Nic at Night John 3:1-21 Sermon 06 August 8th, 2010   Let me ask you some questions this morning. Please honestly answer them in your own mind and heart: Do you think that poor people are ignorant? Do you think that they basically live in dumps? Do you think that they’re lazy? Do you look down on the clothes that they wear? Do you notice when people are wearing old shoes? Maybe cheap sneakers? Do you have any friends that would be classified as “poor”? When you see an old, rusting vehicle on the road, do you find that you look askance at them and have a smug feeling of superiority? How about these? When you are out to eat, do you typically note the name of your server? Do you notice the name of the clerk at the gas station? When you’re in Milwaukee and drive by a bus stop, do you find that you look down on those standing around waiting for a bus? When you’re in a hotel or just out shopping, do you ever greet the cleaning staff? Do you even make eye contact with them? Are you known for continuing your cell phone conversation with your phone still pasted to your ear as you pay for your gas or groceries, never really acknowledging the clerk…other than just handing them the cash or a credit card? While we’ve made great strides forward in overcoming ethnic prejudice, most of us, even much of the Church of Jesus Christ, suffers from the terrible malady of economic prejudice. It’s often so much a part of American culture that we don’t even know it. We assume certain things are true of the poor. For example, while you sometimes hear about educational issues in the suburbs, it is a constant theme in the inner city. What’s the assumption? Poor people are uneducated and ignorant. You’ll hear constant chatter about new housing projects. What’s the assumption? Poor people live in dumps. You’ll hear dialogue about increasing the job skills, particularly in the inner city. But what again is often the underlying assumption? Poor people are lazy or unable to find jobs for themselves. And these cultural assumptions are so much a part of our thinking that they are accepted as true without question. So if you were facing a crisis, if you had a problem and you really did not know who to go to – would you go to a poor person? Would you go to them for advice if you knew that they’d never been to college and had just the most basic education? What if you knew that they were virtually homeless and basically stayed with friends? Their parents were some of the poorest of the poor? All that they essentially owned were the clothes on their back? Their circle of friends included prostitutes, foul mouthed sailors, government workers and some radicals? Would that be the person that you’d seek out for advice, for great insight with some of life’s most difficult issues? Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening in John 3. This morning we’re considering one of the most familiar conversations in the Bible. It includes one of the most famous verses of Scripture, the reference to being “born again.” The Nicodemus story is one of the best known Bible stories and it closes with one of the most often quoted passages in the Bible, John 3:16. Yet, as we read through John 3 and Nicodemus’ conversation with Jesus, we’re so caught up with the depth of the conversation that we miss that we should first be shocked that this dialogue ever even took place. Nicodemus is one of the rich rich. He’s a political leader and one of the most educated individuals in Jewish culture. He’s a top notch theologian. What is shocking is that he, of all people, goes to see Jesus to get some advice. Because Jesus is part of the poor poor, one of the uneducated masses. He’s virtually homeless, yet Jesus is the one that this powerful leader seeks out. Please open your Bibles to John 3:1-21 (p. 751) and this morning we’ll be working our way through Nic at Night. The Nic at Night Story: “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council” (vs. 1). Whatever else we may think of the Pharisees, we must admit that they were earnest. They were so serious about their faith that on the Sabbath they’d carry no more food than the weight of a dried fig, and no more milk than could be swallowed in one gulp, so that they didn’t break the Sabbath laws of rest. They were so fastidious about the observance of the Sabbath laws that they even limited the number of their nails in their sandals so that they would not carry a burden on the Sabbath day. At times their seriousness resulted in ridiculous situations. For example, it was determined that on the Sabbath one could not tie a knot in a rope but a woman could tie a knot in her sash. So, if a man needed to draw water out of a well on the Sabbath, and nothing was already tied to the bucket, he could “legally” tie his wife’s sash to the handle. The Pharisees were desperately fervent. Nicodemus was not messing around; he’s not playing games in his religious experience. He’s a member of the Sanhedrin, a group of seventy leaders, lay and professional clergy, who had jurisdiction over Jews throughout the world. On top of that, he’s a teacher of the Jews. He’d be the equivalent of a seminary professor today. It’s believed that Nicodemus was among the greatest of these teachers. There’s also evidence that he came from a wealthy, aristocratic family that could be traced back to the Maccabeans. Nicodemus has an earned doctorate in theology. He’s highly educated, an aristocrat, a ruler, a teacher. He’s part of the country’s Who’s Who and What’s What – but he seeks out Jesus for answers. It would be like a U-W Madison professor in Biology visiting the local dog pound to get the answer to some perplexing question from one of the workers. On a quiet Palestinian evening, this rich teacher makes his way along the serpentine backstreets of Old Jerusalem to talk with a popular young Rabbi. It’s going to be the greatest meeting of his life. Nicodemus approaches Jesus with the utmost respect, though Jesus is probably several decades his junior, using the honored title “Rabbi.” He’d heard of Jesus’ teachings. He’s got questions and is looking for answers. He probably planned out the conversation in his mind as he walked to the encounter. He was prepared for an exchange of theological and philosophical ideas. He’s probably thought of a few ways to impress Jesus, I mean after all who wants to look stupid. If you and I had lived in Jesus’ day and somehow been forced to choose a person to represent us - a person who would "embody the best of our culture, education, ethics and piety" Nicodemus would have been just such a choice. Many rulers in Jerusalem were corrupt. Some things have not changed in over 2000 years, so they would not have been our choice. We certainly wouldn’t have chosen a common, ignorant person to represent us. We would no doubt have chosen Nicodemus. He really would have made a pretty good representative for humanity. After all he had everything, everything that is except spiritual success. In many ways Nicodemus did represent those of his day and ours, who seek the meaning of life in spiritual truth but do not find it! He belonged to the “church,” but he knew nothing of that personal, life-transforming relationship with God. When it comes to spiritual truth, though he’s got a doctorate in theology, Nicodemus is about as sharp as a marble. I’m not saying he’s dumb, because he’s not. But he’s spiritually dull. When it comes to eternal life and spiritual truth, he’s one twist short of a slinky. A favorite preacher of mine from an earlier era was Methodist pulpiteer, Clovis Chappell. Chappell calls Nicodemus "the ignorant professor.” He asks how can there be such abysmal ignorance in a man who was "at once the equivalent of a college professor, a judge of the supreme court, and a bishop in the church. He was a man of light and learning, yet he was strangely ignorant of the fact that life can be made over. He knew nothing of the new birth. Therefore Jesus asked him very tenderly, I think, and yet with real astonishment: ‘Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?’” Chappell then goes on to praise Nicodemus for also being open minded, intellectually honest, humble and courageous.  In their dialogue though Jesus notices Nicodemus is not tracking; he’s not getting it. So Jesus puts the cookies on the bottom shelf. If you’re trying to teach someone something and you see that they’re just not getting it. If that happens, one of the best ways to teach is to use pictures. That’s exactly what Jesus does. He gives Nicodemus four pictures of spiritual truth.   1. Birth. What could be more simple? Jesus begins with what is a universal experience. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (vs. 3). During the 1976 Presidential election, a new phrase slipped into the American vocabulary. Actually, the expression is as old as the New Testament, but for many years the world had generally ignored the term. But then Charles Colson, a former aide to Richard Nixon who was involved in Watergate, wrote an autobiography. It was entitled Born Again. Right after that, Presidential candidate, Jimmy Carter, spoke often of the fact that he was born again. Since that time the expression has become quite popular. Unfortunately, President Carter’s theology and practice frequently opposed what God’s Word said, and so began the draining of meaning from the term, “born again.” Cultist, Jim Jones claimed to be born again. Quite a few in the entertainment world have claimed to have been born again; including Jane Fonda, Charlie Sheen and Larry Flynt. Even Madonna said that, “When my daughter was born, I was born-again.” Some 50% of all Americans claim to have been born again. Yet, in spite of the modern misuse and abuse of the phrase, it was first spoken by Jesus on John 3. Have you ever been asked that question “Have you been born again?” Lots of folk are confused by that question. Nicodemus was. The Greek terms are gennethe anothen. Jesus told Nicodemus: “You must be gennethe anothen.”  Nicodemus knows Jesus is a teacher, He said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher from God.” He’s knows that Jesus is not an OB/GYN. He knows that Jesus is talking about theology, not physiology. But somehow he ignores the theological meaning and starts talking biology. Part of his confusion is that in the original language, the phrase has a double meaning. It can mean “again” or “above.” In this case, both meanings apply. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that the only way to find what he is looking for is to be born again from above. Yet, in spite of all of his education Nicodemus is utterly baffled by this thought. Is it possible to re-enter his mother’s womb a second time? That’s not what Jesus meant. He’s not talking about a second physical birth, what He’s talking about is a spiritual birth. You’re born once physically. That physical birth introduces you to the physical world. If you want to enter the kingdom of God (the world of spiritual reality), you must have another birth, a spiritual birth. To make sure that Nicodemus gets it, Jesus added an important fact: “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’” (vs. 7). Notice the tense of that statement. You must be born again. The new birth is not optional for any of us. Jesus didn’t say, “I recommend that you be born again” or “You should be born again if after investigation it seems to meet your personal need” or “I think it would be a good idea to be born again.” No! Jesus used the urgent language of forceful command: You must be born again. And remember who Jesus is talking to. He’s not speaking to some immoral outcast, but to one of the most moral, religious men of His day. By every human standard Nicodemus was a very good man and certainly a man we’d admire for his intense devotion to God. Yet Jesus told him, “You must be born again.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “Nicodemus, it’s not your physical birth that gets you into Heaven. Flesh only gives birth to flesh.” Nicodemus needs to hear this because like most Jews of His day, he’d put all his confidence in his flesh. He thought that as one born of Jewish lineage, he’s already in the kingdom of God. Don’t get me wrong, Nicodemus would have been very familiar with the concept of new birth, but he would have thought this requirement only applied to Gentiles who converted to Judaism…not him. After all, he’d been born of the water from a Jewish womb. This automatically made him one of God’s chosen people. On top of that, he’s more than your typical everyday Jew. He’s a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus thought that if anyone had an “automatic in” to God’s kingdom, it would have to be him. And Jesus was saying, “No, Nicodemus. Physical birth doesn’t do it. You need another birth—a spiritual one. To know God, you must be born of God.” Nicodemus needed a new birth that was supernatural, one that had its origin in God Himself. Only then could He come to know God and become a part of what God was doing. Before we become too critical of Nicodemus, let’s admit that many people even today make the same basic faulty assumption that he did. There are tons of people today that still think being a Christian has something to do with physical birth. They think they have the same sort of “in” Nicodemus was banking on. Many believe the word “Christian” is more of an adjective than it is a noun. They think they’re bound for Heaven because they were born in a Christian home or had Christian parents. And they are all wrong. A Christian is someone who’s been born again by asking Jesus to forgive their sins and come into their heart and life—as Lord. That “coming in” is the new birth that Jesus is talking about here. When we put our faith in Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit comes inside of us and “rebirths” us. Then, as we submit to His will, He begins to make us into new—more Christlike people. If you’re a Christian, if you’ve made that decision, then you know what I’m talking about because when we make that all important decision and put our faith in Jesus, we gain a new power and presence in our lives. We’re changed in such a way that can only be described as rebirth or re-creation. We’re forgiven of the past and armed by the Spirit of God for the future. The new birth is a strange, unexplainable, wonderful thing. It’s God coming inside of us, living through us. It’s a new birth that leads us from just knowing about God, to knowing God personally. Nicodemus heard all of this but his logical mind just couldn’t grasp it. As Warren Weirsbe observes, “Nicodemus came at night and he was still in the dark.” So this hungry-hearted Pharisee said, “Jesus, I just don’t understand. How can this be?” So Jesus gives him another picture… 2. Wind. It’s likely that the evening wind was blowing just as Jesus and Nicodemus sat on the housetop conversing. The word wind can also be translated spirit. One of the symbols of the Spirit of God in the Bible is wind or breath. Like the wind, the Spirit is invisible but powerful; and you cannot explain or predict the movements of the wind. In other words, salvation is not something we explain as much as it is something that we experience. Jesus said that coming to know God personally is not so much logic and reasoning, as it is a simple step of faith. I think Jesus lovingly chuckled as He spoke in verse 5-8 and said in effect: “Nicodemus, you’re are a wise guy, but even you know there are things in life we don’t have to explain to experience. For example can you explain this breeze that’s moving through these trees? Where does it come from? Where does it go? It touches your beard and rustles your robes…you cannot explain it or understand it but that does not keep you from experiencing it. It’s the same with the new birth. You don’t have to explain it to experience it.” A Christian farmer was trying to witness to an unsaved neighbor. The neighbor said, “I don’t believe in this new birth! I don’t believe in anything I can’t reason out!” The Christian farmer replied, “Well, look around my farm. You can see that I have geese and sheep and pigs and cows. They all eat grain but on the geese it comes out feathers and on the sheep it comes out wool and on the hogs it comes out bristles and on the cows it comes out hair. Can you explain that?” The neighbor replied, “No, I can’t understand it but I guess I’ll have to believe it because I know it’s true.” It’s the same way with God. We do not reason our way to Him. You don’t become a child of God by the process of explaining Him and then believing. No, we simply take the “leap of faith”—believing that God is—that He is real…that He has the power to touch and change our lives. On this side of eternity we can’t explain how this happens, but in faith, we act on what God’s Word says. Jesus compares the saving work of God through His Spirit to the working of the wind. The effects of the wind can be seen, but the wind itself is not seen. Neither can the wind be controlled. The wind goes where it wishes and does what it will. Men do not control the wind. The Spirit’s saving work is like this. The Spirit goes about His life-giving work, and no human being can control Him. No one, by their own works, or efforts, or manipulation can direct the Spirit in His work. But when the Spirit brings about the new birth, the effects are evident. We know it’s the work of God’s Spirit, unseen and beyond man’s control. In this sense, neither Nicodemus nor anyone else can save themselves…nor anyone else for that matter. Salvation is the sovereign work of God, accomplished by the Holy Spirit. 3. Snake on a Brass Stick. Jesus said in vss. 13-14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” This Old Testament picture from Numbers 21 was very familiar to Nicodemus. The Israelites had been complaining against God, grumbling about the journey and their apparent lack of food and water. They didn’t like the manna God gave them day after day. So God punished them for their sin and sent poisonous snakes among them. Many of those who were bitten died. But God also provided a means of salvation for this disobedient people, so that they might survive divine judgment. He instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and to set it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten by one of the snakes could merely look up at the snake and be healed. That’s precisely what happened. All who were bitten and looked up were healed. This Old Testament provision for Israel’s healing is a picture of the salvation God is about to accomplish through His Son, Jesus Christ. As the bronze snake was lifted up, and thus became a source of salvation, so also Jesus must be “lifted up,” so that those who look up to Him in faith can be saved from God’s wrath as well. The snake-bitten Israelites were struck by God for their sin. They deserved to die, and apart from His provision of the bronze snake, they would have. Those who did not look up to the bronze snake died. The act of merely looking up to the bronze serpent was an act of faith. So far as the people could see, there was no direct link between the snake bite they had received and the healing for which they hoped. But it was the means God provided for their salvation. It was the means God declared through Moses. It was the only way God said His people could be saved. Those who looked to the bronze snake were saved from the death they deserved. Jesus connects the snake, which was lifted up on a pole, with His own death at Calvary, when He is lifted up on the cross. Nicodemus asks how a man can be reborn from above. Jesus first tells him by analogy; now He tells him more directly. If anyone is to be saved from the penalty of their sins, they must “look up” to Him for salvation. He, like the bronze snake of old, will be “lifted up” on a cross, and He will later be “lifted up” in His resurrection and ascension. In so doing, He will be “lifted up” in another way—He will be exalted by God for His sacrificial obedience at Calvary. And all those who “look up” to Him in faith, trusting in Him to remove the judgment for their sin, like the Israelites of old, will be saved. 4. Light & Darkness. The fourth picture Jesus uses is light and darkness. It’s one of the major images used throughout John’s Gospel. Why won’t sinners come into the light of life? God wants us to live in the light but we won’t budge from the darkness because we love the pleasures of sin. Please don’t think that sin isn’t fun or can’t be pleasurable. If it wasn’t fun, nobody would be doing it! If it didn’t feel good, we’d shun it. But sin is fun, for a little while, until the price of that sin begins to seek payment for what we have done. Then, the fun is gone, but we’re trapped. The old saying is so true, “Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, make you do what you never thought that you would do, and keep you longer than you ever dreamed that you would stay.” God knows that most people won’t change their ways just because they see the light, so He has to turn up the heat through the convicting power of the Holy Ghost! Just look at the sequence of events that happen in the life of a criminal in our society. There’s a pre-determined course that’s typically followed. The criminal commits a crime; most of the time the criminal thinks he’s gotten away with it for a while until the law catches up with him. Then, he’s arrested and brought to trial where the heat of judgment is applied to his life. Finally, the verdict is given, guilty as charged, the sentence is passed and then executed for the debt of the crime to be paid. Do you see where I am going? Verse 19 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Evil men who do not repent will face God’s judgment. But Jesus has given us light. Do we love darkness/sin or do we love light/righteousness/Christ? We know that Romans 6:23 teaches that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus came to save us, to save us from the dark, to save us from Satan’s power, to open Heaven’s gates for us, where He will be the Eternal Light. My friend, YOU though must accept His gift if you want to live eternally. You must step out into God’s light. It’s not an intellectual problem that keeps people from trusting Christ; it’s the moral and spiritual blindness that keeps them loving the darkness and hating the light. Wonderfully, we know from later on in the Gospels that Nicodemus finally did “come to the light” and identified with Christ at Calvary. He realized that the uplifted Savior was indeed the Son of God. Conclusion: Maybe you’re here today and you’re thinking, “I’d like this kind of personal relationship with Christ, but I don’t know where to begin or what I should do.” Some years ago Billy Graham wrote a little booklet called Four Steps to Peace with God. These four steps summarize how a person can be born again. Step 1: God loves you and wants you to know Him. The most famous verse in the Bible comes from Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus. John 3:16 tells us that God offers “eternal life” to anyone who will believe in Jesus Christ. God makes the same offer to you that He makes to the entire world. He truly wants you to be forgiven and to spend eternity with Him in heaven.   Step 2: Your problem is sin, which separates you from God. Rom. 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.” That simply means that no one is perfect because all of us have sinned in thought, word and deed. Do you know how many sins it takes to send you to hell? Just one! Most of us can take care of that first sin before we get out of bed in the morning.  Step 3: God’s remedy for your sin is the cross of Christ. Rom. 5:8 says that God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. By His death on the cross, Jesus took your place, died the death you should have died, and paid the penalty for all your sins.     Step 4: Your response is to trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. How can you know you’re saved, that you’re born-again? 1 John 5:13 says that you can know you have eternal life through believing in Christ. Salvation depends on trusting Jesus Christ. It’s more than just believing facts about Jesus, to trust in Christ means to rely completely upon Him. Trust is what you do when you fly in a plane. You trust the pilot to get you back down on the ground safely. You trust a doctor when you take the medicine he prescribes. You trust a lawyer when you let him represent you in court. God says that when you trust Jesus Christ in that same way you are saved from your sins. All you have to do is trust Christ completely and you can be saved.   Tim Keller offers this helpful explanation of what it means to truly trust in Christ: “Faith is transferring your trust from your own efforts to the efforts of Christ. You were relying on other things to make you acceptable, but now you consciously begin relying on what Jesus did for your acceptance with God. All you need is nothing. If you think, ‘God owes me something for all my efforts,’ you are still on the outside.” I love that sentence, “All you need is nothing.” Tim Keller is right. As long as you think you contribute something to your own salvation, you can’t be saved. But when you stop trying and start trusting, when you “transfer your trust” from yourself to Jesus Christ, you can be saved. Trusting Jesus for salvation means to trust Him so completely that if He can’t take you to heaven, you aren’t going to go there. That’s what it means to be a Christian. It means trusting Christ so much that you risk your eternity on what He did for you in His death and resurrection. A religious person has religion; a Christian has been born again through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Is God’s Spirit working in your heart this morning? Is He drawing you to Jesus? Perhaps it will help you to form your words into a very simple prayer. Even while I encourage you to pray this prayer, I caution you that saying words alone won’t save you. Prayer doesn’t save. Only Christ can save. Yet prayer is a means of reaching out to the Lord in true saving faith. If you pray these words in faith, Christ will save you. You can be sure of that. “Dear Lord Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. I realize my sins have separated me from God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the Cross for my sins. I believe He rose from the dead on the third day. So here and now, with all my heart, I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and save me. Make me a brand-new person and give me a brand-new life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” If you’ve prayed this prayer in sincere faith, you may want to put your initials by the prayer along with today’s date in your Bible as a reminder that you’ve come to Christ in faith. I also encourage you to tell someone else today that you’ve trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Tell someone else that today you were “born-again.”