Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 3:14-21   At Home in the Dark   Are you afraid of the dark?   I must admit: when I was a child I was.   I was afraid of the dark for the very reason Jesus gives in today’s Gospel.   Because darkness gives cover to the evil deeds of nefarious people.   And when I was a child I was afraid one of those depraved individuals would break into my house while I was sleeping.     You see, we lived beside a junkyard, actually shared a driveway with the junkyard.   And from my bedroom, which was at the end of the house closest to the drive and farthest from my parents, I could hear the cars creeping over the gravel through the darkness.   In those chilling moments of the night my body would tense, my breathing would slow, my ears would become as attentive as those of potential prey: I wanted be ready in the event that my house was indeed the intended destination.   Most importantly, I ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 3:1-17 Nicodemus This meeting wasn’t exactly planned.   It was more the direct result of a head full of thoughts – the kind of thoughts that present unresolvable problems.   The kind of impossible dilemmas that seem only to emerge once the bustle of the day is put to bed.   And so, on that rather ordinary night, at the end of a rather ordinary day, Nicodemus tossed and turned in his bed, and so did his mind. It was Jesus: Jesus was the impossible quandary, the stone in Nicodemus’ brain sandal.   His was the voice this local leader could not turn off.   And so, though it was dark, though the night was suggesting sleep and quiet, Nicodemus needed some answers to quell this particular case of insomnia.   Given that Jesus was the problem, he reasoned, Jesus must also be the answer. Some scholars suggest that Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cover of night to avoid the watchful eyes of his peers.   And ...