Second Sunday in Lent March 1, 2026

Prayer of the Day

O God, our leader and guide, in the waters of baptism you bring us to new birth to
live as your children. Strengthen our faith in your promises, that by your Spirit we
may lift up your life to all the world through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour
and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen.

GOSPEL Reading: John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He
came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a
teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do
apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell
you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?
Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus
answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh,
and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to
you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and
you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where
it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to
him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher
of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell
you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do
not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you
do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No
one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven,
the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may
have eternal life. 16“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. 17“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.

SERMON

Poor Marge Griffith… trying to teach us long division and one toe headed,
tall-for-his-age kid just isn’t catching on—she begins rhythmically
thumping her head against the chalkboard, quietly muttering, “no, no, no”.

Even those who didn’t get long division, pour out prayers of lament for the
world that sound a bit accusatory—“when will we learn?”

War in Ukraine grinds into its fifth year—according the the bishop in
Jerusalem and the Holy Lands, it’s possible that Palestinian people will be
extinct in ten years. This from the guy whose own mother was detained as
she was on her way to his ordination; despite having had been granted
special advance permission.

In Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Nigeria and the the world over, we keep killing
each other. The world’s wealthy have their riches compounded by the
minute while the poorest have nothing. The so-called middle class appears
to be shrinking away.

I wonder how often God—however you might imagine God—bumps a divine
forehead against a dented chalkboard, muttering , “no, no no”.

It’s not that God hasn’t intervened before—or laid out the ancient and
always curriculum that Jesus calls “the kingdom of God”.

Many rabbis teach that if humanity was to get anywhere, it had to be
birthed out of the womb-y paradise of Eden into a world with actual people
in it.

When Cain tries to justify his lethal violence, his snarky sounding question
to God is whether he is his sibling’s keeper. God’s answer reverberates
through the whole of scripture, “Why yes, as a matter of fact you are.”

Umpteen generations later, God’s Spirit endows Moses with a heap of
gumption and enslaved people are liberated from Pharaoh’s oppression. So
begins a long birthing process happens among a rag tag group of slaves as
they become a nation.

The wilderness gestation is also schooling—Moses imparts God’s teachable
moment to the generations that follow—
‘Remember what it’s like to be a slave on the run?
Remember what it’ like being a refugee and a stranger?
Keep that in mind when refugees and strangers cross your land.

Pr. Daniel Erlander writes that the manna people eat is both dinner and an
object lesson. We experience God’s mercy and learn the obligation to
be merciful.

Umpteen generations after that, a settled, conquered, and then resettled
people don’t quite get the memo and God’s forehead continues to smite the
cosmic chalkboard. Spirit inspires prophets to repeat the “kingdom of God
curriculum” of justice, mercy and devotion to God.

Jesus recites God’s ancient and always curriculum when Nicodemus visits
by night for that conversation on the sly. Some preachers like me are guilty
of bashing Nicodemus for being obtuse. The master preacher and teacher of
other preachers Anna Carter Florence reminds us that Nicodemus
eventually comes around. Not at first. Certainly not in the conversation
we’ve read this morning. Maybe he’s getting there when a group of his coreligionists fears that Jesus’ activity could get picked up by the Roman
radar, then they all would be targets. Nicodemus doesn’t defend Jesus
exactly-he points to their own process reminding them that the accused
have the right to face their accusers. In the end, Nicodemus gets it—he and
another wealthy person named Joseph risk their public standing and
possibly their own necks when they arrange for Jesus’ internment after he’s
executed.

Professor Carter Florence says Nicodemus’ long learning curve is exactly
what John’s Gospel wants us to pay attention to. Nicodemus comes
around. Eventually. He learns when he learns, as my educator friend Jolene
says. Not incidentally, she said those words to me when I was acting a bit
know-ier-than-thou wondering why people can be so clueless.

Ultimately, the Gospel truth for us is that we’ll learn when we learn—albeit
slowly. Meanwhile, Spirit of God relentlessly loves us and teaches us that
God has already birthed us into the Kingdom of God—or as Moses and his
people call it; The restoration of all things.