LENT 2A - Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 - 17 February 2008 - A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church

 

From Caution and Safety to Risk and Faithfulness

 

INTRODUCTION - Caution messages abound

 

There are a lot of messages in our families and in our culture about being cautious and safe. Help me think of some of them. (Get contributions)

 

               - “Caution! Wet floor.”

               - “Get those front steps and sidewalks shoveled right away so nobody slips and

                              falls!"

               - “Why would you eat that? That’s terrible for your body!”

               - “Look both ways before crossing the street, and then look again!”

               - “Turn off engine when dispensing gasoline into vehicle.”

               - “Why would you go visit that country? You don’t speak the language!”

               - "Don't tithe! You won't have enough money left to live on!"

- “It’s better to be quiet and thought the fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” (Or words to that effect)

               - “If your stock goes down in value more than 10%, sell!”

- “Try not to start a new year without a balanced budget and 3-6 months of operating revenue in your cash reserves.” (One I’ve heard postulated fairly often in churches)

               - “Don’t go outside today. It’s too cold and icy!”

               - “Be careful who you are seen hanging out with. People might start talking.”

               - “Never take the curves on that canyon road any faster than the warning sign

                              says!"

               - “Don’t try to go to the bathroom without using your walker.”

- “Why are you investing so much time in something where you don’t get paid?”

- “Why would you major in that? What are you going to do with that degree when you graduate?”

               - “You better switch to a form of exercise that has less of an impact on your

                              joints."

 

There is a place for all of this, of course. Grocery stores don’t want their customers doing a face plant where the floor has just been mopped. (We won’t even mention liability issues...) Parents want their new 16-year-old children to take it easy when they are still learning how to drive. We want our elderly parents and grandparents to use good judgment when their health and balance aren’t what they used to be, so they can avoid falls that would present them with even greater health challenges. You want to be able to pay the staff and keep the lights on and the furnace going. You want someone - especially your own children - to have a decent chance of finding a job after spending all that time and money in college. But sometimes the sheer number of the cautions thrown at us, and the frequency at which they come our way, could make one think that the goal of life is to be safe and cautious - maybe sitting inside sipping a cup of not-too-hot tea, while we stare out the window.

 

ABRAHAM AND NICODEMUS

 

A 75-old-Abram, soon to be Abraham, hears the Lord say, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

 

What shall he do? Well, if he believes in the “err on the side of caution” approach to life, it is very clear what he should do. Move now, at age 75? Go where? To the land that You will show me? That is way too vague. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to enjoy my wife and relatives and kick back right here in Haran, thank you very much.

 

Abram didn’t do that. He threw caution - and anyone who wanted to give him sane, play-it-safe advice - to the wind, and set out on an adventure that had all sorts of twist and turns, and which didn’t compare to anything that had happened in the first 75 years of his life.

 

Nicodemus, like Abraham, was also an elder in the community. Living almost two thousand years after Abraham, and a descendant of Abraham, Nicodemus was a leader of the Pharisees. He had heard the buzz about a new guy in town, who was healing people and turning water into wine and preaching and teaching, and drawing great crowds. I guess you and I would say that old Nick was curious but cautious. He wanted to talk to Jesus, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be seen talking to him. So he came to Jesus at night. Night in those days was very different from night now. There were no lights, no TVs, no CD players or radios going. Maybe a few torches or lamps burning here and there. But it was lot darker, and a lot quieter. This was the time of day that Nicodemus chose to go see Jesus. Still, like Abraham, he gave up his normal routine, he left his comfort zone, and he set out on a journey that would eventually lead him to the foot of a cross - to that same Jesus’ cross - where, according to John, he helped Joseph of Arimathea take down Jesus’ body from the cross, prepared it for burial, and placed it in a tomb. All in broad daylight, by the way. (John 19:38-42)

 

But before that time of burying Jesus, there was the night he found Jesus, after the walk in the dark. And there was a certain conversation. Quite a conversation it was, too. About being born from above (or “born anew”, if you prefer), and about life in the Spirit being very different from regular-old life in the flesh, and about the wind blowing where it chooses, and about a new kind of kingdom, where only those who were born from above could enter.

 

CAUTION VERSUS FAITHFULNESS

 

You see, life in the Spirit isn’t about “err on the side of caution.” It’s more like “throw caution to the wind, and err on the side of faith”. Or, as a chaplain at seminary said one time, “Err on the side of grace.” I’ve learned over the years that that was succinct but good advice.

 

Those words - “Err on the side of grace.” - mean at least two things to me.

