Most of this communication is not what we would probably consider all that meaningful. It serves a purpose in the moment – an exchange of viewpoints or information, or just a chance to catch up with someone we know. But it is ephemeral; once it is over, it doesn’t stay with us and we don’t return to it. However, there are times in life when we find ourselves engaged in a conversation that can be truly meaningful, even life-changing.
In the Gospel today, a man named Nicodemus has a meaningful conversation with Jesus. A little context for you for the passage we heard: Nicodemus is a Pharisee, who has been impressed by Jesus’s teaching and his miracles. He comes to Jesus to discuss things with him further, but he comes to him at night, under the cover of darkness, afraid of what the other Pharisees might think of him taking Jesus seriously. Nicodemus is interested to find out what Jesus means when he says that we must be “born again”. He asks Jesus, "How is it possible for a person to be born twice?"
What results is a conversation that is anything but ephemeral. In fact, St. John the Evangelist records their dialogue as one of the key exchanges of his Gospel account, an insight into the purpose behind Jesus’s mission. In short, Jesus tells Nicodemus that human beings are sinful and headed for destruction because of our sin; however, God loved us, despite our sinfulness, even to the point of sending his Son. Jesus refers to himself in the third person, directing Nicodemus’s attention to the sacrifice on the cross that he will undergo as a sign of the profound love of God and as the remedy for human sinfulness. It is through faith in him and in what he will do that human beings are born again and can enter into the presence of God.
We have reached the Fourth Sunday of Lent, more or less the midpoint of this season of renewal and purification. Each of our readings today speak to us about the same theme: God’s love for humanity. The first reading, from the Second Book of Chronicles, reminds us that his love for us persists, even when we have sinned. The second reading, from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, tells us that it is a free gift, not one which we earn but offered out of sheer grace. And the passage from John’s Gospel that we just looked at states that God’s love must be accepted in faith for it to be salvific, that is, to save us from eternal death.
The Church gives us this theme of God’s love midway through this season for two reasons: first, to remind us why we are in this penitential season and second, to encourage us to be renewed in our efforts. After about a month of Lent – and the more intensive fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that this season calls us to – it can be easy to forget why we are doing this, or perhaps to be discouraged if our efforts have been lacking in some way. Rather than focus on our shortcomings though, the Church bids us “Rejoice” – remember God’s everlasting love, offered freely to us as a gift, and one that, accepted with faith in Jesus, merits our eternal salvation.
The question, of course, is whether we take this encouragement – this invitation – to heart. Too often, when Jesus bids us to come and be renewed by the knowledge of God’s love, we are hesitant to accept. For one, we can’t overcome our doubts that he really means what he says: "that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son," who took upon himself all of our sins and crucified them on the cross in order to give us life. We just fail in some way to really believe that that can be so. Others of us believe all of that in a half-hearted way, but it doesn’t really inspire within us anything in response; it fails to really ignite anything from us in return.
This was Nicodemus’s problem. The Church Fathers saw Nicodemus as a half-hearted disciple; he believed in Jesus, but he wanted to do so in secret only. He could have become as openly a follower of Christ as the Apostles, and yet the only time we see him again is after Jesus has died, when Nicodemus helps prepare his body for burial. We might say that Nicodemus is the first in a very long line of people, including many of us, who could be great followers of Jesus if only we weren’t so limited by what others might say in response.
What Nicodemus needed, and what we need too perhaps, especially at this point in Lent, is a reminder of the profound love of God. We’ve heard it in the readings, but we also must be convinced of it in our own hearts. The great writer C.S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, says that love is not so much something God does, but something that he is. This is seen most fully when we look at Jesus on the cross. He writes:
Friends, take a moment this week to have a meaningful conversation with God. Take a break from the busy grind of work or school, and get away for a little while, just yourself and the Lord. Speak to the Lord a bit about where you are at in your relationship with him, and let him speak to you. He went to the cross 2000 years ago out of love for you; with that same love, he desires to renew your spirit this day. In this Eucharist which we celebrate in a few moments, may we rush forward to meet the Lord, not with doubts or half-hearted conviction, but with confidence, with thanksgiving, and with rejoicing.
