The Jesus Tomb

Speaking of Faith Column

K-V Dispatch

March 14 2007 Edition

Hold on to your hats: Yet another startling new discovery threatens to rock the foundations of Christianity! How many times have we heard this in the last five years? From the questions posed by Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and the scandalous Gospel of Judas, to the recent discovery of the James ossuary (which, incidentally, was proven a hoax), it seems there is no shortage of revelations these days that strike fear in the hearts of millions of Christians worldwide! The foundations of the Church are crumbling, and Christianity is cowering in the shadow of science and truth…

Or at least, that’s what someone wants you to think.

In 1980, a group of archaeologists discovered a tomb with several ossuaries, boxes containing the bones of the deceased. Names on those boxes include “Jesus, son of Joseph,” Mary, and even “Mariamene,” a name that was reportedly used to refer to Mary Magdalene. The discovery was picked up by Hollywood director James Cameron (of Titanic fame), who has made a “documentary” on the subject. The implications are serious, they claim: Jesus was no more than a normal human being, who was married to Mary Magdalene, and who had children. No cross and resurrection, no ascent into heaven.

It seems everyone’s expecting Christians to shudder in fright. The world watches for some kind of vicious reaction from the Church, like cornered animals who realize their time is up. Sadly, some of us have given it to them.

I could go on for several weeks of columns, talking about the problems in their research, the evidence that disputes their claims. But you’ll see all of that on TV. I think what’s more important is not the story itself, but why we react to it the way we do.

We (as Christians) should not be surprised by this kind of thing at all. The rest of the world is looking through lenses of “un-faith,” and they will always see what they want to see. And they’ll keep looking… and they’ll still be looking years, decades, centuries from now (if Jesus hasn’t returned), trying to find that final straw that will break the Church’s back. And I believe the Church will still be as strong then as it is now, if not stronger.

What does it say about our “faith” when we allow it to be threatened or shattered by scientific discoveries, no matter how well-grounded they may be? What does it say about our God when we allow him to be judged by the whims of scientists and atheists who will read the evidence in their own favor? Is our “faith” based scientific proof and archaeological evidence? Or is our faith based on belief, on the Truths that God has revealed to us?

If you’re looking for scientific proof of God, I’m sorry to inform you that I don’t think you’ll find it. God wants us to have a faith that’s based on him, not on proof. As long as we are here on earth, the struggle will continue – between those who want to prove God, and those who think he’s just baloney. And in the middle will be those of us who just know – not because it was proven to us, but because we choose to believe that it’s true.

Instead of cowering in the corner and lashing out, maybe we’re better off looking seriously at these things and letting them inform – and challenge – our own faith. It’s no sin to ask questions – just ask Job. Rather than allowing our faith to be defined by the latest sensational news story, let’s look first through the lenses of faith and see the truth we need to be reminded of: That no matter what may come our way, God is still there, and he still has the final word.

“You Must Be Born Again”

March 11, 2007

Sermon following a parent-child dedication service

We’ve talked a little about what it means to be an example for our children – for each other – as we grow and learn together. But there’s another direction that I try to take during these dedication services that we can’t ignore, and it’s this: That just as we are to be examples for children, so are they to be examples to us. Several times in the Gospels, Jesus says things to this effect: “Allow the children to come to me, because of people like them the Kingdom of Heaven is known.” “I tell you the truth, unless you become like this little child, you will never see the Kingdom of Heaven.”

 

I’ve talked about both of those passages in dedication sermons before, but this week as I was preparing I “stumbled” upon a new passage that made more sense than ever to me of this idea. And it’s a passage that’s so familiar to us that we are probably used to skipping over it. But it’s one that holds a great deal of information to us if we’ll take it at face value.

 

I want to read for you John 3:1-17. You’re used to hearing John 3:16 right at the end, so let’s say it together to get it out of the way: “For God so loved…”

 

Now you know what’s coming. So turn it off, and hear it in the context of what’s happening before it.

 

(Read John 3:1-17.)

 

What do you think of when you hear those words, “born again?” We think of babies, perhaps, of little children. But I think mostly we just hear “Christianized language” – words we hear used so often that we often forget to think about the meaning behind them. After all, people describe themselves as being “born again,” or “I’m a born-again Christian” as if it were some kind of category of Christian that’s separate from all the others.

