SERMON OF THE WEEK First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu June 7, 2009 Nick at Night (Gospel of John Series) Rev. Dr. Dan Chun John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. John 3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. John 3:4 Nicodemus said to him, How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother s womb and be born? John 3:5 Jesus answered, Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. John 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, You must be born from above. John 3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:9 Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? John 3:10 Jesus answered him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? John 3:11 Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. John 3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. John 3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, John 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:17 Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. It s one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It s Nick at Night! Nicodemus, a Pharisee, sets up an evening rendezvous with Jesus. 1 Like last week, let s take a look at a scene from the movie called The Gospel of John, which uses for its dialogue the Gospel of John word for word that is our passage for this morning. (A scene from John 3:1-17 is shown.) Why is this a cool story? It s because it s a story of making an appointment with Jesus and how EASY it is to make that date. That s good news! It s a story that is welcoming. That s good news! It s a story that shows there is hope even for us. It's a story that shows that EVEN if we have a lot of questions, if we have doubts or pessimism, if we were once raised in legalism, if we think we re too old or it s too late, the good news is that Jesus welcomes us anyway. Let s start our sermon by turning to your Bibles in John 3:1: John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. Three things hit us right away: Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews. What s a Pharisee? The Pharisaic movement found its genesis in what is called the Maccabean era around 165 BC. It was a time when there was fear that the Torah would lose its meaning in the Jewish society. So a group of men formed a brotherhood, which grew to about 6,000 men and they called themselves Pharisees.
To get into the group one had to take a pledge before three witnesses promising they would separate themselves from ordinary life to study in detail the Law of Moses (or the Torah). The word Pharisee in Aramaic actually means, separated one. While the Jewish Talmud (set of instructions) described a holy and good life with about 600 commandments, it didn t cover ALL the situations of life. So these Pharisees made an additional 1,500 laws to govern all situations! Laws like you could only walk a stone s throw on the Sabbath and no healing on the Sabbath. What began as a good idea to come up with guidelines for living a holy and excellent life turned into an avalanche of rules, rituals and regulations that became burdensome for the average Jew. Remember, from the sermon last week, that was one of the reasons Jesus got mad in the Temple courtyard was because these Pharisaic laws were getting in the way of those who followed or sought after God. That is why today s story is so fascinating. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was part of a brotherhood that would eventually seek to join forces with the Temple priests to kill Jesus. In the Pharisees mind, Jesus was the enemy. But Nicodemus wasn t so sure about that. He secretly meeting Jesus would be like Romeo from the house of Montague (in Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet ) wanting to make friends with Juliet of the house of the Capulet. Or, in West Side Story, a musical about gangs, Tony, a Jet, befriending Maria from another gang called the Sharks. Or maybe it s like a New York Yankee wanting to hang out in the dugout of the Boston Red Sox. Or perhaps it s like liberal democrat James Carville having a soda with Republican senator Bill Frist. So when we read the next verse -- He came to Jesus by night (John 3:2), it all makes sense. It was a controversial encounter to meet at night! Also, Jesus was busy during the day teaching, healing people, casting out demon, and nighttime was when most Rabbis were alone to study. One thing about Nicodemus is that he was incredibly courageous and humble. That s Nick at night. It takes courage to seek Jesus, the so-called enemy of his party. Anytime someone considers God, it takes courage and humility. But the real courageous part is that Nicodemus was a life-long learner. He was willing to say with courage and humility that maybe he was wrong and needed to learn something new. There was something about the truth that Jesus spoke that made Nick wonder, Is it possible that much of how I have interpreted the Law and made rules about the law is wrong? Is it possible that much of what I have devoted my whole life to is wrong? It s not about the money or the achievement or the status. For Nicodemus his question was, Is it possible that I am so into religion that I have lost sight of a true relationship with God? Pastor Sim Fulcher told me of a time at his former church in Florida when his friend Ben Haden joined his Senior Pastor on a visit 2 of one a member s house. They visited a young couple from Illinois. Ben noticed that the couple had many Bibles on their shelves, like souvenirs, and even a lamp- shade with Scripture printed on it. The couple first met each other at a Christian retreat. Both had received two full years of Christian instruction before joining the church. But the Senior Pastor assumed nothing and asked them, What will be your response if God asks you why He should let you into my heaven? The couple was shocked. The wife answered that she had tried to live a good life. Her husband responded that he had always tried to keep the Ten Commandments. Within 45 minutes the couple realized that they had given the answers of a Pharisee. They thought that their good behavior got them into heaven. By the end of the night they prayed for the first time in their lives to have a relationship, not a fulfillment of behavioral rules and commandments, but a relationship to follow Jesus and experience the Holy Spirit in their lives. Going to heaven is not about DOING but accepting what God has DONE, and following Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Even some here today, like Nicodemus, might be discovering that there is more to just attending church and following guidelines. It s about a real relationship with God that will give us meaning and purpose. Is there something more? Or, as in Nicodemus case, have you been on the wrong track? It takes tremendous guts and humility to say, I might be wrong.
