Sermon preached at 9.45am Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton’s on Sunday 20th March 2011. A shorter version of this sermon was preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth
Second Sunday of Lent – Year A
Readings: Romans 4: 1-5 & 13-17 John 3: 1-17
Jesus conversation with Nicodemus is very famous
- He was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, perhaps the only such leader who really believed in Jesus
- Came to Jesus by night, because of fear
- Nicodemus crops us throughout John’s gospel
o He is argues that Jesus should be given a hearing, when Pharisees plot his arrest (7: 45-52)
o He is perhaps the example of a leading Jew who did believe in Jesus but dare not admit it (12: 42)
o At the death of Jesus he brings myrrh and aloes for his burial (19: 39)
Jesus gives him a hard time by talking of being born from above, or born again.
Nicodemus tries to flush out what Jesus means by being “born from above”
Jesus confirms that he does not mean a physical re-birth, but rather being born of “water and the Spirit”.
So just as a human person must be born of the flesh, and physically grow up, so that person must also be born of the Spirit and grow up in the Spirit, and come to maturity in the Spirit. Jesus says that this is essential to enter the kingdom of God. It is as though it is our life in the Spirit that enters into the kingdom of God, while out earthly body rots in the ground.
Now in the Church we associate “being born through water and the Spirit” with baptism – the moment when the life of the Spirit begins within us in a characteristic Christian way. This birth is certainly an essential step, but it is also essential that this life in the Spirit must grow and develop and reach its full stature. The fathers of the church always talk about baptism as essential for salvation.
So what is it that is essential for salvation?
- To be Baptised?
- To be born of the Spirit?
- to believe in Jesus? – as is often repeated in John’s gospel
- to live by faith – as Paul tells us in our epistle today
Sometimes there can be anxiety of this point.
- Perhaps you met Christians who ask “have you been born again?”
- Perhaps you have met Christians who scramble to get a new born baby baptised for fear that it might die un-baptised
Well to seek salvation is clearly a good thing, but I we are meant to get anxious about it. Salvation is God’s gift, freely given. We have to learn to trust God and to have faith in his love for us. First and foremost we must believe that God wants our good, wants our salvation and, one way or another, God will secure that salvation if we just do our part, and respond positively to the invitation of God. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4: 18).
Neither should we think of salvation as a tick list:
“I just need to be baptised, then I am saved”
“I just need to be born again, then I am saved”
“I just need to believe in Jesus, then I am saved”
“I just need to lead a good life, then I am saved”
The truth is that all these things go together and grow together in our spiritual lives. Everyone is different and God calls people in different ways. Many are baptised as babies and then need to grow into their faith. Other come to Christ differently and in certain ways might already be fairly mature as Christians before they are baptised. Some Christians emphasise faith in God, others emphasise the importance of living a good life and of loving our neighbour. But ultimately all these things go together and build on each other. Ultimately all are important, all our signs of each other. The Christian who emphasises faith, but has no love is clearly lacking (1 Cor 13: 2). The Christian who knows the scriptures but does not know Christ is clearly lacking (John 5: 39-40). The person who responds positively to Christ, but who has not be baptised or “born from above” clearly is lacking, as Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus shows.
So as we think of our salvation, let’s not worry about specific tests to determine if we are saved or not saved. Rather let’s seek to make progress in all the different aspects of the Christian life so that we can grow up into our salvation (c.f. 1 peter 2: 2) in a balanced way. Certainly, if we are not baptised then we should seek baptism. If we were baptised as babies then we should seek Confirmation, taking our personal ownership of our baptismal promises. Certainly we should seek to grow in faith and trust in God. We should seek to build our personal relationship with Jesus through prayer, by reading the gospels and by living as Jesus commands. Similarly we must live by the Spirit. Above all we must seek to grow in love for God and for our neighbours, because ultimately it is on love that the saved the unsaved are separated (Matt 25: 31ff). Amen.
Showing posts with label Nicodemus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nicodemus. Show all posts
20 March 2011
11 January 2009
The Holy Spirit at the Baptism of Christ
Sermon preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 11am Eucharist on Sunday 11th January 2009
Epiphany 1 - The Baptism of Christ, Year B.
