The Trouble with Religion
John 3:1-15
By Andrew Chan, Senior Pastor, PBC, Vancouver, BC
One criminal broke into the basement of a bank through a street-level window. In the process, however, he suffered from several lacerations. After he realized that he could neither get the money nor climb back through the window from whence he came, the robber panicked. Realizing he was going to bleed to death if he did not get help, he located a phone and dialed 911. The rest, as they say, is history.
This story came out of Long Beach CA. During their lunch hour, several employees of a large aerospace company decide to rob a bank. The group figured the police would never look for them at the plant. Of course, being dumb criminals, they forgot to removed their ID badges during the robbery.
In England a gang hired a man to drive their getaway car for a series of bank robberies. As the gang came fleeing out of the first bank with several bags of money, the man panicked, causing the car to stall. Police arrived in minutes as the man desperately tried to get the car to start. In court, it was revealed that not only did the man not have a driver’s license, he had never operated a vehicle before.
Recently in France, two criminals decided it would be genius to break into a bank from a neighboring building. They decided to drill through the wall so they could reach the banks vault. After hours of exhausting labor, they finally broke through. Upon entering the room, however, they discovered that had miscalculated the location of the vault and were instead standing in the middle of the restroom.
What I find in common with all the above stories, are the ingenious ways people think they can find easy money. But why do they go through all that trouble? I think it’s because they believe, with money, they can buy some measure of happiness in life. That’s the lure and the lie of sin, it promises easy street, the good life, paradise, a bit of heaven… Could it be that we are all built to find heaven and it seems we long for it like thirsty dogs on a hot summer’s day. We see that longing squirting out in the ways we do everything, from A to Z ,our arts - , flower arranging, gardening, cars, pursue the opposite sex, to pets, to zoos. Looking for some order, some perfection, some contentment, looking for the elusive thing called happiness. How can we find a bit of happiness here on this decaying polluted planet? Is it money that can get us this happiness? But for some smart people not like those dumb criminals, they have figured, it is the pursuit of spiritual truth, not mere material goods, that will cause the hunger in the human heart to be satisfied.
That’s the trouble with religion. Throughout the world there are religious shrines, temples, and other types of places of worship where people throng to. Looking longing for spiritual bliss and truth to fill the hole that’s felt in the heart. They gather each day and week looking for happiness. It was the same bad case of looking for happiness, I believe that drew Nicodemus to Jesus one night. Nicodemus, whom I refer to as Nic, from now on, was just like those guys, who thought of ways to improve their lives. He too, was seeking for that something more in life. But for Nic, his view of the good life was his religion. He must be good at it for Nic, was a Pharisee, a religious man. Probably well versed in the Torah (Jewish Scripture) and tradition of the elders, highly esteemed in society and the Bible also noted he was a “member of the Jewish ruling council” (v.1). Because of that, I am sure he is a meticulous man, a man whose whole life was a religious exercise. He was probably an Einstein of his day. Having figured out many things about religion and all the steps you need to take to be religious, ethical and good. Actually, I shouldn’t equate him with Einstein cos I know for a fact that the genius Einstein flunked kindergarten. And Nic, probably aced his Kindergarten class, he could probably razzle dazzle his way in religion. Jesus even recognized that he was Israel’s teacher (v.10). I believe that is why he came out at night not in broad daylight to check out what Jesus was all about. Having done his day of work, at being religious and all, and perhaps not to be exposed as a seeker when he’s an expert in religion. Perhaps, see a miraculous sign which he heard about from others. Perhaps he has even heard of the clearing of temple (just before this story in John 2). It seems, Jesus had something he did not have, something he knows must be of God (v.2).
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, was kinda like Nic. Wesley was a religious man, in the mold of good old Nic. He spent years pursuing God and godliness. He was highly educated, being trained at prestigious Oxford University and was even ordained as an Anglican priest in 1725 at his father’s insistence. Being an Anglican priest those days, would mean reading the Bible through in a year and read 5 psalms a day, every day. They even had a prayer life, structured around some of the greatest Christian thought every recorded. You see, Wesley heard about Jesus too, like old Nic.
