Second Sunday in Lent
Years ago I was vacationing in San Francisco and one afternoon we were on our way back to the hotel and as we walked by a theatre, a guy steps out of the alley and approached us. Several years before I had lived and worked in New York City so I was accustomed to being approached by all sorts of characters trying to sell you counterfeit Rolex watches and other “great deals,” so I immediately put up my hands before he could start his spiel and said “I don’t know what you’re selling but we don’t want any.” And he said, “I’m not trying to sell you anything. I’m a member of the Actor’s guild here and they give us free tickets and I don’t need these and wondered if you’d like to have them.” I’m sure I had one of those distrustful “are you kidding me?” looks on my face, but I accepted the tickets just to get rid of him. I would probably toss them in the first trash can, but since we were standing in front of the theatre and the ticket office was open I went over and tossed the tickets in the window and asked the guy behind the window, “Hey, are these worth anything?” and he said, “Sure, about fifty bucks each. They’re great seats.” I snatched the tickets up and turned around and the guy was gone, out of sight. I hadn’t even said thank-you. We came back at eight and saw a great David Mamet play, Glengarry Glen Ross with Peter Falk. We have trouble trusting and accepting free gifts, especially here in the America. If we don't earn it, if we don't pay for it, then it’s hard to accept it. “It’s free” sounds easy, but it's not really, especially for us independent types who have really bought into working and providing for ourselves. We think it must be some kind of hustle, not to be trusted.
In today’s lesson from Hebrew scripture Abram, who later was named Abraham, was given the gift of God’s promise and he hadn't earned the right to be the father of Israel, he was simply chosen. God called on Abraham, and Abraham responded by accepting the call and trusting God. Now don't get the wrong idea, there was nothing passive about Abraham's response. God called him to give up the security of the land he was in, to leave his kin and leave the safety of his father's household and go toward a new land, and Abraham did this. He responded out of his faith and trust in God. But it was God who issued the call, God initiated the relationship, God offered the gift of a promise. In his letter to the Church at Rome, Paul emphasizes this idea of God’s gift to Abraham as an act of Grace through faith.
It was this same sort of Grace that Nicodemus is struggling with in today’s Gospel. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and understandably the Pharisees were distrustful of Jesus because their livelihood, their purpose for being was to be the ones who interpreted Jewish law for everyone else and here’s this guy saying well the law is good for what it is but salvation itself is free, a free gift from God.
The Pharisees were masters at following and knowing the law, and led extremely moral and pious lives and Jesus was endangering all of this so it’s no surprise that Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cloak of darkness, so he could get the scoop on this whole situation.
It is a difficult conversation where Jesus is trying to impress upon Nicodemus that there is a spiritual dimension to salvation that is out of Nicodemus' hands, that isn’t controlled by the religious professionals. ""For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." It is a free gift that we cannot earn, we can only accept it.
Jesus is offering Nicodemus free tickets to the biggest show on earth, the
biggest show in the universe, but Nicodemus keeps trying to pay admission at the door. Our place at the altar was reserved two thousand years ago by the gift of God becoming human in Jesus Christ, and the price has already been paid by Jesus, once and for all.
But it's easy to get the cart ahead of the horse; we've all heard people who describe how they are going to get their act together and then start going to church. They may start by listing everything in their life that they feel is wrong. And the Church shares some guilt here, because apparently we have developed the image of a place where you go when you do have your act cleaned up. Too often the Church is seen as a social organization where people gather who have gotten themselves straight and have become holy and righteous, instead of a gathering of sinners who are slowly becoming holy and righteous through the gift of God's grace.
Today, God steps out of the alley and into our lives and offers us the free gift of God’s Grace and we are stunned and a bit suspicious. Free? a gift? What’s the trick? Are you hustling me? Trust me, it’s real. You don’t have to earn your way here by following the rules perfectly. You don’t have to buy your way in. Accept the gift of God’s love and Grace and forgiveness. God is waiting for you. Great seats, center orchestra, fifth row. Grab up those tickets and come on in. The lights are dimming and the curtain is rising. AMEN.
The Rev. Dennis Campbell
