When the Wind Blows, Where Will You Go?

20 March 2011
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Portland, Or.

When the wind blows, where will you go?

John 3:1-17

I am a sailor, dependant on the wind to move my vessel around, to get me where I want to go, my destination. One weekend a number of years ago on a cold, crisp February day I was returning from a trip down to St. Helens and as I was sailing home I was having a wonderful time tacking back and forth across the Columbia River when I finally started to pay attention to the shore line a realized that for all my skill as was going nowhere, making no progress against the wind and current.

This is often how it is in our lives of faith. We are hard at work on what we think is the proper course of action and not paying the slightest bit of attention to what and where the Spirit calls us. “The 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.”

Nicodemus struggled with this concept. As a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, one would think that he would have a better or clearer understanding of what Jesus was speaking about, but he seems to have missed the point. Nicodemus knew that Jesus had the answers and he thinks that he has it right when he states, “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.” But, Jesus informs him that unless you born from above, or born anew by the Spirit (wind) one can not truly see the kingdom of God.

Jesus recognized the searching that was in the questions Nicodemus asked and he answered him, speaking of a rebirth by water and Spirit. In Greek the word “anemos” means both wind and Holy Ghost/Spirit.  Poor Nicodemus, he takes Jesus’ word to mean a physical birth, when in fact what Jesus is talking about is birth from God. So it is quite understandable that Nicodemus would be confused and puzzled.

I am sure that there were other questions on Nicodemus’ mind that evening long ago. Questions that we ask ourselves today. Who am I? Why was I born? Where do I belong?
How can I be at peace with who I am? We can all learn form the story of birth that Jesus told to Nicodemus, a story of being born of the Spirit.

Being born of the wind means allowing the Spirit to propel us on new paths, often away from our old familiarities and securities. Being born of the wind means trusting in God’s love for us and all his people. Jesus never made the law easy, never lowered the passing grade. And I know from personal experience that the path that the Spirit lays out in front of us is often so very different from the one we have planned for ourselves.

There I was sailing along in life happy and thinking that I knew where I was headed when my eyes were opened and I listened to the Spirit. It was at that point that I let go of the tiller and let the wind, Spirit, take control. And I stand here as a man who’s life, and comfort zone has been challenged and changed and I know without a doubt that other changes and challenges lay ahead of me.

You and I are able to grasp the meaning and significance of being born by water. I know that nearly every one here today has been baptized at some point in your life; it may have been as an infant, youth or an adult. But, no matter when or how, it was a public and physical experience. And it helped to shape us into the Christians we are today.

But, to be born of the wind, Spirit, in this day and age we often struggle to fully comprehend what that really means. Donald McKim in his book titled “Introducing the Reformed Faith” helps us to gain a clearer understanding of the Holy Spirit when he writes, “the Spirit is the experience of God powerfully present and active in the midst of God’s people. The Spirit is understood in the context of a relationship to the living and true God.”  We can look at the Spirit, wind, in another way, that as “another Advocate” or counselor who comes to us from God and the glorified Jesus to help us on our journey of faith.
What wondrous love is this.

We come to this knowledge after centuries of study, reflection, prayer and contemplation.
But, for Nicodemus on that dark night so long ago we can grasp his lack of comprehension of Jesus’ words when he responds, “How can these things be?”, “How can these things be?”  You see, as Jesus points out to Nicodemus “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”

In our reformed theology the Spirit plays an active role, a role to which we need to be attuned. John Calvin wrote.” We ought to seek our convictions in a higher place than human reasons, judgments, or conjectures, that is, in the testimony of the Holy Spirit.”
 
But what if we take a different approach to the wind. The Rev. Dr. Laura Mendenhall offered that different perspective when she wrote, “What would it mean for us to understand that we are born of the Spirit? Most of us think we know who God is, who God calls us to be, what God wants us to do. What if we were to stop telling God whtat we know, to recognize that God is bigger that our naming of God, and to listen for God’s word to sweep over us without direction from us.” That would be a serious challenge. It surly would take us out of our comfort zone and require of us a new way of thinking, acting and living.

“Every serious Christian is willing to make a few initial sacrifices. It is not hard to make a good start. But it is hard to continue, to carry on the work begun, and to persevere in it through many years until the end.” That is from “Life and Holiness”, by Thomas Merton and it sums up fairly well the obstacles we face as Christians, particulary in today’s society.  And yet as we move forward listening for and acting on the word of the Spirit it is certain that at times there will be storms in our hearts. And it may even appear that God is sleeping, but if we truly trust in him we can still have deep peace in the midst of conflict.
“What a Wondrous Love is This.”

You and I are not so different or far removed from Nicodemus. We want answers and understanding of the Spirit’s call for us. The Holy Spirit is multifaceted and at work in ways we cannot perceive or understand, both in the world and in the church. It is the wind that unites us as believers not only to Christ Jesus, but to one another. The Spirit nurtures faith and guides us into works of love, mercy, peace and justice. “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.”  To be born of the wind is to trust our life to the God who gives birth to us. To be born of the wind is to embrace the mysterious newness of God knowing we do not have a final hold on the Holy Spirit. And to be born of the wind is to live as ones born of love. “If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also be guided by the Spirit.” (Gal. 5: 25).

In sailing when the wind and weather begin to freshen, or pick up and if we are close to an island there are two courses of action we can take. We can seek the windward shore that side protected from the elements and ride out the storm in relative safety and comfort. Or we can meet the challenge head on the lee shore, where things are sure to tough and testing.

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We are born of the Spirit and its presence plays an important part in our lives, one that we may never fully realize. Yet it is there working with God the Father and God the Son to guide and shape our lives if we but listen.

So when the wind, Spirit blows and calls out to us, how will we answer? Will our response be one of service regardless of the cost? Or instead will we run for the windward shore and safety, not risking embarrassment or failure. Do we have the faith and courage like that of Abraham, Sarah, Moses and Job, to hand over the tiller of our vessel, our very lives to the God who loves us? The God who provides for us. The God who gave his Son for us. When that wind blows in our lives, asking us to seek a new direction our response should be like the one found in the hymn “Here I Am, Lord”, words that resonate calling us to serve. “Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard You calling in the night I will go, Lord if You lead me.”

When we follow the Spirit we are fact following Jesus and that act alone often takes courage and maturity on our part. In his book “In the Name of Jesus”, Henri Nouwen speaks to the issue of maturity when he wrote, “maturity, it is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go.” And if we are to be truly effective in our discipleship we must be “people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that we are ready to follow him wherever he guides us, always trusting that, with him, we will find life and find it abundantly.”

To be that disciple, leader, and follower of the Spirit we need to be able to discern how God acts moment to moment in human history. And how personal, communal, national, and international events occurring during our lives can make each of us more sensitive to the ways in which we are called to service and to the cross. “Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night, I will go Lord if you lead me.”

Yes, it is easy for us to recognize and understand how Nicodemus tried to grasp this idea; “born from above”, “born of the Spirit” it was an entirely new concept to him. And for us being “born of the Spirit” and answering its call will undoubtedly require us to rethink and reshape the lives that we now live. But, if we are willing, trusting enough to hand over the tillers of our lives and follow that call we can rest assured that God is watching after us with love. This is the God who so cares for all of human kind that is written, “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.”
What wondrous love is this!

Amen