John 3:1-17: Figuring It Out Is As Likely As Being Born Again

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. - John 3:1-17

 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  This is the most amazing thing that Jesus says in his discussion with Nicodemus. How could Nicodemus not be surprised? Jesus tells him that the thing which is necessary to see the kingdom of God is something that literally doesn't ever happen. People are not born again. They are born once and then they die. 

But I think that is the point of what Jesus is saying: seeing the kingdom of God is not gained by an incremental change in the way we live. It is not a "try a little bit harder and you'll get it" sort of problem. Seeing the kingdom of God requires a reworking of our soul at a fundamental level and it is not a change that we engineer ourselves. We can't get there from here. God's Spirit changes in ways that are outside the scope of our imagination or capabilities. 

Nicodemus had lived in the world of the Pharisees who thought they had a path to the kingdom of God if the people of God would just try a little bit harder and they would pass the threshold of holiness which would permit the kingdom of God to be established. Tim lives in a world of Christians and non-Christians who think that a path exists to the kingdom of God if we would just try a little harder or work a little smarter so that we would pass the threshold of holiness which would permit us to get to a stable, good place in our lives. Sometimes I think that my little kingdom would be better if I was just smarter or less selfish or richer or (fill in the blank). But Jesus says throw that out and let the Spirit do a reboot based on God's doing it his way. And he won't necessarily fill me in on how that's going to go. And I guess that I have to wait and see rather than trying to force it in my preferred direction. As Jesus said, The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Haiku March 21

It doesn't sit right

Can't nail it down exactly

But it unsettles.

Romans 4:1-17: I Have Nothing But What Christ Gave Me

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. - Romans 4:1-17

 "For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression." 

It is funny how religious people treat the law in a way that is different from the law in the rest of our lives. In normal life, we don't gain credits by obeying the law, only demerits. That is, there is no way to earn favor by obeying the law. I don't get a gold star for driving by obeying the law. All I can do is avoid getting a ticket when I transgress the law. 

So what are religious people hoping? They are hoping that they don't get sufficient demerits that will get demoted from the reward offered the most righteous group. That is, they are hoping for a future in spite of the penalties associated with the laws they have broken.  They hope that their mistakes can be wiped out with some sufficiently large act of penance so that what they have done wrong is erased or at least covered up. That is: they have piles of demerits and hope that they somehow can reduce or hide parts of that pile. Or, as the Old Testament puts it, we need the mercy of God. We fail, and because of God's pity, he gives us what we don't deserve. 

But, as Paul says, the law isn't designed to prove our righteousness, but to show us our sinfulness.  In the same way that traffic laws aren't designed to show that we are good drivers but catch bad drivers.  

One way that we try to convert law-following into merit is by comparing ourselves to other sinners. We rig the ranking system so that we come out ahead of at least some other poor sinners because we maintain confidence that God isn't going to condemn everyone so as lone as we make the percentile that is above the cut off point for eternity, we're ok. Or, to put it another way, we think ourselves as good drivers if we never get pulled over by police. Even if we try to become perfect drivers, obeying every law and even avoid circumstances where we might accidentally disobey a law ("drive 50 so that you never accidentally exceed the speed limit of 55"), we are not getting closer to God.

I have always been a rule follower and have silently critiqued those who don't follow rules. But doing this put me at risk of nullifying the grace of God in my life, by thinking I was better than others and never fully accepting the full extent of God's love for me. "I don't need him like that person needs him." What a lie! I have nothing except what Christ gave me. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-31: Only He Is The Solution

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." One of the common strategies for politicians when they are being attacked is to engage in 'mud slinging' - Find any issue-old, weak or untrue but plausible-and accuse your opponent publicly and repeatedly so that the truth and the justice is obscured by the 'filth'. 

And in an environment of many 'gods'-each god had a full bag of muck to sling around, arguments to show the weakness, foolishness and stupidity of opposing deities so that their faithful adherents could rest confident in the superiority of their beliefs. When Christianity came on the scene, they pulled out their book of the ridiculous that they'd been using on the Jews, dusted it off and retooled it for Jesus. They threw out their old skepticism about the unbelievable "invisible God" and exchanged it for ridicule of the crucified Messiah.

Crucifixion wasn't just about a painful death. but it was also shameful. And if the gods of the pagan world wanted anything, it was preeminence and glory.  Most wise. Most powerful. 

Here were the Christians celebrating a loser--not just a failed human being but an executed god who didn't really accomplish much, wandered in the back corners of the empire, betrayed or abandoned by his followers and then disappeared. So they dismissed Jesus as irrelevant, to join other religious figures on the trash heap of history.

