Water And Spirit
Sermon
Sermons on the Gospel Readings
Series II, Cycle B
The story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night is familiar to most folks who have spent any time at all in church. The phrase "born again" springs from the Greek word in this story that means both born again and born from above and has entered into our cultural language. It is a story that helps us understand the necessity of having a new start in our lives, whether we talk about it as being born again or as being renewed from above.
As with many of Jesus' sayings and teachings, there are multiple lessons and levels of meaning. In this story it starts with the word play of being born anew or from above. Nicodemus assumes one meaning and thinks of physical birth while Jesus is talking about a spiritual matter. It is on this dichotomy that we focus today by looking at Jesus' response to Nicodemus that one must be born of water and the spirit.
When Nicodemus goes off on the wrong track and questions Jesus about how one can enter again into the mother's womb and be born again, Jesus replies that one must be born from water and the spirit. It is telling that Jesus does not chide Nicodemus on missing the point and tell him that it is necessary for one to be born of the spirit but that he takes Nicodemus' mistake and works from there. It is necessary to be born of water and the spirit, not just of spirit. At one level that is obviously true. If one has not been born once, one cannot be born anew or from above. But there must be more to it than this or Jesus would not have been so explicit to declare that one must be born of water and the spirit.
There have always been those folks who have tried to split people into parts and then to argue about which part is more important. There are those who claim we are no more than creatures of the earth and that there is no reality beyond our physical existence. There are those who say that all the physical world is but an illusion and there is no reality but the spiritual realm. Between these two extremes one can find any number of ways that humans are dissected and the parts judged worthy or unworthy.
But this is not the tradition of the Bible. While we may talk about parts of a human being in a meaningful way there is never any real division for we are always talking about parts of the whole. One may talk about the parts of the respiratory system but it is only in seeing it as a whole that the system has any integrity and meaning. We may talk about our physical, mental, and spiritual needs but they are all parts of the whole that makes us a person. We find this in the creation story when the first human is created from the dust of the earth and the breath or spirit of God. Humans are not just "earth creatures" nor are they just "puffs of God." We are earth creatures filled with the very life, breath, and Spirit of God.
This understanding has followed through the church as it struggled with the nature of Jesus finally declaring that he was both truly man and truly God. It continued in the understanding that the future reign of God must include the resurrection of the body because without our bodies there was no way to talk about a continued existence. It may be a transformed, glorified body, but there must be a body or the spirit has no home.
And so Jesus addresses Nicodemus with the admonition that one must be born of water and the spirit. We must understand ourselves as part of creation, as mortal, as earth creatures, but earth creatures who have within themselves the very presence of God. We declare that there is a spiritual reality that we are a part of, but we also proclaim that creation is real and of value as a good act of our God. This leads us to understand ourselves and our world in the context of being both spiritual and material at the same time.
We understand ourselves as not being just disposable containers for God's Spirit but as temples. Our human, earthly, mortal body is the very sanctuary of God. As such, we treat it with respect and care. We understand that taking care of our physical bodies is taking care of a precious gift from God, so that gluttony is seen as being as sinful as impure thoughts. This had led the church to establish, through the ages, hospitals and feeding programs so that we can not only take care of our bodies but so that the physical needs of others can be met. We understand that it is not enough to offer spiritual comfort and deny food, medicine, and shelter to those in need. Nor is it enough to feed, heal, and house people without sharing with them the good news of God as we have experienced it in Jesus Christ. It can never be an either/or for us but always a both/and. As human beings we are material beings and spiritual beings in a unity that cannot be broken apart.
This also means that we understand creation in a holistic way. It is not just so many atoms gathered together. This is the very creation of God over which the Spirit of God hovered during creation. Regardless of one's understanding of how God put it all together, we affirm that all around us we are surrounded by the wondrous creation of a loving God. The earth and all of creation is a gracious gift offered to us so that we might enjoy it and care for it as we serve as God's physical presence within creation.
Creation is not neutral in value nor is it evil. Creation is God's good work; indeed it is very good. As such it has been given to us for our nurture and our pleasure. It has been said that part of the final judgment will be when we are called to answer for the many pleasures God placed before us that we shunned because we deemed them evil. We may misuse creation for evil but creation itself is very good. It sustains us with our food, provides shelter and clothing, and supplies us with the very breath of life. God calls us to use it wisely and to protect it as part of God's wondrous gift for all.
We are God's spiritual earth-creatures. We are human, mortal, and made from the very dust of the earth, but we are also made in God's image, filled with the very life breath of God. We are God's guardians of creation sharing the wonders of this world and of the presence of God's Spirit within us. We have a task to hold together in glorious tension our earth-bound and heaven-sent nature and to live faithfully our dual nature, neither negating nor elevating one over the other. We are God's earth creatures and this is God's glorious creation. Let us celebrate and protect it; use and enjoy it; sharing always God's grace and love with all.
