Sermon: The Wind Blows Where It Chooses

Lectionary: Year B, Trinity Sunday
Text: John 3:1-17

Introduction

This week I learned I might have quite a bit in common with Nicodemus, a Pharisee.

I was born into a church denomination that has a wide range of perspectives on various things. But on average, it could be described as traditional, conservative, and even fundamentalist in some respects. It was a denomination founded through the study of biblical prophecies, and when the initial interpretations failed to materialize, interpretations were revised, and its apocalyptic message continues to be taught. It is a denomination with an emphasis on its unique traditions that keeps it somewhat separate from other Christian denominations. From an early age, within education classes in the church and in church-run schools, I was taught the importance of watching for signs of the end times and even possible broad outlines of how the end of the world will come about.

In many ways, what I grew up in has similarities to how the Pharisees viewed their times, lived in it, and looked for the coming kingdom of God.

Before continuing, I should note that although the Pharisees are often perceived negatively by modern Christians, it was not at all the case back in their time. Although some were certainly wealthy and privileged, as a whole they were considered coming from the masses and could relate to the common folk.[1] Their concern was the study of scripture and accurate interpretations of them so that all could live in holiness and purity as God would have them live. This contrasted with the Sadducees, who were given the priesthood by the Romans, and was the aristocracy of the Jewish nation. Their concerns were more pragmatic in that they were more interested in maintaining the status quo and their place in society.

The Pharisees were expecting the Messiah and the arrival of a new kingdom. They had certain assumptions and expectations of who the Messiah should be, how he would appear, and what he would do. They had an outline of how the present age should end and how the new age with the new kingdom would begin. They read the prophecies in scripture with apocalyptic vision.[2]

As I said earlier, I find several parallels between what I grew up in and some of the characteristics of the Pharisees.

Nicodemus

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Which means all that I had just said is part of the backstory that is not explicitly written in the gospel, because everyone reading or hearing it at that time would have known much of this. Nicodemus is interested in figuring out Jesus, because in Nicodemus’ view, Jesus fits more than a few checkboxes of the expected Messiah.

First, Jesus appears out of nowhere. Secondly, Jesus is performing miraculous signs. Thirdly, Jesus appears to be performing his acts on behalf of God.

In the gospel text immediately preceding today’s reading, Jesus had driven out the merchants selling animals and the moneychangers. The arrival of the new kingdom was also expected to be preceded by a purification of the temple.[3] What Jesus performed could be interpreted by some to fit into that scheme.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. On the most literal level, this simply is an indication that Nicodemus wants to avoid any discourse from turning into an honor contest.[4] This could certainly happen if it was in the daylight with masses of the public around. So, coming at night for a private conversation shows Nicodemus’ sincerity. But on the literary level, the gospel writer uses night and darkness symbolically in the gospel to show a lack of understanding.[5] So Nicodemus is genuinely interested, but the writer foreshadows his lack of understanding as this narrative will continue.

I’ve always wondered why, after Nicodemus greets Jesus with honorific praise, Jesus seems to abruptly change the topic to the kingdom of God. Understanding the background information, I’ve mentioned so far shows that the coming kingdom was what was primary in Nicodemus’ mind, even though he does not explicitly ask about it.

The Pharisees expected that they, because of their devotion to the Torah, would naturally be among those entering the new kingdom with the Messiah. Jesus’ first statement to Nicodemus disagrees with the Pharisee’s beliefs about who is eligible to enter the kingdom. Only those who are born from above, only those who are Spirit-born, can enter the kingdom of God. No natural human person can enter the kingdom. Lineage and ancestry don’t confer qualifications. Only those who have been renewed and reborn of the Spirit can enter the kingdom.

Another messianic belief that the Pharisees had was that as part of the inauguration of the new kingdom, the Messiah would judge the world. But at the end of what is today’s reading, the text reads that in fact the Messiah was not sent to judge, but to save. And salvation is not just for Jews and those that follow the Torah, but the entire world – the cosmos. The kingdom of God would not be a perfect practice of Judaism, but something completely different, something discontinuous with anything found to that point in human history.