The mantra our church has in all of our planning meetings is that in humility the STRONGEST statement anyone should ever make is, I am probably right, but I might be wrong. And when we go to a Bible study or to a worship service we need to go in humility because what we already know be really wrong. Nick at night had that kind of humility. It was such a great humility that he was open to the possibility that if Jesus were right, then he (Nicodemus) would have to change his whole profession and how he did things. In the end Nicodemus was so favorable towards Jesus that he paid for Jesus expensive funeral preparations involving 100 pounds of embalming material, aloe, myrrh and cloth (John 19:39). Where on the meter would we be aligned? More like Jesus or more like a Pharisee? And so the conversation continued as Nicodemus wanted to know more: John 3:2 Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God. Nicodemus starts off the conversation stating that he has seen Jesus do signs, which is another way of saying that he has seen Jesus do miracles that he can t explain other than they re from God. The Healing Service we are going to have next Sunday at 6pm is a way for people to experience Jesus; not hear about or learn about Jesus, but experience Jesus. And we can experience Jesus by being healed or by watching other people being healed. Then comes this major statement from Jesus: John 3:3 Jesus answered him, Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. John 3:4 Nicodemus said to him, How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother s womb and be born? In some translations it says, I tell you no one can see the kingdom of God without being BORN AGAIN. We may have heard that phrase a lot: born again, or, She s a born-again Christian. It s a phrase that goes deeper than face value. You see, in Greek, the original New Testament written language, the word again can be translated in three different ways. There is really no exact equivalent in English. The word AGAIN can mean (1) for the second time; (2) completely, radically, so from the beginning there will be a radical and complete change in the person; or (3) from above, meaning God. So this idea of being born again combines these three meanings. If you follow Jesus, it will be like starting your life all over again your view, your perceptions, your ideals. Your wants and needs will change. And it is no small change, but a radical, complete change. Hypocrites are those who just want to change one area of their life using their own power. But this change doesn t just come from the 3 inside, the driver. This change is empowered from above by God. Hence, a committed relationship with Jesus means we will be born again. Born radically different and born from above. According to my friend Juan Carlos Ortiz of Argentina, being born again would be like him being told when he came to America that there would be no longer any naturalized citizens. Only those born in America can be Americans. Juan Carlos said it would be like him going to the immigration office and saying, I want to be an American. Where were you born? he would be asked. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Well, we just told you that the only way to be an American is to be born in the United States. And Juan Carlos asks, But, sir, how can I do that? I really truly want to be an American. Well, the only thing you can do would be to die and be born again, and this time to be sure to be born in America. That s the only way. We don t accept visitors. We don t accept visas any more. You have to be born here. And that, my friends, is what it means to convert to and really follow Jesus. No naturalized Christians. No Christians by proxy just because your parents are Christians. You really have to be born again. Start over, die to the old ways, die to one self, and be born of the Spirit. We re not talking about being a Christian as an interest or a hobby, or being a dilettante who just dabbles in it.
We re talking about an extreme makeover in having Christ be the Lord of every area of our lives. For Nicodemus he was learning it wasn t just trying to follow more and more rules and, therefore, having more and more guilt. It was having an authentic relationship with Jesus who was and is God. But how can we truly be born again from above? The next verse says it: John 3:5 Jesus answered, Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. John 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. When the Holy Spirit is fully released in us we are radically changed. Without the Spirit there will not be as much change, not as much power, not as much Jesus. We should always be praying for the Holy Spirit to immerse us and fill us. We can have the water birth where as a child we were nurtured in the womb and then delivered forth with amniotic fluid. Water baptism is symbolic of a new birth as the water breaks over us when we decide to follow Jesus and be born into a new life. But Jesus said we enter His kingdom when we are born with water AND the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus must have been confused. He knew about the laws, but what is this Holy Spirit? To live by the Spirit and not by the Law? The Greek word for spirit (or wind) is pnuema. In Hebrew, the word ruah has the same two meanings. Hence, Jesus, in leading Nicodemus from just the theoretical to the experiential, uses this metaphor: John 3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, You must be born from above. John 3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:9 Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? John 3:10 Jesus answered him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? It was a great metaphor from Jesus. We know there is wind when it hits us in the face or when we see our hair moves or the leaves flutter. But we don t know where it comes from. Can t see it. When we are born of the Holy Spirit, there will be an effect, a change in our life, though at times we don t know how it happened. We find more purpose in life. It is no longer not just about making money and then dying. It is not just eat, sleep and be merry. There is now more to life. We are far from perfect when we are born again in Christ. But we have a chance for healing some of our inner struggles and wounds. So finally Jesus took Nicodemus into the realm of healing with one more metaphor although understandably it seemed confusing. He said, John 3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 4 wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, John 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. In the Old Testament God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and to put it on a pole so that those bitten by a snake would be healed. People were puzzled. Weren t they told not to make graven images? But the Rabbis said that it would be God not the snake that would heal them. Interestingly, even today a serpent entwined around a pole, remains a symbol of healing called a caduceus, the Greek word for the insignia carried by the Greek god Hermes. Jesus brought that Hebraic imagery back to tell Nicodemus that when Jesus would be lifted up on the cross, those who look to Him and believe in Him will receive healing and eternal life. The analogy here is that the deep-rooted evil brought on by Satan would for a short moment be allowed to take out its full force on Jesus as He hung on the cross. Jesus would die under the weight of the world s evil and sins, but He would be resurrected three days later, thereby, breaking the power of sin and offering grace and life to all who believed Him Just as the Israelites were commanded to do, we, too, must look to Jesus and trust in Him to remove the poison of sin from our souls. Hence, the passage for today ends with one of the most famous Bible verses: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
The goal of a person says Jesus is to be born again, be radically transformed in Him, to be born from above and, therefore, have eternal life and not a life that just ends here. All things become new. All things would look different. And so as we come to Communion, we come not as perfect people, but people who have in our own weakness and imperfection humbly and courageously said, I don t have all the answers. I need help. I want to follow Jesus. And Jesus said, I did not come to condemn the world but to save it. And one of the things we should I following Him is to remember Him in the taking of the bread and cup. (Communion is served.) * * * * * * * * Sunday worship sermons can also be heard on Strength for the Journey, First Prez s weekly radio show. Sunday mornings at 10 on KGU 760 AM. You can also download it from fpchawaii.posterous.com, or from itunes. 5