1.8.23 "The Adventure" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Isaiah 42.1-9; Matthew 3.13-17

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun …

So the Eggebeens would sing at the start of a family vacation … everyone piled into the car, seatbelts fastened, ready to go …

And then we’d play a Willie Nelson song:

On the road again

Just can't wait to get on the road again

The life I love is making music with my friends

Off we go … to see something of God’s grand and glorious world, to see old friends, visit family, take some time off from work and school … a splendid adventure.

I think of the conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins at the beginning of The Hobbit:

Gandalf: I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.

Bilbo: I should think so—in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them….

Gandalf: You’ll have a tale or two to tell when you come back. 

Bilbo: You can promise that I’ll come back?

Gandalf: No. And if you do, you will not be the same.

There is much to life that meets the eye … and even more that doesn’t … 

Things hidden … things mysterious and wonderful … things strange and odd and fearful and fascinating, even dangerous … 

The mysteries of life … birth and death … gain and loss … joy and sorrow … laughter and lament … these are the realities of life … the clock ticks and the clock tocks … things come and things go … we live and we love, and we do the best we can, and sometimes, with clear intent, we don’t.

These are the realities …

Part of what it means to follow Christ is to deal with our realities … to live in the reality of world, the world of time and hope, disappointment and grief.

This is the only world in which we can live, and to live in this world, consciously, thoughtfully, is to live with God …

Our consumer culture is on a mission, however.

Our consumer culture prefers us not to think too deeply … but to get out there and buy a few things … and stay in debt.

Frederick Buechner says:

To journey for the sake of saving our own lives is little by little to cease to live in any sense that really matters, even to ourselves, because it is only by journeying for the world's sake - even when the world bores and sickens and scares you half to death - that little by little we start to come alive." 

William Barclay wrote: There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born and the day we discover why.

When we think deeply, we’re praying … prayer is nothing less, and nothing more, than thinking deeply: who am I? where am going? what do I value? … and God? God is always woven into the those kinds of questions … probe, push, ponder … sooner or later we end up on the boundary of the infinite.

Prayer is deep thinking … wondering … stepping back for a moment or two to look at the big picture … or at least as big as we can take it in … 

Infants and children take it all in … When a child is born, all the windows are open … everything pours in like an avalanche … but in time, the brain begins to sort things out, and windows begin to close. 

A person couldn’t spend a lifetime with all the windows open; there’d be too much of everything. So we sort things out, close a few windows, most of the windows actually, maybe too many.

When we engage in prayer, when we try to take in the big picture, we have to pry open some of the windows, windows long shut and painted over … the paint has to be chipped away … with a little hammering and some screwdriver work, we soon have an open window.

In the ancient language of faith, it’s called conversion … windows of the soul opened to the love and wonder of God … the mind changes … the soul grows larger, in sense and sensibility … 

This was the experience of the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road … a bright light blinded him … this man who thought he could see everything, quickly realized that he could see nothing … he was spiritually blind … he believed in God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind … but he had it all wrong … 

History is full of such stories - zealous and pious people get it wrong … time and again.  

Some of the most dangerous people I’ve ever known have been the fully-convinced … the “true believers,” as Eric Hoffer calls them … 

Dangerous, because they have small minds … the windows of the soul have been slammed shut and painted over by dogma and creed … they become people of small sympathies and harsh judgments. 

As Hoffer notes: Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.

The Damascus Road for Paul - he came face-to-face face with his spiritual blindness … this man, with the keenest of minds, had to learn that he had it wrong … he had to start all over again.  

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind but now I see

Jesus comes to be one with us … to heal the wounds and bind up the broken hearted … to recast the vision of life … to help us pray, pray deeply, to live in the deeps rather than the shallows … to be less driven by consumerism, and more devoted to the things of God … less about getting, more about giving.

Jesus comes to us with an adventure: to engage in the great ideas and works of justice and peace … to plunge into the world … to be one with God, in God’s purpose … one with others, in their dreams and their sorrows … to follow Christ where’er he lead.

Gandalf was looking for someone to share an adventure … at first, Bilbo wanted nothing to do with it … he wanted only to stay in his burrow … but in time, the allure of Gandalf won the day, and off went Mr. Baggins on the adventure of a lifetime …

And so it is for us … even now, here, in this place and time, Christ is looking for someone to share an adventure … like Mr. Baggins, we want to stay in our burrow, close the windows, bar the door … 

But our soul cries out and begs us to go … there is so much more to life than meets the eye …  

Here I am LORD … here. I. am!

Hallelujah 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!

October 2, 2011, "Bragging Rights"

Philippians 3.4b-14

I love to watch old TV westerns … 

Beautiful horses, beautiful women, and gunslingers …

And always the showdown in town … the camera angle at hip-level, so we can see the guns slung low, ready for action.

A slow walk toward one another … one of them draws, and then the other - boom, boom, and someone drops.

The mortician steps out of his office, gathers up the body; the winner steps into the saloon for a drink with the boys … just another day in the Old West, or so the movies would have it.

