Introduction: (Slide 1) A public reading of Luke 13:10-17 followed by a dramatic reading entitled ‘Christ on Trial: Witness: Nicodemus’ written by Elsa L. Clark, Peter Mead, Arden Mead and Mark Zimmermann. © 2007 Creative Communications for the Parish.
In the mid-1980’s, a young community organizer in Chicago named Barack Obama had decided to apply for law school and was accepted to a very prestigious one. As he began preparation for law school, he reflected on his time in Chicago wondering if he had come several years earlier for the right reasons. His ambivalence, highlighted in part by his own journey and struggles, was highlighted even further in a conversation that he had with one of the black pastors in his community.
Obama was seeking ministerial support for programs for the many youth on Chicago’s south side who were in need of education, mentoring and hope. In the course of the conversation, the pastor asked the question, ‘Do you know where it is your faith is coming from?’
Obama later reflected on these words in light of his work and concluded that it had required a deeply chosen commitment and sacrifice he saw demonstrated in several persons who were seeking to help young people make good choices. But He also saw that it required faith which forced him to examine the pastor’s question, ‘Where does your faith come from?’ and determined that faith in one’s self was ‘never enough.’
This story, and the pastor’s pointed question, ‘Do you know where it is your faith is coming from?’ came to mind this week as I prepared this message. I believe that Jesus asks Nicodemus basically the same question in our main text this morning and I believe that his nighttime encounter with Christ forced Nicodemus to re-examine his source of faith that we have heard questioned in our dramatic introduction.
This morning I think that it is very important we reflect on the question posed by the pastor, (Slide 2) ‘Do you know where your faith is coming from?’ For Nicodemus, faith came from two sources, his religious culture and his religious training. (Slide 3)
Nicodemus’s training was second to none in that day and age. He was well trained in the Jewish faith of that day. Today he would be considered to be a seminary graduate and perhaps a PhD in Theology.
He was raised in the Jewish culture and customs of that day. He knew and understood; he was thoroughly and completely taught what it meant to be Jewish both culturally and theologically.
But when he began his conversation with Jesus, the rug was pulled out from underneath him when Jesus said, “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.”
The Kingdom of God was a key theme in the Jewish faith of that day. There was a belief, an expectation that the Messiah would come and set up the Kingdom of God here on earth and that there would be blessings and benefits for the faithful followers, like the Pharisees, who kept the faith by keeping the many layered laws and rituals they demanded others to keep.
But time and time again, Jesus pointed out that there were more important things about the Kingdom of God than just rules and rituals. Many passages in the gospels, such as Matthew 13 which contains the parables or stories about the Farmer and the Seed, the Wheat and the Weeds, the Mustard Seed, and Yeast, begin with ‘The Kingdom of God (or Heaven) is like…’ In these passages, Jesus presents what God the Father thinks is the most important about His Kingdom.
A brief look at Matthew 13:3 through 8 illustrates what Jesus meant about the Kingdom of God.
“A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly, but they soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. Other seeds fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades. But some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted.”
What was Jesus’ point in this story? Was it about effective farming methods? Was it on how to find the good soil? Was it about how to spot trouble when you sow your seed so that you can correctly sow your seed? What was Jesus’ point?
His Disciples had trouble following the story until He explained it after He told it as we read in verses 18 through 23
Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer sowing grain: The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their hearts. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don’t go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced. The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message and produce a huge harvest—thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.”
This story is about the reasons people reject or accept faith based on their circumstances and choices that are determined within their hearts and souls. It is an illustration about what goes on in the human heart and soul when it comes to matters of faith and belief. Which is something that cannot be dealt with by rituals and rules and laws designed to gain faith by works, something that the Pharisees’ thought should and would happen.
So when Jesus talks about being ‘born again’ as the only way of seeing, of experiencing the Kingdom of God, Nicodemus was totally confused because he, and many others, thought they had faith and God figured out. By they did not.
It was not about being rational, although we need to be able to think clearly. It was not about rules and regulations, although God does have some expectations regarding our lives when we confess our sins and accept His salvation.
It was about the inner transformation of being born again. It was about coming out of the darkness and into the light.
Nicodemus did not understand this inner connection. He was mystified by Jesus’ words. He did not have the spiritual understanding that comes as the Spirit helps us to have such understanding.
(Slide 4) Faith, especially one that is transforming faith, is not then a matter of religious culture or religious training. It was a matter of internal transformation made possible by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.
Nicodemus would later discover that truth as we note from John 19:38 through 40, ‘Afterward [that is after Jesus’ death] Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body down. When Pilate gave him permission, he came and took the body away. Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing about seventy-five pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Together they wrapped Jesus’ body in a long linen cloth with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial.’
We don’t know what happened to Nicodemus after this but some speculate that he did become a true disciple of Christ. This brings us, as we move toward our conclusion, to the important subject of discipleship.
(Slide 5) The great divide, the significant difference between Nicodemus and Jesus in this passage is verse 5, ‘The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.’
Jesus said some very important things to Nicodemus that night. In fact the sixteenth verse of our main text is perhaps the most quoted verse of scripture in history as it is a simple statement about our faith and its source.
But this fifth verse is one that stops us from thinking, as Nicodemus did, that our religious culture and our religious knowledge is all that is needed to ‘enter the Kingdom of God.’ It cannot help us enter the Kingdom.
Being ‘born again’ is the only way to enter the Kingdom of God. The movement of the Spirit, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit must occur within us to make the change possible.
But this first step of conversion is just that, the first step. There is more to following Jesus, more to being a disciple than just being ‘born again.’ It requires a commitment; an unreserved commitment, one that Nicodemus would understand because he made such a commitment to his Jewish heritage and tradition; to experience the Christian faith as it was meant to be experienced. It requires us to be a disciple.
Rueben Job has written, ‘The cost of salvation? It is completely free and without cost. The cost of discipleship? Only our lives – nothing more and nothing less.’
What is Jesus being accused of this morning? He is being accused of being irrational, insane, and deluded.
But faith in Christ, being ‘born again,’ is not about being rational or logical. It is about believing that any serious change that can take place in our hearts and lives, and those of those we love and care about, is only possible by a spiritual rebirth that causes our goals, desires, and priorities to change from a self-centered direction to a God-centered direction.
(Slide 6) Which again leads me to ask once more, ‘Do you know where your faith is coming from? It can only come from one direction and that is God’s direction through Christ by faith. I believe, based on Scripture, Nicodemus finally got it.
What is God saying to you this morning about all of this? In the midst of illness, life change, uncertainty about personal issues, and/or the demands of work, what is the Spirit saying to you this morning about your faith and its source and direction? Respond in the right way to God this morning. Amen.
Barack Obama’s story is found in his book ‘Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance’ pages 272 to 280. © 2004 by Three Rivers Press
Rueben Job’s quote is found on page 136 in A Guide to Prayer For All Who Seek God. © 2003 by The Upper Room
Power Points for this sermon are available by e-mailing me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and asking for ‘031107slides’ Please note that all slides for a particular presentation may not be available.