In this short section we see at least three messianic ideas that were a part of the Pharisaic tradition that are contradicted by Jesus as he offers different interpretations. First, it is not careful obedience to the Torah that offers entry into the kingdom, but rather, it is being born from above, with the Sprit, that allows someone entry into the kingdom. Secondly, the Messiah did not come to judge, but to save. And thirdly, this salvation and entry into the kingdom is for the entire world, not just Jews.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Nicodemus didn’t understand, at least at that immediate time. But he shows up a couple more times in John’s gospel account and we can infer through those episodes that his understanding about Jesus changes and deepens.

I started this sermon by briefly relating my Christian environment and understandings during the first thirty years or so. The next twenty including now has been a period of both deconstruction and reconstruction. There are many things I used to believe and accept that I no longer do. I’ve changed the ways in which I read and interpret the Bible. There are some things I used to accept that I can’t believe I ever did. And there are things that seem plain and obvious to me now that twenty or thirty years ago, I would have considered heresy.

And that leads me to this next part – the historical context in which the gospel of John was written.

Context of the Writing of the Gospel According to John

This gospel was written toward the end of the first century C.E. It was a good sixty years since Jesus left Earth. It’s been twenty years since the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The Pharisees are on their way of transforming into rabbinical Judaism, which is the precursor of Judaism today. The Christians, who for the most part still see themselves as Jews, have been cast out of their synagogues.

The Christian believers looked at their Jewish scriptures and found quite different ways of interpreting the text. They read the prophecies and found a very different fulfillment. Jesus Christ fulfilling the promised Messiah of Israel was now plain and obvious. How could the rest of the Jewish community not see and accept this?

I think that it is in this context that the writer of John utilizes the story of Nicodemus and Jesus to address what is going on in the writer’s community. A strong evidence for this occurs beginning with verse 11 where the writer transitions from Jesus speaking to the community speaking: “I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen…” Although traditionally it is Jesus who continues speaking through the rest of this discourse, from verse 11 onward, it is better to read this as their understanding of Jesus and his Messianic fulfillments, from the community that produced this gospel text.

The Jews had lost their Temple and their nation. They were scattered around the Roman Empire. As long as the Temple stood, and they had a land to call their own they could see a glimmer of messianic hope. But with all that taken away what was to become of God’s promise to them of a new kingdom?

Reconstruction and Reinterpretation

The early Jewish Christians found their answer and comfort in reinterpreting the scriptures in the light of Jesus and the words that he left for them. These reinterpretations were not just minor revisions to what they understood and accepted previously. They had to reimagine and reinterpret texts in new ways that often stood in contradiction to their past understandings. The new kingdom was not just an updated continuation of what already exists, but a radical interruption of former history and a departure into a new trajectory.

This might be seen as the work of the Spirit, a part of being born from above, that is promised by Jesus much later in the gospel:

John 16:13-14 (CEB)

13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. He won’t speak on his own, but will say whatever he hears and will proclaim to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and proclaim it to you. 

Just as these first generation of Christ followers experienced upheaval and uncertainties, we too, seem to be in a time of upheaval and uncertainties. We live in chaotic times, and what we assumed to be true about society and the world doesn’t always seem to hold up.

The story of Nicodemus and the development of early Christian beliefs tells us that we must be open to the Spirit in forming and changing how we understand the world around us. Sometimes that might mean radically changing our beliefs, however sincerely held they may be. In my personal experience, that has meant dropping some beliefs and ideas that, looking back now, were quite insular and exclusionary. In their place I found beliefs that I think are more inclusive and hopefully align more closely with Jesus’ teachings that salvation is for all who trust in God. Deconstruction and reconstruction are not easy; but I believe it is often necessary to continue in spiritual growth and maturity.

