Joining Nicodemus on his Lenten Journey

In worship today we joined Nicodemus, a Pharisee (Jewish religious leader) in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, on his Lenten journey. Through Nicodemus we learn that God is calling us to change…to turn away from our old beliefs and our old ways of thinking and turn toward a new life with Him.


In accepting this new life with Jesus, we are born again, a concept that is puzzling to Nicodemus.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night to speak with Him for clarification and learning. The Pharisees’ encounters with Jesus during the day are hostile, but Nicodemus senses that Jesus has important things to teach him about God. He recognizes “You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:2 In his quest for knowledge and understanding about God, Nicodemus visits Jesus at the risk of the scorn of the other Pharisees who doubt Jesus is anyone special. His heart is already on the journey to being born again into a new life, but he does not yet understand.

In the following verses, Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Spirit moves throughout everything and gives new life to all. He alludes to the His death. He tells Nicodemus what a man must do/believe to have eternal life. John 3:3-21

Nicodemus’ head must have been reeling as he left Jesus that night.

His heart was on a Lenten journey.

The next time we meet Nicodemus he has had time to reflect on the things he has heard from Jesus. At risk of ridicule and chastisement, Nicodemus stands at the Jewish court debating the course of action to take against Jesus and proposes that Jesus was not guilty of anything. John 7:50-51 He was on his way to becoming a believer in the things Jesus was preaching and teaching. His heart was changing.

In our last encounter with Nicodemus on his Lenten journey, we find him helping another secret follower of Jesus (Joseph of Arimathea) to secure Jesus’ body from Pilate (the Roman ruler of the area). He brought with him about 100 pounds of spices to aid in Jesus’ burial. John 19:38-42

Again, Nicodemus risks his reputation for his belief in Jesus. He has come to believe in his ability to be re-born into a new life with God. He steps out of hiding, stands before Pilate to retrieve Jesus’ body, and provides for His proper burial. He is a changed man. His Lenten journey is complete.

Are you being born again on your Lenten journey? Leave a comment and tell us what you are doing to connect with the journey God has planned for you.

Read these above passages about Nicodemus in your Bible. Reflect upon them during your Lenten journey, and perhaps you will find yourself at Easter with a changed heart and a born again spirit.

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Thursday Lenten Taize worship @ 7:30 pm

Change or Challege - It's all about the attitude

Today we tried a few new things in our worship service at St. Andrew.

(Gasp! New things?!!! In a Lutheran church?!!!)

We projected our worship service up above the cross on the front wall of our sanctuary and eliminated the bulletin. (Our bulletin is printed in its entirety…we do not use hymnals. Visitors have thanked us profusely for this consideration.) The choir led a few gathering songs and our choice of music leaned more toward the contemporary. The choir sang its anthem from a different spot in a different formation.

We handed out a survey and asked for a response to how people felt about the new style and format.

The service itself was not altogether different. We added two gathering hymns. Otherwise, worshippers experienced the same order of worship featuring our normal Lutheran order of worship.

The survey responses that were turned in, so far, were generally favorable…especially to do something like this once in a while, but not every Sunday. There were a lot of good comments about the logistics of the video presentation, in particular the size/placement of the projection and words and some people having difficulty viewing from the front without getting a pain in the neck.

Lutherans are often labeled the “singing Christians.” For all that many people don’t sing up, or sing out, they do prefer to see their music notes. Even if they can’t read music, being able to watch the dots go up or down helps them anticipate where the music is going. But for others, this didn’t seem to be a problem.

There were a lot of good comments that our Worship and Music team can now look at for how we might like to progress. Truthfully, many of these comments confirmed what we already know from previous surveys of new worship trials.

Unnfortunately, I know of a least two people who were extremely put off by what we attempted to do today; and yet, they did not fill out a survey. How can the Worship and Music team balance out those grumblings if we don’t have concrete comments/suggestions for what was unsettling or displeasing? How many people do those two represent? How many others were displeased and did not comment. Hopefully, those responses will filter in over the next two weeks but I am guessing maybe not.

Interestingly, the parents of two children in attendance (two separate families) commented that their children were really engaged in worship today and found it fun.

Lutherans have a lot of jokes to the tune of “change being a four-letter word.” It generally doesn’t sit well with life-long Lutherans.  But, St. Andrew is a mutt of a congregation, gathering people from all walks of life, backgrounds and religious upbringing. We are NOT all life-long Lutherans.

Being the church of the 21st century means being open to CHANGE, while still holding on to the values and traditions that define us. The CHALLENGE is in finding a way to do it well while respecting all viewpoints.

I believe St. Andrew is capable of navigating that path. It’s all a matter of attitude.

Has your church tried new worship formats? How were they received? How did you make changes and transitions?

http://www.elcaandy.org/