"Misunderstanding Jesus"

Pastor Laura Guy

March 15, 2009

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We watched a funny video about miscommunication. Then we read Nicodemus' encounter with Jesus in John 3:1-21 where these two men also seem to have a communication problem.
We thought about how Nicodemus had come to Jesus because of the things he had seen Jesus do - things that John calls signs. But even though these signs were supposed to point to a deeper reality of who Jesus was, Nicodemus seems to be stuck on the surface level of conversation. Jesus is trying to point him to the deeper truth of who he is, but Nicodemus doesn't get it. He believes Jesus is a great man who can do great things, but he can't seem to take the next step and believe in Jesus.
We wondered what the difference is between believing someone and believing in him. We heard the story of Blondin, a tightrope walker who did crazy stunts on a rope over Niagara Falls. Many people watched him and marveled at his skill. When he announced in 1860 that he would cross the tightrope with a man on his back, many people believed he could really do it. But no one was willing to be the man who climbed on his back. Finally, Blondin's manager, Harry Colcord, agreed to do it. Even though Harry was terrified, he was the only one who believed in Blondin enough to trust his life to him.
We asked ourselves, "Why are we here? Why are we at church? Do we just want to watch from the sidelines, have the superficial understanding of Jesus and leave unchanged? Or are we ready for a new birth, new eyes of faith to see God at work? Are we ready to believe in Jesus enough to trust our lives to him?"
We prayed for the kind of faith to move off the sidelines and "climb on Jesus' back".
We celebrated communion at the table of love.