Heavenly Things: ". . . on earth as it is . . . ".

Nicodemus comes by night to Jesus asking questions. He's a leader in his faith community, one of the Pharisees. He seems confused for such a religious man. Uncertain. Tentative. Anxious. Curious, even. You can tell by what he blurts out when he sees Jesus: "'Rabbi, we know 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." (Take a breath, man). (John 3:2, NRSV) Jesus cuts right to the chase. Forget the small talk. What you want to know is this: What's in it for me, Nicodemus? Where is God? What does God want? How can I make sense of this very confusing thing called faith? And so, Jesus replies: "'Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.'"
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? "Born . . . again"???? Nicodemus, like you and I would do, to be sure, immediately literalizes what Jesus has to say about understanding how the Kingdom of God operates, exists -- IS. Then Jesus goes on to explain: flesh is flesh; Spirit is Spirit. One understands "heavenly things," he says, when one is open to the work, the blowing wind, of the Spirit of God. Heavenly things are not "out there" in some vast expansive universe of our imagination. Heavenly things are what the Spirit of God is doing here and now, in, as one theologian put it, the very depths of our lives. Heavenly things are less about angels and clouds and eternal bliss and more about justice, and mercy, and the calling to compassion for others. Being "born again" is a process that has perplexed people since the time of poor Nicodemus. For us, it is not a one time, mountain-top experience of salvation. Zap -- you are born again and you're done. Heavenly things are in the daily slug through life, often life in the depths, each alongside the other -- living together in God's abundant grace, and making every effort each day to be better, and make the world better for others in the name of the One who died on a cross to make it better for us.
What do you think about that?
Talk amongst yourselves . . . and let me know.
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