Visit of Nicodemus to Christ (1880) by John La Farge
What results is a conversation that is anything but ephemeral. In fact, St. John the Evangelist records their dialogue as one of the key exchanges of his Gospel account, an insight into the purpose behind Jesus’s mission. In short, Jesus tells Nicodemus that human beings are sinful and headed for destruction because of our sin; however, God loved us, despite our sinfulness, even to the point of sending his Son. Jesus refers to himself in the third person, directing Nicodemus’s attention to the sacrifice on the cross that he will undergo as a sign of the profound love of God and as the remedy for human sinfulness. It is through faith in him and in what he will do that human beings are born again and can enter into the presence of God.
We have reached the Fourth Sunday of Lent, more or less the midpoint of this season of renewal and purification. Each of our readings today speak to us about the same theme: God’s love for humanity. The first reading, from the Second Book of Chronicles, reminds us that his love for us persists, even when we have sinned. The second reading, from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, tells us that it is a free gift, not one which we earn but offered out of sheer grace. And the passage from John’s Gospel that we just looked at states that God’s love must be accepted in faith for it to be salvific, that is, to save us from eternal death.
The Church gives us this theme of God’s love midway through this season for two reasons: first, to remind us why we are in this penitential season and second, to encourage us to be renewed in our efforts. After about a month of Lent – and the more intensive fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that this season calls us to – it can be easy to forget why we are doing this, or perhaps to be discouraged if our efforts have been lacking in some way. Rather than focus on our shortcomings though, the Church bids us “Rejoice” – remember God’s everlasting love, offered freely to us as a gift, and one that, accepted with faith in Jesus, merits our eternal salvation.
The question, of course, is whether we take this encouragement – this invitation – to heart. Too often, when Jesus bids us to come and be renewed by the knowledge of God’s love, we are hesitant to accept. For one, we can’t overcome our doubts that he really means what he says: "that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son," who took upon himself all of our sins and crucified them on the cross in order to give us life. We just fail in some way to really believe that that can be so. Others of us believe all of that in a half-hearted way, but it doesn’t really inspire within us anything in response; it fails to really ignite anything from us in return.
This was Nicodemus’s problem. The Church Fathers saw Nicodemus as a half-hearted disciple; he believed in Jesus, but he wanted to do so in secret only. He could have become as openly a follower of Christ as the Apostles, and yet the only time we see him again is after Jesus has died, when Nicodemus helps prepare his body for burial. We might say that Nicodemus is the first in a very long line of people, including many of us, who could be great followers of Jesus if only we weren’t so limited by what others might say in response.
What Nicodemus needed, and what we need too perhaps, especially at this point in Lent, is a reminder of the profound love of God. We’ve heard it in the readings, but we also must be convinced of it in our own hearts. The great writer C.S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, says that love is not so much something God does, but something that he is. This is seen most fully when we look at Jesus on the cross. He writes:
“God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing… the buzzing cloud of flies about the Cross, the flayed back [of Jesus]…, the nails driven through…. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves.”Lewis’s profound words remind us that God knew – before all time, from all eternity – that mankind would fall into sin, and so doom itself to death, and that to save it, he would send his Only Son, who also would be rejected, and who would be put to death in a terrible way. He knew all of that before he ever created a thing, before he ever said, “Let there be light…” He did it all anyway, because he loves us – because he loves you, personally, by name – with a love that is everlasting.
Friends, take a moment this week to have a meaningful conversation with God. Take a break from the busy grind of work or school, and get away for a little while, just yourself and the Lord. Speak to the Lord a bit about where you are at in your relationship with him, and let him speak to you. He went to the cross 2000 years ago out of love for you; with that same love, he desires to renew your spirit this day. In this Eucharist which we celebrate in a few moments, may we rush forward to meet the Lord, not with doubts or half-hearted conviction, but with confidence, with thanksgiving, and with rejoicing.
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