It might be surprising that the
butterfly is a powerful symbol for many Christians throughout the generations .
. . especially around Easter. Christian
tradition views the butterfly as a symbol of resurrection . . . Jesus died on a
cross, was placed in a burial tomb, and three days later came to new life. The butterfly can be seen as an insect that
“dies” as a caterpillar, is buried in a cocoon for a length of time and emerges
in new life. The butterfly is a symbol
that offers hope of life after death.
The reality is that the butterfly does
not “die”. The butterfly goes through
what I like to call a “morphing” process.
To “morph” is to undergo a gradual process of transformation . . . it is
to move from one thing to another. The
caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. It
seems like two completely different things, but it is the same thing from start
to finish . . . something new from something old. It is a transformation.
That is what Jesus is attempting to
explain to Nicodemus during their night-time conversation. Nicodemus, ever the student as a Pharisee,
wants to understand Jesus, his words, and actions . . . wants to understand
what he is all about . . . so that he too can embrace this wonderful visionary
gift that Jesus is offering. Jesus tells
him that he must be “born again”. This
floors Nicodemus . . . born again! How
does one . . . an adult . . . be born again?
He honestly asks Jesus: “How can a man be born when he is
old? Surely he cannot enter a second
time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
We should not judge Nicodemus too
harshly for his ignorance of Jesus’ metaphor about transformation . . . about
morphing into a new being. Metaphors and
symbols can be confusing at times, and their implications and meanings can sometimes
be lost in the picture that they paint for the listener. With great 20/20 hindsight, and having heard
the story many times, we know that Jesus is not speaking literally. We know that he is talking about the
life-changing power of giving one’s self completely to God. Through such an experience one is changed . .
. changed into a new creation in God’s love . . . a movement from the old to
the new.
We see such symbolism in our
baptisms. The minister speaks of the old
dying and the new being born symbolized in the person being placed under the
water and then brought up out of the water.
We see it when we gather around the Lord’s Table . . . when we break the
bread and lift the cup . . . we see the transformation, the change in the
relationship, the death and life symbolized in a loaf of bread and a cup of
wine. We see it in the symbol of the
butterfly in what looks like a death to birth movement as a caterpillar morphs
into a new creation of itself.
Maybe Jesus should have told Nicodemus
that he needed to “morph” to discover this Kingdom of God that he was talking
about. But I doubt that the ancients
even had a word like that. Whatever the
case, Jesus is telling the Pharisee that a person must change his or her ways .
. . understandings . . . and actions from the ways of old to the ways of
God. That it is a process of
transformation . . . process of change.
The old must die, the new must be born.
Of course, the answer to Nicodemus’
question was sitting right there in front of him. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, the
solution was always there . . . from the very beginning. Remember at the end of the movie as the
Wizard’s balloon is fading in the distance and Dorothy is lamenting that her
way home is long gone? Remember how
Glinda, the Good Witch of the East, tells her not to fret because she always
had the power to get back to Kansas . . . click the ruby red slippers three
times and say, “There’s no place like home . . . there’s no place like home . .
.”
So, it is for Nicodemus. Jesus tells him that he and all the people
have always had the answers. They had
God’s word. The problem was that they
did not believe the word, accept the word, and did not live the word. They did not whole-heartedly jump in with two
feet to embrace God’s call to love the Lord with one’s whole heart and to love
others as God has loved them. Remember .
. . Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and words of the prophets but to
fulfil them. Jesus shows the way. What does he say to Nicodemus . . . “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him.”
Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to
morph . . . he needs to change . . . to transform . . . to become a new being
in God’s love and way. And, Jesus tells
him that he will show him the way . . . through the words that he speaks,
through the actions that he takes, through the way that he lives his life. Jesus is the way . . . the example . . . as
to what it is that people are being called to be when they dedicate their lives
to loving God completely and loving others as God loves them.
So, we followers of Jesus are called to
morph. This story of the night-time
encounter between Jesus and a Pharisee has much relevancy to this journey we
are on during the season of Lent. During
the season of Lent, we are called upon to examine our lives and discern that
which impedes us from drawing closer to
God and one another. We are called upon
to name those barriers and to remove them so that we can morph into what God
created us to be as the children of God.
We are to move from being caterpillars to butterflies.
Maybe we are confused as to what must be
done to truly morph into a new creation much like Nicodemus, but I don’t think
so. I don’t think so because if we have
been fully living life, we have come to recognize that life is a journey . . .
a process of growing and changing. We
recognize that the person we are today is not the person we were on the day
that we were born, when we graduated high school or college, the day we got
married, had children, became grandparents.
No, we have changed . . . we have grown . . . and, we are not the
same. Hopefully we are better.
Such is the journey of faith where the
end is not the goal, but the journey itself brings the rewards as we grow
closer to God and one another. It is
morphing . . . transforming . . . as we grow closer to God and one
another. It is morphing . . .
transforming . . . becoming that butterfly God created us to be. With each and every step we draw ourselves
closer to seeing and realizing God’s Kingdom.
But it cannot be accomplished if we refuse to morph . . . if we refuse
to step into the cocoon, step into the tomb to allow the work to be done to
discover a new creation . . . to experience rebirth. Such is the journey we are called upon to
partake during this season of Lent. It
is the only way we will see the Kingdom of God.
Remember Jesus symbolically said: “I tell you the truth, unless a
man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Let us go forth and morph! Amen!
That was a great sermon John!
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