 

If I asked you right now, “What does it mean to be born again?” some of you would probably say, “It’s simple! First, you recognize that you’re a sinner in need of forgiveness. Then you believe that Jesus Christ came to save you from your sins. Then you confess your sins to God and ask him to forgive you, ask Jesus to come into your heart, and… BOOM! You’re born again!”

 

We’ve got it down to a process, an outline. And if you ask more than one person, you’ll get a different version of the outline. But the basic idea is still there: “It’s simple! You just do BLANK.”

 

Now that’s nice and all, but Nicodemus comes and asks Jesus the same question, and gets a TOTALLY different response.

 

First you have to understand a little about Nicodemus. He is a Pharisee. That means he knows the Mosaic Law backwards and forwards, plus a whole lot more. He could probably quote to you, from memory in Hebrew, the better part of the first five books of our Bible. He is a member of the Sanhedrin, which means he is very respected among the Jewish people. You don’t get to a place like that unless you are VERY intelligent and VERY wise in the ways of the current religious establishment.

 

Jesus has just come into Jerusalem for the first time, and from the very beginning things are trouble. He comes to the temple, and gets so mad at what he sees there that he makes a whip out of some cord and drives all the merchants and money-traders out. He starts healing and preaching a new kind of message that no one has heard before.

 

Things are in such an uproar that Nicodemus feels compelled, for some reason, to come to Jesus. He comes at night – whether out of secrecy, or just because that’s the only time they could get together, we don’t know. John uses light-dark contrast very carefully, so John might simply be making a statement about Nicodemus’ spiritual state. But the fact is, he comes. He wants to hear more, wants to see what’s going on.

 

Now the Pharisees LOVED their outlines. If you went to one and asked, “What does it mean to be righteous?” his face would light up and he’d say, “You’ve come to the right place, my friend! What you do is this, and this, and this, and this…” And they’d go on a LONG time with that list. They loved outlines, because in some way that made righteousness attainable. At the end of that long list was the end – you are righteous at last.

 

So Nicodemus was hearing something new and different, and he wanted the outline. He wanted Jesus’ notes, so that Nicodemus could squeeze all this new information into his old way of thinking. “Let’s sit down and talk about this, come up with the outline,” he seems to say. “Then maybe we can all understand each other and get along” – in other words, “maybe we can figure out what you’re saying so we know how to fight it.” He comes to Jesus on his own terms, and he thinks that Jesus is going to give him all the answers at last!

 

But what Jesus gives Nicodemus is not an outline. He doesn’t even say, “Hey Nick, glad you came by. Let’s have some coffee and chat.” He just goes straight into it:

 

“Unless you are born again (or from above), you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

 

And Nicodemus says, “Huh?! Say that again?” And from then on, what we read is so mysterious that most of the time WE want to skip over it. We want to get to the outline part – “God so loved the world” and all that. We can understand all that, but not this “water and spirit” thing. What’s going on here?

 

Jesus refuses to talk about being “born again” in outline form, and seems to make it sound more like a mystery. And there’s a reason for that – what happens when we are born again is so mysterious that even we don’t understand it.

 

Any of you who’ve been in a delivery room know what I’m talking about. When Tanya and I had Abigail, we went to parenting classes. We saw all the charts, got the low-down on what happens at birth. We saw pictures and drawings and videos… we were told the step-by-step of what happens from conception to birth. Every power of science can make an outline out of birth, so that you know: “First this happens, then this, then this…”

 

But you’ve never really experienced birth until you’ve stood there (or sat there, or passed out there) and seen it. Then suddenly all that scientific medical language is useless. You can’t explain what a mystery it is to see a new life brought into the world, to hear those little lungs fill for the first time and let loose in a cry. To see a naked, fragile little body struggle to come to terms with being in a new place. To hold that baby in your arms and watch it sleep more peacefully than you or I can manage any more.

 

It’s a mystery no outline can explain. And this, Jesus says, is what being re-born is all about.

 

The key word, to me, to understanding this passage is the word, “See.” Unless you are born again, you cannot SEE the kingdom of God. I think that the beginning of being born again – truly born into God’s kingdom – is not a prayer, but a change in perspective, a different way of seeing. That change of seeing turns into a change of spirit, which turns into a change of action. But it all starts with “seeing.”

