Procrastination by Questions

Wednesday, June 6
John 3:11-12 (The Message)
"Listen carefully.  I'm speaking sober truth to you.  I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes.  There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay.  Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions.  If I tell you things which are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see...the things of God?"
    I sense frustration mounting here!  Nicodemus is earnest and intent on trying to understand what Jesus is saying.  Jesus has been trying to make the concepts of heaven as simple as possible, in earthly, understandable terms.  "What don't you understand??  If you can't figure this simple explanation out, you'll never comprehend God!"
     Eugene Peterson's translation, "procrastinate with questions' takes me back to the classroom again.   I can relate to Jesus.  "Just WHAT don't you understand?  You're not listening to me!"  I can see science teacher Jesus, who has laid out the experiment, demonstrated the concepts, provided the evidence, and yet....there are still questions.  The students, for whatever reason (maybe Nicodemus was truly a middle schooler at heart!), start asking the same question, with variations, over and over to delay the teaching.
     We are hesitant to jump from the plane or step out of the boat on faith alone.  So we question...over and over.  Prove it, give me evidence.
     God has given us a world of creation evidence, a Son of proof, a Spirit of confirmation.  Let's stop procrastinating with questioning God and start putting our words and faith into action.

Questions!

Monday, June 4
John 3:4-5 (The Message)
"How can anyone,' said Nicodemus, 'be born who has already been born and grown up?  You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again.  What are you saying with this 'born-again' talk?    Jesus said, 'You're not listening.  Let me say it again.  Unless a person submits to this original creation - the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life - it's not possible to enter God's kingdom."  
     Such questions!  And such answers!  No wonder the people were confused.  But Jesus backed up all his words with actions - which made the words believable, if not understandable.
     "Born of water and spirit" - born from above - what God creates anew in our physical body is not comprehendable to most of us.  We only touch the surface of what is possible within us through the  power of that rebirth.
     Nicodemus was a well-respected Jewish scholar.  He was expected to know all the answers.  But he came to Jesus with questions.  And Jesus patiently answered.  Over and over.  We don't have to feel it is wrong to question God.  God will answer as much as we can understand.  Even those who seem like they have all the answers, our religious leaders today, have questions too!  We should ask questions!  We should want to learn more.  We should want to understand.   It means we are in dialogue with God and that is always a good thing!
 

RESET BUTTON

Sunday,  June 3
John 3:1-3  (The Message)
"There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews.  Late one night he visited Jesus and said, 'Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God.  No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it!  Jesus said, 'You're absolutely right.  Take it from me: unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to - to God's kingdom."  
    We all have opportunities in life to hit the 'Reset' button.  For students and teachers, it's that first day of summer vacation when three months of 'new life' beckon.  For Rick and I, it is the start of our retirement life.  For Nicodemus, it is to be 'reborn from above'.
     Jesus is asking all of us to get out of the ruts of our old ways, not necessarily always bad ways, but ruts that aren't allowing us to feel the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calling and leading us in a new direction.  We need to reset, to be reborn.  What worked in the past may not be the solution for the future.
     Is this the purpose of the Baker City Missional Group?  Will we serve as 'mid-wives' in the Spirit-led rebirth of our congregation? Will we assist in hitting reset buttons in ourselves and throughout our faith family?  Where is the Spirit leading us?  And once we discern our destination, are we prepared to follow?

Sermon Notes....
     Today the sermon notes will be added to the Missional blog, because everything - devotions this morning, the choir anthem, and sermon - all fit together.  It is so awesome when that happens!  The choir anthem was "Freedom Train" which made me think that when we hit that reset button, when we are reborn from above, we board the Freedom Train!  We are free from our old life and free from old wrongs!  The Holy Spirit is our conductor.  As John 3:8 reads, "The Wind [Conductor] blows [goes] where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it [Toot! Toot!], but you don't know where it goes." We know the train will lead to the glory of God, but exactly how and when....we don't know!  Anymore than we know where the Spirit will lead us when we are born again in Christ.
     Baptism is pushing the Reset Button - a chance to be washed clean, start over, and get on board!  Perhaps the waters of baptism are the fuel for the Freedom Train!
     All Aboard!  The Spirit is calling!