“Landscapes of Lent: Wind” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – March 12, 2017

Introduction
We just heard how God has directed these students and where they sense God leading them in the future, and that’s a great segue into our text today. Last week we talked about the wilderness, and how we have to choose to draw closer to God or walk away from God when we’re in that dry, lonely place.
This week we’re talking about the wind. In the text, Jesus is talking with one of the religious leaders who has come to debate and hopefully shame Jesus. This is from the Gospel of John, and that starts out by describing Jesus as the Light shining in the Darkness. So it is probably important that the religious leader comes to Jesus under cover of darkness.
John 2:23-3:17
23When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people25and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
3:1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“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.
Our Hearts
“Regrets, I’ve had a few, But then again, too few to mention, I did what I had to do, And saw it through without exemption. I planned each charted course, Each careful step along the byway, And more, much more than this, I did it my way. Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew, When I bit off more than I could chew, But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out, I faced it all and I stood tall, And did it my way.”
I didn’t want to do Frank Sinatra a disservice by singing that myself, but I’m guessing you’ve heard the song “My Way.” And I find the lyrics to that song to be simultaneously one of the most true and most false songs.
It is one of the truest songs, because it captures the human heart so well. We want to take control, to plan each charted course, to eat up and spit out the challenges of life, to stand tall through it all, we want to do it our way. Our text today says that Jesus knows what’s in everyone’s heart. He knows that’s how we want to pretend.
But he also knows that it’s just pretending. That song captures how we want things to be, but not how they are. “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” Really? Can your regrets and mistakes be counted on one hand? If you run through your life, did you handle everything perfectly? I mean, maybe one or two not-quite-ideal decisions, but that’s just too few to mention.
And have you “planned each charted course” in your life? Are you like the emperor in Star Wars, able to say, “Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen it?” Or has life thrown you some unexpected curveballs?
We don’t do it our way, because we don’t see everything coming, and we don’t control everything, and we can’t eat up and spit out the challenges of life. That capability isn’t within us. “My Way” is a lie.
In our text today, Nicodemus subscribed to a version of religious “My Way.” His group thought that they could earn God’s favor by doing everything right. By planning every move.
But Jesus essentially tells Nicodemus that trying to be perfect on earth won’t do it. “What is born of flesh is flesh.” Religious rules are flesh – they’re humans trying to make a way to God. What we need is to be born of the Spirit, to be born from above.
Born of the Spirit
But what does that mean? Well Jesus says the wind comes into play here: “8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Does that sound like “My Way?” I don’t think so. It sounds a bit more like “Colors on the Wind.”
This reminds me of the one and only sailing race I have ever competed in. One of our friends in Pennsylvania lived on a lake in the mountains, and the homeowners there had an annual series of races where they’re all in the same kind of sailboat. I had zero sailing experience, so my job was to do whatever my friend told me to do as quickly and accurately as possible. It wasn’t my job to read the wind – he did that. It wasn’t my job to know when to raise and lower the center line – he did that. It wasn’t my job to steer – he did that. My job was to pull the ropes at the right time to switch the sail whenever we had to catch the wind from a different angle.
We tacked to the left, we tacked to the right, gaining and gaining on the leader. But it was at the turnaround where we really made up the time. We executed a rapid turn and, in either a tactical move or a dirty move, we stole the wind from the leader. We shot off into the lead, and he was fading back to the pack. We coasted to an easy victory to the sound of my friend’s maniacal laugh. He’s a bit competitive.
But tell me, would we have won the race if I stopped to ask “why” before doing what he told me? “Why should I pull this rope? Why should I move my foot out of the way?” No, we would have lost badly. Or what if we had looked at wind charts before the race, and planned out how we thought the wind would blow, and when to pull the ropes, and when to change course – had it all planned out and then followed that plan regardless of the actual wind? Would that have worked? No! You can’t predict the wind. You can’t do it “My Way” in a sailboat, because the wind blows where it chooses.
So for our students today, don’t worry about planning out your whole life in the next few months. It won’t unfold that way. It’s OK to have a general direction, but a lot of life and a lot of being faithful to Jesus is reading the wind, not planning everything out.
The questions for all of us are the same. How do we know where the Spirit is blowing the wind? How do we figure out when the Spirit wants us to tack in a new direction and catch a new wind in our lives? How quickly will we respond when we see the wind change? The more adept we are at noticing God’s direction, the more quickly we respond to God’s new wind, that’s when we are born of the Spirit. That’s when we are being faithful. Because the Spirit is like the wind – you can’t predict where God will lead you. You can’t control what God is going to do.
You can ignore the wind. And sometimes your sailboat will still catch the wind by accident. But mostly that’s a recipe to be stuck in the water, going nowhere fast. If you want purpose, if you want direction, if you want passion, watch for where the Spirit is leading. Watch for God’s Holy Wind. Pray for the ability to notice where the wind is blowing. And change your sails to follow.
Where is God’s wind blowing right now? How can you ride it? Amen.