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December 17, 2017

John 3: I am Born Again

Pastor Scott Jonas
I am Born Again
John 3
12/17/17

            As we approach Christmas we continue through John’s Gospel.  The light has entered the world and penetrated the darkness.  John calls all to Baptism men, women, jew and gentile for the kingdom of heaven is near.  The Baptist sees Jesus and announces “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  John doesn’t fully understand Jesus but he whole heartedly follows him.  Jesus and his followers crash a wedding in Cana.  Instead of a plus one, Jesus brought a whole crowd.  They ran out of wine.  But Jesus created all vegetation on the third day.  He has no problem creating wine out of water.  As Michael said last week, “Jesus is the Master of the Feast, no one in his kingdom will go without.”
            Today, we eavesdrop on a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus.  Before we get into their meeting, let’s look at Nicodemus’ biography.  What do we know about him this mystery man who whispers in the night?  We only learn about him from John’s Gospel.  The easiest way to label him is that he is an “expert.”  John says that Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees and a ruler of the Jews.  Let me put that into perspective.  At the time of Jesus there were 6,000 pharisees who pledged their life to obey every detail of the Old Testament Law.  There were millions of Jews in Palestine but only 6,000 known as the brotherhood.
            He was an expert on the first five books of Moses.  Had them memorized.  Some Pharisees knew the Law so well, they could put a pin through a scroll and tell you what word it stopped on.  The Pharisees believed that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy had everything a person needs to live a moral life.  One Pharisee said, “The Law is complete; it contains everything necessary for living a good life therefore in the law must be a regulation for every possible incident in every possible moment for every possible man.”  Nicodemus was an expert on life as a believing Jew.
            He was also an expert on Jewish politics.  When John says Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, that means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin.  They were a 70 member council that supervised the Jewish People.  They were the Jewish supreme court.  They had jurisdiction over not just Jews in Jerusalem but over all Jews wherever they may be.  Nicodemus had to be an expert on heresy and false prophets.
            So Nicodemus, this expert, came to Jesus at night.  Makes sense.  Maybe he was scared of being seen talking one on one with a potential false prophet.  The Pharisees grilled Jesus during the day.  That was supposed to be enough evidence for Nicodemus.  If he is caught talking to Jesus it could mean he loses his position on the Sanhedrin.  It could mean he violated his pledge as a Pharisee and he would be kicked out of the brotherhood.  It could also mean that his distinguished Jewish family would be disgraced.  So he finds Jesus at night.  But why does he look for Jesus with all of this to lose?
            There is another stumbling block between he and Jesus.  His expertise.  Experts have a hard time trusting anyone.  Those who know less than you can’t be trusted because your knowledge outweighs theirs.  And you don’t want to admit that another expert knows more than you because that undermines your credibility.  Experts do not like having their knowledge undermined.  So the default position for an expert is to pretend you know everything.  Sometimes experts pretend for so long that they forget the limits of their expertise.  It’s an unfortunate contrast.  One becomes an expert by asking a lot of questions of those who know more than you do but once you obtain their knowledge then you stop asking questions.  You stop growing. Experts claim to see things others can’t.  You just have to trust them on that.
            But experts who are honest with themselves realize that the more you know the more you know experts can be wrong.  I had this conversation with a friend of mine about Global warming.  He didn’t understand why I needed my questions answered about climate change.  His philosophy was to trust the experts, the climate scientists even though he didn’t understand the science behind it.  I told him that as a protestant I look skeptically at experts whether they be pope’s, scientists or pastors.  As a pastor, I’m by all definitions an expert on the Bible.  I’ve studied it more than 99% of the population.  But because of that I know there are experts who twist the Bible to say whatever their heart desires.  I am wary of other experts.  It is amazing at all that Nicodemus bravely overcomes his fears, overcomes his biases, and initiates a conversation with Jesus.
            He whispers to Jesus saying, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Nicodemus addresses Jesus as a fellow expert, giving him due honor as a Rabbi.  But remember, there are a lot of Rabbis and Rabbis have less credibility than a Pharisee on the Sanhedrin from a distinguished family.  But he adds that Jesus has a connection to God that goes beyond teaching, beyond scholastics.  Jesus has real power that produces signs like turning water into wine.
            Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
            Imagine all of the questions hitting Nicodemus at once.  Is he talking being born again literally or figuratively?  Is he talking about me?  Does he think I, an expert, can’t see the kingdom of God?  What does he think that I lack?  I know the Law forwards and backwards.  I was circumcised into the faith on the 8th day.  My family goes back to David.  I grew up in the church.  My family helped build the synagogue.  What better credentials do I need.  What more do I have to know?
            Nicodemus gives a reply, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter his mother’s womb and be born?”  This doesn’t sound like an honest question.  It sounds like he is being sarcastic, knowing that physical rebirth is impossible.  Jesus  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.[c] 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind[e] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
 Stunned, now Nicodemus replies with an honest question, “How can these things be?
 “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?  That hit him right where it hurts.  Jesus questions his expertise.
 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you[f] do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.[g] 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus, “Through me you can be born again.”  You can be made new.  The old Nicodemus full of academic pride and political arrogance will be washed away.  All you have to do is believe that I am the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.  You don’t have to understand it, you just have to trust me.  Little children trust me and they don’t know anything.  You have to set aside all of your credentials  and cling to my credentials.  I am who I am.
            I bet you have an expertise.  Maybe it’s in the field in which you work.  Or maybe you have an expertise in your family.  No one knows them like you do.  My guess is that you have an expertise in Lutheranism.  You have been to so many worship services.  You know the liturgy.  You know the doctrine. 
            Do you trust Jesus more than your expertise?  Today, we baptized Peyton Toney.  He is a baby and knows shockingly little about the world, let alone God.  But he trust his mom, Lauren and his father, Bryan.  Peyton doesn’t understand how Baptism works.  But neither do I.  I’m an expert.  I trust Jesus when he says, baptize in my name and you will be born again.  How does it work?  Water and the word.  But there are things happening that we can’t see.  Just trust.
When someone asks you if you are born again I hope you don’t say no I’m Lutheran.  Lutheran isn’t in the Bible but being born again is.  You are born again.  Try to understand it, but don’t let all of you expertise become a barrier.  You are born of Spirit.  You are part of the Kingdom of God.  You are not bound by the Flesh.  At your baptism Jesus blew you a kiss and said, “You are mine.”