Lent - Day 26

Lent - Day 26

From Living Well through Lent 2015

An Exercise in Elasticity

by The Rt. Rev. Jim Mathes, Bishop of San Diego

John 3:14-21

We are told that he comes to Jesus "by night." That seems fitting, since Nicodemus is a shadowy figure in the New Testament, found only on three occasions in John's gospel.  When he first appears, Jesus blesses this man of darkness with a flash of light, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whosoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16) The seeker seems to have caught a glimpse of something.

We seen him two more times: defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin and then assisting Joseph of Arimathea in burying the crucified Jesus. In a very short span of time, this Pharisee travels from shadowy and baffled seeker to pall-bearer of Jesus. It is as if he cannot let go of Jesus. And it may be that simple. He has chosen to be in relationship with Jesus and not be defined by the darkness.

As we travel these days of Lent, we are perhaps a bit like Nicodemus. We remain in the shadows, puzzling over Jesus and his words.  We find ourselves struck in patterns of life and assumptions that are different from the vision that Jesus casts. It is a vision of light instead of darkness, love instead of hate, forgiveness instead of retribution, hope instead of despair, life instead of death. Somehow, this vision -- this flash of light -- pierces us just enough that we keep moving and in the process discover a deeper meaning of what it means to be resilient.

The journey of faith and the Lenten way is an exercise in elasticity. It is about repentance and changing directions: it is about change.

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From Duane: My Lenten lessons so far include resiliency from last Sunday and thinking about elasticity this week. I feel like I have been these things my whole life, but also feel like I have been losing them the past few years. Let us pray together that we can all be like the PlayDoh that God can mold into something new and beautiful instead of cement that has hardened with time.