The Spirit of God, the breath, the wind – it was present at the creation of the world [c.f., Genesis 1:1-2]. Through the Spirit, God brought order to chaos. And in the same way, the Spirit brings order to chaos found in every age. We may not always understand how the Spirit works, but it is present in the world. When we are open to the Spirit, we should assume that our journeys will take unexpected turns and paths.

Will we let go of trying to control our lives, and of trying to bring certainty into them? Will we instead trust and allow God to work through the Spirit of Christ, and to do and go wherever she leads? Will we allow God to work through us as agents of the new kingdom to bring the offer and reality of salvation – from God, through Jesus Christ, and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit – to the entire world?

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[1] Wicher, Edward A. “Ancient Jewish Views of the Messiah”, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3141950

[2] Kampmeier, A. “The Jewish Expectation of God’s Kingdom in Its Successive Stages”, https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2581&context=ocj

[3] Hiers, Richard H. “Purification of the Temple: Preparation for the Kingdom of God”, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3262987

[4] Richards, E. Randolph. Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes, p. 167ff.

[5] Paulien, Jon. John: The Beloved Gospel, p. 35-36.

Move Forward and Rebuild

Lectionary Year C, Proper 27
OT Reading: Haggai 1:15b-2:9

Sermon at First Presbyterian Church, Petersburg, Alaska on November 6, 2016.

Introduction

When we look around and observe the world around us, it’s difficult not to see the many problems, troubles, conflicts, divisions, and plain ugliness that seem omnipresent. There seem to be no easy solutions; and sometimes we wonder if there are any solutions at all. In the more pessimistic recesses of our minds, we think that maybe the world has gone so off track that it is on an irreversible downward trend into utter chaos and wreckage.

Many, faced with such a dark and uncertain future, understandably look to the past — when things seemed to be better, when things seemed more certain, when things and people seemed to be in their proper places, when there seemed to be order and predictability. And the temptation to try to recreate the past grows strong.

Nostalgia

There is a term for this which you’ve probably guessed; it is nostalgia. Alan R. Hirsch describes nostalgia as a yearning for an idealized past — “a longing for a sanitized impression of the past, what in psychoanalysis is referred to as a screen memory — not a true recreation of the past, but rather a combination of many different memories, all integrated together, and in the process all negative emotions filtered out.” (http://elitedaily.com/life/science-behind-nostalgia-love-much/673184/)

That sounds negative, but studies have found that nostalgia can help people cope with negative life events, depression, and even eases facing death.

Here are a few paragraphs in a New York Times article from 2013:

Nostalgia does have its painful side — it’s a bittersweet emotion — but the net effect is to make life seem more meaningful and death less frightening. When people speak wistfully of the past, they typically become more optimistic and inspired about the future.

“Nostalgia serves a crucial existential function,” Dr. Routledge says. “It brings to mind cherished experiences that assure us we are valued people who have meaningful lives. Some of our research shows that people who regularly engage in nostalgia are better at coping with concerns about death.”

“Nostalgia helps us deal with transitions,” Dr. Hepper says. “The young adults are just moving away from home and or starting their first jobs, so they fall back on memories of family Christmases, pets and friends in school.”

(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

Scientific American reports “situations that trigger negative emotions, feelings of loneliness, and perceptions of meaninglessness cause people to become nostalgic.” (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-rehabilitation-of-an-old-emotion-a-new-science-of-nostalgia/)

Dr. Hal McDonald, in Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/time-travelling-apollo/201606/the-two-faces-nostalgia) describes two kinds of nostalgia. The first is restorative nostalgia, in which the person tries to recreate (or restore) the past into the present. The second is reflective nostalgia, in which the person savors the experience without trying to recreate it.

