What We Don't Know John 3:1-17, Romans 8:12-17

What do we know?
We don’t know who first had the idea to do that to a cow and drink it!
We know the sun is a zillion degrees on it’s surface and essential for life on this planet.
We don’t know why, despite all the warnings against it,
people continue to butter up and slow roast themselves every summer at the beach
We know that DNA is the fundamental building block of life.
We don’t know, however, why a certain genetic code in another person
can manifest itself in unique physical characteristics
that make our knees week, our hearts thump, and our brains turn to mush.

There are all sorts of things we know.
Part of what drives the evolution of human society and culture
is the unquenchable thirst for knowledge in our species.
Jerry Springer and Fear Factor notwithstanding, most of us yearn for knowledge
because with knowledge often comes power AND control.
and this assumed knowledge blocks our access to deeper understanding.
Sometimes what we THINK we know
keeps us from realizing that we don’t know much about what’s really important.

In chapter three, John introduces us to a Pharisee named Nicodemus.
Nicodemus is identified as a LEADER of the Jews,
maybe the chairman of the powerful Budget and Finance Committee
or moderator of the Task Force on Theological Evaluation and Review.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus under cover of darkness
and the first words out of his mouth indicate he’s come prepared.
They reveal that he’s been sitting around the table with his fellow Pharisees
trying to understand what’s behind Jesus’ sudden popularity
trying to decide how much legitimacy they should attach to his teaching.

Do you remember Nicodemus’ first words to Jesus?
"We know...." Not "I know," but "We know..."
"We know that you are a teacher who has come from God"
for (in our authoritative opinion) no one can do these signs you do
apart from the presence of God."

"We know...."
It’s Nicodemus’ way of gaining control of the encounter,
his way of letting Jesus know that he comes representing a powerful lobby,
his way of directing the investigation,
disarming Jesus and rocking him back on his heels a bit.

"We know...." Nicodemus says.
In other words, "We have done our homework, considered the options,
weighed the evidenced and come to the irrefutable conclusion,
that you, Jesus, fall within our purview,
and you are worthy of our notice AND subject to our control.

Nicodemus knows his theology.
He knows the traditions, the scriptures, the cultural practices and religious mores.
He comes to Jesus absolutely FULL of all that he knows about God
and about how the relationship between God and human beings works.
Yet, in the span of five minutes or less and with only a few sentences from Jesus,
Nicodemus is reduced from confidence to confusion.
He comes in with a sure and assertive affirmation, "We know..."
But he leaves scratching his head and muttering to himself, "How can this be?"

As a Pharisee Nicodemus has devoted his life
to making sure everything adds up.
As a LEADER of the Pharisees he’s disciplined himself to dot i’s and cross t’s,
keep the edges square and the corners plumb.
His task is not to come up with NEW ideas.
His task is to memorize and apply old ideas,
to be a living repository of the stories of God’s encounters with God’s chosen
and make sure everyone follows the orthodox rendition of Jewish law.

"We know..." Nicodemus tells Jesus.
What he means is that they’ve hashed it over
and figured out which category to put Jesus in.
But it’s what Nicodemus DOESN’T know that’s about to change his life.

"We know..." Nicodemus tells Jesus,
and Jesus responds with two mysterious metaphors,
which make clear to Nicodemus exactly how much he DOESN’T know.
The first, the metaphor of birth.
"No can see the Kingdom of God," Jesus says, "Without being born from above."
Now, all you English majors will notice that Jesus’ metaphor of being born
is expressed in the passive voice.
This is critical. Jesus doesn’t tell Nicodemus, "Go get yourself born."
Nicodemus isn’t the actor here, God is.
This is precisely the part that throws Nicodemus and shakes his confidence.
One doesn’t see the Kingdom of God without being born,
But new birth comes from above, that is, from God
not from anything we do to make it happen.

