In John 1, we read the Word, who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things were made came in the flesh, is the Person of Jesus. Why was the Word, the Life, and the Light sent to the creation and those who dwell in it? Because although human beings were created in the image of God, we chose to love our selves and our own ways.

For example today, “the central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.” As such there is a need to clearly hear and see the reality of the Word of God lived out, to be overcome by Life in a world filled with death, darkness, and self-love. God’s commitment to, i.e., love for, His creation and His creatures could not be denied, no matter the cost.

John the Baptist declares, “Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:30). This is the image of a sacrificial offering, the prophetic word of John the Baptist points to the one who will give His life on the cross to defeat the power of sin and death.

What was it like for the learned and influential to interact with Jesus? What questions did they ask? What questions did Jesus ask them? How were they challenged with regard to their loves, their religion, and their call? And how can we apply some of what we learn to our own scenario on campus? There are a number of stories to consider, take a few minutes to read and reflect upon Nicodemus in John 3:1-21 and then delve into the following questions. (See the bottom of the article for hints if you need them.)

1) Who was Nicodemus and when did he seek Jesus out?

2) Why do you think Nicodemus came alone, at night to ask his questions?

3) According to Jesus, what does it mean to be born from above and why doesn’t Nicodemus get it?

4) Why do you think a religious teacher/academic would be frustrated by not being able to understand Jesus’ teaching?

5) According to the passage, what was Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth?

6) Why is there an emphasis on the metaphor of Jesus as the Light?

7) Why do we live in a dark world, when the world was created good by the Word?

For further processing or consideration…

1) Summarize Jesus’ work in the life of Nicodemus in this encounter.

2) How does one come to understand the things of God, the love of God? Have you come to Jesus (or one of His followers) and laid your questions out before Him? If not, take some time to do such today. If so, how has He brought Light to the dark places of your life and those by which you are surrounded?

3) Have you been embraced by the love of God? Let it sink in that Jesus came to bring life to a dying world, not just for you, but for the whole of creation.

4) In what ways have you, your selfish ways, and the overriding values of this culture decreased, and Jesus increased in your life? How have you become a Christ-bearer, one in which His Light shines through you?

Conclusion

God the Father sent His Son to earth because He loves us and desires for us to draw close to Him, as He intended His creation. In order to break the darkness which holds power over us, Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for us. God’s love for us calls out to us. Will we be embraced by His love or will we choose the darkness of our own way, the way of the world? The Light pierces the darkness and enables us to see reality in focus and step forward with clarity.

But like Nicodemus, many of us sense the danger in responding to the Call of our Creator, for He will reshape us into who we were intended to be, not what is easy or liked by you, me, or our culture. Although he calls Jesus, “teacher” in his late night interview, Nicodemus still has his doubts. But the Spirit continues to draw Nicodemus closer to himself as we see Nicodemus defending Jesus against the Pharisees in John 7:50-52 and assisting Joseph of Arimathea in burying Jesus in John 19:38-42. Others of us, like John the Baptist, who gave testimony to Jesus in John 1:29-34, 3:22-30 need to be reassured of Jesus’ person when faced with difficult situations as we read in Matthew 11:1-18, 14:1-12.

Os Guinness writes,

“Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service” (Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, 4).

If we focus on the work of God instead of our desires, we find freedom in the call of God. St. Augustine gives such testimony in an oft quoted passage from the Confessions,

“You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Confessions 1:1)

This is part of a larger section which gives praise to the Creator, draws attention to our sin, and points out the importance of the Caller calling through those which preach:

“‘You are great, Lord, and highly to be praised; (Ps. 47:2): great is your power, and your wisdom is immeasurable’ (Ps. 146:5). Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you, a human being ‘bearing him his mortality with him’ (2 Cor. 4:10), carrying with him the witness of his sin and the witness that you ‘resist the proud’ (1 Pet 5:5). Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

‘Grant me Lord to know and understand’ (Ps. 118:34, 73, 144) which comes first — to call upon you or to praise you, and whether knowing you precedes calling upon you. But who calls upon you when he does not know you? For an ignorant person might call upon someone else instead of the right one. But surely you may be upon someone else instead of the right one. But surely you may be called upon in prayer that you may be known. Yet ‘how shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe without a preacher?’ (Rom. 10:14). ‘They will praise the Lord who seek for him’ (Ps. 21:27). — translated by Henry Chadwick, Oxford University Press, 1998.

Are you ready? Have you responded to the One through His Word, life, and love calls for all of your life? Do you live in the freedom of the Gospel as described by Augustine?

