Confident Ruler: From Accolades to Adoration
Mar 04, 2009
Matt Boulter
"Confident Ruler: From Accolades to Adoration," the Senior Sermon of Matt Boulter, Class of 2009, given on March 4, 2009, in Christ Chapel
John 2:23 - 3:15.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Great, here I am standing before a bunch of religious professionals, and my job is to show you how Jesus confronts and challenges a religious professional. Because that is just what Nicodemus is.
Here is a man who is a member of Jewish ruling council, the sanhedran, and therefore, he is:
* old
* a man
* rich
* learned ("teachers of Israel": v 10: this is actually a technical term. PhD, accredited, cultural elite).
In other words, this is the last person in the world who you would think needs to be "born again." You see? When you and I as modern, sophisticated Americans think about someone who needs to be "born again," we tend to think, "Ah, well ... yes ... some people might need that ‘born again' stuff. You know, convicts on death row, criminals, maybe some former drug addicts or drug dealers. But not me.
But you see, look at N. He wasn't any of that. If anything, the woman at the well in the next chapter is like that! Interesting that Jesus does not tell her that she needs to be born again, isn't it. And, I mean, after all, it's not like N. had some kind of dramatic conversion experience. Not at all. And yet, Jesus looks at him, the Confident Ruler, he looks at him, and says, "You must be born again."
And, by the way we know that N. did receive new life, he was born again.
But, we'll get to that in a minute.
But even though I might feel a little awkward about this particular story (how come I couldn't talk about the wedding feast of Cana in John 2, or the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4?), actually this story is full of good news for you and for me, religious professionals that we are.
Look at how Jesus interacts and engages this man. What's interesting is actually how he doesn't engage him. Because his dealing with N. are the total opposite of his dealings with the Samarian woman at the well a few verses later. The differences abound: she is in broad daylight, with nothing to hide, and no ability to hide it. He comes to Jesus in the middle of the night. Now, right away, this tells me that, unlike her, he has something to protect.
Have you ever noticed how religious professionals are often tempted to strike a deal with Jesus? That's one of the things going on in this story, it seems to me. Nicodemus says to Jesus, "We know that you are a great teacher." Not "I," but "we." As if to say, "You know, Jesus, most of us in the religious establishment are against you, but some of us ... well, some of us recognize your giftedness and we wanna play ball with you."
How does Jesus engage this man?
Consider Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well. In that story, it's like Jesus is trying to put her at ease so that she will be able to talk. His goal is to allow her to talk, to give her a safe space in which to express herself. And at the end of that story, her lips which had been glued shut because of shame have been opened by this loving stranger, so that she is able to go back to her village, and her words flow freely: "here is a man who told me everything I ever did!"
But, then check out N: here is a man for whom talking is his forte. And so he approaches Jesus (the woman, BTW, is approached by Jesus) and he immediately begins to define the topic, and to impose his own grid, his own categories. His categories for what is, and is not, possible. "Lord, we know you are a teacher, because ... well, we know that these things would not be possible." Three times in this story he opens his mouth and speaks. Three times he tries to limit what is or is not possible.
But as the conversation goes on, Jesus reduces this expert, this man with all the answers, to questions, and then to silence. Nicodemus speaks three times in this story: the first time he utters 40 words; the second time he utters 20 words; the third time he utters 4words. And in the end, he is reduced to silence before the mysterious Christ.
I don't know what Nicodemus was thinking as he walked away from Jesus' location, but hopefully he got the picture that, with God, all things are possible. Even if that is deeply deeply unsettling to our own categories & preconceived notions.
How does Jesus engage Nicodemus? By respecting him in his uniqueness, but also by challenging his categories.
The woman at the well needed to be built up in confidence. She needed to be greatly esteemed by a man who loved her, not for the favors she could give him, but for who she was. She needed to find her voice.
But Nicodemus? He needed to question his voice. He needed to be shown some humility. You might say some intellectual humility. He needed to realize that the light he needed was not the light of his mind. Instead, the light he needed was standing right before him: the of the world that shines in the darkness and is not overcome by it.
But there is one more thing he does for Nicodemus, and this is the most important thing of all. He shows him the cross. (You know, in my former days as a Presby minister, I used to always try to connect my sermons to the death & resurrection of Jesus. But now, as an Episcopalian / Anglican, I know that its really the "paschal mystery" that is so important. I agree with Rowan Williams: the Scripture's power, authority, and meaning are all rooted in the paschal mystery of Christ. Why? Because that is how we perform our faith in baptism and in eucharist.)
And so, in my Presbyterian days I would always try to root my sermons in the death & resurrection of Christ.
Luckily, in this passage, the paschal mystery sticks out like a sore thumb. After reducing this religious expert to silence, he points him to the cross. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life." (Nu 21:8-9)
See put it like this. How does N. start this conversation? "Jesus, we know you are an amazing teacher."
And how does Jesus respond? He responds - abruptly, vehemently ... I mean, he's interrupting him, and at the end of the chapter Nicodemus is totally silent, just listening - by saying, "You think I'm just a really good teacher? If you really believe that, you'll never be born again."
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Nicodemus, you think you need a teacher? You need a Savior. You think you need teaching? You need a whole new life.
You need a second life, not the kind of second life like you can find on secondlife.com ... a life in which you can "live" out all your fantasies ... but a second life in which you have indestructible power, power from above. (The Gk word in this passage for "born again" also means "born from above.") A life from above, in which you don't have to go sneaking around at night. (BTW, I am sure that most secondlife.com players do their playing of that game at night, when it's less likely that real people with real bodies will find out about it.)
"You won't have to go sneaking around at night. You know why? B/c you won't have anything to protect. You'll become like the woman at the well, who testified to me in broad daylight, for the world to see."
You'll have nothing left to protect, because you will have nothing left to lose. (And here's where I always quote Christ Christofferson: "Freedom's just another word for ‘nothin left to lose.'")
And here's the amazing thing about this little story. We know that's just what happened to Nicodemus. He did get a second life. Not a cheap, solitary second life. But a real second life, a real new life.
In John 19 [verse 39], sixteen chapters later, we read about Nicodemus again. And now, he has seen the son of Man lifted up. He has lived through the cross.
And what's he doing? He's bringing myrrh and aloe and spices, and he's tending to the crucified body of Jesus. He's venerating, adoring, the body of Christ.
And what's more, he's doing this in the light of day, not at night, for all the world to see. He is a changed man. If, by this point in the story, Nicodemus thought that J was just a really great teacher, he never would have done that.
What changed? He now understands what Jesus was saying on that dark, stormy night. He now knows better than to put God in a box, a box of human certainty, a box of human possibility.
He now knows what he needs is not just teaching. Not just a teacher but a savior who is lifted up. Lifted up, worshipped, and adored.
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him, may have eternal life."
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
