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In order to expedite posting the worship services here on our website, we are reducing the transcript to just the scriptures used and the message. Holy Communion is offered every Sunday. If you are worshipping with us online whether during the live-cast or through on-demand viewing, you are encouraged to have bread and juice or wine available as you watch the service and to participate in communion just as if you are present with us.
Scripture Readings
God, open us to hear and receive your scriptures today as you would have us hear them, understand them as you would have us understand them, and to act upon them as you would have us act upon them.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
*Scriptures this morning are from the NRSV.
John 3:1-21
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He 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 unless God is with that person.”
Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus 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?”
Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The 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.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“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. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“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.
“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. Those 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. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But 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.”
Mark 1:14-15 (NRSVUE)
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Message – Wait … What?*
In our passage from John, Jesus explains to Nicodemus that, in order to be able to see the kingdom of God, one has to be born from above by water and the Spirit. Contemporarily, people say “born again.” What Jesus was telling Nicodemus was what Paul described as dying to self and being born again in Christ. To be born again in Christ, one must do what is true. “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.” Jesus is the light and to come to him, do what is true. He spends the rest of his ministry teaching us what to do. What is true.
At the time, Nicodemus knew Jesus must have come … or been sent … by God, but I’m not sure he realized Jesus was the Son of God. And it was clear Nicodemus was struggling with the idea of being “born from above.”
John had not yet been arrested when Nicodemus had his meeting with Jesus. It is some time later when Jesus proclaims the good news in our passage from Mark.
We often hear … and I’ve been guilty of saying this … about the “gospels” of Christ, but that’s inaccurate. There is only one “gospel” of Christ. Remember that the word, gospel, means “good news.” Our passage from Mark records Christ’s gospel … “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
The kingdom of God has come near … it’s at hand … repent … think differently … and believe that the kingdom is near.
Everything else Jesus said and taught was about how to think differently, what to do, and how to live in the kingdom of God. Everything. And the basic tenet of his teaching was always based on love. To love as he loved. And he loved unconditionally, with grace, with mercy, and compassion for all. Through his death, he purchased forgiveness for all. Through his resurrection, he defeated sin and death.
There’s another passage, Luke 21:5-11, in which Jesus seems to foretell the … as the reactionaries call it … end times. It’s apocalyptic in nature. He tells the disciples that the temple will eventually lie in ruins. They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.”
“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
Scary sounding stuff, isn’t it? Entire movie series and books and ministries have been built around it and made millions off of it, but then “fear” has been a tool of priests and politicians alike for centuries. Fear keeps us in line, keeps us obedient, and even keeps us loyal.
Except Jesus said don’t be afraid. Don’t fear. Don’t worry. I am with you always until the end of time.
Diana Butler Bass interprets the Luke passage this way: “Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid.” This is the course of history, the way of this world. Things will be bad, and things will be very bad. But not everything is a portent of The End. Because, in effect, we’re surrounded by a world that is ending. All things end; and endings just are.
What Jesus preached in the midst of endings was that endings pointed toward new beginnings. His followers will make a new community — one that embodies peace, justice, and righteousness; that gives itself to hope, faith, and love. It is a people gathered in sharing and sabbath, in generosity and gratitude. That community will insist that new life comes of every death, that resurrection is a practice and not a miracle. In the midst of the world’s decay, the Kingdom is coming — not with a bang but with a whisper.
People who live in such a way — especially in a world whirling with wars and rumors and war, awash in conspiracies and insurrections — aren’t always loved by those whose power thrives on fear. Indeed, the powerful would keep us on an emotional razor’s edge of Armageddon all the time. Jesus insists, however, that his friends not get distracted. Pay attention to what is true. Know what signs are really important. This age is, indeed, ending and God’s reign is near. But don’t be surprised. Stay the course. Tell your story. Honor God’s name.
Jesus reminds his hearers: “by your endurance you will gain your souls.”
The call for patient perseverance in the face of apocalypse is echoed by the reading in 2 Thessalonians: “For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.”
In other words, the most basic instruction of Kingdom-living is don’t panic. Keep going. Do the work. Live well here and now. Do not be weary in doing what is right.”
I include the reference to the Luke passage and Butler Bass’s interpretation because of the writing by Chris Kratzer that I shared last week. Of that writing, I said it was something we all really need to think about and wrap our brains around if we’re ever going to find a way to meet people where they are and solve whatever the puzzle of that moment is.
It’s easy in times such as these to feel like or even think we must be in the end times because how could it possibly get any worse and surely we’re seeing all the signs Jesus mentions in that passage. It’s easy to give into fear and forget that he told us not to be afraid.
It’s common in times such as these to meet people who don’t know God, don’t know Christ, or who’ve been so hurt by a church or denomination they belonged to they’ve walked away from it.
