A Transformative Journey

[00:00:00] In the name of Jesus. Amen. [00:00:05] So we've got a couple of journeys of faith going on in the texts before us, in the readings appointed for today. [00:00:15] One of them is more obvious than the other. [00:00:20] So first, the obvious one. Abram is sent on a journey by God. Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. [00:00:31] It's like all the things that are familiar, the things that ground Abram and give him strength. The things that make him at home and stable and ready to embark on his life although he is 75. [00:00:48] All those things he's to leave. [00:00:52] The comforts of home, the steadiness of family, his network, connections, his strength. [00:01:05] Right. His community. We should think more like that. [00:01:08] Our community is our strength. Our family, my church family, the people that surround us are our strength. And God says, leave your strength and go to a place that you think will be a good. [00:01:25] Go where you think you'll make it best. [00:01:28] Go to the best place you can think of, Abram. No, go to the land that I will show you. [00:01:37] Okay. [00:01:42] And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. [00:01:50] He's promising him good things. [00:01:54] Go to a land that I'll show you, and I'll bless you. [00:02:00] I'll bless those who bless you. And him who dishonors you, I will curse. [00:02:06] And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So he says, I'll bless you so that you are a blessing. [00:02:16] So Abram's going to be blessed. But in him, all the families of the earth are going to be blessed. So he goes, and the text ends there with, and Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negev. [00:02:34] So at the end of the text, there he's on his adventure. And he's still going toward the Negev. Going toward the desert, actually, which is interesting in Lent. Here, as we go out into the wilderness with Jesus, the place where you kind of lose everything. [00:02:51] You leave the things that are familiar. That's where he's headed. [00:02:54] He's headed to the desert. [00:02:57] Not being able to see the goal that he's going toward. He can't see the destination. He doesn't know the place. [00:03:04] He has no idea how God's going to bless him. [00:03:06] A little later in Genesis, he's going to say, okay, God, you keep saying that you're going to bless me and you're going to make me a great nation and such. And like, I Don't have any true heir. I don't even have a son who's going to receive all of this. [00:03:25] He doesn't know how that's going to work out either. But, you know, of course the blessings will unfold and the path that his adventure takes unfolds as he goes step by step. [00:03:38] He's just not to that step yet. [00:03:42] That's how the journey goes. That's how the adventure of faith goes for Abram and for us. [00:03:51] It's just a step at a time, and it unfolds as we go. [00:03:56] We can't predict it, we can't control it, we can't plan it. [00:04:03] It's truly an adventure. [00:04:06] I was just talking with Virginia the other day. We were remembering, thinking of the way that our lives were going to unfold. You know, as we kind of headed toward marriage. We were thinking, okay, this is an adventure. We talked about it, like, an adventure. [00:04:24] And it's like looking back, like, wow, now it's like, okay, really an adventure. You know, as things have unfolded and that's it. You just can't predict what comes next. And you can reflect on where we're at. And for us, it's like, it's really an adventure being pastor here and principal and all of that, you know, and you just. You couldn't. Like the things that you. That you face today. [00:04:54] Right. Whether exciting or terrifying or. Right. [00:04:59] All those things that you. That you couldn't have predicted. If you look back 10 or 20 years, you know, and then you think of where you are, how did we get here? [00:05:10] None of us could. [00:05:11] I mean, maybe one of you out there just, you know, planned it all out, and here you are, and nothing unexpected happened. And this is exactly where you thought you'd be at this point in your life. [00:05:21] But it doesn't really work that way. [00:05:24] Life's an adventure, and we're on it. [00:05:28] We can try and control it and make it all turn out the way that we think will be best. And to some extent, we make choices and such, but it's an adventure. So Abram's on this adventure of faith and is leaving what is familiar, leaving what could be better predicted? [00:05:50] To follow God where he leads, go to a land that I will show you. [00:05:56] God is leading and showing, and Abram is following. [00:06:01] Well, there's another journey going on. [00:06:03] In the gospel reading, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. [00:06:10] He comes to him in the dark, and he has a conversation with Jesus where Jesus is saying things to him