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.
And yet, I think many of us Lutherans think of and treat Baptism wrongly. Like
most of God's gifts which we take for granted, Baptism is often far from our
mind. Why is it, that we turn the gift into a requirement, a hoop to jump
through, in order to have all our Christian ducks in a row. Why do we think of
baptism as something long ago that happened to me, a nice historical event but
nothing relevant to my life today? Why is it, then, that only on their
death-beds, do many finally look toward the comfort of baptism?
Speaking of death-beds, just a few weeks ago, February 18th, was the
day Martin Luther fell asleep in Christ. So in honor of the great reformer,
maybe we should hear what he says about baptism:
…What a great, excellent thing Baptism is, which delivers us from
the jaws of the devil and makes us God's own, suppresses and takes away sin,
and then daily strengthens the new man, and is and remains ever efficacious until
we pass from this estate of misery to eternal glory.
For this
reason let every one esteem his Baptism as a daily dress in which he is to walk
constantly, that he may ever be found in the faith and its fruits, that he
suppress the old man and grow up in the new.
For if we
would be Christians, we must practice the work whereby we are Christians. But
if any one fall away from it, let him again come into it. For just as Christ,
the Mercy-seat does not recede from us or forbid us to come to Him again, even
though we sin, so all His treasure and gifts also remain. If, therefore we have
once in Baptism obtained forgiveness of sin, it will remain every day, as long
as we live, that is, as long as we carry the old man about our neck. (from
Luther's Large Catechism)
Uncle Rich had a saying that I heard him say countless times.
“It’s all about the gifts,” meaning the gifts of God. In this crazy, mixed-up
and sin-drenched world, we need the daily gifts of baptism just as much as
Nicodemus did. We need the rebirth from sin just as much as that old pharisee
with all his questions and conflicts. We need not only the answers from the
great teacher Jesus, but we need also the gifts of his kingdom, that he came to
bring.
It’s all about the gifts. Sin would have us outside of the kingdom, but God's
grace in Christ brings us in. The devil, that wiley serpent, would confuse and
confound us with his lies, but Jesus comes full of grace and truth. For Jesus
was lifted up, like the serpent in the desert, that we might look to his cross,
and to him, and believe.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment