Tag Archives: new birth

Not Seen, But Loved

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“Not Seen, But Loved”

1 Peter 1:3-9 – April 16, 2023

            Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! This is the ancient Easter affirmation and declaration that has come down to us today, in the 21st century. I am using this greeting because Easter is so much more than just a day at the end of the Passion Week. In fact, Easter is so much more than bunnies and brightly dyed eggs, so much more than Easter bonnets and fancy clothing, so much more than candy and Easter baskets. So, what is Easter all about?

            As we look at our Scripture reading this morning from 1 Peter chapter 1, we see right up front: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Right off the bat, the apostle states where we get our hope from, our living hope: through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!

            But, how can we have faith in Someone we have never seen? Someone who was raised from the dead, by verbal report? A long, long time ago, at that?

            This little letter at the end of the New Testament came several decades after the events of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, and after a number of the people who were actual witnesses of the resurrected Lord Jesus had themselves died. The local governments and authorities were cracking down on anything that looked like rebellion or conflict against the accepted status quo. The situation throughout the whole region was, frankly, dangerous for these new believers! Yet, they kept on spreading the witness of the Resurrection, telling what Jesus had done in their lives.

But, that isn’t the case today! Is it? No one would be afraid to speak up for Jesus, to witness to the Resurrection today, would they? Well, actually, yes. In the region I just visited some days ago, the region of North Africa and the Middle East, wide areas have official papers that everyone must have filed with the regional or local governments. When a baby is born, each one has a religious designation given to them: often, it’s Muslim, Christian, or Jew. In Muslim-majority areas, it is often frowned upon for a Muslim to change their religious designation. Period. Even if an adult wishes to change their religious designation on their identity papers, it is forbidden, by the government as well as the religious leaders. And sometimes by families, too.

This modern-day attitude that is continuing through large areas around the world today gives me a whole new insight to the great difficulty the apostle was dealing with, right here in this letter to scattered new believers throughout the region surrounding Palestine! The year is probably the early 60’s, and this letter was either written by the apostle Peter, or perhaps dictated by Peter to a fellow church leader who wrote it out for him.

I wonder again: how can we – today – have faith in Someone we have never seen? Someone who was raised from the dead, by report?

Just like many believers today in North Africa and the Middle East, “This letter was written [during the first century] when the church was under constant threat; when the benediction was spoken in a whisper because everyone knew when they gathered again someone likely would be missing, caught up in the cleansing, deportations, and imprisonment. They were afraid of their neighbors. They were afraid people might discover that they practiced a minority religion, a suspect faith. They worried that neighbors might turn them in to the increasingly vigilant authorities who were out to make the nation safe.” [1]

I suspect that the Apostle Peter, the Apostle Paul, and the other disciples had absolutely no idea that centuries later Easter would turn into a fancy dress occasion, with Easter bonnets, best clothes, and lots of candy, chicks, bunnies and Easter baskets. No, Easter in the first century was a whole different occasion. A joyous one, certainly! Yet, not one that was safe, at all. Too many perilous situations, too many unexpected and dangerous people who might be listening!

“If the question ‘should we hide’ is the one being addressed, who better than Peter to answer it? Peter, who professed his loyalty to his Lord with moral conviction and then ran like a scared bunny when things got heated. Peter, who claimed his steadfastness with loud protests and then claimed to not know who they were talking about when someone asked him about this Jesus. Of course, Peter would answer this question. He’s been there.”  He knows. [2]

Thirty years after the Resurrection and Ascension in the first century, thousands had responded to the Good News, the witness of these who had actually seen the resurrected Christ. Countless thousands more had come to believe on the strength of the witness of those who had not seen and yet were committed to this Good News, blessed promise of Resurrection.

 “Can you have faith in someone you’ve never seen?” The 1 Peter passage calls us to thankfulness for what God does in our lives! This reading also encourages us to have continued faith even though we haven’t physically seen Jesus. The might and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and this same Good News of the Resurrection are preached from countless pulpits today, and shared by countless people throughout the centuries.

Some questions that face each of us today, highlighted by this reading from 1 Peter? Is Jesus your Companion, your Friend? Has Jesus worked in your life? How has Jesus come alongside of you? And, most central, is the Resurrection part of your life today?

As the apostle said in verse 8, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Do you and I truly know this inexpressible and glorious joy?

            We can have this living hope, no matter what! Peter says so, right here! Peter and the early, scattered church had it! Persecuted believers around the world, throughout the centuries have had it! And, we can have this hope, too. Living hope, and inexpressible and glorious joy.

