Homily for
The Second Sunday in Lent
Sunday 12 March 2017
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
A Parish of the Diocese of Bethlehem and The Episcopal Church
Readings:
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Preaching Series
on the Creed
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I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy
Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the
right hand of the Father. He will come
again to judge the living and the dead.
Last Sunday we began our exploration of the Baptismal Creed by recalling our faith in a living God who loves us and longs to be in relationship with us. This Sunday that great desire is again before us as today we consider the Son of Mary, the Son of God; Jesus the Christ.
I wish that I could tell you that I planned to
talk about this portion of the Creed on this Sunday when we hear the exchange
between Jesus and Nicodemus. There could not have been a better reading to
hear as we contemplate who Jesus is than this text. I say that because this text and our
consideration of the creed asks again the question, "Who is this
Jesus?" There are many answers to that question depending on who is
being asked this question. That is as true now as it was 2,000 years ago.
Nicodemus seeks out this Jesus with a certain
understanding, even a rather respectable one. Nicodemus comes to Jesus
as one rabbi to another. He acknowledges Jesus to be wise in faith, the Scriptures, and
the ways of God. In fact, he sees all these so clearly that the rabbi standing
before Jesus is even willing to become again a student.
Nicodemus is by no means alone in seeking out
Jesus as a wise man. In the past as well as in our present generation there are even
atheists who will admit that such a man called Jesus of Nazareth lived and said
many things filled with great wisdom. But
the creed calls us as Christians to something greater than this. Our Orthodox Catholic
faith says Jesus is far greater than a wise man who lived and died long ago. The creed does not allow
us even to simply speak of Jesus as a great prophet and the Judge of the living
and the dead; something our Jewish neighbors cannot profess, but as you've
heard me say before, even our Muslim neighbors affirm this.
Neither is Jesus a figure of the past. Jesus is always in the
present. In the Gospel of John, while speaking with other rabbis and
leaders of the people who bring the great patriarch Abraham into the
conversation, Jesus tells them that Abraham rejoiced to see his day. The religious leaders
think he has gone mad. How could he know anything of Abraham and how could Abraham
know anything of Jesus, for Jesus is not even 50 years old. And how does Jesus
respond? "Before Abraham was," Jesus says, "I am."
There are two things in these two words that
we need to recall. The first is that Jesus is showing himself to be alive and real
for much more than the "not yet 50 years" referenced by the leaders. Jesus is eternal. There was never a moment
when he did not exist, nor shall there ever be.
And yet there is something more. Those two words, "I
AM," speak not just to the eternal existence of Jesus. In these words, Jesus
speaks the holy name of God, spoken first by God to Moses from the burning bush
when this prophet asked God, "And whom shall I say has sent me?" In other words, Moses is
asking God "What is your name?" The answer is this: "I am that I
am." The wording is in fact so vague and yet so clear that it may
also be understood to be "I have been that I have been" or "I
will be that I will be." It is a reminder that the eternal God is
beyond limitations. Thus, in general it was just shortened to "I am."
And here is where things get interesting in
the context of Jesus speaking these two words. These words, this name
of God, was and is still among our Jewish neighbors considered so sacred and
holy as to be only spoken by God. No mortal mouth was considered capable of
naming this name out loud. But Jesus not
only speaks it. By speaking it he claims it. By claiming it, he affirms that he is indeed
"God among us."
Our Orthodox Catholic faith, articulated in
the three great creeds of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church affirm and
proclaim this very truth which sets Christians apart from all else. This Jesus is, in the
words of Blessed Thomas, "My Lord and My God!"
The Creed reminds us again and again of
this. It was God who took flesh in the
womb of the Blessed Mother. It was God
who suffered and endured death. It was
God who went to the dead and offered life; who rose from the dead and conquered
sin and death.
And why did Jesus come among us? Why is he God with us? Today’s Gospel gives us the answer. It wasn’t intended just for Nicodemus. Jesus wants us all to know the love of God
for us, the extent to which our God who go to show us that love. Jesus did not soften the heart of the Father,
as some have said and still say. Jesus mirrors
the heart of the Father. Our God loves
us! And when we want to know how much,
all we need to do is to turn our eyes and our hearts to the cross and behold
the Christ saying, “This is how much I, your Lord and your God, love you.” Then remember it was Jesus who said before
his passion that no one has greater love than this; than to lay down one’s life
for one’s friends.
Father
Timothy
Alleman
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