that don't make sense, like he can't make sense of what Jesus is saying. Like, you must be born again or born from above. It's the same word. So I'm going to say born again from above. You must be born again from above. [00:06:36] Like, wow, how can I be born again, Jesus? That's ridiculous. [00:06:42] Should I enter into my mother's womb a second time? [00:06:47] So Jesus is saying things, and for Nicodemus, he's in the dark. [00:06:53] So comes to him at night, and he's in the dark. He doesn't understand what's going on. Jesus is leading him a step at a time. You know, Jesus knows exactly what he wants Nicodemus to know. [00:07:08] Like he knows it all. Jesus ends up saying, like, if I've told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [00:07:18] Jesus is in a position to share heavenly things because he's the man from heaven. [00:07:24] I mean, he's. He's the one who has ascended, he says, or who has descended. No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. So Jesus has come from heaven. [00:07:38] And if anyone is in a position to understand heavenly things, it's Jesus. [00:07:45] So he knows what he wants for Nicodemus. But Nicodemus doesn't know. [00:07:52] Jesus isn't going to leave him there. [00:07:55] But Nicodemus isn't going to get there all at once either. [00:07:59] It's not like Jesus is going to say three words, boom. And Nicodemus is like, heaven. Sorry, came to mind. [00:08:10] I'm in heaven. [00:08:13] It's not like he's there all of a sudden. That was a quick journey. [00:08:17] For a moment, I didn't know where I was going. And now I do. Because I'm here. [00:08:20] No, it's going to unfold step by step, a little bit at a time. [00:08:26] And every. Every step of the way. It's hard for Nicodemus. [00:08:31] What do you mean? Like I should enter into my mother's womb a second time. [00:08:39] That's what it takes. [00:08:41] You know, it's kind of comforting if you think about it, to think that there's space between darkness and not knowing and light and understanding that there's space in between there. There's time for transformation and growth in understanding. [00:09:00] Thank God that's his grace. [00:09:04] Because like Paul says in Romans 4 in our epistle, if God were just coming to reward those who had earned his grace by adhering to the law to God's will, well, then we'd be in trouble. [00:09:21] But instead, God's grace and his gifts come by faith. [00:09:27] Abraham believed God. [00:09:30] That doesn't mean that he immediately understood or had arrived. [00:09:36] Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. [00:09:43] Think about what that means. [00:09:45] God said, go to a land that I will show you. [00:09:49] Go to a place that you don't know, but I'll lead you there. [00:09:53] And Abram started following him and then continued to journey toward the Negeb, toward the desert, like that was righteousness. [00:10:05] Okay, God, wherever you want to lead, I'll follow. [00:10:11] That's it. [00:10:12] That's faith. He was on the journey. He was in that space between not having and having. [00:10:20] He was on a journey of transformation led by God, which he couldn't predict or control. And he was taking it a step at a time. [00:10:30] That's where Nicodemus is. [00:10:34] And the movement that Nicodemus takes, the transformation that he receives, is from thinking that he knows, even if it's just in a small way, to throwing up his hands and saying, I don't know what's up or down. [00:10:52] I don't know what's going on. [00:10:57] That's. That's kind of the next step. And then there's a receiving from God, right? Receiving from Jesus wisdom. So let's track that progression for a moment here. So Nicodemus is a Pharisee. [00:11:12] The Pharisees were famous for thinking they knew it. Like we, oh, we're the teachers of Israel here. We're the leaders. We know God's will in the law, and we're the ones working really hard to follow it to a T. [00:11:28] So he comes in thinking he knows, and he comes up with something that he's deduced from careful observation. [00:11:38] Rabbi, teacher, we know that you are a teacher come from God. [00:11:44] For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. [00:11:49] He's like, we've seen you do all kinds of things. [00:11:52] Maybe turned water into wine. [00:11:54] At this point in John, it's not clear what else he's seen Jesus do. [00:12:00] So he's seen Jesus do some amazing things. [00:12:05] And from that he's deducing that he must be from God, because if God weren't with him, then he couldn't do these kinds of things. [00:12:16] And Jesus, well, he kind of cuts past this statement. He's not like, very good. You're on the right track, Nicodemus. Good job. Yeah, you know pretty well he just throws something at him from heaven. [00:12:35] And Nicodemus is thinking in an earthly way. [00:12:39] So he just says, truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born again or born again