Entering the Kingdom of God

If you grew up in the South, it is likely that this verse from John 3 has been waved in front of you as the way to heaven: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” The verse is presented as though this passage is about our choice, whosoever believes…you have to get your belief right…it’s about your decision to go the right way…but if we go back and listen to the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, that isn’t what Jesus said.

What we have done with John 3:16 is turn it into a maze. How many of you remember maze games – with the start and finish labeled and one path that you had to find without going the wrong way and hitting a dead end? How many of you liked them? They were not my favorite; it was so frustrating to start down a path and then realize that you were going to hit a dead end! It’s like we start at baptism and as long as we make the right choices, we get Spirit until we get to Jesus in heaven at the end. But there are lots of dead ends where we didn’t have enough faith, didn’t go the right way…and have to choose to turn around in order to make it to heaven.

There’s another kind of maze, though, a labyrinth. When I was in college in France on a choir tour and we went to Chartres Cathedral to sing and I noticed that the stone floor under the chairs had a maze pattern in it, I thought that was odd. I learned it was a labyrinth, and that people walked it as some sort of spiritual pilgrimage. But, at the time, that is all I knew about it. Several years later, in seminary, I had the opportunity to walk a labyrinth for the first time. I went because a friend was going and invited me. The labyrinth was canvas, so we were to bring a clean pair of socks to put on before we started. That’s really all I knew. The instructions were minimal. We were told there was no wrong way to walk the labyrinth; just follow the path. I am not even sure that I knew there were no dead ends.

I was all sorts of self-conscious. My thoughts were flying: Was I supposed to walk normally, or really slow? Head up or down? Watch the ground, the center, was it ok to watch what other people were doing? What was I supposed to think about? A Bible verse? Which one? The Lord’s Prayer? Prayer concerns? Was I supposed to clear my mind? Think about my relationship with God? Was I doing it right? Did everyone around me know I had no idea what to do? Someone had said they liked to dance the labyrinth. Should I dance? I can’t dance. Then I had to pass someone who was headed the other direction. Should I make eye contact or avert my eyes? Should I smile? Nod? Did we have to stay in the lines or could we step across to pass? What if I was heading the wrong direction? Why were they going the opposite direction from me? Should I turn around? I didn’t. I felt reasonably sure I hadn’t accidentally turned around. Finally, I got to the center. Should I sit or stand? How long was I supposed to stay? Did I have to leave when someone else got to the center? Was I supposed to pray something in particular? Somehow, my thoughts settled as I made my way back from the center. It was as if a peace settled in me.

I wanted a guide, an infographic, an FAQ page…but all I got was an invitation and a place to start. John 3:16 is a labyrinth and not a maze game.
“For God so loved the world” – Retired Presbyterian pastor, John Buchanan, tells about baptizing a two-year-old boy one Sunday. After the child had been baptized with water, he, put his hand on the little boy’s head and said, “You are a child of God, sealed by the Spirit in your baptism, and you belong to Jesus Christ forever.” Unexpectedly, the little boy looked up and responded, “Uh-oh.”

Well, it was an amusing moment, and people in the congregation smiled, of course, but “it was [also] an appropriate response,” writes Buchanan, “… a stunning theological affirmation” from the mouth of this child. That “uh-oh” was a recognition that everything had changed, that this boy would never be the same. He did not belong any more just to his biological family; he had now been born all over again, this time into God’s family.

“that he sent his only begotten Son” – Nicodemus thought he was the one who came to Jesus, only to discover that in the cosmic scheme of things, Jesus came to him and to all humanity. Jesus came in the flesh, sent by God. And Jesus answers, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 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.” This is God’s doing. We have no control over it. God loves us, and we can’t get God to stop loving us, but we can respond…

“that whosoever believeth in him…” Nicodemus has come to Jesus wanting to get clear instructions. Remember, he is a Pharisee, and the Pharisees believed that if they got the law perfectly interpreted and followed it, the kingdom of God would come. He has no doubt that Jesus was sent by God because of the signs that Jesus has performed. Belief comes from knowing, from reading the Gospels, from studying Jesus’ life and the life of the apostles.

“shall not perish” – Jesus tries to help Nicodemus understand that it isn’t about his faith…it isn’t about our power, but about God’s – remember when the Israelites were wandering in the desert? God provided manna and quail for them to eat, but they complained. We find in Numbers 21 that, “They spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”
So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”

Since the Garden of Eden, snakes have been associated with evil, temptation contrary to the will of God. This is where we get its association with healing.

The power to heal doesn’t come from the symbol but from God. The power doesn’t come from the people following the instructions but from God. The power doesn’t come from Moses, it is from God. It is as they looked to God, in the symbol of the bronze snake on a pole, that they were healed.

“but have everlasting life” – Now, the Son of Man must be lifted up. He was sent not to be like the venomous snakes that bit and killed. Humankind has all already been bitten. He is sent as the only cure, look to him. We are stuck in a pit of evil. And Jesus hanging on the cross is what God has done to save us – look and see – God loves you that much. Do you trust that love?
Just as walking the labyrinth comes with no instruction other than to follow the path, so is the life of faith. Just start walking in the footsteps of Jesus, and keep walking, until a peace settles within you, the baptism of the Spirit. Amen.