A Sermon at Saint Patrick's
Second Sunday in Lent. February 17, 2008.
Text: Genesis 12:1-8, Psalm 121, John 3:1-17
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The
Genesis story assigned for today is about a journey. Abram
heard the call from God to move from his homeland to a remote country
he had never known. The call must have been difficult for
him. Yet he got up and went. On the long journey
from Ur to Canaan, Abram had with him his wife, his servants and his
animals. Abram was a brave person.
Today's Psalm 121 is also about a journey. The author was a seeker. The
psalmist did not say he went anywhere; but he said that he looked up to
the mountains and then asked, "Where does my help come from?"
What did the psalmist see on the mountains that made him
wonder? Most likely, he saw the altars that his contemporary
put up there for the idols they worshiped. Before him, the
whole ancient world was placing the false gods at the center of its
life. Defying peer pressure and ignoring threats to the unconformable,
the psalmist was on a lonely spiritual journey seeking the true God
from whom real help comes. At some point in his life, he
chose to serve only God, the Maker of heaven and earth, and found a
dwelling place for his soul.
In the Gospel of John, Nicodemus, a Jewish leader belonging to a group
of elites called the Pharisees, looked for Jesus and met him in secret,
to tell Jesus how much he was impressed by the miracles that Jesus did.
Yet Jesus was not impressed with what Nicodemus said. Jesus
astonished him by using the word “anosthen,” a Greek word that can be
interpreted in two different ways: either "born again" or "born from
above." Nicodemus thought Jesus meant it to be "born again,"
but Jesus said no. He meant it "born from above," or born of
the Spirit.
Apparently, the notion "born again" has been mentioned in the Church as
a miracle. The very words "born again" were used in the King
James Version of the English Bible, and they have been popular, often
used by preachers and politicians. From the pulpit, "born
again" often comes with the urgent message that transformation takes
place instantly when one responds to the altar call. Once you were bad,
but now you have been changed completely. "Born Again" Christians are
usually perceived as being good and trustworthy people.
However, the issue we face in this matter is failure and
fall. What if you happen to sin after the
experience? The believer may accuse the devil as being the
culprit. We often approach Jesus' word the way Nicodemus did. Jesus did
not mean "born again"; he meant "born from above."
Being born from above is not a miracle; it is a process -- a life-long
journey. The journey can begin with a sudden awakening: a
message heard in a sermon, a word of wisdom from a book or from someone
you trust, a disaster that strikes, a serious illness, the death of a
loved one, a conflict in the family, or an accident.
Many years ago I came across a piece of writing by a parishioner in
which she said during Lent she practiced forgiving her parents. The
statement astonished me, for I came from a culture where parents are
regarded as saints. How dare I say I forgive my Father and/or my
Mother? Yet soon I began a journey. I need to
forgive my parents, and I yearn for forgiveness from my own children,
and I must forgive all people. I also need to practice
forgiving my self. Forgiving is a painful process, much more
difficult than holding on to anger. You practically bear a cross when
you practice forgiving your parents or anyone else. Yet one
cannot be liberated if one does not stop running away from the hidden
pains. Oftentimes I fail in the process, but God wants me to get up and
walk again.
Lent invites us to ponder human sinfulness and to remember our
mortality. Not only that, Lent points to
resurrection. There is the call to stand up and walk again,
and there is the promise of divine help, but the decision to do so is
ours alone to make. We are not expected to make a big jump, but we are
encouraged to make just one little step at a time. Do we hear the
nudging words ‘Be Brave’ from the
Spirit? Tinh+
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