 

Have you ever looked into a mirror in a room you knew so well – maybe your bedroom at home – and suddenly seen a different room? You look at what is familiar, and suddenly you see it in a new and different way? That’s what it’s like to be reborn.

 

But there’s a much more appropriate example for us to think about today. Any of you who’ve had little ones lately can attest to how HARD it is to baby-proof a house. Every stage makes it harder and harder. It was nice when they laid down on the floor and couldn’t even roll over! Then they crawl, then they walk, then they start opening doors and cabinets, then they start asking questions and sneaking around where they know they’re not supposed to be!

 

You can read checklists in books and on the internet about baby-proofing your home. But once you’ve finished the checklist, there’s one last step. All of us know the best way to do make sure you’ve done it right…

 

Yep. Get on the floor and look around. And you don’t just lay there – you look through their eyes. What’s eye-catching? That plug without a cover, that power cord dangling there. That cabinet door with shiny bottles of chemicals inside. That bottle of medicine they can just barely reach. It’s a change in perspective – we have to look through their eyes.

 

And if you lay there long enough, or if you get down on your hands and knees in other places (where most of us won’t for embarrassment), you start realizing other things.

 

If you got down on your belly in a crowd – even a small crowd – all you can see is a forest of legs and smelly feet. That’s got to be frightening! And when you look up and see some unfamiliar giant reaching down to scoop you up… it’s enough to scare you to death!

 

You start to see things differently too. Try laying down on your belly in the yard sometime, or in the flower garden. Things look wonderfully different from a different angle. Try laying down in your home somewhere you’re not used to lying down, and see how different it looks. Lay down on your back and look up at the stars, so that you can see everything from horizon to horizon. Lay down in here and look under the pews and discover a whole new world!

 

When we get down like that, we start to see things through a child’s eyes. We begin to understand their stranger anxiety a little better when we see that big giant stranger reaching down for us. We understand, once we see the forest of legs, how comforting it might be to hide behind the tree of mommy or daddy. We see the wonder and beauty they must feel when they look at flowers or grass or leaves. It’s a whole new world for us to discover!

 

THIS, Jesus says, is the mysterious way we are born again. It’s not an outline. Sure, we can say, “these things happen when you’re born again.” But that’s not the true experience. As Jesus describes the wind moving through the trees, we can give all the scientific gobbledygook we want – the change in air pressure causes a movement of air from this place to that, heat rising and cool air rushing in to take its place and all that…

 

But that’s not what you’re thinking when you sit on your front porch on a summer evening and feel the breeze.

 

Just so, we can talk about salvation and about John 3:16 and how it explains the Gospel so compactly and directly. But JOHN 3:16 IS NOT THE GOSPEL. It’s only an outline. Notice Jesus doesn’t launch into that first – it only comes at the tail end of the rest of this mysterious talk. John 3:16 may describe the Gospel, but the REAL Good News has to be experienced mysteriously – like laying on the floor, like looking in a mirror, like feeling the breeze.

 

We have to be born of water, Jesus says. We can talk all day about what it means to be baptized theologically, about the significance of this and that. But at the end of the day, if you remember your baptism, I bet you can’t adequately describe to me what happened.

 

We have to be born of the Spirit. Once again, we can talk all the theology we want about how God works in our lives – how he transforms us, how he speaks to us, how he makes his presence known. But all that language falls away when we suddenly feel his peaceful presence in a difficult time, when we suddenly realize we’ve done something wrong, when we experience the holiness of God in a cathedral or in the beauty of nature.

 

Only then, once we’ve experienced being born again, only THEN can we begin to look at the outline again and say, “Oh, THAT’S what Jesus means when he says this…” Suddenly, we realize the wonderful Gospel we’d shoved into an outline and a salvation tract, is bigger and more mysterious than we’d ever thought!

 

The sad part is, most of us need to be born again all the time. We need to get back on our knees (take that coincidence for what you will), and see the world from that different perspective again. How easily we lose our view of wonder and fear!

 

But the good news is – we can be reborn time and again… in fact, we HAVE to. And we’re never too old to be born again.

 

So how about it? Have you been born again? Do you need to be re-born? It’s never too late, and this is the perfect time. May God give us grace and courage to put aside our old eyes, and to see the world anew through the eyes of a child!