For Goodness Snakes, Part II

Sermon, April 9, 2000

Texts: John 3:14-21, Acts 9:1-19, I Corinthians 15:1-8

This is the second part of a two-part series, which suddenly became a two-part series when I realized how late I was running during the 8:00 A.M. service last week! The Gospel reading this morning contains the second "bookend" mentioned last week, the second of two Scripture passages familiar to anyone raised in the church: The first is Jesus' reply to Nicodemus, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (or, as the footnote mentions, perhaps better translated as 'born from above")"; the second: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." In between these very familiar passages is our Lord's reference to a story in Numbers 21: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." I mentioned last time that the contextual implication is that this "snake" between the "bookends" gives fuller meaning/content/explanation to those familiar passages. In that Numbers account, the Jews understood that it wasn't the brazen serpent, the symbol itself, that saved, but by looking to the symbol in obedience to God they were looking to God to save them. The cure came from above, it was God who healed, God Who enabled them to go on to the Promised Land; the promise of the Gospel is that those who look to Jesus Christ shall not die, but shall also go on to enter the eternal Promised Land of God. As Jesus explains, He is the "Son of Man who has come from above," God's salvation has been "born from above," all who look to Him will live.

It is always interesting when someone asks me what I do for a living, when I am out in the community "sans collar" (often, when I wear the collar and especially in this community, I am continually called "Father." More than a few times I have seen puzzlement when I have my three children in tow!). Upon finding out what I do, questioners sometimes get a little fidgety, or sometimes get apologetic for not attending church, or sometimes they'll tell me about their second cousin's brother's wife's father who is a minister. Sometimes, if they find out I'm a Presbyterian minister, they may try to figure out if I'm a Christian. I really have been asked more than once, "Yes, but are you born again?" Well, I think, there it is. I can either just say "Yes" and move on, or I can attempt to correct the person's grammar (technically, one should ask "Have you been born again?") and then move on, or I can jokingly respond with a wink (as I've done once before), "No, I said I'm (ahem) Presbyterian," or I can try to get at exactly what Jesus means by this term "born again," or, as perhaps more accurately translated, "born from above." The phrase "born again" is really only used once in all of the Scripture, but it has become something of a chic catch phrase in some circles that signals what kind of Christian a person is. If we claim to be "born again, and if we mean by that we have joined the "right" group of Christians, then we have made the same mistake as the Pharisees, who tried to set legal/linguistic boundaries on the Kingdom of God.

If you think of it, being born is a rather passive process; the one being born has very, very little (if anything) to do about it. We will be celebrating the birth of my "only-begotten son" this Thursday. Now, Stevie certainly didn't choose to be born six years ago. He certainly wasn't born because he was really convinced of the necessity and logic of it all. Birth was simply a gift he received...it was a gift he received after someone else endured great sacrifice and a good deal of pain. I believe Jesus used this imagery because it describes beautifully how we receive the new life He was literally dying to give us, new life He endured great sacrifice and a good deal of pain to give us, new life "the Son of Man who has come from above" came to deliver. Jesus told Nicodemus that this new birth is a gift we receive which is initiated "from above." The former Pharisee Paul uses something of this same "birth" imagery in I Corinthians 15:8 by referring to himself as one "abnormally born." Saul/Paul was "born from above" rather dramatically and convincingly.

A few additional words of introduction before we briefly look at this well-known conversion account: Most of us can and do readily admit that we are not always right. One of the things that makes ministry a bit dicey, though, is that many of us find it very hard to admit we have been wrong in our ideas about God. The main reason for that is this: whether we realize it or not, our understanding of God is at the base of everything we believe. So if our fundamental understanding of God changes, everything else in our life will have to change, as well. The inverse of this is also true. Many people would like to make a few deep-seated changes in their lives; however, people rarely if ever succeed in making real changes until they see God differently. Change begins with our vision of God. That is certainly what Paul discovered. In his early years, Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus. Tarsus was not a Jewish town; it was in Asia Minor, which means that Saul the Jew most likely grew up around non-Jews. He most likely grew up in a minority, and it wasn't easy to be a religious minority in that day and age. It seems Saul responded to the challenges by taking his faith very seriously. He went on to become an elite Pharisee, and went to Jerusalem where he studied law under the eminent Pharisee scholar Gamaliel. The Pharisees were a conservative religious party in Judaism that believed the vast majority of Israel's problems resulted from their mixing with the non-Jewish world. What the people of God needed, they believed, was to return to a strict observance of Jewish law and tradition. Before long, Saul rose in the ranks and got a pretty good job with the Pharisees. His main responsibility may have been to make sure nothing changed. At the time the greatest threat to Jewish orthodoxy was a new sect called "The Way." The founder of this Jewish sect had been crucified, but his followers were claiming he rose from the dead. Thousands of Jews had become followers of this Jesus and joined their new organization called the "church." Saul was determined to put a stop to it. In Acts 8:3, Luke tells us, "Saul began destroying the church by entering house after house, dragging off both men and women, committing them to prison." Many of these converted Jews were now living in Damascus. Saul got permission from the high priest to go to Damascus to hunt them down and straighten them out.

