Year A
Lent
Second Sunday in Lent
Contextual Background:
God calls Abram to go to a new land, promising blessing for all mishpachot (clans, tribes, nations). In the gospel, Nicodemus comes at night, seeking to understand Jesus’ teaching on new birth from above.
Within the Jewish Tradition:
The Abrahamic promise is the foundation of Israel’s vocation: to be blessed in order to bless. Mishpachah expands the vision — all peoples, cultures, languages, and traditions are embraced.
Let’s be clear: God could have given Abraham this command: To convert or kill those who refused to be converted. If we listen to the theology of Christian Nationalists, you would think God did… Instead, we see a God who honors pluralism in the world, while still blessing our in-groups and traditions.
Let’s also be clear: This blessing all nations through you should not be used to expect more of our Jewish neighbors, nor less.
The Challenge Then:
The challenge for Abraham and Nicodemus alike was to trust God’s radical promise of new life beyond what they could see. Nicodemus was not a name, but a mashup of nike and demos: it mean victory of the people. Jesus again showing a different way for people under occupation to change the game by nonviolent means.
The Challenge Now:
We struggle to imagine blessing that extends beyond our tribe or nation. We reduce God’s promise to our comfort. Jesus insists: God loves the whole world — every mishpachah.
This does not reduce the blessing of our own. I am constantly grateful that God has found me in my Lutheran Christian tradition. I have also learned much by my engagement with people of other mishpachot.
Implications for Leaders & Communities:
- Leaders: teach blessing as vocation, not privilege.
- Communities: live as a sign of God’s wide embrace, not as a fortress or exclusive ingroup
- Working for a pluralistic society is not a reduction of faithfulness to Jesus, but an expression of faithfulness to Jesus.
What I Am Learning:
Blessing is not a possession but a call to share God’s love with every community of belonging – we are in this together.