When I hear Nicodemus’ response to Jesus’ metaphor of birth from above
it may be just my imagination, but it sounds like a little bitterness creeping in.
"How can anyone be born after having grown old."
Most commentators chalk it up to sarcasm,
either that or they suggest that Nicodemus is some kind of simpleton
who gets hung up on the literal meaning of Jesus’ words.
But he’s a leading thinker of his community
so surely he knows what a metaphor is.

I hear in Nicodemus’ reply a note of regret,
the faint reverberation of a person who, in quiet moments at night,
has already begun to entertain the notion that the whole framework
upon which he has hung his life and career has some serious gaps.
I imagine that in the still hours he lies in bed and wonders
why his slavish devotion to the law, his meticulous attention to detail
haven’t brought him more peace, more joy, more satisfaction.

He’s old and he’s attained a level of community status few even dream of,
but the thought of anything new happening in his life,
the hope of something dramatic and life changing is beyond his capability.
And he’s right.
Being born from above doesn’t hinge on HIS capability. That’s Jesus’ point.
It rests only on God’s PROMISE to renew, God’s will to work
in the life of anyone who is open and receptive to it.

That brings us to Jesus’ second metaphor. The metaphor of wind.
"The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus is no stranger to spirit talk.
In Hebrew the word for "Spirit" is "Ruah" which is the same word for "Breath"
which is the same word for "Wind."
He knows of the ancient Hebrew stories of creation
where the wind of God hovered over the waters
and brought order out of chaos.
He has been taught since childhood of the breath of God
that was breathed into Adam and Eve giving them life.

But the stories of childhood hardly seem relevant to a grown up world.
They hardly seem relevant to Nicodemus’ and Jesus’ world
where Roman might is the only thing that keeps chaos at bay
and the daily grind has made divine inspiration seem like a fairy tail.
To Nicodemus, wind is only significant as a predictor of coming storms.
Like most adults, he has long forgotten what the tickle of God’s breath feels like
because God’s breath is the kind of thing you have to look for and be open to.
It’s like the touch of a feather on your cheek or the back of your neck
and if you’re not looking for it,
if you’re not expecting it or hoping to feel it,
you’re liable to brush it away, more annoyed than pleased.

Like most adults, Nicodemus thinks he KNOWS that God no longer works
in unexpected or surprising ways;
that the kind of divine inspiration that can cause a person
to leave the familiar and set out for parts unknown ended with Abraham.
that the kind of spiritual courage to stand up to a bully and cry "No More"
ran out with Moses.

It’s what he KNOWS that keeps Nicodemus from the deeper understanding;
that keeps him from the more profound awareness
that God’s spirit isn’t bound by the past or limited by preconceived notions.
Birth and wind – they are two phenomena in Jesus’ time BEYOND knowing.
They are the epitome of mystery.
Though birth happens every day,
and date palms sway with even the slightest breeze,
no one in Jesus’ time can explain either birth or wind. They simply are.

It is the practice of the Pharisees, Nicodemus among them,
to seek God in the familiar, to assume God’s presence
only in that which they were sure of.
But Jesus is more interested in finding God in ways not previously known,
in catching glimpses of God’s kingdom in the most unlikely places.
Nicodemus’ concept of God’s relationship to human beings is based on fear;
doing all the right things so as not to incur God’s wrath.
Jesus’ concept of God’s relationship to human beings is based on love and grace.
accepting the free gift of God’s love through Jesus
and participating in eternal life that begins not at death, but right here, right now.
Paul later reflected Jesus’ line of thinking when he wrote to the church in Rome,
"All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received a spirit of adoption."

It’s good to know things.
Jesus was certainly well schooled in the scriptures and in Jewish history.
But Jesus also knew that sometimes the best thing to know
is how much we don’t know.
We know that God loves God’s world.
but we can’t begin to know all the ways God has of demonstrating that love.
we can’t begin to know, for example, where God draws the line on forgiveness.
So the next time you feel a tickle, like a feather caressing your cheek,
don’t brush it away, but open yourself to the possibility of being born from above,
the likelihood that God’s Spirit is going to lead you in new, unimagined ways.