3.5.23 "A Lantern in the Wind" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Genesis 12.1-4; John 3.1-17

“A lantern in the wind" … 

A book title … the biography of Mary Ellen Chase, an American educator, teacher, scholar, and author. … one of the most important .. New England literary figures of the early twentieth century.

Mary Ellen Chase … a lantern in the wind.

I came across her name in a recent blog by Fr. Richard Rohr - and, by the way, if you want to engage with a first-rate writer of good thought and life, check out Fr. Richard Rohr, his blogs, his books … a gift for our times.

Fr. Rohr quoted May Ellen Chase in her summary of the Prophet Jeremiah … a man of intense passion, with a vision for what could be, with endless questions and challenges to the nation: “Why not?”

Jeremiah was my first real engagement with the Bible … Jeremiah caught my attention … his honesty, passion, impatience, reluctance, anger - anger at God for putting him up to this task, and just plain frustration with a nation bent on using God, but not loving God … and through it all, Jeremiah’s incredible connection to God.

God burns in his belly … a message for the nation, for the nations of the world …

But few are interested in what Jeremiah has to say.

Jeremiah … accused of treason, a troubler of kings and priests … arrested, imprisoned … tradition says he was stoned to death in Egypt by his own people.

On this, the Second Sunday of Lent, we do well to consider Jeremiah … this man of great intent and focus … 

He’s a man who believes God is right, love is the only way, truth has to be a part of the deal … 

And justice … always justice … 

Justice for those who are the first to suffer at the hands of the privileged and the powerful … 

Those who suffer the abuses of priest and king …

The poor of the land … the widow, the orphan, the stranger at the gate.

Jeremiah gives everything for the cause of God … this Lantern in the Wind … hanging from the highest heavens of hope, shining bright with the light of God, blowing in the wind … the winds of the Spirit, for sure, the fierce winds of hell … but the lantern is not loosened, the light shines … it dances across the land of Judah, and to this very day, it dances in the hearts and minds of God’s people, everywhere.

The light dances here, in the story and spirit of Westminster Presbyterian Church … literally, with all the light pouring through our windows … spiritually, the light of heaven falling upon our souls … the Spirit nudging us, calling us, challenging us …

To become lanterns in the wind …

But let’s step a bit - to the beginnings of our story … all the way back to Abram and Sarai … when God paid them a visit.

With an invitation … a command … a calling - to leave behind the usual and the commonplace … for all of us, in such times as ours, to set aside the familiar things, things we already know, what we trust, what we love, where we feel safe … go from your country, says God, your kindred, your father’s house … to a land I will show you! 

With a promise: I will make of you a great nation …   

Greatness … greatness is the possibility … greatness in love and faith, hope and goodness, peace and kindness, decency and mercy, courage and vision, imagination and invention … greatness to transcend the boundaries, greatness to heal the wounded, greatness to lift up the fallen, greatness, to restore the broken … greatness in our dreams and in our labors for a better world.

Not a day should run its course until we have wrestled with the angels of God, and what this greatness means … to question ourselves, search our souls, seek the kingdom of God … ask as Nicodemus does, How can this be?

Jesus says to Nicodemus: don’t pretend you don’t know … you know that you know … you have it all in your traditions and stories … you’ve got Moses and Jeremiah; you’ve got the law and the prophets - what you lack is courage … the courage to go a little deeper, a little higher  … this business of life requires some risk-taking … going further than you thought you could … 

Jesus says to Nicodemus: no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit …  

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity … the Psalmist writes: cleanse me from my sin … purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Ezekiel writes: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness….

In the ancient world, water was precious … by water, Israel was saved from the fury of Pharaoh … by water, Noah’s ark rode out the storm … by water, Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River … at the wedding of Cana, water is turned into wine.

Of water and the Spirit … 

Jesus uses the image of wind to describe the work of the Spirit … something fresh and invigorating, a good wind blowing … wind, free and unpredictable, blowing here, blowing there … the Spirit of God is like the wind.

Wind is not ours to make or control … it is ours to receive.

By water and the Spirit … the material and the invisible … the daily routines of mindfulness and prayer … and the promise of God to be at work in all things for good.

By water and by the Spirit … 

Here we are, today, the second Sunday of Lent … with communion, the LORD’s Supper, the Eucharist … the bread, broken; the cup, poured … this is my body, this is my blood!

Just bread, just some juice … we say the words, and the living word of Christ is present … Christ is here, to make all things new.

A lantern in the wind … it’s light shines bright, the light of faith, hope, and love; grace, mercy, and peace … dancing all around us, in the corners of our mind, in the quiet places of our soul … places of hurt and fear, loneliness and insecurity … the wind is there, the lantern weaves and dances … there is light … we’re encouraged … called to the things of God … to walk with Abram and Sarai to a land only God can show us … to be born anew in the goodness of Christ … 

To become for the world, a lantern in the wind.

