Sermon February 17, 2008

Lent 2, Year A

Genesis 12: 1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17; John 3: 1-17

Tomorrow I will think of my Grandmother - because tomorrow is President's Day. Not for the "Abraham Lincoln" part of that day, but for the "George Washington" part.

Odd, yes? My grandmother used to sing a lullaby to my brother and me that related to George Washington, and the revolutionary war -

     Thunder rumbling overhead
     And bad King George couldn't sleep in his bed
     T'was on that winter morn
     That Uncle Sam was born.

I've often wondered where she got it from - she must of heard a recording of Paul Robeson singing it sometime in the '40's – it’s from "Ballad for Americans". I'll bet she didn't really know what it was about, or she might have been a little more circumspect in singing it!

But who knows?! Perhaps that's why I'm here.....!

So what about Bad King George?

This King who was responsible for the burgeoning empire was, in the late 18^th Century, a worried man. But he was a man of limited vision. His upbringing and his cultural background made it very difficult for him to see the big picture.

Why was he worried? Any English person would know the answer! Those darned French! France filled the vision of most every English person at that time in European history. England and France were, at the time, the two great powers of Europe, and the political landscape of the European continent was determined by what these two great powers did, and mostly what they did was fight each other.

And then, for George, there was this little footnote to his troubles. English citizens were objecting to paying taxes! After all that the mother country had done for them - defended them in a hugely costly war against the native Americans, then the French, given them everything they wanted. And now they were opposing lawful taxation! Lower taxation than any English subject living in England paid! Well, George the Third would fix that! Certainly he'd listen to their objections, but they'd have to fall into line in the end - after all, they were English! But worry about that later - first the French.

So much for footnotes! Some would say that George underestimated the resolve of his colonists. But it was more than that - he misunderstood them. It wasn't that the colonists were asking for a bigger piece of the pie - whatever that might have been - more taxes returned to the Colonies in the form of subsidies, lower taxes on exports. No, the Colonists were asking for a whole new pie. That's a crucial difference. They were asking for a complete re-thinking of the relationship.

Which brings us to Nicodemus, and the cool Jerusalem evening breeze.

And Nicodemus is also a troubled man. Troubled enough, certainly, to seek out Jesus. But cautious enough not to want to be seen by anyone - hence he comes under cloak of darkness, as the saying goes.

Nicodemus - as part of the ruling elite in Israel - had bigger things than Jesus on his mind. How to keep the Romans happy was the main one. Happy Romans meant peaceful Romans. And peaceful Romans meant that the Jews would, largely, be left to their own devices.

I'd guess that Nicodemus was a pragmatist - going to tell Jesus that the time to rattle the Roman's cages wasn't now - "wait a bit", "things might change", that sort of stuff. As such Nicodemus is an archetypical political strategist.

And - as such - Nicodemus thought two things, as he walked up to speak with Jesus:

1. He thought he knew what the conversation with Jesus would be about, and,
2. He thought he could control that conversation.

So how'd he do? Badly on both counts! Nicodemus the deal-maker found that all his negotiating skills were worth nothing.

Jesus wasn't talking about re-carving the pie, he was talking about an entirely new one.

Start again, Nicodemus. This new thing that Jesus is about, it’s so totally new that you have to go back to the very beginning. Nicodemus, you have to let go of your preconceptions, stop trying to live in the familiar deal-making, Roman-calming world. Let go of your old relationships, dictated by a dictator. Let go of the rules that defined your life.

Nicodemus, you have to be reborn out of that world and into a new one. You have to be reborn for God.

Lent demands that of us. Not just re-slicing the same old pie that is our lives in a slightly different way. A new pie. A new beginning. A new world.

The story from Genesis presents one model for us. Here's Abram, prosperous, settled, surrounded by relatives, and clearly in a good, secure place. God speaks to him: "Go from your country and your kindred....." Leave all that you have known, leave your security, leave your relatives, and, even though you are an old man, journey to the land I have promised you. Take everything you will need for the journey, because this is an all-or-nothing trip. Burn your bridges behind you. There's no going back now.

And what is this new pie? Where is this new place? Why it's the Promised Land, of course! Though maybe not an actual place but a state of being, a community of belonging, an entering into joy, and peace.

Jesus was inviting Nicodemus to that place. And Nicodemus understood. He understood that it would involve sacrifice. He understood that its simplicity did not mean that the journey to it would be easy. It may be simple but it won't be easy. I suspect he understood that there would be crosses.

And so he left. He left a much more troubled man than he came.

What he didn't know then was how that story of Jesus would go on past the crosses.

What our forebears tell us is that there was an empty tomb. And there was great celebration and joy - joy so great that at Pentecost it caused the disciples to caper in the streets like drunk men.

What they have told us continues to be true. But it requires rebirth. It requires looking at the big picture. Don't be bamboozled by our in-your-face culture that tries to drown out the quiet voices of faith.

Journey to the Promised Land. Look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, and take his hand on the pathway and he will guide you and support you

For happy indeed is the nation whose God is the Lord! Our heart rejoices in him, for in his holy Name we put our trust. Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put our trust in you. AMEN.