He writes:

These two types of nostalgia represent fundamentally different attitudes toward the past, and it is this difference that largely determines whether our memories of those happy days of yore will evoke feelings of joy or of sadness…

Restorative nostalgia is really a kind of homesickness—a homesickness for the past—more akin to the original pathological definition of nostalgia than to our current view of the term…

Reflective nostalgia, on the other hand, accepts the fact that the past is, in fact, past, and rather than trying to recreate a special past experience, savors the emotions evoked by its recollection.  This acknowledgment of the irretrievability of our autobiographical past provides an aesthetic distance that allows us to enjoy a memory in the same way that we enjoy a movie or a good book.

As you might guess, the latter, reflective nostalgia, is a more healthy response than the former, which tries to recreate (in vain) an idealized past.

Back from Exile

This brings us to the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon. Or at least a few of them. The prophet Jeremiah, early in the exile, had written and told them:

5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:5-7 NLT)

Many had settled in Babylon and felt no need to return to their ancestral lands and face inevitable hardships there.

Cyrus had decreed that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple there. But the work had not really begun. The people went and worked on their individual homes and fields. The prophets had prophesied that their return would result in blessings (c.f. Ezekiel), but the people only saw reminders of destruction, desolation, and daily experienced difficulties.

Nearly twenty years had passed. And now the prophet Haggai rose to declare to the people that the current sad state of affairs was due to their neglect in rebuilding the Temple.

Not the Prosperity Gospel

At this point it should be said that Haggai could be used to support a prosperity gospel: i.e., that God blesses those who contribute toward his demands, and curses those who neglect him.

But it is important to note that the ancient temple is not equivalent to the present day churches or denominations. Neither should the temple be limited to spiritual and religious facets of individual and societal life.

The ancient temple was the center of religious, spiritual, social, and economic life. It was the hub of community and connections. A healthy temple meant healthy society and community. It was the place of celebrations. It was where relationships between human and deity, and between humans were restored and strengthened.

I think it can be difficult for Westerners, particularly Americans, to understand how the temple could be the center of so much of community. We value individualism, we tend to strictly segregate different spheres of our lives, and religion is certainly in a decline. But at least from anecdotal, personal experience that I’ve had in Japan large temples and shrines still form a major part of the economy through tourism and festivals; they are still focus of major celebrations and places where families and community come together; where life’s petitions, dreams, and goals are offered up.

When Haggai claims that the peoples’ neglect of the temple was the cause of their life problems, we can see how that can be reasonable logic. Haggai’s accusation is that the people were so concerned about their individual survival and comfort that they had neglected the well-being of the community. It is not the prosperity gospel, at least not in the present-day sense of the phrase in which God blesses individuals in a quid pro quo fashion. Rather it is a declaration that when the community looks after everyone in the community, God can multiple the sum of their efforts for the good of the entire community.

What is Wealth?

Stanley Hauerwas, at Duke University, drawing from Millbank and Pabst, theologians and philosophers, to describe wealth in terms of

goods that can be shared together such as intimacy, trust, beauty. The goods that should determine how we live are embedded in the practices of honour and reciprocity which are developed over time through the habits sustained by a tradition. The formation of such traditions depends on the existence of people of wisdom who can provide the judgments necessary for responding to new challenges while remaining faithful to the past.

People who so live do not think their first task in life is to become more wealthy or powerful as individuals. Rather wealth is best thought of as what we share in common, such as parks, or practices to which all have access, such as medicine. In other words, the post-liberal strategy is exactly the opposite of the liberal assumption that assumes that social practices of mutual assistance should be eliminated, while at the same time encouraging our desires for wealth and prestige. The liberal desire for the well-being of the individual not only ignores the goods built on gift relations, but in effect destroys the habits that make such relations possible.

(http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/11/02/4567512.htm)

Exhortation Heeded, But Things Don’t Look Good

The people heed Haggai’s words and begin the process of temple reconstruction. About two months later, Haggai offers a new word, the passage that was read this morning.

It appears that the people have been hard at work, but progress is slow. And what they have to show for it isn’t much. It is also possible that among the people are some elderly Jews who remember the first temple. Whether it is they, or the younger generation recalling the stories of old about the first temple, what they see before them is sorely lacking. They are discouraged. If their well-being and future rely upon God accepting the results of their construction, it doesn’t look very good. They have good reason to be concerned.

