John 3:1-17        There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“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.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Reflection         The  twentieth century age of reason gave us eyes to see and measure things of the flesh and in so doing made great contributions  to civilization; airplanes and antibiotics, personal computers and nuclear power to mention just a few. The modern era also gave birth to the post-modern age that understands reason as good but not sufficient which I believe is more aligned with Jesus’ teaching, “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” I believe twenty-first century post-modern thought is catching up with our first century Jesus movement apperception. We must value reason and what it can give us (value the flesh) and “we must be born again from above,” born of the Spirit whereby to understand spiritual things, those truths hidden from the fleshy eyes of reason.

The other day I watched the movie “Hidden Figures,” the true story of three African-American women whose history defining contributions at NASA helped put the first American astronaut into space. That was in 1961. Their story finally became widely public in 2017. For fifty-six years the story of their brilliant contributions was hidden. Clearly, I am not a black woman. I am a person of privilege and still this film reduced me to weeping. I left the theatre and sat in my car overcome by a deep, inscrutable sadness, asking myself “How can these things be?” Finally the words of scripture came to my heart, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matt 25.39) I am culpable. We are all culpable by failing to see and acknowledge the hidden goodness and value of all people.

Our world is replete with signs, things we can see and measure. Everywhere we look we see people suffering every possible disease, disaster and travesty. Anxiety, despair and horror curdle our blood and harden our hearts as we witness vast numbers of people experiencing separation rather than unity and judgment rather than compassion. If we pause to consider each person and situation as an outward and visible sign of something hidden, something more, I wonder if the multitude of human suffering is a harbinger of a deeper spiritual truth, the truth of God suffering? God weeping with us when we are bent, broken and bereft? God weeping because we are failing to see the fundamental dignity and value of all people? I wonder if this is a spiritual truth hidden from the fleshy eyes of reason? 

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Gospel Text for Sunday 31 May 2015

John 3:1-17        There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"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.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Reflection   “Are you a teacher, yet you do not understand these things?” Of course not. As a traditional teacher Nicodemus is listening to Jesus with the ears of his mind and is seeking a sensible, rational, fleshy explanation of Jesus’ words. That is why the story reports, Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night.” Nicodemus was in the dark. But Jesus is inviting Nicodemus  to open his ears to receive the words of the Spirit, the Vital Spark, the incomprehensible Essence of Life. Jesus is inviting Nicodemus into the light of consciousness expanded beyond the limits of physical life (being born of water) to experience consciousness of spiritual life (being born again of the Spirit). 

At this point in the Jesus narrative Nicodemus’ mind is occupied with the myriad things of the known world. He understands Jesus’ words literally rather than as fingers pointing beyond themselves to the unborn, undying, incomprehensible Unity of All that Is. 

And Jesus says, “Do not be astonished.” Can you almost hear Jesus elaborating? “You are so much more than what your senses perceive. Don’t you see, your good sense and sound judgment will not avail you of the Spirit of Truth? You will not recognize the Presence of God with you if you rely exclusively on your faculties of sense and reason. “You hear the sound of the wind, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” So it is with the Spirit, you experience its effects even though you cannot grasp it with your mind. ”

Jesus is pointing to the Mystery of Eternal life in which we all participate through the Spirit within. By opening our minds to the Mystery within we begin to experience the Mystery Beyond. This is the gateway of Eternal Life. This is being born again of the Spirit. This is participating in the mutual indwelling of the Holy Trinity. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 16th of March, 2014

John 3:1-17        There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"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.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Reflection     I feel a kind of kinship with Nicodemus as Jesus responded to him in much the same way a Zen teacher did with me some thirty years ago. I had been instructed that the protocol for approaching a Zen teacher was to sit in their presence until they acknowledge you. There being no other instructions, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity I decided surely I was supposed to say something. So when it appeared the teacher noticed me I said, “I want to know the truth.” He replied, “Have a cup of tea.” Then he stood up and left the room. I felt utterly stupid, completely confused, embarrassed and departed. 

A couple of years later I read a Zen story.  “A master who lived as a hermit on a mountain was asked by a monk,  "What is the Way?” "What a fine mountain this is," the master said in reply. The monk continued, ”I am not asking you about the mountain, but about the Way.” "So long as you cannot go beyond the mountain, my son, you cannot reach the Way," replied the master.”

Today it occurs to me, the Zen teacher could just as well have said to the monk, “As long as you are born only of the flesh you cannot see the kingdom of God.” Like wise, I can imagine Jesus saying to Nicodemus, “If you cannot go beyond the mountain, you cannot reach the Way.” 

The thing about wisdom is, it seems like utter nonsense to the casual listener. In the tradition of Zen the purpose of koans (basically nonsense statements such as the master’s response to my declaration that I wanted to know the truth….”have a cup of tea,” or Jesus’ strange response to Nicodemus, “You must be born from above,”  the purpose of koans and illogical commentaries is to dumbfound the reasonable mind; to stun it, bewilder it and move beyond it.

I believe Jesus and the Zen masters are not looking for their students to understand, which is to say, to grasp the meaning of things with their minds. I believe what Jesus and the Zen masters are seeking is to break open the minds of their students (disciples), to free us from the limits of reason and intellect so that we can participate in the eternal, spiritual dimension of Being, right here, right now, on earth. Jesus and the masters teach for transformation, not information. 

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