Amen and Amen!

June 3, 2012, "The Will of the Wind"

John 3.1-17

Nicodemus, ol’ boy, you’ve got to start all over again!

That’s the message Jesus offers to this bright and timid man.

Nicodemus is bright.

One of Israel’s best.

A leader, a teacher!

And he wants to know more about Jesus.

But he’s also a timid man.

He comes to Jesus under the cover of nightfall.

He’s not about to meet Jesus in broad daylight.

But meet Jesus, he does.

He’s on the right track!

He recognizes in Jesus something great.

Something important.

His eyes, still partially shut, but he sees glimpses of truth … and timid or not, he goes to Jesus.

When it’s dark, or when it’s light … when things are good, and when things are bad … every day of our life, to Jesus we go.

The hymn puts it beautifully, I need Thee every hour!

Jesus in the morning … and Jesus in the night.

When I’m rich and when I’m poor.

When I’m happy and when I’m sad.

When my heart is full of joy.

When my eyes are full of tears.

I need Thee every hour!

To this timid man, this bright man … a man who desires truth, Jesus says, You need to start all over again!

Who doesn’t need a fresh start from time-to-time?

A change of mind.

Change is the nature of life.

Change occurs as we grow up.

Go to school … fall in love … get a job.

Change occurs through suffering and sorrow, as well as happiness and surprise.

To live is to change.

All of us have changed a great deal in the last seven years … think back to where we were and what we were doing seven years ago.

Can we even remember?

Seven years ago is a faint memory … and seven years from now, this moment will be a faint memory, too.

Change is the nature of life.

Jesus invites Nicodemus to change.

Dramatic change … life-altering change, change of heart and change of mind … Nic, ol’ boy, you’re on the wrong path. No sense trying harder to make somethin’ outta nothin’. Ya’ gotta go back. To the beginning. Start all over again!

Jesus uses the image of birth … all the way back to the beginning.

Nicodemus wonders if Jesus has lost his mind.

Can someone enter the womb again? 

This entertains Jesus … Oh Nicodemus, you’re so bright, but you just don’t get it. 

You’re a leader, a teacher, and something as basic and simple as starting all over again, you don’t get it.

Jesus takes his time with Nicodemus.

Jesus never hurries, when it comes to people.

The woman at the well.

Zacchaeus up a tree.

The blind man beside the road.

Jesus takes his time with all of them.

Because it takes time to grow.

Dandelions grow fast, and we call them … weeds.

Oak trees take their time, and we call them … mighty.

Jesus takes his time with Nicodemus, because it takes time to grow a human being.

And it works.

Slowly, of course, but it works!

Nicodemus shows up two more times in the story … in John 7, Nicodemus cautions his colleagues in their rush to judgment. They want to condemn Jesus, but Nicodemus urges patience; tells them to get better acquainted with Jesus.

They pay no attention to Nicodemus, but he speaks firmly - no longer timid.

In John 19, after the death of Jesus, Nicodemus goes with Joseph of Arimathea to claim the body … they properly bury Jesus, with lots of spices and expensive linen. 

It would seem that Nicodemus has made some deep decisions about what he values, what he believes, what he loves.

Whenever we meet Jesus … for the first time, the 100^th time, the 10,000^th time, it’s always a brand new day … a day of discovery … whatever we might know of Jesus, there’s always more to learn … whatever we have done for him, there still more to do!

Why does Jesus ask Nicodemus to go back to the beginning?

Because fiddling with what we already have produces very little more … an old car is an old car … though we may love ol’ Betsy, and she may have served us well, her tires are worn, her paint faded, the seats full of holes, the engine tired, and she’s out of alignment.

It takes more money and time to keep the old car up … it’s no longer worth it.

Time to retire ol’ Betsy.

There’s nothing Jesus can do with Nicodemus and his world as it is  … it’s time for something new … a new world is dawning; old ideas have to be set aside.

Is this easy?

Never is.

Always hard.

Most of us talk a good game of change, as long as it’s the other guy who has to change. 

The Bible says, Sing a new song to the Lord … because God is tired of the same old, same old, songs we love to sing … God wants to hear something new out of us … but if you’re anything like me, give me the old time religion - stuff I know … the tried and the true … the familiar and the comfortable.

The trap of time.

The pit of the familiar.

The couch of the comfortable!

How can I change? Asks Nicodemus … and we might well ask the same of ourselves - how can we change?

There are lots of things we can do to initiate change.

Go on a diet!

Look for a new job!