In 1729, along with brother, Charles, founded the “Holy Club”, where rigorous discipline in spiritual matters is organized, visiting sick, prisoners, poor, Bible Study , prayer, so that a method of spirituality is worked out which is now called Methodism. What a religious man eh? And Wesley, in his Anglican way, was committed to winning the lost. He was as evangelistic-minded as any evangelical Christian today. For you see, he even traveled to North America, to the newly founded colony of Georgia, in October 1735, with the express purpose of converting the Native Indians to Christ. History tells us his attempts there were a complete bomb, a definite yawner, so he decided to return to England. While on the ship crossing over, a terrible storm came that threatened the safety of everyone on board. Wesley was terrified that he might die. He went to his cabin in terror of death, with no peace in his soul. Then he heard singing in one of the cabins. He went and found some Moravian brethren singing hymns to God in the midst of the storm.
He asked why they were not afraid for their lives. They told him that God was overseeing their lives and if they lived or died, they would be in the hands of God. They had the assurance that the Spirit of God had given them a new birth into heaven’s life and they had no fear of death. Jesus was their Lord.
That experience moved Wesley and caused him to question his own convictions.
Later, he met Peter Bohler, a Moravian believer, who told him he needed to be born from above, to receive the Spirit of Christ in his life. And when Wesley was thirty five years old, on May 24, 1738, he went to a society on Aldersgate, to hear a reading of Luther’s preface to the epistle to the Romans. And while he was sitting there, listening to Luther’s preface, he felt his heart strangely warmed, and in a flash realized that God had given him his Holy Spirit. He had studied Christian faith all his life. He had read the Bible, the early fathers, Luther, Calvin and the divines. He had entered holy orders and gone on the mission field and all that time, he did not know Jesus in his life! Until the Aldersgate experience! And the churches of England and Scotland was rocked after that.
The message of John 3 is just that! You may have all sorts Christian activity like Wesley, grew up right and go the right university much like Nic, having all the trappings of faith. You may even have concern for the lost and even signed up for missionary service, even teach religious stuff perhaps in Sunday School or Junior Church. Or perhaps even served in ruling councils such as church boards, like Nic. Founded holy clubs and done excellent work in church clubs. Perhaps even figured out a method of spirituality like Wesley and Nic, got a routine even of Bible reading and praying but that is not enough to give you true eternal life that is born from above and felt deeply in the heart. Jesus comes and brings a disturbing message. You must be born again! Or you won’t taste the kingdom of God at all! That was the message Jesus had for Nic for Wesley, and for us.
Flesh gives birth to flesh, that is human can only give birth to humans. Break it down some more, human activity can only produce human activity, there is nothing inherently spiritual about human activity. And Jesus taught this truth, for it is the Spirit who gives birth to Spirit. We need human parents to become human beings. We need the Spirit of God to become spiritual beings. Jesus taught that each person needs to be born of heaven to be alive to heaven. He taught it was not enough to be born once in physical realm. One had to be born a second time by God’s Spirit into the spiritual realm. Because what is spirit will last forever into heaven and what is flesh will decay and die off. The best that flesh will give you is flesh. But those born of the Spirit will have the power of God flowing through their bodies. These people are given power to overcome earthly decay. They are given access to the unlimited power of God for whatever life would send them.
And what was Nic’s response to Jesus? “How can this be?” (v.9). You mean, Jesus, that all the religious striving to build up points for heaven is useless! How can this be? Jesus, reply would be an unqualified YES!
And Jesus says to all the Nicodemuses of the world, "You just don’t get it, do u?” The Lord would say to those of us who have walked with him for years that there should be a vital, powerful reality of God’s presence in our lives. We should be a people marked out by the Spirit of Jesus interrupting our day and making it exciting. The wind blows wherever it wishes and we cannot see it. So with everyone born of the Spirit! So we to be directed not by rules, rituals, but by the living reality of the power of the Spirit.
Are you new to the whole idea of Jesus as a vital, living reality, not just a concept, but a person who can be known? Or maybe you’ve come to church for years, but you haven’t ever connected with the Spirit of God. Then you are like our friend Nic, or Wesley before he had warmth of God in heart. Or are you one of those who has walked with the Lord for years, but it has gotten old and cold? Then it is time to start afresh, to seek the Lord for a new beginning in your walk with Him. If you are born of the Spirit, you will know it! If you are participating in God’s kingdom, you will know it too!
