The Second Sunday of Lent
Year A

Transformed By Grace

Readings: Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 

Many years ago I provided the music for a Mission which the late Primate, Ted Scott preached.  It was a remarkable experience getting to know him.  There was no pretentiousness about him.  He was one of those people who simply lived his faith.  You could smell God on him.  You were drawn in by his holiness. 

In one of his talks he asked us to quote John 3:16.  He reminded us that it is one passage of Scripture with which most Anglicans are totally familiar, having heard it every Sunday in the Eucharist from the Book of Common Prayer.  Sure enough we were all able to rhyme it off.  “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end that those who believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  He commended us on being able to cite it.  “Now comes the real test,” he said.  “What is the next verse?  Who can cite John 3:17?  Because, you know, it is far more important.” 

I surprised myself and him by going on.  “He sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”  Growing up in church choirs, I had sung Stayner’s Crucifixion so often that I knew that passage without even thinking about it.  When he got over his surprise, he went on to explain why it is so important, not just to know it, to be able to rhyme it off, but to really take it in.  He was so right.  It is the heart of the Christian message.  Jesus did not die on the cross so that we would be consumed by guilt. Jesus died so that we would acknowledge our sinfulness and accept forgiveness.  Jesus died on the cross so that we would be reconciled, so that we would be in relationship with God.  Jesus died on the cross so that we would be truly free. 

Experiencing that kind of freedom is the message of the gospel.  The story of Nicodemus gives us a way into understanding it.  He comes to Jesus by night, sneaking in the back way so that others won't see him.  After all he is a devout and learned leader in the Jewish community.  It would not be good for his reputation to be seen to be too interested in this upstart young revolutionary.  He has witnessed some of Jesus' miracles.  He wants to check them out.  He has some faith, but his faith is based on wrong assumptions about what Jesus is about.  His wrong assumptions leave him with some burning questions about Jesus.  Who is this man?  How is he able to perform such amazing miracles?  What is he all about?  He wants to understand, and yet when Jesus explains it to him, he keeps taking it literally.  When it comes to faith, literal, concrete explanations simply won't do.  Faith needs to be experienced.  Nicodemus needs to get beyond his intellect; he needs to have a change of heart.  He needs to rely on God’s grace. 

Nicodemus learned, that night what we all need to learn.  He discovered who Jesus really is.  He began a lasting relationship with Jesus.  This is just the first of several times that we meet Nicodemus.  He later defended Jesus against the Pharisees.  He brought spices to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.  Was he amongst the faithful who saw the resurrected Lord?  I suspect so, for he discovered what we all need to find out.  He learned that knowing Jesus is about having access to God's free grace.  He learned that it is not about carrying a heavy load of guilt around with you, but about unburdening your load and letting God's forgiveness take effect in your life.    He learned what it means to be born from above.  He learned that life abundant and eternal is a gift from above.  It isn’t' something to be earned or achieved.  It isn't something that can be claimed or proven.  It isn't a reward for being awfully good or studying the scriptures. 

How do we, like Nicodemus, come out of the darkness into the light?  How do we enter a close relationship with God for the first time?  How do we shore up a relationship already in progress?  How do we access the grace that God makes available to us in our lives?  That is the ongoing and transformative process in one's life, which we usually refer to as "conversion".  It is part of the process by which the Christian comes to wholeness. 

It happens in many different ways.  For some people it is an earth shattering and dramatically sudden change in perspective.  But for most of us it is an ongoing process during which we learn to live the life of grace.  Grace puts great power at our disposal, but it remains dormant until we call on it, until God becomes real in our actions and in the actions of those around us.  It may be sparked by our own actions or it may come about through the actions of others around us. 

Some of us, like Paul, are met by God on the Damascus Road.  Others are met in a more quiet way, through the beauty of our world, through prayer, through meditation, through a blessing, in a sermon, in a conversation, through a personal relationship.  God even meets us at the least expected times when we think our lives are crumbling around us.  God is there at times of loss in our lives.  All of the ways in which God meets us are times of grace.  Such times of grace meet particular needs at particular moments.  They all answer God's command to "love one another even as I have loved you." 

The grace of God accomplishes great things in our lives.  Through the grace of God working in us, great things happen.  Jesus said that if we have the faith of a grain of mustard seed we could move mountains – mountains of hatred, of indifference, of pride, of suffering.  Through the grace of our efforts, through prayer, through the sacraments, through the word read, spoken and preached, we receive sufficient grace to move those mountains, grace sufficient to our needs.  We reach out, we touch, we use.  Grace increases. 

Let this Lent be a time to reflect on change and transition in our lives.  Let it be an opportunity to grow in new directions, to come into a deeper awareness of God's grace at work in our lives and to know God's abiding presence in our lives and the life of the world.  Let it be a time to move out of the darkness into God's own gracious light.