Year A – Second Sunday in Lent– March 1, 2026

Pastor Megan Floyd

Genesis 12:1-4a

John 3:1-17

Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who came, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Amen.

***

Can I just tell you… I deeply appreciate Nicodemus.

He is a religious leader among the Jews… a Pharisee… he’s a scholar of the scriptures… he knows the law of Moses through and through… the Pharisees were very strict in their law-abiding ways.

He is well known with an excellent reputation… one whom others came to for advice and leadership.

And yet… he is brave enough… he is brave enough to wonder… to ask… what if this man Jesus really is something more?

Nicodemus has the courage to ask if maybe he missed something… he has the strength of character to observe what is taking place around him… and consider that he may have been wrong.

We have all been wrong from time to time… we’ve all made mistakes… and we know that being wrong is no joke…

…the realization that we are wrong about something… especially something really big… can actually trigger intense psychological discomfort… and sometimes even physical pain.

These feelings can manifest as shame or guilt… and lead to cognitive dissonance in the struggle to reconcile the reality around us with our long-held position on something … and it only becomes more difficult as that reality becomes increasingly unmistakable.

It’s why some people will double down on their position… on their interpretation of things… why they will insist that reality isn’t actually what we perceive with our eyes, but only what they, instead, insist it must be.

It’s all about avoiding the pain of being wrong… maybe they think it makes them look tough… or strong… except… that avoidance is the weaker approach.

Avoidance and refusal to take in new information may protect our psyche in the short-term, but it cuts us off from the potential to learn and grow.

…And in strictly Christian terms, it prevents us from the healing that occurs when we face our mistakes or errors, and we confess them… and change our ways through repentance…

so that we can receive forgiveness with a clean heart… and begin repairing the relationships that may have been harmed.

I’ve always deeply appreciated Nicodemus… but in these times, when our country is so divided… when the testimonies of our neighbors to what they have seen and experienced go ignored… because their testimony challenges the positions that some will not allow to be challenged…

…well, I find that in these days… I appreciate Nicodemus even more.

I appreciate that Nicodemus is willing to leave room for wonder… leave room for new information… he’s willing to allow his position to be challenged, even though his position is one around which he has built his entire life.

Do you know anyone like that? …I do.

I appreciate Nicodemus’ strength… what must it have taken for him to come to Jesus to ask… to learn? …I certainly don’t fault him for coming to Jesus at night!

I probably would have as well, were I in Nicodemus’ place… it was safer for him than to risk everything… to wonder enough to ask.

Also… it’s worth noting… because we’re in the gospel of John now for the next four weeks…that in the gospel of John, the use of day and night is a thematic revelation of being in relationship with Jesus.

Not to say that darkness is evil, because far too much modern bias has taken that wrong turn… but… Jesus is the light of the world, and so to be in relationship with him… to have an understanding of who and what Jesus is… in the gospel of John… is to be in the light… it is… to greet him in the day.

I want you to hold on to that theme over the rest of Lent because we’ll hear much more from John in the coming weeks… you’ll find how often it comes into the description of a scene, and gives clues to where they are in relationship with Jesus.

So… Nicodemus… he arrives at night… so he’s not so sure… but he can’t deny that what he has seen is amazing, and he knows that these wonders could only come from God.

And in his secret conversation… we learn something very important about the nature of God through Jesus.

We learn… that Jesus is going to meet us wherever we are on our spiritual journey… even if it is from a place of doubt.

We learn that Jesus is going to come to us… to meet us in that space… he’s going to receive our questions and our doubts with love and compassion… along with some healthy accountability… and he’s going to guide us into a deeper understanding of who he is.

It is a journey we all must take… a journey Christ invites us all to take.

We don’t hear about Nicodemus again in our lectionary texts, but his story continues… he’s one of the few people, other than the disciples, whom we are blessed to return to and catch glimpses of his spiritual growth.

In John 7, Nicodemus speaks up against his colleagues and peers to defend Jesus’ right to justice under the law… a position that puts him at odds with those who just want Jesus gone.

And then he shows up again… at the foot of the cross. In John 19, Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes, weighing around 100 pounds… an abundance… and he, along with Joseph of Arimathea, wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in linen cloth, and buried him in the tomb.

I take Nicodemus’ actions to mean… he figured it out… he understood that Jesus was God, who came to save us, and that this salvation occurs through Jesus drawing close to us… and loving us.

Because being in relationship with Jesus is the ultimate goal… not just for Nicodemus, but for all people… for the whole kosmos.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

…it’s arguably the most famous verse in the Bible. But it is so incredibly important to hear the context, and to follow it up with the next verse…

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world

but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17

God does not desire for us to perish in our unknowing… in our faults… our mistakes… or our sin.

On the contrary… Jesus, in complete love, will make space for us so that we can authentically open our hearts to him… not just for our sake, but for the sake of the world.

So that we, as part of the covenant God made with Abraham, our spiritual father… and in our obedience and devotion to Christ, we might become a blessing to others… shining the light of Christ… the light of the world… to all who need it, wherever they are…

…and sharing our testimony of the Good News of all that Jesus has done.

For God so loved the whole world… and that means everyone.

So as the world around us continues to be fraught with division and violence against those who disagree… and as we possibly face another war in the aftermath of our country bombing Iran… Lord, we ask you to meet us where we are.

Give us the courage of Nicodemus… to question what we are told if it feels contrary to how you call us to live. Let us be brave enough to admit when we are wrong, to stay true in our following of you, and to receive your forgiveness daily with a clean heart.

And Lord, give us your compassion and guidance to meet others where they are… to not hold them in contempt if they are just waking up to the reality we are in, or even if they remain asleep to it.

Help us to hold them in your love, as you love us… and to freely share the grace that you so freely give us. Guide us so that we may be daily reborn and transformed through your Spirit and your love.

We need you now, O Christ… in these challenging times.

Amen