John 3:14-21; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
March 11, 2018
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL
Christina Berry
We are again in John’s gospel this fourth Sunday in Lent. We heard last week about one of the events which John calls “signs,” as Jesus threw the moneychangers from the temple. John’s gospel is particularly focused on the incarnation – Jesus as God in human flesh, as a sign of God’s presence, and on the signs that point us to that reality. John’s gospel begins with a focus on Jesus as “the Word made flesh,” Jesus as the light of the world, shining in the darkness. In the verses that lead up to today’s reading, a man named Nicodemus has come in the dark of night to talk to Jesus. They discuss how a person needs to experience a new birth in the Spirit, and Jesus continues with a reference to the deliverance of the Israelites, and how an effigy of a snake lifted up effected their healing. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in John 3:14-21
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. Those 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. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But 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."
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Our Psalm for today is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in which we are reminded of God’s healing and deliverance for all people. Let’s listen for signs of God’s goodness and steadfast love as we read Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.
God’s word for God’s people.
Thanks be to God.
At Bible study on Wednesday as we dug into these scriptures, I told the women at the table that their job was to come up with a sermon title. We were about halfway through the morning when Beth said, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”
It was perfect!
Those three words sum up these two readings completely.
However, I spent the rest of the week listening to Stevie Wonder and now at least two of you will have that song running through your heads all day – thanks for the earworm, pastor…
Stevie Wonder, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"
I want to talk about giving thanks today, but first I want to talk about why we give thanks. It comes from those three words:
However, I spent the rest of the week listening to Stevie Wonder and now at least two of you will have that song running through your heads all day – thanks for the earworm, pastor…
Stevie Wonder, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"
I want to talk about giving thanks today, but first I want to talk about why we give thanks. It comes from those three words:
signed,
sealed,
delivered.
We start with the gospel reading, from the section called “the book of signs” in the gospel according to John. Jesus doesn’t do any miracles in this part; John is too busy weaving in layers of meaning for that.
Some of this text is so familiar that we all think we know what it means, and there are plenty of people who are quite sure that they know. It starts with this strange and rather creepy image of a snake on a pole, hearkening back to the wilderness where the Israelites wandered for forty years. They were complaining, as usual, and the story in Numbers says that God sent snakes among them. The snakes were biting people and they were dying. Needless to say, the people were unhappy about that. They asked Moses to pray to God to take the snakes away. So God told Moses to put an image of snake atop a pole and hold it up in front of the people, and they would be healed. God didn’t take the snakes away, but just healed the snakebite. The parallel Jesus is making, of course, is that he too would be lifted up, on the cross, and that those who were sick and dying could lift their eyes to him, and they would be healed. The trouble and conflict and sickness and sorrow would not vanish, but those who fix their eyes on Jesus would find healing.
Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, and a learned man, would have easily made the connection to the Moses story. Nicodemus didn’t catch on as quickly to Jesus’ discourse on salvation. Jesus uses the images of birth, of the spirit, and of darkness and light.
He talks of a new birth of the Spirit, a re-birth in Jesus, into a second life.
He uses the word for Spirit that means wind and breath and Spirit.
He talks of moving from darkness into light – a new awakening in a new dawn.
Nicodemus came to Jesus convinced that he was a sign from God,
and Jesus showed that he is not just A sign, but THE sign.
Nicodemus came to Jesus a full grown man,
and Jesus said he needed a new birth, a rebirth, sealed in God’s love.
Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night, and Jesus invited him into the light
to be delivered from darkness into daylight.
Just like the song says, “signed, sealed, delivered.”
The same thing is happening in this Psalm of thanksgiving, but much of it is in the parts the lectionary verses leave out. In the verses of Psalm 107, we see how God’s signs work in the world, how God seals us in God’s love, and how God delivers humankind. So we’re going to do something that is a little bit unusual for Presbyterians. I want you to take out your Bibles and look up Psalm 107. If there is a kid nearby, help them, or have them help you. The book of Psalms is about the middle of the Bible. If you can’t find it, wait a sec for Wanda to call out the page number… act real casual, like, yeah, I knew that…. I wanted you to see the sort of people that God delivers.
Verse 4 - Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Verse 6 - God did what? Yes! Delivered them from their distress.
So as verse eight says: Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
Verse 10 – another group of people – those who sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons… But, verse 14, again, God brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder. So in verse 15, you see what they are called to do!
We start with the gospel reading, from the section called “the book of signs” in the gospel according to John. Jesus doesn’t do any miracles in this part; John is too busy weaving in layers of meaning for that.
Some of this text is so familiar that we all think we know what it means, and there are plenty of people who are quite sure that they know. It starts with this strange and rather creepy image of a snake on a pole, hearkening back to the wilderness where the Israelites wandered for forty years. They were complaining, as usual, and the story in Numbers says that God sent snakes among them. The snakes were biting people and they were dying. Needless to say, the people were unhappy about that. They asked Moses to pray to God to take the snakes away. So God told Moses to put an image of snake atop a pole and hold it up in front of the people, and they would be healed. God didn’t take the snakes away, but just healed the snakebite. The parallel Jesus is making, of course, is that he too would be lifted up, on the cross, and that those who were sick and dying could lift their eyes to him, and they would be healed. The trouble and conflict and sickness and sorrow would not vanish, but those who fix their eyes on Jesus would find healing.
Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, and a learned man, would have easily made the connection to the Moses story. Nicodemus didn’t catch on as quickly to Jesus’ discourse on salvation. Jesus uses the images of birth, of the spirit, and of darkness and light.
He talks of a new birth of the Spirit, a re-birth in Jesus, into a second life.
He uses the word for Spirit that means wind and breath and Spirit.
He talks of moving from darkness into light – a new awakening in a new dawn.
Nicodemus came to Jesus convinced that he was a sign from God,
and Jesus showed that he is not just A sign, but THE sign.
Nicodemus came to Jesus a full grown man,
and Jesus said he needed a new birth, a rebirth, sealed in God’s love.
Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night, and Jesus invited him into the light
to be delivered from darkness into daylight.
Just like the song says, “signed, sealed, delivered.”
The same thing is happening in this Psalm of thanksgiving, but much of it is in the parts the lectionary verses leave out. In the verses of Psalm 107, we see how God’s signs work in the world, how God seals us in God’s love, and how God delivers humankind. So we’re going to do something that is a little bit unusual for Presbyterians. I want you to take out your Bibles and look up Psalm 107. If there is a kid nearby, help them, or have them help you. The book of Psalms is about the middle of the Bible. If you can’t find it, wait a sec for Wanda to call out the page number… act real casual, like, yeah, I knew that…. I wanted you to see the sort of people that God delivers.
Verse 4 - Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Verse 6 - God did what? Yes! Delivered them from their distress.
So as verse eight says: Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
Verse 10 – another group of people – those who sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons… But, verse 14, again, God brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder. So in verse 15, you see what they are called to do!
They also: thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
Then we see in verse 17 that some were sick through their sinful ways, And THEY cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. So, if you are able, read verse 21 out loud with me:
Then we see in verse 17 that some were sick through their sinful ways, And THEY cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. So, if you are able, read verse 21 out loud with me:
“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.”
Then in verse 23, “Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;” Fast forward through a terrible storm to verse 28: “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress…” But see? in verse 29, “God made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” So verse 30 tells us “Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. So, read verse 31 out loud with me:
“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.”
The lost and hungry,
the oppressed and imprisoned,
the sick and distressed,
and the business people who are rocked by storms-
all of them, delivered from their distress by God.
And what are we to do, friends, we who have been signed, sealed and delivered?
verse 31 again: Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love!
It’s no secret, or shouldn’t be, that gratitude is good for us. One writer gives quite a list. Are you ready? It turns out that when you start and end each day with conscious and mindful gratitude, you get these benefits:
positive emotions, high empathy, better sleep, vastly improved health, fewer aches and pains, a more resilient nervous system, lower blood pressure, less cortisol and stress, better relationship quality, increased longevity and a host of other benefits.
All day long.
It’s all over the internet – psychology, education, medicine, business – everybody knows that being thankful is a good thing. What we know, in addition to that,
is WHO to thank!
We know that the sign of God’s steadfast love is Jesus.
We know that the seal of God’s love is the incarnation,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We know that we are delivered through the love of Jesus,
who faced down hatred and violence and injustice with love.
We know that we are signed, sealed and delivered.
So let our days begin and end with prayers of thanks
for signs of love and the seal of love and being delivered by love.
Let us thank the Lord for his steadfast love.
Amen.
Then in verse 23, “Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;” Fast forward through a terrible storm to verse 28: “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress…” But see? in verse 29, “God made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” So verse 30 tells us “Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. So, read verse 31 out loud with me:
“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.”
The lost and hungry,
the oppressed and imprisoned,
the sick and distressed,
and the business people who are rocked by storms-
all of them, delivered from their distress by God.
And what are we to do, friends, we who have been signed, sealed and delivered?
verse 31 again: Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love!
It’s no secret, or shouldn’t be, that gratitude is good for us. One writer gives quite a list. Are you ready? It turns out that when you start and end each day with conscious and mindful gratitude, you get these benefits:
positive emotions, high empathy, better sleep, vastly improved health, fewer aches and pains, a more resilient nervous system, lower blood pressure, less cortisol and stress, better relationship quality, increased longevity and a host of other benefits.
All day long.
It’s all over the internet – psychology, education, medicine, business – everybody knows that being thankful is a good thing. What we know, in addition to that,
is WHO to thank!
We know that the sign of God’s steadfast love is Jesus.
We know that the seal of God’s love is the incarnation,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We know that we are delivered through the love of Jesus,
who faced down hatred and violence and injustice with love.
We know that we are signed, sealed and delivered.
So let our days begin and end with prayers of thanks
for signs of love and the seal of love and being delivered by love.
Let us thank the Lord for his steadfast love.
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment