Cross-shaped Living

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

Cross-shaped Living 20 March 2011 The Revd Jenny Wilkens

• Genesis 12:1-4
• Psalm 121
• Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
• John 3:1-17

http://wellingtoncathedral.org.nz/index.php/Sermons

I finally realised why a working bee is called a working bee when I came in yesterday morning to a hive of activity and a buzz of busy conversation! And it's amazing what comes to light when we clean into the nooks and crannies of this building. Midst a pile of paper I was handed for recycling was an edition of 'Cathedral News' from September 2001, a bit crumpled but still full of the excitement of the upcoming service of Consecration of this Cathedral.

Dean Michael Brown commented at the time, "What is Consecration all about? …Firstly that the building is finished. Of course, over time further developments may happen, additions or alterations, but in general the building is entire in its form and structure. Secondly the building is free of debt."

He then went on to describe part of the Consecration service where the Bishop traces with his pastoral staff the sign of the cross through the building, from pulpit to lectern, and from font to sanctuary and altar. No doubt some of you were there and remember this being done.

The sign of the cross, yes, which reflects the shape of this building, but which is also I think a symbol of the cross-shaped lives of the people of God. In reading that account I was reminded of the dedication of so many people who poured years of time, energy, talents and money into the completion of this Cathedral. Today is a day we celebrate and give thanks for that past self-giving, whose effects flow on into our present and our future.

Dean Frank reminds us at times of the challenge given to him on arrival here, that a completed building enables the focus to move onto the building of this Cathedral as community, the building up of the people of God. The churches of Christchurch, and not least our sister Cathedral, are reminding us poignantly right now that even without a building, the church of God continues, and is alive.

This of course was the challenge that God put to Abram. At the age of seventy-five, we're told, just when you'd expect he is anchoring down into a comfortable retirement, and putting his slippers on in front of the telly, God calls him to leave home, family, country, all that is familiar, all his comfortable securities, to go where? He is not told - 'to a land that God will show him'. And yes, he is promised blessings, five times he is promised blessings and that he in turn will be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Stupendous promises, but what would you have done? What would your response have been? Thanks, but no thanks?

Perhaps if Abram and Sarai had been able to read the rest of the book of Genesis before they made the decision, they would have stayed put. But they went out in faith, on an adventure of trust in the promises of God, more than that, trusting God himself 'who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist' (Rom 4:17) Abram and Sarai went out trusting, as Shirley Murray puts it so well in her hymn , that 'God is in the other place, God is in another's face' ('When we lift our pack and go' Song for Travellers, Alleluia Aotearoa 153).

That was the risk that Nicodemus was not yet ready to take, to see God in another's face, and to take the risk of following. Poor Nicodemus gets a lot of flack but I find him a strangely comforting and very human figure. There he is coming to Jesus by night, he's playing it carefully, he's cautious but curious. He's impressed by Jesus and wants to know more, but he's not willing to jeopardise his own safety, his own position in the religious hierarchy, he's a leader with a lot to lose.

So he's willing to have an amicable exchange with Jesus, to weigh things up politely, to have a considered conversation, to put things out in front on the table, where they can be analysed but not to get too emotionally involved. Best to be non-committal…

But that is just the option Jesus does not give him. It's hard to tell at times in this conversation whether Jesus is teasing, or gently mocking, or just plain frustrated at Nicodemus' inability to get what Jesus is on about. Nicodemus is like many people in our world today, who see the world in one dimension, the world of human existence lived in its own terms. A world in which we try to understand things and fit them into the compartments our mind formulates for them, a world mostly under our control.

But Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, hang on a minute, there's another whole world out there, there is the world from God's perspective, the world as God created it and wants it to be again, a whole bigger picture. And to see that world, it's like you need to be born into it, born again, born anew, born from above (the Greek word anōthen can mean any of these), born from above through the action of God 'who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist' (Romans 4:17).

So the challenge Jesus issues to Nicodemus is to become as a child, as an unborn baby, totally vulnerable, defenceless, trusting in God for his very existence and his future. And to let himself be born into a world where the wind of God's Spirit is blowing. Again, the Greek word for 'wind' and 'spirit', is the same, pneuma. So God's wind, God's Spirit is on the move, bringing new life, new creation, new possibilities, new hope.

For Nicodemus, leader and teacher of Israel, to imagine himself being reborn as a helpless infant into God's brave new world was about as mind-blowing and scary as saying to us residents of the windy city, yes, turn yourself into a kite or a balloon and entrust yourself to a brisk northerly or a good southerly blow in Wellington - you'll be fine, enjoy yourself! Yeah, right!

Nicodemus could have got up and left at that point, but it seemed he stayed to hear some words that gave him - and us - hope. Jesus could only talk about the need for us to be born into God's world of the Spirit because he himself came from heaven to be born into this world, the Word made flesh. He knew what it was like to be a vulnerable, new-born child, trusting himself completely to the hands of his carers. He does not ask us to do what he was not willing to do himself.

Jesus too would live out a life of self-giving, a cross-shaped life. His ascent, his lifting up, will be on a cross - 'so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life' (John 3:14,15). Jesus will be lifted up in death on the cross, finally entrusting himself to God. God will then raise Christ to new life, eternal life, the same new life promised to all those who commit their own living and dying to God's care and keeping. And I'm encouraged that Nicodemus was there, there at the cross, there to bury Jesus (John 19:39-42), there I'm sure to meet him risen.

As we face this year, which has begun with so much uncertainty and insecurity in our world and in our country, perhaps you feel that it would be very nice just to stay put for the rest of the year.

But the wind of God's Spirit continues to blow as it wills and God is still in the calling and moving on business! The wind of the Spirit is blowing our Director of Music, Michael Fulcher back across the Tasman. Part of the reality of life in Wellington is that it is a place of hellos and good-byes. But can we trust that God will yet blow into our lives and the life of the Cathedral family more people with gifts and talents to share this year and next? And will we welcome them and grow to love them too?

It's a challenge, isn't it? I'm reminded of a church that had a banner up saying 'Welcome the wind of God's Spirit!', and right next to it a sign saying "Please close the door because of the draught"!

As we seek as Christ's people to live cross-shaped lives, and to discern the call and leading of God's Spirit, we encounter many cross-roads, times of decision making, times of choice, times of committing ourselves again to God's service, midst the changing circumstances of our lives.

Today, our day of Dedicated Living & Giving, is such a time in our life as a Cathedral family, and in our individual lives. But I hope as we do this, that we can know afresh that God does not play games with our lives. The God who led Abraham and Sarah, the God who led Nicodemus to faith and new life, the God who walked in Jesus the way of the cross and the empty tomb, is a God who can be trusted with our lives. This is the God who can be trusted with 'our going out and our coming in from this time forward and forever more' (Psalm 121).

In the words of today's Collect, God, may we pray for grace to step with courage on your holy path, confident in the radiant life that is your plan for us, made known and given in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.