Living in the Spirit
May 26, 2018
Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He 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.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus 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?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The 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.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? –John 3:1-10
Are humans capable of changing their perspectives? Are we hardwired to do the things we do and believe the things we believe, or are we shaped by our environment? Social scientist, theologians, and others have been debated these questions for years. The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. The problem in discerning how we got to be who we are is that the social environmental seeds are planted early in our lives. I call myself a cradle Christian and I can trace that faith heritage back generations. At some point in my life, I had to choose intentionally to become a Christ follower for that relationship to be meaningful. Unlike with Paul who had a remarkable experience encountering Christ, mine occurred over time wrestling with what I gleaned from my family and intersecting it with what I learned from study and life experiences.
Intentionality, I believe is the key to changing beliefs and behaviors that are no longer valid interpretation of how God’s love manifests itself in our world. For example, I do not perceive any substantiation for racism in any of Jesus’ teachings or behaviors. Yet, racism has threads that trace back to faith communities. Reweaving our human tapestry to be inclusion takes a lot of hard work in prayer and intentionality. C. S. Lewis in his book The Four Loves tells the story of having a pesky neighbor who was a thorn in his flesh. Yet, he knew God expected him to love her. He decided the best he could do was to pretend to love her, to be intentional about caring for her in a loving way, until one day after an encounter with her he realized he had learned to love her.
None of us like to admit we are blind to how our behaviors may be perceived by others. We may have been carefully taught that some are not equal to us. Until we see ourselves in the light of Christ we cannot change the behaviors and beliefs that overwhelm our ability to love like Jesus.
Prayer: God of Love, create in us clean hearts and give us the courage of intentionally overcoming that which holds us back from loving like Jesus. Amen.