Read a book about gardening!

Find a new way to drive to work.

Make a new friend.

Learn how to knit!

Visit a nursing home!

Shop in a farmer’s market!

We can do all kinds of things to change bits and pieces of our life.

But Jesus drives home the central truth of the Gospel … to be “born again” - this is not possible for human beings.

We can be good … very good.

We can be wise … very wise.

We can be kind … exceedingly kind.

Yet still walk in darkness, burdened by sin and sorrow … a prisoner of ourselves … no greater prison than personal virtue … because we spend so much time preening in front of the mirror, comparing ourselves to others … too much time patting ourselves on the back.

I met a friend the other day … his arm was in a cast … I asked, “Hey, what happened?” He replied, “I broke my arm while patting myself on the back!”

Only God can set us free, whatever the prison may be.

Only God can birth us anew.

It’s always a miracle.

Just like physical birth.

Do any of us claim responsibility for our physical birth? Did we plan it? Map it out? Tell Mom and Dad, “Now’s the time!”?

Of course not.

Nor can any of us claim responsibility for our birth into Jesus Christ …

We didn’t choose God.

God chose us!

We didn’t pick ourselves up.

God picked us up!

We never went forward at that revival meeting.

God took us by the hand and pulled us out of seats.

We never accepted Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ accepted us and turned on the lights!

God plucked us out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the world of light.

We were dead in our sins and trespasses - not just maimed, injured, or weakened - we were dead, lost, gone … but God saves us … saves us because of God’s great love.

It’s a miracle that any of us are here today to sing the praises of God … it’s all God’s work … God’s mighty love … 

Never ours to command, but always ours to receive.

The work of the Holy Spirit.

The will of the wind!

All of this, from the Great God Almighty.

Amen and Amen!

Second Chance - February 17, 2008

Who doesn’t need a second chance?

Life is a journey …
A series of twists and turns …
A little of this and a little of that …
Going somewhere … and going nowhere at all.
Light and dark;
Hot and cold;
Fast and slow;
Moving and stopping …
Seeking and finding;
Wondering and wandering;
Asking and receiving;
Knock and the door opens …
And sometimes the doors close, right in our face …
The unexpected setback, the slowdown, the downturn, the upset and the setup …

Barry Bonds doesn’t hit a homerun at every bat …

Tiger Woods doesn’t make par every game …

Even the best bowlers throw a gutter ball now and then.

Who doesn’t need a second chance?

That’s what Jesus offers to Nicodemus … a second chance … a chance to start all over again … because Nicodemus was on a road leading to nowhere!

“What do you mean Jesus? What’s all this about?”

“I’m a member of the ruling class … I’m one of the teachers of Israel … I’m an important man … I say ‘jump,’ and folks say, ‘How high?’”

But why was Nicodemus paying a late-night visit to Jesus?

Under cover of darkness …
Nic at Night, if you will …
Not wanting his colleagues to know …

He addresses Jesus with respect … and says, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God, because of the signs you do.”

“Houston, we have a problem!”

If you have your Bible open, just at the end of chapter 2, it says, “Many believed because they saw the signs.”

But Jesus didn’t trust them … “because he knew them” … fair weather faith, unpredictable and self-serving.

So here’s Nic at night - “We know,” he says.

What do they know?

We’ll soon find out, they know nothing!

Jesus doesn’t waste time … no invitation to have coffee next week and talk about it.
No “thank you” for the compliment …
Because Jesus knew that Nic at night was a spiritual mess in spite of his outward success … inside of Nic, it was “Nic at night” … Nic lived in a land of shadows and shades.

Who is Nicodemus?

He’s a leader, a man of influence and position … a teacher of Israel … to all outward appearances, he’s powerful and successful … but Jesus sees the empty heart.

Nic is searching … I doubt if Nic could have put his finger on it, but Nic knows something is missing … that much can be said for him, and that’s where Jesus goes.

Jesus doesn’t waste time with Nic … “You must be born again.”

Now that’s a phrase that’s been lifted out of context and turned into an evangelical war cry … “You must be born again.”

The “you” is plural – Marj from Texas might say, “Y’all” – “Y’all must be born again” referring to Nic and to all of Nic’s cohorts – the ruling elite of Jerusalem, the powerbrokers, the royalty and the hangers-on, on a collision course with Rome, heading for disaster “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if only you had known.”
You’ve been on the wrong path Nic, and a mid-course correction won’t do … something a little more radical is needed … a fresh beginning, a second chance.

“But how can I do it?” asks Nic.

“Is it possible for a man to go back to his mother’s womb and start all over again?”

Jesus pushes hard: “You’re a teacher of Israel and you don’t understand spiritual rebirth? What’s up with you Nic. You ought to know this, but you don’t.”

