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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues.

 

Finding the right question?

 

Summary

Nicodemus needs imagination, and good will, when questioning Jesus (John 3: 1-17).

 

Context

Our society is asking police and politicians alike to ask searching questions with regards to the Epstein scandal and expects them to find truth. We seem less sanguine when we ask SEND experts to consider questions exploring ways to improve our society’s future. But Jesus encourages Nicodemus to ‘think positive’ as he tries to bring together his scholarship and his experience. What can this tell us about the relationship between diligent study and lived experience, not only in our faith journeys, but as we seek to live Godly lives?

 

Reflection

Years ago a preacher’s declaration that while adults worshipped at church, children came to learn, annoyed me. It seemed to deny the possibility that learning, exploring and wondering at what our God-given capacities can do, can be a form of worship for adults as well as children. Revelation and consideration are not exclusive alternatives but we often prefer the dramatic story where the atheist becomes a Christian ‘at a crash’ like Hopkins’ Paul The wreck of the deutschland (Part I, final stanza) to the acknowledgment of evolving faith. A crashing conviction perhaps demands less of the individual than Nicodemus finds himself having to do. He must reconcile what he as a scholar understands with what he intuits about Jesus.

Jesus respects Nicodemus’ scholarship. But elsewhere Jesus is sceptical, calling members of the scholarly caste ‘hypocrites’ (Matt 23:13), bent not on honestly expounding Scripture but on disturbing the belief of others. Their motivation is wrong. As politicians, the media and the public start to scrutinise the multiple documents in the Epstein files, what are their motivations? Whilst there are serious legal and moral questions to be asked, is there also a touch of scandal-mongering in some of it? Is passion and a desire for truth in this context comparable with a search for faith? Is it odd that there seems to be acceptance of the virtuous motivation of those charged with uncovering wrongdoing, but suspicion of diligent, questioning research into ways of improving, for example, SEND in schools. 

We seem to assume that the difficult and even painful process of finding answers to pressing social questions and putting them into action could - and should - be managed risk-free. Downsides loom large, and gains seem overplayed. Nicodemus initially found Jesus’ inspirational imagery (v.5) less compelling than a dismissive, literal-minded comment! It is perhaps only too easy to shy away from a challenging prospect of potential good, while complacently accepting that people probably are as flawed as they appear.

 

Sermon ideas

Going back to that preacher. I was unfair. He had a point! He wanted to welcome the children while acknowledging that they weren’t just miniature adults. Explore in a discussion or a sermon ways of helping everyone to learn as well as to meet with God in worship.

Or

Are we too risk-averse in our current society when it comes to trusting politicians or the police or other institutions? Jesus asks Nicodemus to take a risk on him! How does risk fit into Godly lives?

 

Questions

• Where are you on the spectrum from once-and-for-all belief to life-long questioning?
• How can sharing our diverse religious experiences help us all move forward on our faith journeys gaining trust as we go?

Brenda Vance is a retired university teacher and a URC Elder.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

Questions, questions and more questions

At the moment the news seems to be filled with people being asked questions. Last week Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for questioning. This week it was the turn of Lord Mandelson. Who will be next? We do not know nor do we know what questions these two men have been asked. What we do know, or at the very least hope, is that the purpose behind the questions is to discern the truth.

It was for a similar reason that Nicodemus went to see Jesus. His purpose was to discover the truth about Jesus. He knows that Jesus has come from God but he wants to know more. He has lived a holy life according to the scriptures as he understood them but he wanted to know if that was enough. That was the truth he sought from Jesus.

In the cases of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Mandelson there has been much speculation about the nature of the questioning and it is possible that one day we will find out more about it. We may even discover whether the interviewers got the answers they expected. In the case of Nicodemus John’s account is clear. The answer Jesus gave him was not what he expected.

Nicodemus was not afraid to come to Jesus with his questions and concerns. He was surprised by the answer but legend has it that he became a follower of Jesus. Truth is central to a good life and one way to discern it is to ask questions of Jesus. After all he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Stuart Wild is a Methodist minister in Lytham St Annes on the Lancashire coast.

 

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