"Spirit Sets Free" - John 3:1-17; Psalm 121 - Kate Fiedler

sermon by the Rev. Kate Fiedler

Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA

March 5, 2023

Psalm 121; John 3:1-17

“Spirit Sets Free”

There are plenty of reasons why I love being a Presbyterian. One reason is our love of Scripture. We take the scriptures seriously. So seriously, Presbyterian seminaries teach Biblical Hebrew and Greek so that church leaders can study and read the scriptures in the early languages of the text. We are people of the Book, and we acknowledge the Word made flesh as the head of the church.

Another reason why I love being a Presbyterian is that as a church family, we are curious. We urge questions, and we encourage curious minds to wonder and doubt. We are reformed and always being reformed by the Spirit, open to new interpretations and new voices.  Today, I will be reading from a translation that is new to me:  First Nations Version. You may read along with the First Nations Version as printed in your bulletin, or you may turn to the page in the pew Bible, to read from the NRSV. This First Nations translation “was birthed out of a desire to provide an English Bible that connects, in a culturally relevant way, to the traditional heart languages of the over six million English-speaking First Nations people of North America.”[1]  The council that created this translation “included Native North Americans from over twenty-five tribes.”[2]  Here in Richmond, we are learning and asking questions about our own connections with the First Nations who called this area home before European immigrants arrived.  Today we listen to this familiar story from voices often silenced or overlooked.

I expect the story describing the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus is familiar to many of you.  As we hear from John, chapter 3 today, listen to how the Spirit is calling you pay attention:

A man named Conquers the People (Nicodemus) came to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in secret at night. He was one of the Separated Ones (Pharisees) and a headman of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) who sat in the Great Council. Out of the shadows he whispered, “Wisdomkeeper, we know the Great Spirit sent you to teach us. No one can perform powerful signs like these unless the Maker of Life walks with him.” “I speak from my heart,” Creator Sets Free/Jesus answered, “Only one who has been born from above can see Creator’s good road.” Conquers the People/Nicodemus was surprised by this strange answer, so he asked, “Can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb to be born a second time?” “Listen closely,” Creator Sets Free/ Jesus answered. “One must be born of both water and spirt to walk Creator’s good road. The human body only gives birth to natural life, but it takes the Spirit of Creator to give birth to spiritual life. Do not be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ Everyone born in this way is like the wind that blows wherever it wants. You can hear its sound, but no one knows where it comes from or where it goes.” “How can these things be?” Conquers the People/ Nicodemus asked. Creator Sets Free/Jesus looked gently but firmly into his eyes and continued. “How can it be that a wisdomkeeper and spiritual leader of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator/Israel does not understand these things? Listen closely, for you fail to hear what we are talking about. We are speaking about things on earth, how will you believe me when I talk about the things from the spirit-world above? For there is only one who has gone up and come down from the world above—the True Human Being. Do you not remember when Drawn from the Water (Moses) lifted up a pole with a snake on it in the desert wilderness? This is what will happen to the True Human Being, so people will put their trust in him and have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. The Great Spirit loves this world of human beings so deeply he gave us his Son—the only Son who fully represents him. All who trust in him and his way will not come to a bad end, but will have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. Creator did not send his Son to decide against the people of this world, but to set them free from the worthless ways of the world.”    (First Nations Version)  This is the Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

This is a provocative story, with plenty of layers to consider for a sermon.  Today, I want to focus on the presence and movement of the Sprit in this story, and the presence and movement of the Spirit with us in the church.

As Presbyterians, we understand the Spirit to be one member/part of the Holy Trinity. The Spirit was present with God at creation, hovering over the waters and the land. The Spirit was present in the time of the prophets, guiding them to share God’s words of warning and hope. And Jesus proclaimed that the Spirit would remain with the disciples after he returned to sit on God’s right hand, after his time on earth was complete. We believe the Hebrew word, ruah, and the Greek word here in John, pneuma, describe the same Spirit, which can also be translated as wind or breath. We understand the Spirit has been present with God since creation, is present with us today, and will be present long after we take our final breath.