But it was in this anonymity and the weakness that God worked his miracle. Why? So that “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Everyone was searching for wisdom and power--how to control the world. In Jesus, God showed them different and in doing so, he also gave them a glimpse of his real character--the God who let himself be confined in a limited body and killed because he loved the people. 

Sometimes I think I have an idea about how God works and what he's going to do in the situation. I get this idea by first tossing out all of the bad ideas and the ideas which have obvious flaws. My solution often comes down to getting more influence and power and intelligence and smarts. Then I read passages like this and realize that I'm probably looking in the wrong place because I am discounting God who does his best work in people and situations where only he is the solution.

Psalm 15: God, My Rock, Be My Stability

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?

The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will never be shaken. - Psalm 15

"Whoever does these things will never be shaken."

Does this seem realistic? When I read these verses, I see landmines everywhere. Each one of these seems to me something which makes my life more uncertain. It feels like playing king of the mountain and everyone and every circumstance threatens to dethrone me so I would have to be on the defensive all the time. Whenever my character is called into question there is always a tendency to defend myself, to "prove" that I was doing the right thing. So it always feels shaky. 

I think it feels shaky because I really feel like I will cross one of these lines. That doing these things is about what i can do.  It is shaky because these key ideas: respect for neighbor and respect for God are not at the core of my being. Instead, they are tacked on to the edges of my character so that any strong wind can dislodge me and my determination to "do better" So these need to move from the fringes of my convictions to the center of who I am in Christ so that the casual or serious storm won't catch me off-balance. These are not things i do by myself but i can do in Christ. God, my rock, be my stability.

Micah 6:1-8: Red Flags In My Testimony

Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel."

“My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God - Micah 6:1-8

To my mind, the "he said, she said" type of argument is the worst. Two people are involved in a disagreement, but there is no one else who can testify to what was said and what was done. Using the sublest of indicators, the jury is asked to estimate who is more likely to be truthful, especially in a case when one party claims egregious injury.

Israel has come before God and claimed injury by his hand. God throws up his hands and says, "My people, what have I done to you?" God searches for witnesses and asks Micah to question both sides: "Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth" The mountains and the hills are called upon to listen to both sides--God and his people--and to adjudicate between them. 

It isn't initially clear what the charges are, but they along the lines of "you place such a heavy burden for forgiveness." The accuser stands up and says, "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings...Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" In essence, the accuser is asking how much he has to pay to get forgiveness and have God ignore the way they have been living. 

But God isn't playing a quid pro quo game with his people. He isn't looking for a bigger paycheck from his people. Instead he says, in his defense, that he hasn't asked for complicated rituals and big payoffs. His asks from his people were simple: "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." He will spend the rest of the chapter testifying how his people have avoided doing exactly these things: it was never about offerings. It was about respecting God as God.

I think this is a good metric for any Christian: if we start finding and justifying a way of acting that is not just, that is not merciful or is not humble it is a red flag that we have gone off the path and whatever reasoning we used to get there is wrong and damaging to our soul. Any red flags in my life?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17: Only Christ is Right

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

 "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." These words open a question in my mind: Why do they refuse to love the truth? There must be something unpalatable about the truth that people would refuse to accept it or the promises that come with it. It is somehow so repulsive that Paul has to remind the believers in Thessaloniki to "stand firm and hold fast" because they might perfer to give way and let go. 

What is it? I think it is the death to self. "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matt. 16:24) There are dreams that must be placed on that cross--an exchange of my dreams for God's. And those magnificent dreams of God are often fuzzy, so distant and not made clear to us--so obscured that we trade them for the paltry hopes that we can see. We trade the feast promised tomorrow for the soup and bread that we can grasp now.

Then Paul talks about the future delusion of the world. When people follow after the "lawless one" we know what he is offering, maybe know it is a lie but rationalize that a lie we know is better than glorious future we don't know. But this lawless one lets us keep the illusion that we are in control, the illusion that it is our choice, never realizing that all of the so-called choices he gives are equally damning. Christ asks us to choose him, to admit that we have chosen badly, and follow him wherever he leads.

Acting this way--choosing a person rather than choosing a destination that we choose is really difficult because it means we don't get to be right. We don't get to be the hero of our own story. There is no more rationalization. We are failures-but failures who are deeply loved. 

We don't get to be right. Only Jesus gets to be right. That can be liberating or really upsetting. Every time we try to climb back in the throne and try to be the one who is right, we find it a loser's game.