Is this call-and-response just an ancient saying, repeated by rote? Or is it a true and heartfelt witness to the Resurrection? We can truly, joyfully say Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/a-living-hope/second-sunday-of-easter-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes/second-sunday-of-easter-year-a-preaching-notes

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/a-living-hope/second-sunday-of-easter-year-a-lectionary-planning-notes/second-sunday-of-easter-year-a-preaching-notes

Born of the Spirit

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“Born of the Spirit” – May 31, 2015

Trinity - Holy Spirit

John 3:8

The wind can be really powerful. Has anyone here experienced a really strong wind? I remember the wind blowing so strong that I almost got blown off the highway while I was driving in Michigan. And when walking, I had to really lean into the wind to make any headway at all. We can watch the wind rush the clouds along and whip the trees and leaves. And what about devastating windstorms? Think of the tremendous power of hurricanes and tornados! We see the strong power of wind at work, regularly.

Wind is also a symbol from the Bible—a symbol of the Holy Spirit, in both the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is all over our Scripture passage today. We’ll hear our Lord Jesus mention the Holy Spirit in a few minutes, but first let’s set the stage.

Here it is, early in Jesus’ ministry. He had already made a name for Himself, with the marvelous teaching He had done and the wonderful miracles He had performed. A lot of people were talking about Jesus, this itinerant rabbi from Galilee. Even the most important leaders among the Jews, the Pharisees, were talking about Rabbi Jesus. One of the Jewish leaders, a man named Nicodemus, summoned up enough courage one night to sneak over to where Jesus was staying.

Nicodemus wanted to know more about Jesus.

Isn’t that just like some people? Some people know a little bit about Jesus, but they don’t know much. There is a veil across their understanding. This state is not godly; the Bible calls it the natural state of man, or of people. In their natural state, people often do not even consider God at all. They cannot come close to God. So, we often see people in their natural state feeling defeated and frustrated because they have a hole in their lives. There is something missing.

St. Augustine wrote a book centuries ago, an autobiography called The Confessions. He speaks of this emptiness, this void, this God-shaped hole inside of people. Augustine also talked about how it was impossible for anyone to fill up that hole with anything else but God.

People do try. They try to fill that hole with all kinds of things: work, money, education, status, alcohol, drugs, computers, family, exercise, shopping. All these things are ways to fill our lives, and to keep us busy. But—we cannot fill that God-shaped hole all by ourselves. No matter how hard we try.

Let’s go back to Nicodemus, coming to see this itinerant Rabbi Jesus in the middle of the night. Nicodemus is worried, or frightened, or a bit of both. But he does come to Jesus.

Did Nicodemus—a leader and prominent teacher among the Jews—come to have an intellectual, theological discussion with Jesus? Or, was it something else that convinced him to seek out this upstart Rabbi?

We discover he is drawn to Jesus by the wise words Jesus has said, as well as the witness of the mighty signs He has done. In other words, the word and the works of God draw Nicodemus to Jesus. Let me say that again: the word of God and the works of God draw Nicodemus to Jesus.

Early on in the interview—for that is what Nicodemus came to do, have an in depth interview with Rabbi Jesus—Jesus makes a surprising comment—surprising to Nicodemus, anyway. “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus begins to stutter and stammer, and complains that he cannot crawl back inside of his mother to be reborn, can he?

Again and again, the prophets in the Old Testament mention the new birth and the new life from God. This was nothing surprising. As a teacher of the Jews, Nicodemus should have known this teaching. Jesus is patient and answers again in the same vein. He even jokes with Nicodemus—as one of the premier teachers and scholars in Israel, Nicodemus needed some itinerant rabbi to fill him in on the hope of Israel??

Here we are, almost two thousand years after this conversation. Are you and I any further along in belief? Do we understand everything about the Holy Spirit’s work in the typical believer’s life? Or, are we still trying to painstakingly piece together the activity of God? I know I am. I don’t have all the answers, and that’s okay by God.

Many deep, theological books have been written over the centuries to explain the theology of this third chapter of the Gospel of John. But—I don’t want to give you just a hodgepodge of theology. Instead, I want to tell you about Jesus and His response to Nicodemus’ questions. I want to lift up to you the One who was sent to earth by God, His Heavenly Father. I want to point to the One who gave testimony of the power of God through the Holy Spirit.

Just as no one can actually see electricity or the wind in operation, no one can tell us exactly how they work. But, we all can see their effects. In the same way, God works in our lives today in much the same way. God’s hand is not visible. The power of the Holy Spirit is very often invisible—it is sort of like the wind, similar to electricity. We can see the Holy Spirit’s effects. And we can definitely tell how God works in our lives and hearts. We can see people’s lives changed by the mighty power of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus here is mentioning power—Holy Spirit power. Do you believe it? Can you feel it? Like a gentle breeze, or even a strong wind, blowing through our lives?

Jesus forgives us our sins and wipes out the past. God cleanses us, and strengthens us. The Holy Spirit provides a way for us to be reborn, born from above. The Holy Spirit allows us to enter eternal life as children of God. Do you believe it? Can you feel it? What a wonderful opportunity! Praise God for His everlasting love.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Believe the good news of the Gospel!

Alleluia. Amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my daily blog for 2015: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind .  Thanks!)