Paul the Apostle is challenged by spiritual gunslingers … 

Paul says, “You wanna fight with me? You wanna draw on me? Ya’ better be careful. I’m well-armed, and I can draw fast. You think you can brag? Listen to me!”

I was circumcised on the eighth day.

I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin.

I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

With respect to observing the Law, I’m a Pharisee.

With respect to devotion to the faith, I harassed the church.

With respect to righteousness under the Law, I’m blameless.

Paul wins!

He’s king of the hill; top of the heap … the fastest gun in town.

But Paul asks us a very important question:

Is this what we really want?

A bragging society?

Everyone trying to outgun the other?

Playing the game: Who’s bigger, better, brighter?

It’s a game that hardens the heart, and ends badly … 

Before Paul is Paul, he was Saul - a hard-hearted man.

Saul holds coats while the crowd executes Stephen for blasphemy ...

Saul orders lashes without a moment’s hesitation … 

Saul throws people into prison … 

Saul’s proud of it … I’m bigger, I’m better, I’m brighter.

He’s a hard-hearted man!

On the Damascus Road, an explosion of heavenly light … Saul falls to the ground.

He knows it’s the LORD.

His confidence melts away.

Who are you, LORD? Who are you?

The LORD answers Saul … 

The LORD says, I am Jesus.

And you’re harassing me.

Get up and go to Damascus, and you’ll be told what you must do.

Saul meets the ultimate gunslinger … whose draw is lightening-fast - who never kills, and always heals … whose love for us wins the day!

What do we learn from Paul?

Sometimes what we value isn’t valuable at all. 

Paul describes what he once valued as skubala (skubala) … Greek for garbage, or dung … the Common English Bible translates it, sewer trash.

Paul lists the things he once valued: we can summarize:

Race, religion and his record of personal accomplishments.

Human temptations:

My race is better than your race … my religion is better than your religion … my personal record is better than your personal record.

Paul has bragging rights on all of this.

But when it comes to the gospel, none of it counts.

God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our LORD Jesus Christ.

Everything Paul formerly valued is nothing more than sewer trash.

Things have to be left behind to move ahead with Christ.

Paul had to leave behind his bragging rights.

The disciples had to leave behind their nets.

Abraham and Sarah had to leave behind their land, their families and their father’s household.

God replaces what is left behind.

For Abraham and Sarah: I will give you a new land … new names, and new family.

For the disciples, I will give you the skills to fish for people.

For Saul on the Damascus Road - You will be my apostle to the Gentiles.

The light of Christ clarifies what’s important.  

In God’s light we see light.

That’s why we’re here today … that’s why we study … and share with one another … where two or three are gathered in the name of Christ, Christ is there … in his light, we see light.

Christ becomes our life.

To be found in Christ, says Paul.

His righteousness ...

His sufferings …

His death ...

The power of his resurrection …

Leading to the hope of our own resurrection from the dead.

Growing in Christ takes time.

I’ve not yet reached the goal, says Paul.

I work at it every day.

I forget what’s behind.

I reach for what’s ahead.

The goal I pursue - the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.

Christ, the bright morning star; the lilly of the valley; the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Dear friends, we are all tempted by the same base sins: race, religion and personal record. On the Damascus Road, the light of Christ reveals to Saul how wretched these temptations are, and what evils they create. 

Saul said, “No more of this!”

And Saul became Paul - the great evangelist of faith, hope and love.

It is our calling, and our joy, to be co-workers with Paul, and lead others to the bright light of Christ. Amen and Amen!

June 19, 2011, "The Salt of the Earth"

Matthew 28. 16-20

The Salt of the Earth is a modest metaphor … it’s how Christians can flavor the world.

How much salt does it take to flavor a radish?

Yes, just a pinch.

If the lid falls off the salt shaker, and the radish is buried beneath a pile of salt, it’s ruined … too much salt, and nothing tastes good … just a pinch, and the food is always good.

A pinch is all it takes!

God never intended that all the earth should be Christian.

Oh yes, someday, all the world will bow the knee and confess Jesus as LORD and Savior … but that will be a day far and removed for now, and only God can bring it about.

Right now, just a pinch of salt.

That’s what God intends.

Just a few Christians; that’s all takes.

A few Christians here, a few Christians there … scattered throughout the nations  … just a pinch, not a pile, just a pinch.

Gently doing our work.

Christians … the Salt of the Earth.

Jesus envisions the power of our influence.

To flavor the world.

Like good salt, that brings out the flavors of love and life in every culture, every part of the world, in every human life.

Gently, and quietly, even anonymously, to flavor our world, to bring out the best.

The best everywhere.

Salt of the Earth is the story behind the Great Commission … to move out into the world … to engage the world flavorfully, not forcefully.

That people might taste the love of God, and decide for themselves, just how good God truly is.

O taste and see that the LORD is good …

We are the Salt of the Earth … and it works!

Because authority has been to Jesus, for the sake of the earth.

All authority has been given … not just some, not just for heaven, but for earth, as well …

Authority … to love, to make all things new, to restore, to build up, to bless and to hold.