Why is Jesus so tough on Nic?

Because Nic is a man who has spent a lifetime hiding from God, and hiding in one of the best places – hiding in religion!

Everyone who’s been religious for a long time needs to pay careful attention to this provocative story … the story of a religious man, well-respected and powerful … but Jesus sees the heart … Jesus sees a room without furniture, an empty spirit, a soul without a clue.

Religion is a good place to hide from God.

Have you ever thought about that?

Religion, a good place to hide from God.

Form without substance …
Creed without conviction …
The sounds of faith without the surrender of faith …

It easy for religious folk to fall into the trap that engulfed Nicodemus … it was a long time since his heart felt the love of God.

A long time without joy …
Years without delight …
A dutiful man without devotion.
A religious man without a relationship to God!

“Nic, you’ve got to be born again.”

The Holy Spirit will help you Nic.
There’s no telling when, and no telling where, but the Holy Spirit will help you on a second chance.

The story ends abruptly … what happens to Nic?

Nic appears twice more in the story.
Chapter 7: Nic counsels caution when the ruling elite begin to formulate plans to arrest Jesus and put a stop to His preaching.
Chapter 19: after Jesus is crucified, Nic goes to Pilate with Joseph of Arimathea to claim the body and give it proper burial.

Does Nic connect all the dots?

Does he become a believer?

A follower of Jesus?

This we know for sure … God is the God of the Second Chance … the third, the fourth, the fifth … and as many as it takes. God never gives up on us.

God is a God of patience and unconditional love …

God seeks the lost and finds them …

God touches the eyes of the blind and they see.

Nic at night is on his way …

Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening:”

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

It’s a long journey … what counts is that we don’t hide from God … we let God correct us, guide us, confront us and change us.

I think it’s tough for religious folk … we get into the habit, we turn it into routine, we go through the motions, we know the hymns, we say the creed backwards and forwards … we’ve been a church member our whole life … a Presbyterian forever; we’re on the cradle roll; we’re elders and deacons, Sunday school teachers and choir members … we’ve been there and done that ten thousand times.

All of us need to be born again! And again and again!

One of the saddest moments in the Bible … the Book of Revelation … Jesus addresses the seven churches, reviews their character, lifts up their victories and illumines their issues.

Of the church at Ephesus, Jesus sings their praise, and then says, “But this one thing I have against you. You’ve forgotten your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent, and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (2:1-7).

Faith no longer fresh and clean …

Like dried flowers … the color, the form, but no fragrance; brittle to the touch.

The other day, at Togos – under wraps a four-foot deli sandwich – I sat right next to it – bread, lettuce, luncheon meat, tomatoes and sweet peppers – it looked real, but hard as a rock; just a plastic mockup.

Every believer has to fight this battle from time-to-time.

God isn’t interested in our religion; God wants to have a relationship with us.

It’s not duty that counts, but devotion.

I kissed Donna the other morning and said, “Well, I did my duty.”

Two hours later I woke up with a knot on my head and a black eye.

The enemy of a living faith - religion … religion, cold and calculating … religion, dry and barren … we go through the motions, but the soul no longer sings; the name of Jesus no longer intrigues us; amazing grace is no longer a sweet sound to us.

But God gives a second chance!

I’ve needed that second chance a number of times.

Three times in my life I walked right out of the faith.
Questions overwhelmed my mind and my soul no longer believed.

Three times I entered the desert … I was still a pastor, still prayed and preached - I doubt if anyone could really see the wasteland of my soul.

Religion is a great cover.
Being a preacher one of the best covers …
I’ve know preachers who’ve gone through the motions for years without the love and grace of Christ … it’s a terrible place to be, and a terrible price is paid.

God gave me second chance, a third and fourth chance … lots of chances.

My specific recovery was simple: I closed my theology books and opened my Bible.
Without commentaries; without thought …
Just read it!
I needed to born again!
The simple things of faith, hope and love:
God is real.
God’s unconditional love gets us through those terrible times.
Grace is always amazing and always there …
Take our time; trust God … through the wilderness!

The Second Chance!

There are questions here for all of us – especially for those who’ve been Christians for a long time.

Have we turned this into routine?
Do we know the drill so well that we can throw our mind into neutral?
Are all the answers pat?
The fires of faith banked and burning low?

What’s the state of our faith today?

Now’s a good time to come to Jesus … nighttime, daytime, when we’re on top of our game, or slugging it out in the trenches …

Jesus will not waste our time … He’ll cut to the chase and get to the point …

Start over … that’s always possible … no matter what, no matter who, no matter where … the journey can always start anew … because God is God of the Second Chance.

Amen!