Most of you know the story. Along the way, on the road on his mission to "help out" God, along the way on his mission to straighten out these religious heretics who didn't follow the rules of orthodox behavior and discipline, Saul was blinded by light. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul. Why do you persecute me?" Responds Saul, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord's reply: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." You see, there was much more to God than Saul knew, so he figuratively and literally had to "come to earth" in Jesus. This Jesus really was alive! Now with this new vision of God, with this new understanding of just Who God is, everything was going to change for Saul, including his very name!

Notice that Saul does not initiate this process. In the words of John Stott, Saul did not decide for Jesus; Jesus decided for Saul. Genuine conversion comes "from above," as God's idea and at God's initiative, not our own. And I would venture to say that there seems to be no one in the Bible whom God loves to convert more than religious people - those who, like Paul, may have spent a lot of time learning theology, those who may be on a mission to do something that will help God, those who may be zealous, committed ... and wrong. Isn't it interesting that Saul was blinded by light? There was more to God than this studied theologian knew; in fact, it seems Saul knew next to nothing about the genuine and gracious Light of God, the Light of the World. And when he did see the light, it overwhelmed him. Only a personal encounter with Christ Himself can genuinely convince, convert and change us. No information, no matter how theologically correct and/or detailed, will do that for us as convincingly or thoroughly. So again, if you would like to see some thorough changes in your life, the place to start is to look honestly and sincerely at Jesus Christ.

After Saul was blinded, they led him into Damascus. For the next three days while life was darkened for Saul, he focused on the risen Jesus Christ. Maybe there's a principle here: When you find that your life has been interrupted by God, so that you cannot even see how to keep moving ahead, have the courage to stop and do nothing for a while...nothing, that is, but prayer. In prayer that we stand before God, and then sense the new directions He is calling us to move. Meanwhile Ananias, one of those in Damascus who was hiding from Saul, got a vision of his own. The Lord Jesus told Ananias to go to the home where Saul was staying and lay hands on him that he might regain his sight. Ananias gently reminds the Lord, "Uh, isn't Saul the guy we are all hiding from because he has 'done evil to your saints in Jerusalem'?" The Lord doesn't really argue with Ananias, He just says again, "Go." Here again we see a religious person getting converted. Ananias was converted from fearful hatred to compassionate graciousness. In one of the finest moments of the book of Acts, Ananias goes to his persecutor Saul, he places his hands on Saul, and the first words he says, the very first words Saul heard from the church he tried to destroy, were "Brother Saul." The grace of God made his tormentor his brother. At the time Luke wrote this story, Christians were severely persecuted, as they were for the next three hundred years, and as they still are in parts of the world today. The most effective way Christians have overcome persecution is by acting in love and obedience to God and reaching out to the tormentor, saying, "Brother Saul." That is what Christ asks of us in responding to our tormentors as well. It is the only way to transform evil - with love - not with vindictiveness, not with revenge...but with love that channels the grace of God.

Maybe you have not had a Damascus Road experience; there has been no blinding light and no voice saying, "Hey! What are you doing?" But, on the other hand, I wonder if that is true? I believe God is talking all the time, perhaps even using events to knock us to the ground in order to get our attention....the question is, are we listening? The things about yourself that you would like changed, as well as the things about yourself that you hold dear, are all things Jesus would like to transform for His sacred purposes. That even includes your hurts, your limitations, and all the time you thought you had wasted. Jesus will use you not in spite of those things, but through them. There is so much more to Jesus Christ than we know. May we all continue to look to Him for genuine change. Especially during this Lenten season, may we all direct our focus and attention to the Son of Man that is lifted above, to the One who can indeed bring us the healing and restoration of God.