Leave it all, to receive it all (Lent 2)

Genesis 12:1-4     John 3:1-17  Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Genesis 12 summarizes the life of faith. “Go,” God says, “to the place I will show you.” “Leave,” God demands, “your place of security—family, identity, all you hold dear.”  The Lord promises Abram great things: he will be a nation, he will be blessed, he will be a blessing. But this comes at a cost--Abram must leave behind all that he has. God gives us promises, and we respond in faith. Or as Jesus says it, "You must die to live."

If this sounds negative ponder reality. A container must be empty before you can fill it. It is a physical law and a spiritual law as well. In the spiritual life, kenosis—self emptying—is the beginning of every journey. It is the spiritual law of love. Even God had to empty Himself to unite with humanity. God the Son emptied Himself to become the man Jesus. We, too, must be emptied. It is not easy. Like Abram we cling to the illusion of security that our identity and possessions seem to give us. False security is at the core of what is wrong with us human beings. It is this false security which Jesus addresses in the Gospel today.

John 3:1 actually says, “Now there was an (Greek) anthropos (man/human) of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.” This immediately follows John 2:23-25, where we learn that many are drawn to Jesus because they see His signs, “But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew them all, He did not need anyone to testify to Him about (anthropos-humans) because He knew what was in (anthropos-humans).

Nicodemus is a human drawn to Jesus by the signs. Jesus knew what was in him. Nicodemus calls Jesus “a teacher come from God,” but he is in the dark (of his comfortable religious assumptions) and fails to understand. Humans need to be born from above, to leave behind the old life to receive the Kingdom. The Greek word ‘anothen’ which means ‘above’, see 3:31, can also mean ‘again.’ The baffled Nicodemus thinks it means “born again,” Jesus explains that to be born from above is a work of the Holy Spirit and baptism. In other words, Nicodemus is invited to join the church—to become part of the Jesus movement.

God sent His only son to save the world, not to condemn it, but humans are free to reject the Son. We can refuse the offer of salvation and reduce  Jesus to another human who was great teacher or miracle worker—this is what it means to love darkness and turn from the light. Nicodemus is in the dark (literally and figuratively), misunderstanding Jesus he ponders "being born again" and he asks, “How can this be?” The answer is know Jesus--the One who descended from heaven. The One who will be lifted up on the cross. The One God gave to save the world. 

What would we give up to receive God's promises? Will we empty ourselves to receive Jesus? Do we trust enough to die to self and be born from above? How can this be when our heart is untrustworthy? If the human heart is untrustworthy, Jesus gives us hope that God can make us new in baptism through the Holy Spirit. In John 14, Jesus says, “If you love Me and obey Me then the Father and I will live in you.” This is our promise, and we must empty to receive.