Readings: Genesis 1: 1-5 Acts 19: 1-7 Mark 1: 4-11
Our readings today make us reflect on the Holy Spirit. They remind us how incredibly important the Holy Spirit is, and how significant his role is in so many crucial moments.
In our reading from Genesis we heard the first five verses of the bible; the beginning of the creation story. And this included, in the second verse of the bible, a reference to the Holy Spirit. You may have missed it because we read from the NRSV of the bible, which translates the Hebrew as, “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” But the Authorised Version of the Bible translates this as “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The NIV translates it as “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. However it is translated, the point remains the same; the Holy Spirit was present and participating at the very beginning of creation.
In our gospel reading we heard Mark’s very brief account of the ministry of John the Baptist. We heard how people went see John in the wilderness. They confessed their sins and were baptised with a baptism of repentance. And John proclaimed that the one coming after him, was much greater than he was, because John baptised only with water, whereas the one who was coming would baptise with the Holy Spirit.
And is seems that there is some very profound link between Jesus, baptism and the Holy Spirit. This first comes to light when Jesus is baptised by John, and we heard this story at the end of our gospel reading. Jesus came up out of the water and he saw heaven torn open and the spirit descending like a dove upon him. Then there was the voice from heaven. “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
This incident is recorded in all four gospels. In Mark’s gospel, which we heard today, it is not very clear that anyone else other that Jesus actually saw the spirit descend or heard the voice. Luke’s account suggests that the incident might have been clearly visible to the many people who were present. In John’s account John the Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit alight on Jesus and remain there, and that this for him was a clear sign that Jesus was the one to baptise with the Holy Spirit; the Son of God. In the Church we always think of the baptism of Christ as a key “epiphany moment”; a moment when Jesus is revealed to the world as someone very important. In fact this is a particularly significant epiphany moment because the descending Spirit shows Jesus to be the anointed one, the Messiah, and the voice from heaven goes further telling us that he is God’s own son, the beloved.
But the links between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and baptism go well beyond the decent of the Holy Spirit onto Jesus at his own baptism. As John the Baptist explained, the baptism of Jesus is a baptism with the Holy Spirit, whereas John’s baptism with water is a much simpler symbol of repentance. This distinction between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus became even more important in the life of the early church, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This is because of incidents like the one we heard about in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Paul arrived in Ephesus and found some followers of Jesus there. However they had been baptised only with the baptism of John, and their baptism was in some way incomplete. But when Paul baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus they received the Holy Spirit, and suddenly they started to speak in tongues and to prophesise.
Because of incidents like this the early Church quickly resolved to baptise, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. This formulation used in Baptism emerged very early on in the life of the infant Church, several centuries before the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formulated.
So those of us who have been baptised have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism. Those of us who have been Confirmed have been further strengthened in the Holy Spirit as we give our own ascent to our baptismal promises, and as the bishop lays hands on us.
So what difference does it make for us, that we have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism? Well these are deep mysteries that mystics and theologians continue to dwell upon. But John’s gospel gives us some pointers in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. As Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3: 5-6). Somehow, in our baptism, the Holy Spirit brings to birth within us a new life in the Spirit, which is also a new life in Christ. With the correct care and nurture this new life in the spirit can grow and develop within us, until we become mature, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (c.f. Eph 4: 13). And this maturity is deeply tied up with our unity with the other people who have been baptized into Christ, with unity in the life of the Church (e.g. Eph 4: 13, Gal 3: 26-28).
So the challenge for us is to nurture ourselves well so that we can grow in the Spirit and grow in Christ. And this is a great challenge because so many things about our contemporary society are very unhelpful to this growth. However there are things we can do. Coming to Mass regularly is a very helpful thing. Confessing our sins is very helpful. Prayer is very helpful. Studying the bible and reflecting on it is very helpful. Seeking to see Jesus in the people around us, and to love Jesus in them is also very, very helpful. It is very helpful if we can share something of our spiritual lives with others, so it becomes not just an individual things that I do on my own, but something I do together with other people, together with the others in the Church.
So today let’s give thanks for the Holy Spirit, let’s praise God for the new life that he gives us through baptism, and let’s pray that the Spirit will help us to grow in that life and to bring it to maturity.
Epiphany 1 - The Baptism of Christ, Year B.