The main point of Chris’s post was that some of the best followers of Jesus aren’t Christian, but that they followed Jesus through the way they lived. And on that point, he’s not wrong. What he left out was that some of the worst followers of Jesus are some Christians.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When we consider the actions of the most vocal Christians, it’s easy to understand what Gandhi meant. The most vocal are often the least Christ-like.
Going back to Chris’s writing, to say it didn’t set well with some of you who heard it would be an understatement, and that’s on me. I apologize. I read it from a different perspective than most heard it. I read it from the perspective of those he was speaking to, and I didn’t take into account the ones I would be speaking to when I read it.
I don’t question my belief in God, my belief in Jesus, my belief in the Spirit. Those beliefs are probably the three things in my life I never question. What captured my attention in Chris’s post was the way he stripped away all the trappings we’ve placed between ourselves and Jesus over the centuries and went straight to the crux of what Jesus was all about … teaching us how to live into that good news that he shared … that the kingdom of God was near.
These are the things that Chris wrote that, in my opinion and based on my own beliefs are completely accurate:
“He [Jesus] lives far beyond belief statements, doctrine, biblical scholarship, orthodoxy, and theology. He doesn’t align Himself to “right” believing, can’t be beamed into your presence through properly prayed prayers, nor suctioned into your heart through correct words of genuinely “genuine” contrition.”
And then, “Instead, Jesus is a way of life, not a way of belief … Whatever you “do” for them, you do it unto ‘Me.’ … For Jesus, belief is always connected, not to what you line up in your head, but ultimately to if and how you love. And when you love the way He loves, He counts it as faith, whether you believe or not. … Church, Bible, rules, creeds, fear, conformity, to-do steps, and inviting Jesus into your heart… not required.
Only love.
Love only.
That’s it.
That’s everything
The only thing, to Jesus.”
Now, before anyone gets upset again, nothing in those statements about Jesus is untrue.
All the declarations of belief, century old traditions, denominational doctrines, college divinity degrees, cultural or individual theology mean nothing no matter how “correct” your beliefs are if you don’t have love, if you don’t love.
You can confess your transgressions ‘til the cows come home, but if you don’t then think and do differently and … again … don’t have love, don’t love … you’ve done nothing.
Eloquent, theologically proper prayers may sound good, but if you speak them without love, they are no more than words.
And loving others is one of the most difficult things to do in times such as these when the world is so divided.
But that’s the measure … to paraphrase Chris, Jesus is not a “mind thing” … not just a belief or set of beliefs rolling around in your head. Jesus is taking those beliefs in your head, moving them to your heart, and then expressing them through the way you live and the way you love others. “And when you love the way He loves, He counts it as faith, whether you believe or not.”
Jesus is light and love and that’s what he taught us to be so that we would be able to see and enter the kingdom of God. Living and loving the way he taught is kingdom living and isn’t that a goal worth achieving?
Again, I want to apologize to those of you who were upset by last week’s message. As I said, I was reading it from a different perspective and should have made that clear to you.
I want to close today with a piece by Rev. Kliewer of Dancing Faith.
I sit in the dark
It is not just that it is dark outside my windows
A great nothing at 4 am in Eastern Oregon
It is that a great darkness seems to have fallen upon us
we are the people living in darkness
all one has to do is listen to politicians lie
and spew hate
and pack guns as a prop
and promote voter suppression
and the oppression
of all people’s vulnerable
and minimized and devalue women
BIPOC
LGBTQI+
Those who happen to be poor
Or who happen to have mental illness
all one has to do is watch many
cheer those same people on
and astonishingly vote for them
to realize that there is darkness everywhere
including inside our minds, our hearts, our souls
but in spite of it all
I believe in light and love
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light
Proclaimed Isaiah
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light
Proclaimed Matthew
Love came down
Love comes down
Love keeps coming
Again and again
In the powerful presence of the Spirit
In Jesus
In God and all creation
Love came down and comes down
And there are points of light everywhere
The light shines in the darkness
As the stars sparkle
The light shines as someone realizes that following the teachings of Jesus
For all the brilliant and powerful foolishness of those teaching, actually offers real power
The light shines as the Spirit moves through our souls
The light shines when someone
In the face of all the haters and abusers
Accepts
Welcomes
Loves
Gives
Forgives
The light shines when the hungry are fed
Those without houses housed
The ill healed
The unforgiven forgiven
The hated and despised and devalued
Loved and admired and valued
When the common good is sought rather than domination
Yes, the world can be a very dark place
But I believe in light
I believe in love
Credits:
- Unless listed below, all works cited within the text above.
- *Adapted in part or full from Preaching Notes, Discipleship Ministries Worship Planning Series, November 13, 2022.
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