“Nicodemus meets Jesus” (John 3:1-17)

John 3:1-17

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 20, 2018

Nicodemus is an expert in Hebrew Bible. He is a highly educated. He is a highly respected leader. He hears about Jesus. And now he wants to meet him. He comes to Jesus by night. He likely did not want his conversation with Jesus to be publicly known. He might have even been embarrassed or ashamed for people to know he sought a private meeting with Jesus. And so he comes under the cover of darkness. But he also comes under the shroud of spiritual and intellectual darkness. His purpose for going to meet Jesus is not very clear. His objective in seeking Jesus may not even be very clear to Nicodemus himself! At first, Nicodemus sounds like he has come out to validate Jesus and his ministry. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

William Hole 1846-1917

Jesus turns the tables very quickly to say that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. In other words, “Nicodemus, you cannot truly know the presence of God by intellectual knowledge.” And when that confuses Nicodemus, Jesus says, “You cannot enter the kingdom unless you are born of water and the Spirit.” In other words, “Nicodemus, you cannot truly participate in what God is doing unless God brings you into its reality. And he does so through Baptism—the water, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. “Do not be astonished,” Jesus says to Nicodemus. The Holy Spirit is like the wind that you cannot control or predict when and to whom he will give new life. But this confuses Nicodemus even more! “How can these things be?” he says. And that’s when Jesus really turns the table on Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” “You came to validate me as a faithful teacher and I cannot even validate you?”

I love this exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus. Because it reminds us of something very important: Christianity is not about intellectual knowledge. Being a child of God is not about how smart we are. God is not impressed by arrogance. As one pastor in New York City told me, “Theological superiority does not do well in the city.” Ironically, confidence in ourselves—in our smarts or our abilities—hold us back. Just like Nicodemus, we are in the dark if we think we can intellectually make our way to God. I believe God asks us let go of the pride. He asks us to let go of notion that we have this God thing figured out. He asks us to let go of the delusion that God can be fit into a reduced and manageable formula. “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him,” Scripture says (1 Cor 2:9; Isa 64:4). Thanks be to God that we do not enter the Kingdom of God through our theological prowess, intellect, or street smarts. We walk by faith, not by sight. And when we do, we open ourselves up to the majesty and mystery of God. We have a glimpse of his glory through Jesus Christ. Our intelligence is put to good use—when filled with the wonder and love of God. We enter the Kingdom of God as little children. And like all children we are born of water. But now, as the children of God, we are born of water—but also the Word, and the Holy Spirit. “Unless we become as little children,” Jesus says, “you will not enter the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:15).

Nicodemus was humbled and brought into the awe and wonder of God. And that is a good thing. That’s what happened to Isaiah when he encounters God in our Old Testament reading. He realizes his mortality, his sinfulness, and his unworthiness. Nicodemus also realizes the limitations of his brilliant mind. He came to visit a teacher under the cover of darkness. And he is blinded by the light of truth from Jesus who is much more than a teacher. He is God’s Son, sent by the love of the Father to bring forgiveness and eternal life to anyone who receives him by faith—by faith—not by our credentials, intellect, sincerity, or good works. This is what Jesus graciously does for Nicodemus. He helps him let go of the delusion that he had everything categorized and figured out. Jesus helps Nicodemus let go of what he thinks he knows about Jesus to enter into a life-changing relationship with God.

That is what Holy Trinity Sunday is all about—to be humbled and be brought into the awe, wonder, and mystery of the one true and living God who is also three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father loves the world. He demonstrates his love by sending his Son Jesus to be born, live, teach, heal, die and rise again. He sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives so that we are born again—born from above, forgiven, and with the assurance of eternal life. There is no way we can wrap our minds around that. And that is just the point that we are to discover through this story of Nicodemus. It is not about our minds wrapping around the mysteries of God but the loving, forgiving, and life-giving arms of Triune God that wrap around us. Cleansed of pride and self-righteousness, Nicodemus and we are finally ready to receive that simple yet mind-boggling message, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

“The Advocate” (John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15)

John 15:26-27; 16:4-15

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 20, 2018

Jesus’ words to us in our Gospel reading describe the significance of what happened on the Day of Pentecost. The disciples are worshiping in the Temple. The Holy Spirit descends from heaven in the sound of a mighty rushing wind and fiery tongues. In various languages they proclaim the mighty acts of God. This all happened to fulfill Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit. It is a fulfillment of John the Baptist’s words that Jesus will not just baptize with water but with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And even though we changed our interior design, floral arrangements, and wardrobe to be filled with red on this special day. Jesus’ promise was not that the Holy Spirit would make a one-time visit but that he would be our Advocate.

The New Testament word is Paraclete or Advocate. It means “the one called alongside.” The Holy Spirit is our companion. He is our advocate. He is our teacher and counselor. He is the one who equips and the one who convicts. Jesus knows that we need the Holy Spirit. He himself was the disciples’ advocate in his earthly ministry. He came alongside sinners. He accompanied them, advocated for them, taught them, guided them, equipped them, rebuked them. And so now the Holy Spirit has come along our side. He comes in the strength and compassion of God the Father and God the Son. He is not an independent contractor. He is carrying out the mission of Triune God.

