First Lutheran Church
March 5, 2023 + The Second Sunday in Lent
11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
“New Beginnings”
Pastor Greg Ronning
In today’s appointed Gospel Nicodemus asks the question, "How can anyone be born after having grown old?" “How can anyone be born again?” At first glance it’s kind of a strange question, but at its heart, it’s actually a very familiar question. It’s a question that we have all asked at one time or another. Essentially, Nicodemus is wondering if it’s possible to “start over again.” And that’s something all of us have asked at one time or another. We’ve all wanted a second chance, we’ve all wanted a do-over, we’ve all wanted a mulligan, we’ve all wanted another opportunity, - we’ve all sought after a new beginning.
I often daydream about what a new beginning might look like in my life. I wonder what would it take for me to be able to “start over?” What kind of things would need to take place to set me up for a “second chance?” What conditions might set me free to write a “new chapter” in life with the days still allotted to me? How might a I get a fresh start in my career, my vocational pursuits, my retirement, my passions, my interests, my faith, my participation in the life of the Kingdom of God? We all dream about starting over, new beginnings, but it seems we seldom get or seize the opportunity.
What is it that prevents us from “starting over again?” What is it that keeps us from “new beginnings?” There are plenty of obstacles that hold us back. We all want change but at the same time we all really don’t like change. Change makes us anxious, and there are so many things to be anxious about when it comes to change, - security, finances, and the expectations of others. And of course, there is always doubt and fear, - there is always doubt and fear. And so it is that in the end, we often only dream about a new beginning, relegating ourselves to living out the same old story. It’s just easier.
I don’t know about you, but when the Mega Millions pay out got up to One Billion dollars, I went out and bought a ticket. If I was to win that prize, that would surely open the door to an easy new beginning! That kind of money would certainly alleviate all my concerns about finances and security. My choices would be unlimited! Hey, a few million bucks would probably even take away some of the doubt and fear!
And then, yes then, I could write a new and faithful chapter in my life. The things I could do for God would be amazing. I could feed the poor, house the homeless, create educational scholarships, lobby for peace and justice. My tithe to the church would be transformational to the life of this congregation. I could expand the Caring Hands Ministry to include social workers, counselors, health workers. I can see it now, they could all be housed in a new building appropriately named, “Caring Hands – The Greg Ronning Center for Social Ministry.” I would be limited only by the amount of money my winning lottery ticket would be worth. That would be a great way to be “born again.” A new life filled with faith and good works.
But that just doesn’t seem to be the way that God does new beginnings. New beginnings with God start in a whole different way. The great 19th century theologian Soren Kierkegaard comments on today's first lesson, the call of Abraham and Sarah, the new beginning given to them by God. He writes, "Abraham takes one thing with him and leaves one thing behind. He leaves behind his earthly understanding and takes with him faith. Otherwise, his journey would have seemed and been totally unreasonable."
That's the kind of new beginnings that God gives to us. It's not grounded in our reason, in the world's established way of doing things, in our structures, within our systems, our way of thinking, familiar habits, and conventional ruts. It’s not rooted in economic security. It does not come with a guarantee. It does not come easy. All those things are not part of the equation. The things of this world are left behind, the new beginnings that God provides happen in, with, and through faith, in “faith alone.” A faith that sees and understands the world differently.
When God reaches out to Abraham and Sarah with the invitation to start over again, to begin again, to write a new chapter in their life, to offer them a new beginning, Abraham is seventy-five years old, and Sarah is sixty-five years old. They have a good life in Haran, they have a place to live, they have acquired some wealth and possessions, they are comfortable. While they do not have offspring, they are surrounded by their kinfolk. Things are good for them.
But something is missing, and it seems, deep down, they must know it. They must have known that there was something more to life, something more for their life. And it was true, God does have something more in store for them. So it is that in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, God enters into history, into their story, and offers them a new beginning, an adventure, a great destiny. Abraham and Sarah are to be the parents of a great nation, a nation that will be blessed by God, a nation that will reveal God to all the world. What an amazing dream!
But note, this adventure, this incredible new start does not begin with God blessing Abraham with greater power and an increase in wealth, no check from the lottery. Instead God tells them to pack up all their things and go to Canaan, - that's it. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. They are told to simply pack up your things, leave behind your good life, your routines, your friends and extended family, your safety and security, and head into a land where you will have nothing, where there will be enemies, and lots of uncertainty. Abraham is called to be a sojourner in this land, a stranger in a strange land, someone who must wander from place to place, live off the land and the hospitality of others. It doesn’t make sense, it’s totally unreasonable. “But Abraham believed, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” In with and through faith Abraham and Sarah, make the journey, they begin again, they are “born again” into a new life. "Abraham takes one thing with him and leaves one thing behind. He leaves behind his earthly understanding and takes with him faith. Otherwise, his journey would have seemed and been totally unreasonable." (Kierkegaard)
Such it is with the “new beginnings” of scripture. Abraham and Sarah leave the security of home for the unknown of Canaan. Next, Moses will leave behind his flocks to go tell the most powerful person on the earth, "Let my people go!" Years later Joseph's new beginning will start when his brothers sell him into slavery. Mary gets a new beginning when she finds out she’s unexpectedly pregnant with the Christ child. The great dream of her life begins with the shunned and outcast life of an unwed mother. And many years later a few fishermen will drop their nets and leave their families and their boats behind to follow a traveling preacher named Jesus. And in today's gospel Nicodemus asks what he must do to have a new beginning, and he is told he must be “born again.” The new beginnings of God demand that we leave behind “earthly understandings” for they are born not of this world, but of water and spirit, in faith, and faith alone. We are called to leave everything else behind.
Sounds daunting, but hear the “good news!” In Christ Jesus we have all been gifted with faith, not just a gift of faith that saves our souls from “some kind of hell” but a gift of faith that sets us free from this world and its ways, the bonds of “earthly understanding,” in order that we might really “become,” and do “something” with our life. Your desire for a new beginning, wherever you are in your life, whatever stage in life you are living, will not be found in the ways of this world. Wealth and power will not bring about the things that you want, the path of convention will not give you meaning and purpose, clinging in fear to safety and security will not open the door to your destiny, you are not going to find a transformational new beginning in the way things are.
God gives us a new way of looking at the world. God gives us the eyes of faith that reveal those things for what they really are, - empty. And when are set free from the empty living of the principalities and powers that surround us, the gift of faith sets us free to walk away from the world and into a promised land. We are set free to a life where all things become new.
St. Paul writes in the second chapter of Philippians, verse 5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” God’s great beginning in Jesus Christ begins the same way that all the other new beginnings of faith began. God leaves it all behind, God descends from the heavens, and becomes a sojourner, a stranger in a strange land, a human, Jesus of Nazareth. God leaves everything behind, taking only faith, and the gift of faith for you and I.
That’s the way you “begin again,” that’s how you are “born again.” I guess that’s what they call it “a leap of faith.” And yes, it is natural to be afraid of taking that leap, it’s not easy, it’s not to be taken lightly, but it’s also not to be taken alone. The good news of the gospel is that God has taken the leap, the saints of old have taken the leap. And as you take the leap, they will be with you, we will be with each other, and Christ will be with you. This good news calms our fears and produces faith, faith that leaps into the future.
As you continue your Lenten journey; the call to repentance, a call to stop, a call to turn around, a call to change, a call to be “born again;” May the faith that resides in your heart rise up, giving you the courage to fully embrace the new beginning God has waiting for you. Amen.