An Instrument of Pardon and Faith

John 3: 1 – 17
As we begin the second week of the Lenten season, I would like to ask us to entertain a very serious question: How might we, collectively and individually, be instruments of God’s pardon and faith? By this question, I mean to suggest that God is calling us to leave ourselves open to allow His grace and mercy to flow thru us in such a way that he can use us to be a blessing to those around us. One of God’s servants, a man named Francis of Assisi prayed these words, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace… where there is injury, let me sow pardon… where there is doubt, let me sow faith.”
This morning I would like to have us look at the story of a Pharisee named Nicodemus, and his encounter with Jesus. In order to understand who Nicodemus was, we need to have a working knowledge of who he was and what he did. The Webster’s Dictionary defines a Pharisee as “a member of a Jewish sect of the intertestamental period noted for strict observation of rites and ceremonies of the written law and for insistence on the validity of their own oral traditions concerning the law.” In other words, a Pharisee was not just a legalist… a Pharisee was a legalist’s legalist. Not only did the Pharisee insist on strict observance of the written law, they were adamant that everyone around them also strictly observe the written law… and God help anyone who didn’t agree with them… God help anyone who either proposed, promoted, or recommended doing anything differently!
Nicodemus was a deeply conflicted man… He was a Pharisee, a religious leader and a teacher of the Law, but he was also a seeker of the truth. It was his desire to understand the things of the Kingdom of Heaven which brought him to Jesus. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, perhaps out of fear of being discovered as a seeker, or perhaps it to have sufficient time for his conversation and learning experience with Jesus.
Nicodemus begins the conversation with a statement of his belief in Jesus as a teacher who comes from God. He says to Jesus: “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
To which Jesus responds by inviting Nicodemus to see God’s kingdom by being born from above… “Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
This is very confusing for Nicodemus, and we can see that he struggles with this particular teaching, and gets stuck in the literal image of being born a second time from a mother’s womb.
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
As is typical in the Gospel of John, the words in this passage are used on several different levels. Jesus is not talking about the physical birth process, but rather about the spiritual transformation of a person who is reborn because of the Holy Spirit’s work in his or her life. But Nicodemus still does not grasp the profound significance of what Jesus is saying here. “How can these things be?” Nicodemus asks… and this is a great question of faith asked by seekers young and old who desire greater understanding.
Have you ever taken a step back to ask a question about something that you just don’t understand? What if we did not ask questions? Does that mean we have full understanding of God and all that God is doing in this world? Have you ever prefaced a question with the words “I have a dumb question…” A very wise teacher and friend backed me down recently after I had begun a conversation with those words… her reply was “The only dumb question is the one you do not ask…”
There are some who might say that it is better not to ask questions of God. But it is hard to live life and not ask questions. Bad things happen to very good people… Promises made by humans get broken… life can be rough… We experience hurts, and we hurt others. Sometimes we hurt the people we love. We wonder… we doubt… we don’t quite “get it”… questions come…
Any teacher worth his or her salt will tell you that asking questions is an integral part of education… of discipleship… and Jesus himself encourages his disciples (and each of us) to take his yoke upon us, and learn of him…
Some might say “Don’t ask God a question unless you are willing to hear and deal with the answer!” God might just want to change you… It’s true… The Holy Spirit is persistent in stirring, nudging and drawing people closer to Christ Jesus. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to call, gather, and enlighten, helping people move from doubt to faith.
God, in his infinite, unending wisdom, chooses to be made known to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who walks and relates to people on this earth on their terms… Sandy Patti writes that “He became like us, so that we could become like Him…” At the same time, Jesus invites us to think on God’s terms, and imagine heavenly things… like being born again. Jesus invites us to stretch and be stirred by the Holy Spirit of the Living God. Jesus invites us to ponder and believe in heavenly things…
Just as he invited a legalist like Nicodemus to look past the strict and unyielding nature of this world, and grasp the concept of God’s unmerited favor… “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son… that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In verse 17 we see one more step to Jesus’ teaching on our relationship with God… “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus includes these two wonderful and beloved verses. Here Jesus sums up the faith. God loved the world to such a degree that God would willingly and passionately give over Jesus, his own son, to suffer and to be killed so that eternal life might extend to those who believe in Jesus.
Remember two Presidents named Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford? After Nixon was impeached and had resigned as President of the United States, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the next President. One of the first things that Ford did as the new President was something that many people believe severely injured his political future… he gave Nixon a full Presidential Pardon. Ford went out on a limb and extended forgiveness to someone who had been caught doing something wrong.
God calls us to be instruments of pardon and faith. His word reminds us that, just as he accepted us among his beloved children. When one of us confesses our sins to Jesus, and asks for the Blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sins, God takes that sin and plunges it deep into the Sea of Forgetfulness… That’s grace… that’s unmerited favor… and that’s just like our God.

I Bid You Peace...
Pastor Ken+