Lent 2 A + Beginner's mind + 3.5.23
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Genesis
12:1-4a; Psalm 121;
Romans
4:1-5, 13-17; John
3:1-17)
I once attended an ordination ceremony for a family member
who was receiving orders to become a Zen Buddhist religious leader. In this
ceremony, the ordinands were required to answer philosophical questions to show
that they had studied Buddhist wisdom. Not having studied Buddhism in a lot of
depth, I was a little lost but quickly picked up on the fact that the questions
appeared to be fairly open-ended, allowing the individual to express their own
way of interpreting the questions of life. Since I was in attendance in a very
small gathering, someone asked me to make a question. I was a little flummoxed
for a minute, because I didn’t know what to say, but I came up with a question
that I hope sort of worked. As far as I could tell from my novice perspective,
the idea was to show both astuteness and also openness to new ideas. To show
nonjudgment and lack of attachment to certain ideas. A sense of humor was also
very present! As I understand it, in Zen, the concept of a beginner’s mind is
very important. It means that, no matter how much you know, you can always
learn more.
I almost imagine Jesus and Nicodemus in a similar moment of not quite
understanding each other’s’ languages, at least on Nicodemus’ part, in the
passage from the Gospel of John today. Here are two religious people communing
around religious things, but they are speaking a different language and
Nicodemus does not entirely understand Jesus at first. He sees God in Jesus, so
he tells him so. And Jesus says that he needs to know God to see God, so
obviously he knows God. But he uses this language of birth, and it throws
Nicodemus off. He goes into a rabbit hole of how can I be born again? And that
language sets off a whole string of things. For example, today, some Christians
will ask if others are born again, and they expect the display of a very
particular moment of getting to know Jesus. But we know that knowledge of God,
through God the creator, Spirit Dove or the Anointed Son, comes to us through
many avenues. Births and awakenings are specific almost to the person. There is
no one spiritual birth.
And that is where ritual comes into play. Because we know
that in baptism, we are reborn in Christ. That we, who are part of our human
family, chosen and blood, and others God has sent our way, are further enriched
by symbolically and spiritually joining God’s family in holy baptism. For some
this rite means the cleansing of old sins, but for many it is an acknowledgment
of a birth that has already happened in knowing Christ or learning about God
and God’s saving love. For many who are baptized as little persons, they will
be reborn again as they learn about God’s love throughout their lives and live
into their baptism more fully.
But all of us are born again, not just at baptism, but if we
are open to it, we are reborn every day. In every moment we can great God with
a beginner’s mind and be open to God’s love all around us. It can be hard to be
open to God’s love in a world that focuses so much on hate and judgment at
times. This passage- God so loved the world… has somehow been turned into an
instrument of judgment for so many. Even though in the next breath, Jesus
affirms that God did not come to the world to judge, but to save.
And in case we were slow on the uptake of this message, the other passages from
today reinforce the theme. Abraham was righteous before there was a law. And he
was blessed to be a blessing to others. In Romans, Paul is speaking with a
group who are trying to reconcile their Jewish and Christian identities. And he
is saying that not everyone has to abide by the full Jewish law in order to
follow Jesus. Because we all come from Father Abraham, and he was before the
law. We look to the law for guidance, just as the mountains to which we look
give us stability.
But we must never take from the law to hurt others or to
judge unkindly. God is love, and that means that we must lift up that which
brings healing and wholeness. When there is a movement around our country to
lift up so-called Biblical notions of gender, we must remind others that God
created us “male and female in God’s image” – if God is non-binary – male and
female- we cannot judge those whom God has created to be different from the
neat boxes within which much of society expresses itself.
When we hear about anti-Asian, anti-Latino and anti-Black
hate, we must speak out. Because we are all God’s precious creatures and all
God’s people must be free for any of us to be free. As my friend Angela, who
works at a cat rescue, said the other day, “You will not behold one creature
today who is not a splendorous feat of cherishment. ... The surly and the
sweet. The powerful and the blessed meek. The rivals and the radicals and the
remarkable child in your mirror. We are all here because the Great Mercy wanted
us. Wanted. Us! Cats and walruses and wombats and combative creative confusing
humans included. May we welcome each marvel.”[1]
God wanted us! Nicodemus came to believe this, after speaking
with Jesus. He, who spoke of birth with our Messiah in this text, was one of
the two to enfold him in death, caring for his broken body with Joseph of
Arimathea before he rose again. He didn’t know what would happen – that Jesus
would be reborn- but he did understand about love. And he showed that love to
the one who loves us all.
God wanted us! We celebrate that today in the baptisms of
Xiao, Giai, and Mariana in the 11:15 service. Those are present will celebrate
that by renewing our baptismal vows with them. But each of us can celebrate
today as we try to live every day with a beginner’s mind, open to the
revelation of God’s love in the world. We are open to the glimpses of that love
so we can share it with the world and be a blessing!
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