ALent2 Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 February 17, 2008 Nicodemus a leader of the Jews, comes at night, wanting to tell Jesus what he and some others believe about him. We know that you are from God. No one could do what you do apart from God. When we see you, your actions, your words, we are convinced that you and God are hand in hand. When you heal, you heal with the very hands of God. When you teach, it is God’s words that come forth from your mouth. Everything you see, you are seeing through God’s eyes. It’s as though Nicodemus was so filled with awe at what was taking place, he couldn’t help but sneak to Jesus, wanting to be near him, because to be near him was to see life in a completely new light. To see heaven on earth. To place himself in Jesus’ world. On a lesser scale, I’ve felt that way about people that seemed larger than my life. When I was a young girl it was Judy Collins, a folk singer. Her voice and music and persona were, in my eyes, so extraordinary. When I went to one of her concerts and happened to get in close proximity to her after the show, I felt like I had breathed different air! Oh, to play music as she did! Oh to sing with her voice! When I was older, it was a monk, now a bishop, Tom Shaw. I had read all his books and heard him speak once. And when I was on a retreat, held at his monastery, I was assigned to have spiritual direction with him. I felt like Nicodemus must have. What you say and write, how you live, I just want to be near it, to know it’s possible, to know it’s real. Oh to have insights about scripture as he did! Oh to live a disciplined life as he did! Judy Collins might be able to let me see her studio and play her piano. Tom Shaw might be able to welcome me into his monastic world. And Jesus, thinks Nicodemus, must be able to help him understand his complete connection with God. Jesus says to Nicodemus, and to all of us who desire osmosis from someone we emulate, ‘No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ [Now this account has a little fun in it, making a pun on a Greek word that can mean either ‘from above’ or ‘again.’ And so, Nicodemus not interpreting correctly what Jesus has said, thinks ‘How could I enter the womb a second time, and be born again when already old??’] One way to think about this: It is when we are born that we are first seen. A baby is born when the world can see it and when it can see the world. In being born from above, we would know ourselves based on how we are seen from above, seen by God/Son of Man. And, we would see the world based on how it is seen from above. In being born ‘of the flesh’ we would know ourselves based on how we are seen in our human situation which is subject to weakness, sinfulness, and alienation from God and each other. In our human condition we desire according to the desire of others. We see the world as others see it. We want what others want. We see ourselves as others see us. Our view of ourselves and the world is not ‘born’ from our own individual seeing. Our view of ourselves and the world is inextricably formed through what we see about other people and how we imitate them. Being born in the Spirit (from above) – as opposed to - being born of the flesh. So, we can figure out what to desire by imitating others who see us through their own limitations and our own. Or, we can figure out what to desire by imitating Christ, the risen Jesus beholding us through God’s eyes of love and forgiveness, The movie Groundhog Day compares Being born in the Spirit/from above to being born of the flesh. Phil A weatherman named Phil (played by Bill Murray) is reluctantly sent to cover a story about groundhog day. This is his fourth year having to cover this seasonal event that takes place in the quaint town of Punxsutawnee, Pennsylvania. Phil gets into town with his assistant, Rita (played by Andie McDowell) and a cameraman. The next morning they will cover the big event – whether the groundhog will come out of his hole and see his shadow or not. Phil goes to bed the night of February 2 and wakes up to find that it is February 2 again – and the next morning the same..and the next morning the same. He first uses this to his advantage and tries to get Rita to like him. And each day he fails and his self-centered goals leave him stuck on February 2. He comes to the realization that he is doomed to spend the rest of his life – or eternity! – in the same place, waking up to the same song on the radio every morning and seeing the same people do the same thing every single day. While trying to use his dilemma to his advantage, he begins all over each day, going through the same exact routine. He keeps trying different antics to the point where there is a series of consecutive shots of the ending the day with Rita slapping the daylights out of him – day after day after day. He remains stuck in how he sees and in how he is seen. He begins to despair. He even tries to commit suicide and still wakes up in the same bed on the same day. Then we start to see a change. The first change is that he lets go of trying to get Rita to like him, getting Rita to see him like he wants her to. He finally gives up his preoccupation of being seen from below. Born of the flesh. Secondly, he begins to see this repetitive day differently. He begins to notice how Rita sees the world. Rita, unlike him, is a self-giving person who is genuinely caring without the need to control or manipulate. So, Phil begins to see this ‘eternal’ day differently. He catches a boy falling out of a tree. The next day, he makes sure he is at the right spot, to catch the boy again. He fixes a flat tire for some elderly women. He performs the Heinlich maneuver on the town’s mayor, saving him from choking on a piece of steak in a restaurant. He goes from feeling like he’s cursed to getting to practice over and over again this new way of seeing and being seen - being born. Having seen these people through different eyes, and having experienced being seen in a different light, Phil’s life changes. Each day becomes an opportunity to be of genuine help. And the townspeople begin to see him with eyes of gratitude and respect. You might say that this movie offers a small, humorous contrast of the difference between being born of the flesh and being born from above, of the Spirit. When Phil gave up being born of the flesh, he began to get what life was like when it is born/seen from above. And so for Nicodemus, for me, for you, Jesus came that we may know the fullness of God’s love through him. That we might see and have life, real life, God life. That we may live in the fullness of that larger eternal love rather than perish in our own limited perceptions. Thank goodness we have more than one day that we have to live over and over again, although we do tend to repeat our mistakes over and over. And, thank goodness we are allowed to practice over and over! In Jesus, Nicodemus caught hold of a glimpse of what this world looks like ‘from above.’ And at Jesus’ death we are told that Nicodemus, who had at first come to see Jesus by night, came in public with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus’ body. Nicodemus, finally understanding what it was to be born from above, to see through God’s loving and forgiving eyes and to live our lives practicing that perfect vision.