The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, is the answer to our loneliness. Jesus knew the sorrow and fear of abandonment in the hearts of his disciples. He knows our sorrows and our fear of being alone too. He is the one who cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He sends the Advocate to assure us that we will not be left as orphans. The Holy Spirit’s vocation is to show up in our lives and come alongside us. He calls others out and gathers us together to walk, pray, and worship alongside one another. That is what the Church is—those called out—same base word ecclesia.

The Holy Spirit teaches us. And he does not just deliver the message from point A to point B. He writes it into our hearts. He opens our minds to understand the Scriptures. And so Paul will say things like, “I planted [the seed of God’s Word], Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” The Holy Spirit makes us teachable, softens hearts, and illuminates our minds and spirits. He comes alongside us to transform us body, mind, and soul.

The Holy Spirit testifies and enables us to testify—to tell the good news of Jesus Christ. He gives us the words and courage to deliver them. Do you feel the urge to let other people know about the great things God has done for you in Jesus? That is what the Holy Spirit began on Pentecost when they spoke the mighty acts of God. The Holy Spirit helps us to translate into all the various tongues, languages, dialects, and colloquialisms. Those around us need translation! The Holy Spirit equips us learn to communicate in meaningful and culturally relevant ways. Many have not grown up with religious language but our Advocate can help us translate.

The Holy Spirit comes to convict us of our sin—to show us where we have strayed, done wrong, and withheld good to others. This is a compassionate conviction—not to get us into trouble but to get us out of trouble. And so it is when the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and we speak the truth of God’s Word. If we do so to bring shame, guilt, and condemnation we are only going to crush or drive away others. We are called to come alongside people to speak the truth in love. Let the Holy Spirit do the convicting. And when he does—when he shows us and others our sin—he opens our hearts to the rich forgiveness and righteousness we have in Christ.

Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Thanks be do God that he does not expect for us to drink out of a fire hydrant. Jesus is patient. He realizes that discipleship is a journey that takes time. The Holy Spirit comes along our sides over and over again. The Holy Spirit comes alongside us for our whole journey—though loneliness, burnout, discouragement, speechlessness, purposelessness, and meaninglessness. God gives us the assurance of his grace and presence. God is not just in our corner but on our side—called to accompany us from our Baptism to our resurrection. He comes to us in our Baptism, he comes alongside when we pray, every time we hear the Word, with the Bread and the Wine and the Body and the Blood. He comes to us in our worship. He is our companion as we reach out to each other and encourage each other in Christian fellowship and community.

“Seated at the right hand of the Father” (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Ephesians 1:15-23

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 13, 2018

In our Scripture from Ephesians, Paul wants our faith and love to increase. He prays for “the eyes of our hearts” to be enlightened—to light up with the hope, riches, and great power of God. He wants us to come to know Jesus at a deeper level. He wants the great power displayed in the resurrection and the ascension to greatly impact us. He has us consider what it means for Jesus to be raised from the dead and raised to heaven.

“He is seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

God challenges the idea that the Gospel is no longer relevant—that when Jesus ascended to heaven he went away. No one denies that Jesus is a historical figure. But many deny that he is living and active in this world. Even as believers we may have a narrow vision of Christ and his presence in our lives and the lives of those around us. Or we may sometimes grow cynical about just how active God really is in our daily lives. I think technology can often be a lot more impressive and relevant in our minds. It is pretty impressive—and a bit frightening—to think that when you walk into a store the cameras may be equipped with facial recognition software to track your movements and purchasing behavior—all to better help them sell you more stuff. Are we more captivated by what is on our smartphones than by what is happening right around us? Someone sent me a cartoon this week of a man standing at the gate of heaven being told, “You had a great life but you were too busy looking down at your phone. And you missed it.” Just as the angel in our reading from Acts challenged the disciples after the ascension to stop gazing up at the sky. So Paul’s prays for the eyes of our heart to be enlightened so that we may see the risen Christ as living and active.

The wording of our Scripture—that he is seated at the right hand of the father—can sound archaic and distant. This, of course, is a metaphor since God is spirit. And don’t worry, left handers, this is simply emphasizing the strength of God and a reference to the Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah. God wants us to know this simple truth—Jesus reigns. The Psalms are rich with descriptions of the exalted Christ who sits at the strong hand of God. Our Psalm we sang earlier talks about God who reigns over the nations and sits upon his holy throne. God the Father and God the Son both share power and authority. When Jesus was raised from the dead—and when Jesus was raised into heaven in the ascension—he was positioning himself to be living and active in the world. He may not be visible and audible like he was in his earthly ministry, but in many ways he is even more present in the world.

