"Hoist the Sail"

John 3:1-17

Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2003

Pastor Dwight A. Nelson

 

"You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." -- John 3: 7-8

 

         One thing that I have enjoyed a great deal about living here is the distinct seasons. Winter is a bit long, but it is nice having such a change every three months or so. It kind of pulls you through the year. Because of the cold of winter, and the pervasive brown during that season, spring is really a wonderful time of year. What has struck me is that here, spring is all about green. So if you focus on the green, you will experience the great beauty of spring in Illinois, and catch its energy and renewal.

         That is said in contrast to the experience of spring in Washington. There, spring was all about flowers. It began in February, with the crocus and primroses, and went through March with the daffodils and flowering trees, and then the tulips and Iris in April and the Rhododendrons and Azaleas in May, and the roses in June. Spring was all about reading the flowers, and it was by focusing on the flowers that you experienced it.

         But here, if you just focus on flowers, you will miss spring. Here, it's not about flowers, even though there are flowers. Here, it's all about green. And so if you can adjust your eyes, so that your focus is on the green, it becomes a wonderful season.

         So Nicodemus comes to Jesus, and he comes looking for something, looking for something eternal, for renewal, for truth, for a deeper experience with God. But his focus is off, he is trained to look in a certain direction, and he does not see what Jesus has to offer. He is hunting for flowers and he misses the green. He overlooks the simple, the obvious, that which is right in front of him. So we notice in this conversation that Jesus does not ever directly answer his questions or respond to his statements. It is as if Jesus deliberately keeps changing the subject. "We are not going to talk about the relatively few flowers today. I want you to open your eyes to the green."

         John seems to present Nicodemus as a representative of the Pharisees. Of all the organized groups in Israel at that time, the Pharisees were perhaps the closest in belief and practice to Jesus. So they were intrigued by him, attracted to him; but soon they reject him, they decide against his message. He does not fit their vision of the kingdom of God.

         The Pharisees began as a reform group in Judaism that emerged during Independence about 160 B.C. They were representative of the common people in opposition to a compromised aristocracy. They were adherents of pure obedience to God in contrast to the corruption of the institutional leadership. Over the years they developed a focus in the study of the law, and surrounded the law with a host of their own traditions. Eventually, their system produced people who emphasized outward observance at the expense of hearts for God. They became proud of their accomplishments, and took on the role of guardians of pure belief in Judaism. They saw themselves as Israel's teachers.

This is the term Jesus applies to Nicodemus. He says that Israel's teacher is missing what is most basic, most crucial to knowing God. Nicodemus can't seem to see the green.

         Jesus tries to turn his attention from earning his way to God, from a very rational understanding of God and the ways of God, to paying attention to the Spirit, and not just knowledge of the Spirit, but an experience of birth by the Spirit. He wants Nicodemus to feel the wind of the Spirit and by that wind be blown or directed into God's Kingdom. So Paul, in Romans 8, writes, "those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."

         Jesus tries to lead Nicodemus to eternal life:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

In the New Testament, eternal life does not speak primarily of duration, everlasting; but on quality. Jesus is talking here about the life of the age to come. Jews divided time into this present age, and the age to come. In this present age we experience a mixture of sorrow and blessing; sickness and health, death and birth, pain and pleasure. Some have more of one and some more of the other, but for all the life we experience on earth is a mixture, ending in death. This causes people to become significantly pessimistic, especially as they approach death. But the Jews looked to a distant future, to a Kingdom in which there would be no death, no oppression, no hunger, no injustice, and no pain. This was the life of the age to come.

In Jesus, people recognized the coming age breaking surprisingly into their lives. In healing Jesus was defeating illness; in casting out demons he was defeating the power of demons; in pronouncing forgiveness he was inaugurating the day of redemption. This life eternal is a gift of God; it comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ. To receive it you must be born anew, born of the Spirit.

         So Jesus says to Nicodemus, to receive what I have to give, you need to change your vision, your focus in life. You must re-orient yourself to what is most important, most obvious in the kingdom of God.

         Now, we must change the image. This gift of Jesus does not come just by renewed vision, but by an experience of belief, an entering in to a life of grace and obedience offered by the Spirit. The image is one of wind, and of lifting the sail of a boat to the wind so that it might move to a destination.

         My dentist in Washington was a sailor, and he raced his sailboat in the ocean waters. He spent a few years painstakingly building a sailing boat that he could race. He did it all himself and it was the culmination of years of learning and experience. Last summer, just before we left, I had to have a crown put on a cracked tooth. But then, I got a call that he would not be able to be at our appointment. He had entered the Victoria-to-Maui race, and somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, his mast fell over, and he was waiting to be rescued, to be towed to shore. He was sitting in the middle of the ocean, going nowhere. He could not hoist his sail to the wind.

         The joy of sailing comes from hoisting the sail, and feeling the wind catch and move the boat quietly through the water. So, if you hoist the sail of your life to the Spirit, the Spirit will carry you to new life, will carry you to Jesus, and will bring you safe to your destination.

This was a hard word for Nicodemus. He had built up a lot of knowledge, he had a respected position. He thought he could paddle his way across the ocean to the Kingdom of God. So too we think we can be saved by being good, we think we can be a successful church without prayer, without obedience, without lifting our hearts to the Lord. We try to paddle our way across the ocean. We want Jesus to give us some advice on how to row a bit better. Jesus says, "You need to catch the wind. You need to allow the Spirit to bring you home."

         In the relationship of the Trinity we see the love of God. Each person draws attention to the other. The Holy Spirit will always bring you to Jesus Christ, and Jesus will show you the Father. But will you let the Spirit lead you?

         "Hoist your sail!" Place your will into the love of God, and seek life in the Spirit. This requires a prayerful seeking, an attitude of surrender and of acceptance, and willingness to receive.

         Bryan Jeffrey Leech has written a hymn, #288, a prayer in which he hoists the sail of his life to the wind of the Spirit:

 Amen.