God’s Delight

God’s Delight

5th March 2023

Genesis 12: 1-4a

John 3: 1-17     

In this season of Lent we are on a journey.

Our journey toward Easter echoes that journey Jesus made – the journey toward the cross.

And today our Bible readings present two people to help us learn about our journey of faith.

Firstly, there’s Abram.

God calls to Abram.

If Abram will make the costly journey to behind what he knows best, God will bless him with new land and will bless his family and his people.

The promise made to Abram is a gesture of well-being for which there is as yet no visible evidence.

Although the Bible is full of very ‘human’ humans, Abram’s willingness to trust God’s promises makes him a model of faith.

Abram is an exemplar of faithfulness, and willingness to trust where God leads.

And on the other hand, there’s Nicodemus…

Nicodemus is curious, but cautious.

Nicodemus represents a faith that has little confidence and comes from weighing the evidence (without risk).

Do you see how this is different from the faith of Abram…?

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the miraculous acts he’s performed aren’t enough on their own for the faith he wants for us.

It takes another miracle, another act of God, to open our eyes:

“no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” (v3)

By the way, this is encouraging for us – who aren’t first-hand eye-witnesses to Jesus’ miraculous acts.

Jesus is speaking about a different kind of miracle he performs, that enables us all to see the kingdom.

      This miracle enables our faith.

As ‘the pioneer and perfector of our faith’, (Heb 12:2) Jesus leads us forward in faith.

Jesus fulfils the journey of human relationship with God.

Jesus is the ultimate revelation of human faithfulness toward God.

The climax of this revelation is the cross:

“so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”  (v14, 15)

To be ‘lifted up’(v14) is paradoxical – both an exultation and humiliation.

God’s costly grace in the cross is the event that makes possible our journey of faith.

We are given life through the faithfulness of Jesus.

We are saved.

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

What does it mean that we are saved?

Salvation is both rescue and healing

(the fancy theological terms are justification and sanctification)

Justification is something that God does for us; sanctification is what God does with us.

As I’ve been thinking about God’s salvation in Jesus as rescue and healing, I’ve been thinking about Cyclone Gabrielle.

That’s exactly what many people in the path of the cyclone need: rescue and healing.

And perhaps this helps us recognise what we all need.

In the news yesterday I read about Ross Cocking in Hawkes Bay.

He was quoted as saying: “I might as well be a baby again, born with nothing and start again”.

This instantly reminded me of Jesus’ words in our reading today.

Such a desperate expression of need is something Jesus can work with.

Nicodemus didn’t get it.

Perhaps we can see faith as a willingness to let go of the things which seem certain and unshakable, to yield to what God is doing.

That sort of faith is a journey – isn’t it…?

If you’re like me, you probably feel this is pretty scary, uncertain, adventurous.

And yet the promise of Jesus is that this is the journey from

despair to hope,

oldness to newness,

death to life.

Are we willing to trust the Promise-maker

                                  to be a Promise-keeper?

The Good News is that we are saved.

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

We have been rescued by the power of love in the cross.

And at this time of Lent we are able to focus on the healing that God does with us.

During Lent, we encourage one another to carry out a ‘spiritual audit’.

Through self-inspection and repentance we can find healing.

There may be pain and discomfort in this.

(like rinsing out dirt from a wound)

But there can be joy in this.

And a flabby Christianity can be much more of a daily burden than the freely chosen response to move forward on the journey of faith.

Sadly, Lent can sometimes be characterised by dreary obligations and duties.

Anyone seen the film ‘Chocolat’…? 

It’s pretty old now, but the mayor of the village (played by Alfred Molina) typifies legalistic and judgmental religion.

When self-inspection and repentance are prescribed as religious tasks,

condemnation allows anxiety and fear to sneak into our souls, and dispossess us of peace and joy.

Legalistic and judgmental religion is a disaster.

It is not being true to Jesus, but is in fact a denial of his mission on earth:

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

The glory of the Gospel is the rescuing and healing love of God, whose passion it is to bring us all on the journey.

God doesn’t condemn us.

God’s delight is us!

Our faith is not about whether we have repented enough,

or fulfilled our Christian obligations enough,

but on the pure, unadulterated love of God.

God’s grace is always at the heart of our faith.

When live fully into this faith, anxiety and fear lose their power over us.

God is with us

– every step of the way.

Praise the One who saves us!     Amen.