Authority as Jesus lived it …

Not to gain power, but to empower.

Not to rule over, but to stand beside.

Not to give orders, but to invite us to walk with him.

To make disciples might better be translated – to disciple.

To disciple people!

And we know the meaning of disciple.

To be a student.

To help people become students of Jesus.

I’ve been a student of Jesus this week.

Reading Matthew.

And much of it this morning.

I wanted it to be fresh.

Jesus says, everything I have commanded you.

And where does Jesus establish his commandments for us?

The sermon on the mount.

His ministry begins on the mount.

His ministry reaches its culmination on the mount.

Places high and lifted up.

To remind us of Moses and the Commandments.

To remind us of the Mount of Transfiguration.

And the mount on which the Holy City is built.

High places where God comes close to us.

To disciple someone is a gentle thing.

We don’t grab people and threaten them with hell-fire and brimstone and everlasting punishment.

We walk with them for awhile.

Maybe a long time.

We practice kindness.

And we pray.

Maybe we’ll never see the day when someone accepts Jesus … but what is that to us?

Why must we always see the fruit of our efforts.

There’s something selfish about that.

We put it into God’s hands.

Because God does the work.

When and where God will.

And it’s just right, when God does it.

Always is.

At the right time.

I think of Dr. John Fowler in Turkey.

Medical missions, twenty years of labor and love.

How many converted?

Thousands?

Hundreds?

Just a few … in that land where it’s hard to be a Christian.

But it’s not about big numbers.

It’s about big love.

And Dr. Fowler has big love.

Dr. Fowler mentioned last night an Anglican Church that’s been there for several hundred years.

Slow and steady.

Steady and sure.

He said, “It’s an example of perseverance.”

You bet.

We don’t give up.

We stay on course.

Slow and steady.

And God does the rest.

Kindness is our greatest power.

Kindness can open someone’s heart to the love of God.

You see, we can’t convert anyone.

Only God can convert someone.

It’s God’s business.

Our business is kindness.

Conversion is God’s business.

No one knows when the disciples were converted.

It was a long process.

Even after three years with Jesus, they’ not at all clear … even as Matthew notes, some doubted, or maybe all of them had a little doubt.

Conversion belongs to God.

It’s a long process.

It takes a life-time.

I’ve heard pastors talk with one another on a Monday morning – “How many people came forward yesterday?” … “How many conversions?”

Look, with all the right pressure and harsh preaching, we can get people to do anything.

Lots of people have “converted” under duress.

They were frightened.

They were cajoled.

They were pressured … and that does more harm than good … it may build statistics, but it doesn’t build the kingdom of God … it doesn’t change hearts.

Only God does the converting.

Even Saul’s story.

When was the conversion?

On the road in the blinding light?

When he fell down.

When he got up.

When he was blinded?

When Ananias prayed for him?

When the scales fell from his eyes?

When he went to Arabia?

When he went to Jerusalem?

Conversion is a slow and beautiful process.

Some things happen all at once, of course.

Maybe.

But the real story is a story of time.

Time to think.

Quiet moments.

As God works in our lives.

It’s important for us to appreciate the power of kindness.

A gentle work!

Being with someone.

Kindness counts for everything.

And it’s effective.

Think of the Christians who’ve made a difference in our lives.

What were they like?

For me, they were all gentle and wise.

All of them were kind.

All of them were patient.

Jesus then takes us to baptism.

Baptism is grace.

Pure grace … something given to us.

Something good.

Something godly.

Just given to us.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

All of God.

Not just some of God.

But the whole realm of God’s mercy and goodness.

Creation, salvation, empowerment.

The Father.

The Son.

The Holy Spirit.

Nothing more needed.

Nothing left out.

We get all of God.

Teaching people to obey, says Jesus.

Obey?

Wow … let’s unpack that word.

For many, it simply means conformity.

Conform to someone’s rules.

Do this, do that; don’t do this, and don’t do that.

When someone is telling us what to do, how does that make us feel?

It never makes me feel very good?

But the word obey is beautiful and wonderful.

It means to listen.

Listen deeply.

So deeply that something changes inside of us!

Think of a parent trying to make a child understand something really important.

We might walk up to the child.

Put our hands on the child’s shoulders.

Say to them, “Look at me.”

“Look into my eyes.”

And then we might say to them: “Listen to me.”

It’s not about commands, or rules.

It’s not about conformity.

It’s about listening.

Listening to the one who loves us.

To the one who says to us:

Blessed are the poor in spirit …

Blessed are those who mourn …

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …

Forgive, and forgive again …

Love one another as I have loved you …

Abide in my word …

If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father …

Listen to him, says the Father, when Jesus is baptized.

Listen!

That’s the word obey.

To listen to God.

Deeply.

And God will do the rest.

The best evangelism is our kindness.

We can help clear the way.

Give people encouragement and love.

We help them listen.

Listen to God.

We help them listen.

Because we’re listening, too.

That’s our task.

That our work.

And that’s how we join with God to make this a better world.

After all, we’re the Salt of the Earth!

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!