Suffering from Restorative Nostalgia

The people are suffering from the first, bad kind of nostalgia: restorative nostalgia. They want to recreate the new temple to resemble the first in its physical and religious grandeur. That’s, after all, what Ezekiel appears to have prophesied.

This kind of nostalgia can cause harm in many ways. It can halt progress — because the new can’t possibly be as good as the old, why bother? People can get stuck in the past. It can lead to feelings of depression and discouragement.

Or it can cause people to turn against each other — I know how it’s supposed to look like, so why can’t you just obey my instructions? Or, I know better than you, I’m the expert, so your opinions and ideas are worthless. Or, are you trying to sabotage the project with your less-than-perfect plans? People become divided, one group against another.

God Invites Reflective Nostalgia

Through Haggai, God offers a word of reflective nostalgia — the good kind of nostalgia. Haggai reminds the people of God’s faithfulness in their lives. The past cannot be recreated; but the past offers reminders that can strengthen and encourage the people to move forward.

God says, “I am with you.” He declares, “My spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.”

It is an invitation to remember how God has been with them, all the way from their beginnings in Egypt. It is an invitation to reflect on the power and strength of God to sustain and deliver.

It is a declaration that God does not dwell in the past but he is always a part of the present. God cannot be summoned by recreating the past. The people must move forward to where God is taking them.

God Is Found Where His People Work

God is already among them. The temple isn’t where God resides. God is where the people are doing the work of restoring God’s glory by their efforts to rebuild, restore, and heal community.

The returned exiles seemed to think God couldn’t come and bless them until the temple was complete and functional; and that the degree of blessing depended on the physical magnificence of the structure. What they heard was that their very efforts were where God could be present and manifest his glory.

Haggai exhorts the people to do the work. As long as they are doing the work of building community to reflect God’s image, God will be with them and bless them. Other nations will hear and wonder. They will be curious and come. And peace will be the result.

Fantasy or Reality?

Does this sound too good to be true? Is Haggai describing a fantasy?

I think the key point to remember is that the work we do for God is not to secure blessings for ourselves, or for our families, or for our church, but to bless the whole world. When Abram was first called by God, the blessings offered to him were so that the entire world would be blessed through him. I believe that is still God’s desire and his purpose for the church.

I think for far too long the church has been preoccupied with her own security and place in the world. Like the returned exiles during their first twenty years, the church is too often concerned about accounting and finances, membership rolls, and her pursuit of temporal influence and power. Too often the church neglects the people and community just outside her, sometimes literal, walls.

I believe the words of Haggai are still relevant for the church today. We need to rebuild the temple — no, not necessarily the physical church or congregations — but the image of God that we who claim to be followers of Christ represent to the world. The church must rebuild the picture of God that those outside her metaphorical walls see inside.

Is that impossible? Is that too hard? Has the image been so destroyed that it can’t be rebuilt? Is the destruction and desolation too much to bear?

Haggai’s words should still ring true for us today. God is with us. Just as he rescued Israel from Egypt, brought the exiles back from Babylon, helped them rebuild the second temple, gave us his perfect image in Jesus Christ, and sustained the church through two millennia, his Spirit remains to strengthen and lead us today. “Do not be afraid,” God commands.

Rebuild God’s Temple Today

We can rebuild God’s temple in our world today. We can restore the image of Jesus Christ that has been destroyed by religionists. We do it through our love, compassion, and faithfulness to the people of this community. We do it through our efforts to foster harmony and peace among peoples, especially among those with whom we disagree. We do it through our attitudes and actions that value people and relationships first.

We were placed on this earth to bless others. We were saved by Christ so that we would know his purpose and be given the power and strength to do this difficult but rewarding work. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, of rebuilding people and relationships that have been broken. Let us come together and work together to restore the image and glory of God in his temple, the church, us.