In or Out

So I was talking to a friend of mine today and we were discussing John 3. He will be preaching on this passage in a couple of weeks and we were talking about the direction that he might want to take with it. After bandying about the idea of using one of the more obscure verses as his sole point of reference, or listing one as the verse to have read and then going totally away from it, we talked about something with some meat.

The question that was posed was about Nicodemus. Nick came to Jesus and questioned him about who he was and what he was teaching. Not that big a deal really, seems that people wanted to know this about Jesus, which would help explain why there were always such large crowds around Jesus. But if you read the first half of the chapter with Nick's story you see will see what it was that had us talking.

Nicodemus was a pharisee you see. So pretty much by this time the pharisees weren't so sure that they liked what Jesus was doing. He was ruffling some feathers and going if directions that they didn't really like. The thing is, Nicodemus didn't seem to be completely convinced that what he was saying was bad. So he went to talk to him about it...at night...when no one would see him talking to Jesus. Seems kinda weird right?

So the question was "Why do you think Nicodemus went to Jesus at night?" The answer seems pretty obvious at first glance, right? He was a pharisee and was afraid of what the other pharisees would think if they knew he was consorting with the "enemy" as it were. I mean, if you don't want people to know what you are doing, you do it under the cover of darkness. So the first thought is that he was scared of what the others would think if they knew.

This is the answered that I posed to the stated question. It makes sense. Damon then posed a different answer to his question. He said "What if the reason that he went at night (other than fear) was to be able to avoid having to share Jesus with any of the crowds? Or some combination of the two."

Now this was an insight that I had never considered before. It was something that had not even crossed my mind as his reason. We always hear about how he didn't want to upset his standing with the pharisees or disturb the status quo. But what if there was another motive to why he went at night? What if it was because he didn't want to have to share his time with Jesus?

It would make sense really when you think about it. The crowds that followed Jesus were huge. Can you imagine what it would be like to try and be able to even get close to him? And as far as getting to ask him a question and get to have some discussion about it? Good luck with that. So going when the crowds are gone makes a great deal of sense.

Aren't we all just like Nicodemus though at times? We are selfish with Jesus. We don't want to share him with others. Or we want to "try out" Jesus but we don't really want anyone to know that we are. We are scared and we want to be hidden...just like Nick. Jesus talks about how things that are done in the dark will come to the light. To this particular situation it's like he is saying that it's fine to start off secretly, but at some point you have got to take a stand one way or another. You're either in or your not.

We have to make a choice at some point...will we continue to go about in the dark, hoping no one knows we are actually into Jesus, or will we step into the light and live our faith for others to see. Nicodemus' story ends (for us at least) with him being the lone voice to oppose the "trial" of Jesus (that we know of) and he is there to help take him from the cross and bury him. Nicodemus was willing to step out of the dark into the light, will we be willing to do the same? Peace and Love y'all.

Found

So I was in Ohio last week and I was listening to this new radio station (for me) and I heard this song on there on multiple occasions. I'm sure that you have probably heard this if you listen to the radio at all. The song is called You Found Me by The Fray and it is incredible. I just really dig what he is saying in his lyrics. If you haven't heard it yet click on the video below and give it a listen real quick.

The words of this song seem to express what we all feel when tragedy hits us. There is that sense of pain and doubt anger and we wonder where was God in all this crap that is happening. We want to have our moment to stand before God-with-skin-on and ask the question "Where were you when this happened in my life?"

The thing is, that's fine. God is able to take that from us. It will not alter our standing with Him if we have questions about where he is in the darkest of times in our lives. That is part of what it means to have faith though, to believe and understand that there will be times when it feels and seems that God is a long way off, yet we believe and trust anyway. It brings to mind the story in Genesis of Jacob wrestling with the angel.

Here is what Isaac Slade of The Fray had to say about his lyrics:

"I dreamt I ran into God on a street corner. He looked like Bruce Springsteen and he was smoking a cigarette. I had it out with him and asked 'Where were you when all this bad stuff was happening to those very undeserving, good people?'" Slade, who's Christian faith is very important to him added, "There were tough times. I was questioning my faith, angry at things that had happened in my life and in the lives of my friends. A friend had suffered a miscarriage, I had lost my grandfather. I was angry and the song felt angry and hopeless too. I imagined what I'd say to God, in the face of all the crap my friends have gone through in the last couple of years." (www.songfacts.com)

I think that is a place that most of us have been. Here is one more quote from Slade about the song:

"It demands so much of my faith to keep believing, keep hoping in the unseen. Sometimes the tunnel has a light at the end, but usually they just look black as night. This song is about that feeling and the hope I still have, buried deep in my chest."

For all of you out there that might be feeling like this right now, know that there is hope. Sometimes you just have to really look to find it. Peace and Love y'all.