 

First, it means that when I am dealing with others, and I’m not sure which way to act, I should give them the benefit of the doubt. I should assume the best, not the worst, about them. I will never know anyone’s full story - all that he or she has dealt with, his or her history. I certainly cannot know all that is in that person’s heart, and I can’t fully know their motives, either. I can’t even always know if someone is telling me a bold-faced lie or not. Assume the best. Assume he or she has the best possible motives. Err on the side of grace. Isn’t that what I’d hope they’d do for me, after all? Err on the side of grace? You bet it is.

 

And second, “err on the side of grace” means this to me: Trust that God will be present as He promises He will be. Rather than doubt God or his Word...rather than assume God won’t show up...rather than assume that God doesn’t care about me, or that God will lead me to a tough place and then abandon me... err on the other side. Err on the side that God is not only with me but for me, not only with us but for us. Err on the side that God is loving and generous and continually wants what is best for us, and wants to bless us, that God is not a God who is aloof, who couldn’t care less what happens to us. Just the opposite, in fact. God is an involved God, who, when he comes along and says - “Do this” or “Follow me” or “Go Abram or Linda or John or Walter or Jeri or Kristy... to the land that I will show you” - has something in mind for us... something good, something beneficial for us.

 

“Err on the side of grace” doesn’t just apply to the way we might treat others when we’re not exactly sure what to do, how to act. It suggests a certain stance toward life and toward God, and it has everything to do with faithfulness.

 

I will go, Lord, even though this is a big step out of my comfort zone. I will go, even though your words seem sort of vague, and even though you only seem to give me enough light to enlighten my path for the next ten yards or so. I will go because I believe in You, and I believe You are a God of blessing and grace and good will and love and abundance and life and all those other things that Jesus talked about.

 

“Err on the side of grace” means risking your whole lot with God, and trusting in Him to keep you safe, no matter what kinds of new and risky situations you might find yourself being called into by the Spirit, by the Holy One, by our Lord and Savior.

 

PSALM 121

 

Today we have one of my favorite Psalms - Psalm 121. Here’s my paraphrase of it:

 

“Is life always safe? No, it isn’t. It’s very vulnerable to be a human being. I need some help. Where will I turn for help? To whom will I turn? Can I be safe just by looking all around me and by being super-vigilant and super-careful? No.”

 

“My help - real help - comes to me only from God, the One who made all that is. In the midst of taking risks... in the midst of proclaiming my faith in Him to others... in the midst of trying to love and serve others, when I don’t really know what I’m doing... in the midst of telling the truth, even when that seems very difficult and very risky, when it seems that it might be like throwing myself off a cliff, to tell the truth... I put my trust in God above anything and anyone else. I trust that He will watch over me and protect me and help me through whatever I am going through, and that He, and only He, is the One who will keep me safe. I trust that God will be with me and will be for me, no matter what. No matter where I am or who I’m with or what I’m going through, no matter what others do in the world and what they may even try to do to me, I trust that He will be with me - now, tomorrow, and forever.”

 

CONCLUSION

 

I think what Jesus was trying to say to Nicodemus was this. Every time you take a risk and step out in faith and trust God, you are born anew. And that is the only way to enter into the kingdom that is God’s kingdom, because God is not a God of caution, but a God of faithfulness, a God of risk-taking. God risks, each and every day of eternity, whether or not people will love and trust in Him. God’s ultimate risk was taking on human form, and going to the cross. God risks whether we will believe in Him, or not. Again, this is not belief in the sense that we believe that God exists. A lot of people believe that God exists, or even that Jesus was the Son of God. That kind of belief, in and of itself, doesn’t bring you into the kingdom, doesn’t bring you the promise of eternal life. What throws you into the kingdom, what brings you new life, is believing in and seeking out a God who is eternally for you, believing in the God who wants to be involved in your life, believing in the goodness of God, and believing in this kind of God so much that you’ll risk everything on that God, and consider everything else dispensable - like garbage, as Paul put it once. (Philippians 3:7-11)

 

“Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept his as your Savior?” “I do.”

“Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?” “I do.”

“Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord.” “I do.”

               (From the Liturgy of Holy Baptism, The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 302-303)

 

There are times in life when it makes sense to be cautious. But when it comes to matters of the spirit... when it comes to our spiritual life, and our journey of faith, caution is not our friend. It’s not the ideal. Let it go. Throw it to the wind. If you want to enter into the kingdom, let the Spirit of God take you there. Put your whole trust in his grace and love. Err on the side of grace and love. It’s the only way into the kingdom. Just ask Abraham or Nicodemus. They’ll tell you.