Jesus is a disturbing presence. He confronts us with our religiosity. And he says it is not enough to be religious to gain heaven, or true happiness, that will last forever. What becomes clear with every encounter with him is that He is utterly and completely from God. His presence radically alters every presupposition and every action you have ever had or will ever take. If there is clutter in the temple of our lives, Jesus will purge it out. Even if you like the clutter. Yet when he is done the cleansing, there will be nothing to say by way of rebuke for him, because it will be found that he was completely correct to do it. This was how it was with Nicodemus. Jesus was from God and Jesus was disturbing!
By the way, did you notice that Jesus didn’t say, "Do you want to get to heaven after you die?"
Jesus doesn’t merely refer to life after death. He is referring to life from God in the here and now as well. Life forever flowing out of God’s life begins now. The kingdom is not just pie in the sky in the sweet by and by. The kingdom refers to the vibrant, dynamic intervention of Jesus’ Spirit in every thought, every affair, every portion of your being, your thinking, your feeling, your breathing. It is to be immersed in God completely. That is why Paul teaches in Eph 5:18 “Be filled with the Spirit” and in Gal.5:25 “Live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit.” Yes, it about life today which includes heaven, but it includes a whole lot more! It is all of God for all of now, today! And to get there, to be one in whom the Spirit of God flows with newness and miracles and in whom there is the assurance that the Lord is overseeing your every thought requires entrance thru’ a doorway—a new birth.
This text drives translators crazy. There are just some things that don’t translate. This text has a double meaning. "Born again" means "born from above" at the same time as it means "born a second time." Nicodemus only gets one side of the equation. He thinks "born a second time" and doesn’t see Jesus teaching on the Spirit and the kingdom. Nicodemus asks an earthly question. "What do I do? Go back into mom again?" It is crass thinking, that! Things like this don’t get said in polite company!
Are you a long time believer, and the fire has gone out of your devotion? Well, make sure there is a fire! Ask the Lord for a fresh beginning in the things of God. Did you notice that Jesus uses the illustration of those born of the Spirit? He stops telling Nicodemus about his need for a start and starts talking about how very, very different life is for those who are born of the Spirit. Their life is not their own. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it, but you can’t tell where it is coming from or where it is going. So with those born of the Spirit. They find their lives are driven by the winds of God.
I suspect that there are many here who have walked with Jesus for years and the wind has gone out of the sail. Drifting, floating in deep space 9, ever looking for the voyage home, with no sense of being in step with God’s power. Return to him too. Just like Nicodemus there is a need for a fresh start for you too! Ask God to give that to you. and he will.
Professional golfer Paul Azinger was diagnosed with cancer at age 33. He had just won a PGA championship and had ten tournament victories to his credit.
He wrote, "A genuine feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me even harder. I’m going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live."
Then he remembered something that Larry Moody, who teaches a Bible study on the tour, had said to him. "Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living."
Can’t be born again into the land of living by clinging to this world that’ll die and decay, we need to be born of the Spirit. Golfer Paul Azinger recovered from chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour. He’s done pretty well. But that bout with cancer deepened his perspective. He wrote, "I’ve made a lot of money since I’ve been on the tour, and I’ve won a lot of tournaments, but that happiness is always temporary. The only way you will ever have true contentment is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me and I don’t have problems, but I feel like I’ve found the answer to the six-foot hole."
Have you found the answer to the six foot hole, true contentment? I trust that Jesus has disturbed your religion and cleared up the mess we have made and let’s make the temple that is our bodies, a place of prayer, where God’s Spirit is at home.
Will u do this?
1. Admit - bankruptcy of spiritual life.
2. Acknowledge - the thirst for more of the living God.
3. Accepting - God’s gift of cleansing through Christ and new birth by faith.
4. Attune - wait on God, concentrate on Scripture that promises He will love u and be with u, that all is forgiven, and to fill you as you ask Him by faith.
5. Attentive - to God’s word by seeking Him, praying in the Spirit, obeying Him (Rom.8:26-27, Eph.6:18)
Now as we prepare for communion, ask God to search our hearts… to fill us!
