DELIBERATELY DIVERSE | The Rev. Terry Pierce
“Deliberately Diverse” represents the individual thoughts of Taylor friends who never completely agree about anything but enjoy diverse discussions.
“Old Nicodemus went calling/To see my Lordy one night./“Master, something is wrong with me./ My heart isn’t feeling right.”
— Mahalia Jackson
We encounter Nicodemus only in the Gospel of John but he appears three times.
First, he comes in the night to question Jesus about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus tells him the way to the Kingdom of Heaven is to be transformed by the Spirit.
Jesus clarifies by saying, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”
What is water and Spirit? Jesus likely is referring to the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel to whom God promises to sprinkle clean water on Israel and put his Spirit within them. Jesus is saying to Nicodemus the promise of transformation and eternal life is fulfilled now, today, in the present time. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, represents the idea that learning, rulekeeping and religious status earn you a place with God. Not too different from those who hear Jesus prescribing a specific morality as the rules one must follow to enter the kingdom.
But Jesus is talking about something different — something that happens to you rather than something you can accomplish by following the rules and doing what a pastor says and condemning those who don’t hear Jesus in the same way you do.
The spirit is like the wind, the breath, sweeping across the face of the waters in the first chapter of Genesis.
In John, Jesus says, “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.”
You can’t control or fully understand Spirit; you only see its effects.
Transformation is mysterious and sovereign, occurring when we place our trust in Jesus. It cannot be mechanically produced by our actions.
Later, Nicodemus witnesses a confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus. And Nicodemus speaks up, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” He doesn’t say, “Jesus is right.” He doesn’t confess faith. But he pushes back against his own colleagues and he is ridiculed.
At the end, when Jesus has been crucified, Nicodemus appears again. He comes “bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds.”
Nicodemus is no longer coming in darkness.
He makes a public act.
You cannot transport 75 pounds of spice in secret. Nicodemus comes to anoint the man, condemned by his colleagues and crucified by the Roman authorities.
Nicodemus is transformed not by his own acts or words. He is transformed by Spirit that breathes into his life the trust to stand with Jesus regardless of the ridicule of his neighbors or the danger presented by the imperial authorities.
How will Spirit work in your life?
Pierce is vicar of St.
James’ Episcopal Church in Taylor and can be reached by email at ministry@ stjamestaylor.org.
