Last weeks theme
Last week got ransacked by all kinds of things. Luckily someone else was preaching. Abut I did not get time to put up their theme. Here it is...
This week's gospel from the third chapter of John is the second half of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus on faith, new birth and conversion. Jesus here speaks in allegory about eternal life and condemnation; it's difficult to understand, but most of us can be left with an uncomfortable feeling that judgement is coming to those who have not explicitly professed faith in Christ.
Part of the reason we feel this is that Jesus speaks in dualities: light/dark; saved/condemned; life/perish. But that feeling that Jesus is being very black and white here is more about how we see conversion today than the message of John 3. In a world where a US President can say, "you are either with us or against us," nuance and subtlety can be in short supply. This dumbing down of our view of people and communities is as apparent in the church today as it is in the world. Jesus teaching Nicodemus posits a quite different view of conversion and faith that reaches out to others, rather than excludes.
Heoi anō,
Graham Bidois Cameron
Part of the reason we feel this is that Jesus speaks in dualities: light/dark; saved/condemned; life/perish. But that feeling that Jesus is being very black and white here is more about how we see conversion today than the message of John 3. In a world where a US President can say, "you are either with us or against us," nuance and subtlety can be in short supply. This dumbing down of our view of people and communities is as apparent in the church today as it is in the world. Jesus teaching Nicodemus posits a quite different view of conversion and faith that reaches out to others, rather than excludes.
Heoi anō,
Graham Bidois Cameron
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