Sermon for Sunday, March 12, 2017
2nd Sunday in Lent
Sermon Texts: Genesis 12: 1-8
John 3: 1-17
Romans 4: 1-5
Sermon Title: "Unless ..."
Sermon Topic: Being born again
Sermon Purpose: To teach the meaning and nature of new life in Christ Jesus.
......
Sermon Prayer: Holy God, empower us by Your will and lead us by Your Spirit that the Words of my lips heart and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, and that the ministry inspired by the study of Your written and living Word be strengthened by Your ever present grace. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.
There's a funny, little story about a young man who pleaded and coerced his father into buying him a car. The father finally agreed, but with a few conditions. He said, "Unless you bring your grade average up to a 'B,' read your Bible every day, and cut your hair; you can kiss that car good-bye." Nine weeks later, the young man brought his report card to Dad and, sure enough, the grades were up to a 'B' average. He had been reading his Bible every day. But, his hair was still down to the middle of his back. His father was disappointed and said, "But I told you that unless you cut your hair, you couldn't have the car. This was one of the conditions." The son retorted, "But Jesus Christ had long hair." The father replied, "Yes, I know, and you didn't see His father give Him a car, either. Did you?"
Well, God may not have cutting our hair as one of his priorities or as one of his "unlesses," but He certainly has spelled out some other life and death "unlesses."
If you'll notice, most of the "unlesses" of Jesus have to do with living in His Kingdom.
For instance, after welcoming the children into His presence, Jesus said to those who were gathered around, "UNLESS you become like one of these children, you cannot enter the kingdom of God."
In another verse, He clearly states, "No one can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for him to do so."
In anger, He spoke, "You will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven unless you are more faithful than the teachers of the law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires."
However, there is one "UNLESS" which is more important than all the others.
Nicodemus had learned every other way that existed to supposedly find eternal life and peace with God. He had tried religion and worship, tithing and obedience, and even memorizing Scripture. He would have been considered a very holy man by all other standards of his faith. But Jesus, aware of the honest longing in Nicodemus' heart, looked him squarely in the eyes and said, "Unless you are born anew, you cannot see the kingdom of God."
Now, Nicodemus definitely desired to be in the Kingdom of God ... He was one of a very select group. Only 6,000 men were chosen to spend their lives as Pharisees - as people whose sole purpose in their lives was to obey God in every area. And he was one of them.
All of us long to be right with God, to know we are in good standing with what He expects of us. Like Nicodemus, we try so hard to find peace with God and with ourselves. We try to find the joy which is promised by our Lord. We believe in a resurrected Jesus Christ. We may even pray every day. But, none of these beliefs and actions seem to bring us that peace in our hearts that we're looking for. In fact, a year from now, we will still be no closer.
To this dilemma of Nicodemus - and all of us, Jesus speaks His unless. Unless you are born anew, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven.
Like the oxygen needed for the heart to live, rebirth is an absolute necessity.
Now, I know there may be those who think I may have become fundamentalist or Pentecostal, on you. Many people speak of being a "born again" Christian. I’m not talking about having the experience of those who are slain in the Spirit and roll in the aisle, yelling “Alleluia” and crying and fainting, having to be revived with smelling salts. I’m talking about biblical and spiritual rebirth – plain, simple, personal, and quiet.
By biblical definition, every Christian is born again or he/she is not a Christian. When we become a baptized member of a congregation, the very act of baptism symbolizes our rebirth. Upon the confirmation of our baptism vows, we claim to be Christian. Every time we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, - by the mystery of the Sacrament - we become immersed in Christ, again, (and He in us) and we are given a rebirth in forgiveness and in peace.
However, we need to understand that it’s possible to be a "good church member" and not be a Christian. This is what Nicodemus was being told. And, it's what Jesus is also telling us.
We can be listed among the members on the books, but seldom share in the witness of the congregation. We can teach, but not believe what we’re teaching. We can be active in three or four organizations (inside and outside this house of worship) and not bear the fruit of the Spirit. We can do all this (and more), and still not be Christian. We can do all of that, and still not trulyaccept Christ as the risen Savior - as the Messiah. Or, more precisely, we can do all of that and say we accept Jesus as our Savior and our risen Lord, but not really believe it in our hearts. We can believe Christ’s teachings, but not accept the Resurrection.
Then, our hearts will guide our actions and others will see the truth even before we do.
Alright, what is the Kingdom of God into which we need to be born? Well, to answer that, we need to get back to basics. We are physically born into the kingdom of man. What controls the kingdom of man? Human nature. What controls our human nature? Our pride: pure and simple.
We all have some sense of pride. Our pride may not be as well developed as some people's, but it's still there.
In the Lord's Prayer we pray for Thy kingdom to come; for Thy will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. So, God's kingdom is a society where God's Will is as perfectly carried out on earth as it is in heaven. To be in the kingdom of God is therefore to lead a life in which we have willingly submitted everything - even our pride - to the will of God; it is to have arrived at a stage when we perfectly and willingly accept the will of God, and no longer have the need to feel that we have to improve upon it.
Paul states very clearly that if our life is controlled by human nature, then we cannot please God. It is as impossible as our heart surviving without oxygen. To live God's kind of life in God's kingdom, we must have God's life within us. How do we get God's life inside of us? By becoming a child of God through accepting the risen Jesus Christ. It is only when God's life enters us and takes possession of us, changing our nature, that we can give Him the kind of love and devotion we ought to give. This new life is a gift.
So, then, why doesn't everyone willingly accept Jesus Christ into their hearts and be reborn - if it's the only way to live in God's kingdom? Well, it's because of our pride. We want to believe that there's got to be another way. We want to think that we can get into the kingdom by being good enough, or by making a bargain with God, but we always come up short. We're always inadequate, in some way.
I saw a Charlie Brown comic in which our hero was struggling with this whole problem. Charlie Brown is talking with his friend, Linus, about the pervasive sense of inadequacy he feels all the time. "You see, Linus," Charlie moans, "it goes all the way back to the beginning. The moment I was born and set foot on the stage of life, they took one look at me and said 'Not right for the part.'" There are many of us, right here in the pews, this morning, who call ourselves Christian but have never felt 'right for the part.' That "unless" that Jesus gives us is the key. We must abandon our human nature and be born again through Him. From that time on we can say with confidence, "I have been called by God. I have been chosen. I have a place in God's kingdom."
We don't know exactly what Nicodemus did with Christ's "unless," but he must have taken the step because in John 19: 39 we read of a devoted Nicodemus bringing "a mixture of myrrh and aloes adding about a hundred pound weight" to hurriedly prepare Jesus' crucified and dead body for burial.
There are many ways to be born anew. For some it is sudden, for some the process takes a while. For some, it happens at church with the body of believers around you. For some, it happens alone. But it does involve some basic steps on our part. If you can offer a prayer - similar to the one I'm going to close with - and pray it with all your heart and soul, you can be born into God's kingdom.
Now, this doesn't mean you're perfect, but you'll have the power to be perfect. It doesn't mean you'll never again have any problems, but through Christ you can overcome them. It doesn't mean you won't die, but you will rise again. You are God's child for eternity.
Let us pray:Dear God, we have been living our lives by our human natures. Now we want to live in Your kingdom. We need Your life inside us and we are willing to give You control of our lives. We accept Your Son, Jesus Christ, as our personal Lord and Savior. We believe He died for our pride and has risen from the dead. We surrender to Him as Lord. Make us the kind of persons You want us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
- 1 -