John 3:1-17
“Are You One of those Born Again Christians I Hear About on CNN?”
by: Rev. Ken Sauer, Pastor, Grace United Methodist Church, Soddy Daisy, TN www.graceumcsd.org
In their book Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live authors Will and Lisa Samson write:
“a simplistic reading of Scripture has utilized the Bible to justify a lack of care for the poor, the trashing of the planet and discrimination against women…”
They go on to write, “It’s hard to convince the world that Jesus cares when we don’t…
The church in America seems far more enamored by the governmental process than by the sacrificial act of giving to each other and to a world in need.
Judging by our actions, it seems we would rather show up every four years and vote than show up every day to be the agents of God’s work in the world.
Our actions send a clear message to those in need: ‘We don’t really care about you.’
Recently the work of the church, particularly the American evangelical church, has come to be perceived as being more about power and control than about bringing the love of Christ to the world.
We have become like a distant parent who says he or she loves the child but shows up only when it’s time to discipline him.
This has significant impact on the church and the culture’s understanding of the gospel.
The wonderful story of redemption available by converting to the way of Jesus becomes an empty slogan on the march to political dominance.”
That’s a pretty heavy statement, but I’m afraid there is much truth to it…much too much truth!
Back in 1976, Jimmy Carter was running against President Gerald Ford.
And those of you who are old enough or those of you who have studied up on recent American history might recall that Jimmy Carter caused quite a bit of a sensation.
This was because during his campaign, Jimmy Carter said publicly that he was a born again Christian.
It caused quite a stir, and it was a term that was used about him over and over again.
Wow…Jimmy Carter is not just your ordinary run of the mill Christian.
He is a born again Christian!!!
Thus, the term “born again Christian” became a very well-known term…and a very well-used and often-times misused term in American pop-culture.
When I was a kid, I had heard about born again Christians…
…I had even met a few…
…but I didn’t understand the concept.
I thought that a born again Christian was a person who had once been a Christian…
…had somehow stopped being a Christian at some point…
…and then had become a Christian again.
Somehow, it seemed to me, that they had messed things up somewhere along the way…
…whereas the rest of us had stayed the course.
It wasn’t until I had my own born again experience that I began to understand in a very real and tangible way what Jesus was trying to get across to Nicodemus in our Gospel Lesson for this morning.
Jesus said, “Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above,” which means the same thing as born again, “it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—God’s kingdom.”
Are we able to get a glimpse of God’s Kingdom?
Are we a part of that Kingdom?
A couple months ago a friend of mine was teaching his Youth Group about what it means to follow Jesus Christ…
…to be a disciple.
In the middle of his dissertation, a hand suddenly flew-up.
A pretty young blond haired girl chimed in, “But what about those born again-kind of Christians?”
To which my friend explained that there is actually no other sort.
If you are a Christian, then you are a born again Christian.
In fact, there’s no such thing as a non-born again Christian…that would be an oxymoron.
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Or as The Message puts it: “When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch.
But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
So don’t be surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak.”
The Kingdom of God is Spiritual.
And to enter it and to see it, we must be born of God’s Spirit.
Being born again involves surrendering.
Being willing to be pushed out of the darkness, and into the glorious light of God.
But what happens after that?
Are we just born again, and then “poof” that’s it?
I love the way Paul answers that question in Ephesians Chapter 2:
“God saved you by his grace when you believed.
And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
For we are God’s masterpiece.
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
You see, we get it wrong when we think that we are born again only to assure that someday—when we die—we will go to heaven.
Sure, that’s part of it…
…but if that were all of it, we would be working with pretty selfish motives.
We have not been born again in order to remain spiritual babies all our lives, and thus not contribute anything to this dark world.
We are born again in order to be light shining in the darkness!!!
We are born again “so that we can do the good things” God “planned for us long ago.”
“For we are God’s masterpiece.”
Isn’t that amazing?
If we can even get a little bit of our minds around what it means to be so privileged to be God’s masterpiece…
…our puny lives will be lived so differently!!!
You are God’s masterpiece, my friend, stop beating yourself up!
You are God’s masterpiece, my friend, stop beating others up!
You are God’s masterpiece, my friend, and with God all things are possible!!!
Each one of us can do great things for God…
…because, as born again-light shining Christians—we are God’s masterpiece—not our own and not somebody else’s—but God’s!!!
It’s time we started living like it!!!
Tuesday morning I was sitting in Rembrant’s Coffee House enjoying a cup of joe and some fantastic conversation with some colleagues.
We were solving all the problems of the world with great knowledge and piety.
We were feeling pretty good about ourselves.
Then one of us looked out the window and noticed that a man, more than likely an immigrant worker was outside working on the building with another fellow.
Outside in the brutal cold.
And he was standing on a high fence in a precarious position.
We all oohed and awed for a minute or two before returning to the great task of solving the world’s problems.
At some point we got talking about the greatest commandment.
You know what I’m talking about.
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
This brought the discussion down to earth a bit.
“Here we are talking about loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves as we sit in a warm Coffee House while a couple of immigrant workers are risking their lives out in the cold in order to put bread on the table for their families.”
“Would this really be happening if we truly loved our neighbor as ourself?”