As we begin to study the Sprit’s work in this story, first I want to highlight that the Spirit sets us free from fear. Nicodemus, bless his heart, meets with Jesus in secret, cloaked in the darkness of night. As a Pharisee and religious scholar, Nicodemus was nervous about meeting with Jesus in public. Have you ever been nervous to tell someone you are a Christian?  Have you ever been anxious to talk about your faith? We Presbyterians are not always comfortable with the “E word”—Evangelism.  We don’t typically pass out Bible tracts outside Publix or Kroger, or go block by block knocking on doors in a neighborhood to talk about why we love Jesus. Compared to some of our Christian cousins, we’re more laid-back and low-key when it comes to sharing the good news.  We can relate to Nicodemus, preferring to discuss Jesus outside the spotlight or even the sunlight. Now, I’m not saying you need to start making your neighbors uncomfortable by how much you love the Lord, but I do think it’s important to remember the Spirit sets us free from fear so that we can be truly present with people.  Like Alex preached last week, the Spirit sets us free from fear so that we can trust God. The Spirit sets us free from fear, so that like Jesus, we can build bridges and cross boundaries, and show up with and alongside our neighbors, especially those who don’t know how to ask for help.  The Spirit sets us free from fear to show up with courage and grace always, and at times beyond our comfort zone.  Nicodemus meets Jesus at night, and Jesus doesn’t call him out but meets him as he is. Jesus engages with him at a time and place when Nicodemus is comfortable, provoking him to consider a way of being faithful outside his comfort zone.

This conversation between two religious leaders reminds us that the Spirit does not just set us free from, the Holy Spirit also sets us free to act: to love and serve—to love and serve God and our neighbors. As Jesus tries to explain to Nicodemus about what it means to be born from above and to be born of the Spirit, we understand that Jesus teaches us that the Spirit sets us free to love and serve. The First Nations Version describes such faithfulness as walking Creator’s good road, and Nicodemus describes the healing and teaching of Jesus as “powerful signs” that illustrate “the Maker of Life walks with him.” Nicodemus notes that Jesus responds with love and serves the people in awe-inspiring ways. Nicodemus is impressed by how the Spirit sets Jesus free to love and serve, to teach and heal, to feed and pray. As the walking embodiment of God, Jesus models how the Spirit sets us free to respond to God with love and service.

This church family is set free to love and serve every Monday through our Walk-In lunch program and on Tuesdays, welcoming neighbors for the shower ministry. We seek to serve our neighbors near and far.  I want to share another ministry that is set free to love and serve in our presbytery:  Voices of Jubilee.  This past Wednesday, the Mission and Advocacy Council heard from one of the co-pastors for Voices of Jubilee.  Rev. Lauren Ramseur shared how the ministry began with a request for a gospel choir at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in 2018.  From that day, it has grown to be a team effort led by two co-pastors—Lauren and Ashley Mejias, and others who join them in ministering to and with children and youth who are incarcerated.  In December, the team gathered here at Second to put together over 300 gift bags for children as young as 11 to have a gift of care and support over the holiday season.  Lauren shared, “Voices of Jubilee carries love, hope, and grief in both directions”—to the children and to the team—as they create the beloved community together. It’s sacred, sometimes scary work. Voices of Jubilee is one way the Spirit is moving, with children who are incarcerated, as the Spirit moves us to love and serve.

Finally, let’s talk about what the Spirit sets us free for, as described in the popular verse, John 3:16, and the important verse that follows, 3:17. Jesus teaches Nicodemus that the Spirit sets us free for eternal life, or as we read today, the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. The Spirit sets us free for love, not judgment; for hope, not fear. The Holy Spirit sets us free for life with God, with green pastures and beside still waters, with the Peace of Christ, joy and justice, light and love emanating through it all. Jesus teaches Nicodemus that God so loved the world, God sent his Son to embody that love and save all creation. We are reminded that God’s love is for the collective, for all creation, and not just for Presbyterians or just for North Americans. Nicodemus was seeking answers and Jesus responded with questions of his own and the poetry of God’s love, grace, and eternal life. Nicodemus asks how, and Jesus responds with because:  because God loves all creation; because God sent Jesus to live, teach, and model God’s love; because the Spirit sets us free for life eternal, full of beauty and harmony.

You may have your own questions about how and why we are called to be Presbyterians in the world in 2023, and this story from John’s gospel offers some light.  The Spirit sets us free from fear; the Spirit sets us free to love and serve; and ultimately, the Spirit sets us free for the life of the world that never fades away, full of beauty and truth. Beloved of God, this is good news.  This is good news as we discern how to trust God and be faithful disciples of Jesus, the radical rabbi. This is good news for us at Second as we face more change and transitions, after faithful leadership from Ginger and Alex. This is good news for us as we seek to serve our neighbors in downtown Richmond and beyond with grace and compassion. God invites us, to experience the grace and love of the divine, through the movement and freedom of the Spirit.  It’s not a small gift.  In fact, it may change your life.  Before you understand what’s being taught or what’s happening around you or where the wind is blowing, God’s grace, the love of Christ, and the freedom of the Spirit may save you too.

[1] “Introduction to the First Nations Version:  An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament” InterVarsity Press: Downer’s Grove, IL. 2021.  p.ix.

[2] ibid