This is the way Paul prays for us to come to know him—as highly exalted and the one “who fills all in all.” Theologians call this the ubiquity of Christ—or the omnipresence of God—“who fills all in all.” This is how we have come to know Jesus—the eyes of our hearts enlightened—our imaginations inspired. This is the Jesus we trust—the one who died for our sins and was raised from the dead and who ascended to his heavenly throne. The ascended Christ is the answer to our prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The King comes to us by his Word, his Spirit, the Water, the Bread and the Wine. Our reigning Messiah comes to us when we pray and encourage one another in the Lord. This is the beautiful truth that we celebrate today: that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. We celebrate this every time we confess the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. We pray for its relevance every time we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “thy Kingdom come” and celebrate it when we say, “thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.”

Jesus is seated at the strong hand of the Father. He is not up there. He is here to guide and protect you. The Word made flesh is living and active (Heb 4:12). He upholds the universe by the word of his power (Heb 1:3). Jesus is at the helm. Though the waters roar and the thunder cracks, Jesus will take us safely through the storm of this life. Jesus is at his command post and the point man who holds our field in battle. His rod and his staff will shepherd us through the valley of darkness and the shadow of death. Jesus is God’s right hand man. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit work in perfect unity and harmony to deliver us from the perils of our sin. Jesus is reigning Messiah who does not just rule over us but for us. He forgives. He assures us of his grace and love. He gives us hope in eternal life and a share in his Kingdom now. Jesus is King whose reign extends over heaven and earth. His Kingdom knows no boundaries—and no dead ends. His goodness overflows and spills out of his heavenly Kingdom to all the earth. The ascended Christ fills all in all.

“Friendship with Jesus,” John 15:9-17

John 15:9-17

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 6, 2018

You’ll remember that it was an insult from religious leaders: “Jesus is friend of sinners,” they said. Like a lot of insults toward people in history, this one becomes a badge of honor. “I am a friend of sinners.” “You are my friends,” Jesus says. There is so much talk of love in the Scriptures—especially John’s Gospel. “For God so loved the world he sent his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” “No one has greater love than this than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends.” The great commandment is to “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” The second is like it, “To love your neighbor as yourself—to love one another as Christ loved us.” It almost comes as a shock to us to hear that God not only loves us but that he likes us. I believe Jesus wants to have this effect on us with his words. So much talk of love, love, love—that we run the risk of making it into an abstraction. No, Jesus says, “I do love you. I even like you.” That’s God’s obligation to fulfill the law. He must love us to fulfill the Law. But, we may think, God does not have to like us. Thanks be to God, he does!

That's Jesus’ challenge for us. Do not just love others in word. Be friends to them from the heart and in action. Do not let your love be a theological abstraction but a joyful and authentic expression of friendship. Jesus reminds us that the greatest expression of love is to lay one’s life down for our friends. True friendship is sacrificial. It is giving of one’s self for the benefit of another. When we are true friends, we are not fixated on ourselves. The proverb says, “A person of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (18:24). And another proverb says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (17:17). Or as the cliché goes, “You cannot choose family but you can choose your friends.” Jesus says, “You did not choose me. I chose you.” Love seems more like an obligation—especially since we are born into a particular family. But genuine friendship is completely voluntary.  “I have to love you,” we might think, “but I do not need to like you.” “Salute the uniform but not the person,” we might advise. Jesus says, “No, then your love is phony. It is an ivory tower love. It is a heavenly love but of no earthly good.”

Christ-like friendship does not begin by our being drawn to a person because of their magnetic personality and the perks we receive from the relationship. Christ-like friendship begins by being a friend to that person first. Authentic friendship says, “I chose you. I took the risk of being a friend to you without any expectation of anything return.” I accept you as you are. Just as Jesus befriended us when we did nothing to earn or deserve such authentic love. Sometimes we do not even recognize such reckless love being extended to us. We may take it for granted. We may think we deserve such kindness and consideration when in reality a person is reaching out to us to win our friendship. True friendship is rare because it is a risky business. We may be rejected. We may get burned. We may get crucified. Jesus says, “Nevertheless, be a Christ-like friend to others.” As another proverb says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and a winner of souls is wise” (11:30).

Jesus’ powerful reminder to us today is that you and I are worth the risk. Jesus put himself out there. He showed interest in those around him. No one was invisible to him. He cared about the struggles, pain, and death all around him. And yet, “He was despised and rejected by people, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…and we did not esteem him” (Isa 53:3). All the disciples were fair-weather friends to Jesus their master. They all ran away when he was arrested. He was mocked. His reputation was attacked. He was crucified. And yet he kept on extending the hand of friendship out to us. Our faithful Friend said, “Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing” even as he died for us. This is what Jesus says he wants for you and me: For our joy to be full and for our friendships to be authentic. Just as it was for our friend Jesus “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).

Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice
With exultation springing,
And with united heart and voice
And holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God has done,
How His right arm the vict’ry won.
What price our ransom cost Him!

To me He said: “Stay close to Me,
I am your rock and castle.
Your ransom I Myself will be;
For you I strive and wrestle.
For I am yours, and you are Mine,
And where I am you may remain;
The foe shall not divide us.”
          “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sin” (LSB 833, vv. 7 & 8)