As with many of Jesus' sayings and teachings, there are multiple lessons and levels of meaning. In this story it starts with the word play of being born anew or from above. Nicodemus assumes one meaning and thinks of physical birth while Jesus is talking about a spiritual matter. It is on this dichotomy that we focus today by looking at Jesus' response to Nicodemus that one must be born of water and the spirit.
When Nicodemus goes off on the wrong track and questions Jesus about how one can enter again into the mother's womb and be born again, Jesus replies that one must be born from water and the spirit. It is telling that Jesus does not chide Nicodemus on missing the point and tell him that it is necessary for one to be born of the spirit but that he takes Nicodemus' mistake and works from there. It is necessary to be born of water and the spirit, not just of spirit. At one level that is obviously true. If one has not been born once, one cannot be born anew or from above. But there must be more to it than this or Jesus would not have been so explicit to declare that one must be born of water and the spirit.
There have always been those folks who have tried to split people into parts and then to argue about which part is more important. There are those who claim we are no more than creatures of the earth and that there is no reality beyond our physical existence. There are those who say that all the physical world is but an illusion and there is no reality but the spiritual realm. Between these two extremes one can find any number of ways that humans are dissected and the parts judged worthy or unworthy.
But this is not the tradition of the Bible. While we may talk about parts of a human being in a meaningful way there is never any real division for we are always talking about parts of the whole. One may talk about the parts of the respiratory system but it is only in seeing it as a whole that the system has any integrity and meaning. We may talk about our physical, mental, and spiritual needs but they are all parts of the whole that makes us a person. We find this in the creation story when the first human is created from the dust of the earth and the breath or spirit of God. Humans are not just "earth creatures" nor are they just "puffs of God." We are earth creatures filled with the very life, breath, and Spirit of God.
This understanding has followed through the church as it struggled with the nature of Jesus finally declaring that he was both truly man and truly God. It continued in the understanding that the future reign of God must include the resurrection of the body because without our bodies there was no way to talk about a continued existence. It may be a transformed, glorified body, but there must be a body or the spirit has no home.
And so Jesus addresses Nicodemus with the admonition that one must be born of water and the spirit. We must understand ourselves as part of creation, as mortal, as earth creatures, but earth creatures who have within themselves the very presence of God. We declare that there is a spiritual reality that we are a part of, but we also proclaim that creation is real and of value as a good act of our God. This leads us to understand ourselves and our world in the context of being both spiritual and material at the same time.
We understand ourselves as not being just disposable containers for God's Spirit but as temples. Our human, earthly, mortal body is the very sanctuary of God. As such, we treat it with respect and care. We understand that taking care of our physical bodies is taking care of a precious gift from God, so that gluttony is seen as being as sinful as impure thoughts. This had led the church to establish, through the ages, hospitals and feeding programs so that we can not only take care of our bodies but so that the physical needs of others can be met. We understand that it is not enough to offer spiritual comfort and deny food, medicine, and shelter to those in need. Nor is it enough to feed, heal, and house people without sharing with them the good news of God as we have experienced it in Jesus Christ. It can never be an either/or for us but always a both/and. As human beings we are material beings and spiritual beings in a unity that cannot be broken apart.
This also means that we understand creation in a holistic way. It is not just so many atoms gathered together. This is the very creation of God over which the Spirit of God hovered during creation. Regardless of one's understanding of how God put it all together, we affirm that all around us we are surrounded by the wondrous creation of a loving God. The earth and all of creation is a gracious gift offered to us so that we might enjoy it and care for it as we serve as God's physical presence within creation.
Creation is not neutral in value nor is it evil. Creation is God's good work; indeed it is very good. As such it has been given to us for our nurture and our pleasure. It has been said that part of the final judgment will be when we are called to answer for the many pleasures God placed before us that we shunned because we deemed them evil. We may misuse creation for evil but creation itself is very good. It sustains us with our food, provides shelter and clothing, and supplies us with the very breath of life. God calls us to use it wisely and to protect it as part of God's wondrous gift for all.
We are God's spiritual earth-creatures. We are human, mortal, and made from the very dust of the earth, but we are also made in God's image, filled with the very life breath of God. We are God's guardians of creation sharing the wonders of this world and of the presence of God's Spirit within us. We have a task to hold together in glorious tension our earth-bound and heaven-sent nature and to live faithfully our dual nature, neither negating nor elevating one over the other. We are God's earth creatures and this is God's glorious creation. Let us celebrate and protect it; use and enjoy it; sharing always God's grace and love with all.