“And what about the poor souls suffering from Schizophrenia, who, because of no fault of their own are walking the streets out in the cold, homeless; with no place to lay their heads…with no money, no friends?”
“If we truly loved our neighbors as ourselves we’d do something about that wouldn’t we?”
We’d do something about the millions of children who go to bed hungry each night…
…we’d do something about a country which fails to provide healthcare for all of it’s citizens…
…we’d come together as one united community in Christ if we truly loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We would share and not hoard!
We would give and not be greedy and hold back!
There are a lot of folks in this country who are or claim to be born again Christians.
What are we doing with this amazing grace?
How many of us are intentionally making ourselves remain as babies in Christ our entire lives, and thus not daring to live into being God’s masterpiece…
…not daring to make a contribution…
…not willing to move from being those who need to be coddled to those who are truly making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?
Growth is painful.
There can be no doubt about it.
I often hear Mary Ellen cry out in the night…and many times they are cries of pain…they are growing pains!!!
Growth is painful.
Growth can be scary.
But growth is completely necessary!!!
I find it fascinating that, Mary Ellen, although she is only 2 ½ years old, is already feeling too old!!!
Oftentimes, when we say to her, you are becoming such a big girl she will protest, “I’m not a big girl. I’m a baby!”
We, so often resist the need to grow up!
I remember that during high school my friends and I couldn’t wait to get out of our parent’s houses and go to college and be on our own.
But I also remember, quite well, the first summer after the first year in college when we would sit around and lament the fact that we were getting so old.
“We didn’t know how good we had it when we were in high school and our parents were taking care of all our needs. We didn’t have the worries and the responsibilities we have now. I wish I could go back and be in high school again!” we would say.
I just turned 40 years old yesterday, and I have never been more happy in all my life.
Things are not perfect, and I have a long, long way to go in my journey toward loving God and loving my neighbor as myself…
…but I am growing in Christ, and there lies the root of my happiness.
I had a conversation with an old friend several years ago.
He said to me, “Ken if I had known that high school would be the best years of my life I would have enjoyed them more.”
That’s sad.
If we are not growing mentally and spiritually, as we should, we will be sad indeed.
Transitions and growth.
These are what make Christians able to do great things for God.
We are to be…collectively as a church and individually as Christians: God’s masterpiece through whom very good things are accomplished!
Good things like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, giving a drink to the thirsty, visiting those in prison, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!
How are we doing at these things?
Are we growing?
In order to grow spiritually we must feed on God’s Word continually.
And that means we read our Bibles and come together for Bible study, Sunday school and worship.
But feeding on the Word of God or the Bread of Life means other things as well.
Remember when Jesus’ disciples found Him speaking to the woman at the well in John Chapter 4?
What did they say to Jesus?
They began urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
“But Jesus replied, ‘I have a kind of food you know nothing about…My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”
Are we being nourished daily, several times a day by doing the will of God and finishing God’s work?
Right after Jesus told the disciples about doing the will of God He said to them, “wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for the harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.”
Jesus is telling us the same thing today!
“Wake up Ken!”
“Wake up Grace United Methodist Church!”
“It’s harvest time.”
“Wake up and do God’s wonderful work. Do the wonderful work for which God has saved you!
For you are God’s masterpiece.
God has created you anew so that you can do the good things God planned for you long ago.”
To be born again is to be saved by God’s grace and thus to be incorporated into God’s story as stewards of God’s grace!!!
What a privilege!
What an honor!
So why are we not better stewards of God’s grace?
Could it be because it is so risky?
Is it because it means moving out of our comfort zone?
Is it because it may mean moving out of our comfortable and safe suburban neighborhoods and facing the tragic human suffering that we try so hard to cushion ourselves against?
Living as light-filled born again Christians means welcoming the stranger and not even recognizing the barriers.
Living as light filled born again Christians means more than just raising money or trying to decide how much to give.
It means giving our whole selves—money and all for the saving of souls, for the transformation of the world!
We so often have it so completely turned upside down!
Many of us are prone to separating our faith from how we live our lives.
But this understanding of Christianity would have been unthinkable to Jesus Christ and to the Apostles!
Confessing Jesus as Lord means turning all of life, not just some spiritual segment of it, over to Jesus.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.”
And as a result we no longer think of people or things apart from Christ, but through the heart and mind of Christ!
This is what it means to be born again, to see what Jesus is pointing too—which is God’s Kingdom!
Are we in growth mode?
Do we even want to grow or are we happy to remain babies?
The main reason that the folks at CNN and Fox News see born again evangelical Christians as nothing more than a voting block is because we are not being nourished by doing God’s will and work in the world.
We are still unable to see God’s Kingdom.
We are spiritual infants…unwilling to do what it takes to grow up!
Paul tells us in Philippians Chapter 2: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God…emptied himself.”
Growing in Christ means emptying ourselves.
Are we willing to do this?
Are we willing to take the risk?
Let’s take out the inserts in our bulletins entitled A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition. Let’s pray this pray out loud together…and let’s do something which is one of the hardest things to do, but one of the most important…Let’s really mean what we are praying…then, let us go and live it!!!
