Are you a teacher? This question applies to us as it did to the great teacher of the Jewish law, Nicodemus. Nicodemus was so busy teaching the concept, he was failing to live it.
So how do we become better teachers? The most recent sermon in the Lenten Sermon Series addresses this question. The answer comes directly from personal experience.
As a pastor, a theologian, and a teacher, I’ve struggled to get the doctrine “right” for several years now. I still find myself stuck using words that only have meaning in theological contexts, maybe cloistered behind seminary walls, or socked away behind the Sunday School room door.
But on my best days, I find myself speaking to folks about what the teachings of Jesus have done for me. Personal experience, offering that same kind of experience to others. Here’s what Jesus said:
Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay.
I don’t have to convince anyone of the cosmic truth of Jesus Christ, not at the beginning of the journey. At the beginning of the Christan faith journey, I just need to share the real life answers to the real life questions that I’ve stumbled upon.
In simplest terms, Jesus recognized that the Temple’s teachings and required offerings were more oppressive than liberating. The question in the lives of everyone who wasn’t a Pharisee was, “What can I do to be freed from this system of sin and atonement?” Jesus gave specific examples of forgiveness by living the life of forgiveness, demonstrating the love of God and offering grace to everyone he met, regardless of their social status.
He still demanded repentance, but it was a possible repentance, not a carrot on a string that required more and more sacrificial offerings.
Oddly enough, he required a total sacrifice rather than the sacrifice of animals and grain.
To Nicodemus, the most confusing part was being born again. To most of us, the confusing part lies in dying to ourselves so that we can be born anew in Christ’s image. Nicodemus understood personal sacrifice. He didn’t understand the concept of completely starting over. As a society, we understand starting over. We just don’t understand how to live differently after that point, so we start over and over and over… We don’t want to give up who we are. We don’t want to die to ourselves. We just want to start over and keep doing things the way we always have.
Expecting a different result from repeating the same mistakes, that’s the definition of insanity.
So how does this grace get to us?
The basic idea of what Jesus was saying is simple: Forgiveness and grace are at the heart of God’s plan for us. But its not for the Temple to dole out. It is for each of us to live and share, and most importantly, exemplify. The reason for this is found in the words of Jesus I quoted earlier. Jesus is basically saying, “This truth is undeniable because it is not only possible, but it is being lived out in your presence in the person of Christ.”
Today, the person of Christ is seen most clearly by observing the Body of Christ, the Church.
The key is for us to make sure that Christ is visible within the Body.
Are you a teacher? Trick question. Of course you are. You teach the message of Christ every day.
Sometimes, you might even use words to do so.
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