from above, he cannot See the kingdom of God. Nicodemus thinks he sees. I've seen you do great things. [00:12:58] He's not truly seeing, because to understand heavenly things is not to see. [00:13:07] Like, we don't see things from below, from here on earth. It's not that you kind of see your way up. [00:13:16] It's that the light comes down, it's received. [00:13:24] So Nicodemus is confused. [00:13:27] Jesus clarifies again, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [00:13:35] Then he explains, that which is born of flesh is flesh, like the ideas that you've conceived that have been born. [00:13:44] The ideas that you've conceived from below, from earth, well, they're going to be earthly ideas. They're not heavenly things. [00:13:58] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [00:14:07] Those thoughts that are conceived by the Spirit, those are going to be spiritual thoughts, which is to say that those things are a gift. They come down from above. They are. [00:14:19] Well, Jesus Christ, the word of God, who's come down from above, right? [00:14:27] Do not marvel that I said you must be born again from above. [00:14:31] The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit through baptism. [00:14:45] We've been born again from above by water and the Spirit. We've received a. A heavenly birth. And that's not something that you can see or identify by earthly means. It's an invisible reality. It's something not attained from below, but received from above. It's not recognized from below, but it's revealed from above by God. It's invisible. [00:15:11] Nicodemus said, how can these things be throwing up his hands? [00:15:18] I don't know. [00:15:19] Jesus says, you're a teacher of Israel. [00:15:22] You don't understand these things. [00:15:25] Truly. Truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we bear witness to what we have seen. But you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [00:15:45] So now it comes down to it like, well, then how is there any hope? It's because, well, somebody has descended from heaven. [00:15:53] The true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. [00:15:58] Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh, right? That's just born of flesh is flesh. Born of the Spirit, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We've seen his Glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [00:16:14] Jesus Christ has come to us. And so if we want to know how to get from confusion and darkness to light and peace, well, there's the answer. It's the man from heaven. It's the one who has descended. [00:16:31] He's the one who, who makes our ascent happen. [00:16:36] He's the one who lifts us up into heaven, into heavenly things, gives us an inheritance kept for us in heaven, makes it so that our life is hidden with God in Christ. [00:16:54] As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. [00:17:02] It's a reference to Jesus crucifixion. [00:17:06] There Jesus is on the cross. [00:17:09] That's where you look for enlightenment. [00:17:13] That's what takes us out of the darkness and into the light, is looking to Jesus Christ. [00:17:20] And Jesus Christ exactly in his moment of, well, not looking glorious according to earthly eyes. From earthly perspective, he's weak, powerless, dying. [00:17:37] And from heavenly perspective, he is. [00:17:44] He's demonstrating God's love for us in the most beautiful way possible. [00:17:50] And he's embodying humility to the greatest degree possible by becoming a servant which is in his serving. He is embodying God's will and God's heart for us. No, it can't be seen from the perspective of worldly power and values. [00:18:16] There he is on the cross in all his glory, beautiful in his suffering. [00:18:30] And that perspective, that heavenly perspective, comes through faith, comes as a gift received simply by hearing God's call, follow me wherever I lead. [00:18:44] And just saying okay doesn't require perfect sight or understanding or the realization of all of our hopes right now. [00:19:01] In fact, it's not going to feel that way. It doesn't feel that way. The journey of faith is difficult. [00:19:07] It's full of suffering and confusion and doubt and uncertainty. [00:19:14] Struggle. [00:19:17] That's what an adventure is. [00:19:19] And we're on it, following Jesus, our leader, who has, against all odds, you know, earthly speaking, won the victory and secured life for us and for all who believe in him. [00:19:35] And so we may not see the end of the journey or how the next, you know, what's around the next bend or how the current circumstances are going to be worked out. [00:19:46] But that's alright. We're on an adventure. [00:19:50] And the important thing is who we're following. [00:19:54] The one who descended from heaven for us to serve us. The one who knows the way, who is the way, the truth and the life. [00:20:02] He's our leader in Jesus name Amen.