Readings: Genesis 1: 1-5 Acts 19: 1-7 Mark 1: 4-11
Our readings today make us reflect on the Holy Spirit. They remind us how incredibly important the Holy Spirit is, and how significant his role is in so many crucial moments.
In our reading from Genesis we heard the first five verses of the bible; the beginning of the creation story. And this included, in the second verse of the bible, a reference to the Holy Spirit. You may have missed it because we read from the NRSV of the bible, which translates the Hebrew as, “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” But the Authorised Version of the Bible translates this as “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The NIV translates it as “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. However it is translated, the point remains the same; the Holy Spirit was present and participating at the very beginning of creation.
In our gospel reading we heard Mark’s very brief account of the ministry of John the Baptist. We heard how people went see John in the wilderness. They confessed their sins and were baptised with a baptism of repentance. And John proclaimed that the one coming after him, was much greater than he was, because John baptised only with water, whereas the one who was coming would baptise with the Holy Spirit.
And is seems that there is some very profound link between Jesus, baptism and the Holy Spirit. This first comes to light when Jesus is baptised by John, and we heard this story at the end of our gospel reading. Jesus came up out of the water and he saw heaven torn open and the spirit descending like a dove upon him. Then there was the voice from heaven. “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
This incident is recorded in all four gospels. In Mark’s gospel, which we heard today, it is not very clear that anyone else other that Jesus actually saw the spirit descend or heard the voice. Luke’s account suggests that the incident might have been clearly visible to the many people who were present. In John’s account John the Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit alight on Jesus and remain there, and that this for him was a clear sign that Jesus was the one to baptise with the Holy Spirit; the Son of God. In the Church we always think of the baptism of Christ as a key “epiphany moment”; a moment when Jesus is revealed to the world as someone very important. In fact this is a particularly significant epiphany moment because the descending Spirit shows Jesus to be the anointed one, the Messiah, and the voice from heaven goes further telling us that he is God’s own son, the beloved.
But the links between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and baptism go well beyond the decent of the Holy Spirit onto Jesus at his own baptism. As John the Baptist explained, the baptism of Jesus is a baptism with the Holy Spirit, whereas John’s baptism with water is a much simpler symbol of repentance. This distinction between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus became even more important in the life of the early church, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This is because of incidents like the one we heard about in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Paul arrived in Ephesus and found some followers of Jesus there. However they had been baptised only with the baptism of John, and their baptism was in some way incomplete. But when Paul baptised them in the name of the Lord Jesus they received the Holy Spirit, and suddenly they started to speak in tongues and to prophesise.
Because of incidents like this the early Church quickly resolved to baptise, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. This formulation used in Baptism emerged very early on in the life of the infant Church, several centuries before the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formulated.
So those of us who have been baptised have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism. Those of us who have been Confirmed have been further strengthened in the Holy Spirit as we give our own ascent to our baptismal promises, and as the bishop lays hands on us.
So what difference does it make for us, that we have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism? Well these are deep mysteries that mystics and theologians continue to dwell upon. But John’s gospel gives us some pointers in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. As Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3: 5-6). Somehow, in our baptism, the Holy Spirit brings to birth within us a new life in the Spirit, which is also a new life in Christ. With the correct care and nurture this new life in the spirit can grow and develop within us, until we become mature, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (c.f. Eph 4: 13). And this maturity is deeply tied up with our unity with the other people who have been baptized into Christ, with unity in the life of the Church (e.g. Eph 4: 13, Gal 3: 26-28).
So the challenge for us is to nurture ourselves well so that we can grow in the Spirit and grow in Christ. And this is a great challenge because so many things about our contemporary society are very unhelpful to this growth. However there are things we can do. Coming to Mass regularly is a very helpful thing. Confessing our sins is very helpful. Prayer is very helpful. Studying the bible and reflecting on it is very helpful. Seeking to see Jesus in the people around us, and to love Jesus in them is also very, very helpful. It is very helpful if we can share something of our spiritual lives with others, so it becomes not just an individual things that I do on my own, but something I do together with other people, together with the others in the Church.
So today let’s give thanks for the Holy Spirit, let’s praise God for the new life that he gives us through baptism, and let’s pray that the Spirit will help us to grow in that life and to bring it to maturity.
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