Snakes and Salvation

Sermon by Rev. Debra McKnight -- 3/8/2020

 

John 3:1-21

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He 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.’ 

³Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ ⁴Nicodemus 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?’ ⁵Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” ⁸The 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.’ ⁹Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ ¹⁰Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 ‘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. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 ‘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.

17 ‘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. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’ 

 

Snakes and Salvation

John 3:16, you may know it, it's famous or infamous…depending on your experience. The makers of billboards and bumper stickers seem to love it. Perhaps you have seen it on a poster at a parade or at a football stadium with a guy in a rainbow clown wig waving it in your face as you march past just trying to remember what notes to play on your saxophone…to be specific. While folks may be well intended, their zeal for the verse doesn’t often feel very loving. So for this moment, I want to ask you to pause on what you bring to this verse and we are going to pull back layers of history and try to draw in as close as we can to the original words and the original audience. 

The Gospel of John leans into the wisdom tradition and speaks in mystical tones. Perhaps you love how it is rich with metaphor, light playing against the image of darkness, from the very start Jesus is here to testify to the light, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). But even so John 3 says, “that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” Light is this place of understanding and connection with God’s presence and love, light is a way to understand what folks believe and this is not belief in what they think or know but what they practice and live. John’s mystical Gospel is a work that draws us into the light. 

Our story in John begins after Jesus has cleared the temple of the folks who would cheat the vulnerable and the visitors, in other gospels this happens in the passover before just before Jesus’ crucifixion, but the Gospel of John does its own thing…always. A man named Nicodemus comes to see Jesus. He is a Pharisee and a leader in the community, he might have witnessed what happened in the daylight and had questions. Just a friendly reminder that Pharisee’s are often in conflict with the early followers of Jesus and they get a bad rap, but they are not all bad. Pharisee’s have more in common with Jesus than not, they are both reform movements…you might think of them as factions within the same political party. Nicodemus is a good religious professional and community leader, we would probably like him, he probably graduated from the best schools in Jerusalem and he is kind enough to extend the term Rabbi to Jesus even if he has more credentials that Jesus ever will. The only trouble is he comes at night and in a Gospel where light and darkness matter, this comes up again. Nicodemus will appear twice more in the Gospel and he will always be “The One who came at night” (you should say that with a hint of snark). Folks think he is afraid, has too much power to loose if he comes during the day. It doesn’t matter if it's just how his schedule worked out or that folks often studied faith in the evening, he is always Nicodemus who came at night. Even in other writings, from Revelations to John Calvin he becomes synonymous with half-hearted faith. Nicodemus the one who came at night will haunt him for eternity, it’s like you fart once at a party in Junior High and folks call you toots…for what seems like an eternity. 

Nicodemus comes at night and Jesus stuns him with the notion of new birth, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Born from above or born anew in order to see the Kingdom or presence of God, is startling to Nicodemus. In fact his response is eye-roll eliciting, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?.” But Jesus sticks with him and doesn’t even say this is obviously a metaphor. At his baptism, John promises that Jesus will offer a baptism of spirit. This spirited water, or water with spirit draws folks into a new life, so new the best metaphor is being born anew. It means every thing is different and one can participate in life, abundant and eternal. Nicodemus is stumped, perhaps it is because a new birth means you let go of everything that came with your birth, your privilege and your birthright, your access and your limits. I think Paul will say it in this way, “There is no longer Slave or Free, Jew or Greek, Male or Female.” And, just like Paul, the folks reading John’s Gospel are invited to come and be a part of life in a new way.

Nicodemus struggles and Jesus responds, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” but Jesus does not send him away in annoyance he stays with him, he offers him two anchors into his tradition. He knows Nicodemus knows his stuff and so the first is language that echos the Lady Wisdom of Proverbs. ^“If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? (v12).” Again, belief in the tradition Jesus and Nicodemus share is about action, it is about being and it is not just about thinking…only empires are into creeds and Christianity doesn’t have one yet. Lady Wisdom or Woman Wisdom invites folks to practice a life of understanding and makes life one of possibilities. 

The second anchor Jesus offers is into the story of Moses. You can find it in Numbers 21. The people are complaining or murmuring in the wilderness and God must be getting tired of it. She made them food and they are almost to the promised land but they have to whine about the manna…again. And so poisonous snakes start biting them, these fire snakes…perhaps sent by God to prove a point are killing people, the people want to apologize and Moses intercedes for them. “So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a seraph figure, and set it on a Standard; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” (v7-8) A seraph appears again in Isaiah, a winged snake, which sounds terrifying but is affiliated with the Divine and this image of a snake wrapped around a staff may be familiar to you, you see it as a symbol Medical professionals. It is a symbol of healing. “So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live” (v9). Jesus says to Nicodemus that his is to be lifted up like this serpent in the wilderness, his presence points towards healing. 

We often think of Salvation as linked to eternal life like it is all about something after this life, which is primarily because of powerful people misdirecting us. It's to the benefit of wealthy rulers like Charlemagne and Constantine, that Christians care more about heaven than earth as it is in heaven. Powerful kings have silenced voices and elevated theology that make their violence and their greed…Christian. Jesus names for Nicodemus and us that his work is about connecting people with life eternal and abundant, it is not about immortality it is about participating in it, now and always, it is unbounded by time and it is a work of healing. Salvation is not about getting out of hell, but getting out of the hell we make for ourselves and others and you might notice that Jesus does not once ask Nicodemus to pray the sinners prayer or read a pamphlet with five versus to be at one with God. 

Salvation is about healing. It is rooted in the same word as SALVE. Maybe you know salve because your Grandma made it and it was the only time she bought whiskey…she claimed. Salve is an ointment for healing, it is care taking of the wound. 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 is about healing, healing for the whole world and not later, but now. Healing what bites and poisons, healing the wounds and the violence we make with each other. Healing is hard work, it does not fit on a pamphlet and is not confined to one prayer and one moment. 

Questions for reflection:

What is your experience with the language of salvation and eternal life? 

Where do you see yourself in Nicodemus?

What is your work in the work of healing? How does that look for you?