I offer these faculty profiles of Ken Elzinga (Economics, Virginia) and Mary Poplin (Education, Claremont Graduate) to help you consider the impact of living out God’s calling day by day. The influence of several mature Christians observed by Ken early in his academic career, created a desire in him to follow God in his vocation and no doubt countless others have been, and will be, changed by observing Ken. Mary, on the other hand, did not become a Christian until she was already a tenured professor. Her encounters with Jesus, a Christian graduate student, and Mother Theresa challenged her entire perspective on life and her academic specialty. God may choose to abundantly bless your witness if you let Him.

Prayer

Father, May you truly be our first love, not our own selfish ambition, the visions of accomplishments set out before us by those which call us to follow them, or those which would tell us to take it easy and disengage from the use of your gifts to your glory. We rejoice that your Scripture, your Son, and the Spirit give us new eyes with which to see the world. Fill us with your Light and dispel the darkness which blinds us to plans and purposes. We lift all of this up in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Works Cited

Anible, Christian. “The Conversion of a Scholar: A Reflection on Augustine’s Confessions”, http://www.intervarsity.org/gfm/esn/resource/the-conversion-of-a-scholar.

Augustine’s Confessions, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess.txt. (note: Henry
Chadwick, Oxford University Press, 1998, offers a contemporary translation).

Michael Cromartie, interviewer. “No Calling Without A Caller: Os Guinness wants to restore our sense of God-given vocations”, http://www.ctlibrary.com/51.

Guinness, Os. 1998. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group.

Milne, Bruce. 1994. The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today). Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP.

Newbigin, Leslie. 1982. The Light Has Come: An Exposition of the Fourth Gospel. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Placher, William ed. 2005. Callings: Twenty Centuries Of Christian Wisdom On Vocation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Smith, Christian with Melinda Lundquist Denton. 2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Robertson, Sue. “Images of Conversion,”
http://www.intervarsity.org/followingchrist/features/feature.php?id=1455.

Helpful Hints for Bible Study Questions

1) Who was Nicodemus and when did he seek Jesus out? (Pharisee, a member of the ruling council, “one with a big stake in the established order:” at night after he’d been in conversation regarding Jesus with his learned peers)

2) Why do you think Nicodemus came alone, at night to ask his questions? (to receive a private, face-to-face conversation, to learn more about Jesus and his signs without being in the public light, he was still in the dark)

3) According to Jesus, what does it mean to be born from above and why doesn’t Nicodemus get it? (by the power of the Holy Spirit, to see the world through God’s eyes. Nicodemus has yet to trust Jesus so he still sees with his earthly eyes; one might draw attention to Ezekiel 36:25-27, 39:29; Isaiah 32:15-20, Joel 2:28)

4) Why do you think a religious teacher/academic would be frustrated by not being able to understand Jesus’ teaching? (because this is his area of specialty, he should be able to keep track or be the one with the upper hand, yet Jesus’ words and miracles attest to Him being something greater and someone to be listened to; note: not being able to recognize God, to recognize the work of God, and to not follow/love God with our person is ‘sin’)

5) According to the passage, what was Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth? (to be lifted up out of love for the earth, to save the earth, redemption; one might draw attention to Numbers 21:4-9, John 1:14-17)

6) Why is there an emphasis on the metaphor of Jesus as the Light? (because we live in a dark world)

7) Why do we live in a dark world, when the world was created good by the Word? (at the fall and thereafter, people chose darkness; additional texts of interest include Romans 3:23, 5:21)

In July of 2006, after 10 years of ministering in a variety a ways, Tom began pioneering InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Faculty Ministry in central PA. His area of emphasis is to identify, encourage, and equip Christian scholars to be redeeming influences among the people, ideas, and structures of higher education. As efforts among faculty at small liberal arts colleges and state universities is a new area of ministry for InterVarsity, he is collating his methods and findings to make them available to other staff. Tom enjoys special projects as well. Currently he directs a winter retreat for graduate students in the Mid-Atlantic area (which includes Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.), develops material for students considering higher education as a vocation, serves on an InterVarsity Staff Advisory team to InterVarsity Press, participates in the Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science, teaches adult electives for Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ, and has become connected to Brethren in Christ World Mission.

Tom and his wife Theresa, along with their children, including twins Hayley and Ellen, Eden, and Lily live in Central PA. To know more about Tom, visit the ESN blog.

Photo Credit: Circle of Life Photography. Portrait Photography by Marci Weidler.

Photo credit: A direction to follow