Scripture John 3: 1-9 Easy English Bible
1 There was a Pharisee called Nicodemus.
He was one of the Jewish leaders. 2 He came
to speak with Jesus at night. He said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that God has sent you to us. We have seen the miracles that you are doing. Nobody could do these things unless God was with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you this: Unless a person is born from above, they cannot under-stand the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot return into his mother's body. He cannot be born a second time.” 5 Jesus explained, “I tell you this:
Unless a person is born by water and by
God's Spirit, he cannot come into the kingdom of God. 6 People give birth to what is human. But God's Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ What I said should not surprise you. 8 When someone is born by God's Spirit, it is like the wind that blows. The wind blows wherever it chooses to blow. You can hear it. But you do not know where it came from or where it is going.’” 9 Nicodemus asked, “How can this happen?”
This week we begin a new sermon series called On Purpose. I don’t know about you, but I continue to ask God what my purpose on this earth is.
This series is an invitation to discover what it is that God wants to do with our lives right now!
And the first question is Why am I here.
I know that I’ve asked that question many times, and you probably have as well. Especially at times of sickness, suffering, or grief. Or in times of any kind of changes in our lives.
As I was working on this sermon on Tuesday, I was sitting beside a pool watching my grandson play in the water. And as I watched him, I knew why I am here – for this moment at least. And I pray that God will use me to show him love, to teach him more about God, and to provide a shoulder to lean on. But that’s a big job! And I wonder if I can really do all that God wants me to do.
But why are we here and what does God want with us? How can we use the story of our lives to be in service to God?
My daughter has recently discovered that life is much more than all about chasing a pay check. But isn’t that what we are supposed to do? She is asking these questions too.
Some people might tell us that what we are really asking is What is our calling. But I think it goes even deeper than that! What does God really want from us now?
I don’t know about you but just saying this outloud is overwhelming. At my age especially. I’m about to retire in a few years. Aren’t we done at some point?
How can I continue to ask what’s next for me when I have no idea? And anyway, how can God use me when I’m old?
Maybe you have felt like this too. This series is hopefully going to help us navigate these seasons of uncertainty and offer tools to help us all discover our God purpose for this time in our lives.
In our scripture for today, Nicodemus had questions for Jesus. And he wasn’t afraid to ask them. Questions are good! They help us to grow in faith! We claim that the Bible is a living word, and that means that each time you read from it, you learn something new. It’s just not enough to come to church on Sunday and listen. It’s not enough for us to stay stagnant in our faith!
Jesus told Nicodemus clearly that – change is a fundamental part of being in a renewed relationship with God. And that we should be renewing this relationship all throughout our lives.
Some people call the day that someone asks Jesus into their life, being born again. But they, like Nicodemus, too often don’t understand what Jesus was saying. Nicodemus struggles to understand because, Not only does he know how humans come into the world, How can he be born again in the middle of his life?
But Jesus said, ‘When someone is born of the Spirit, it is like when the wind blows.’ In other words when we enter into a relationship with the Spirit of God, no matter the time of life, we are led into new possibilities. Not only for ourselves, but for the world around us.
We sometimes think of salvation as a move from uncertainty to certainty. But Jesus makes it clear that the life of faith is one open to constant change. We should always be reexamining our lives and walk with Jesus and asking ourselves, “Are we doing what God wants us to do?” Salvation means that We are always transforming into something even better because of the Holy Spirit’s work within us.
Nicodemus comes at night the story says. I’ve always heard that was because he was afraid of the Jewish officials – of which he was one! If they wanted to kill Jesus, then they would want to kill him as well.
But for a moment, let’s take this interaction as symbolic. What if this is mentioned in the story because night means a period of darkness. Think about it…It’s during dark times in our lives that we are often going through uncertainty and unknowing.
But the story also tells us that it is IN the times of our uncertainty and unknowing that Jesus meets us!
My grandfather was the first relative to die in my growing up time. I was 18 and only a few months from my high school graduation. I had never dealt with anyone’s death. I felt lost and so sad that I didn’t know what to do!
My cousins and I used each other as sounding boards. Questioning. Wondering. Figuring out if our grandfather’s death would be something we’d ever get over. I was glad for those conversations. They led me to be able to talk to God each night and many after.
At that time, I didn’t really understand how Jesus would meet us in our dark times. But I did see Jesus in the conversations with my cousins. In the smiles and hugs from people I didn’t even know. As the senior class president, I had to give a speech at graduation. And in that speech I talked about uncertainty, about my grandfather’s recent passing, and about God’s eternal goodness. Even those few months after my grandfather’s death I could feel Jesus with me.
Change is a part of life we say. But most don’t like it! Change often scares us. But Jesus makes it clear that the life of faith is one open to constant change, reexamining, and transformation by the Spirit.
You may have heard some people say, “Once saved, always saved.” But that statement takes away the need for renewal, recommitment, reexamination, and even repentence.
because we do backslide! But God is always inviting us to reexamine our life. Our deeds. But some folks may truly never return to God.
In one of my churches, I had a couple on the church rolls that I had never met. So I inquired about them. I was told, “Oh they will never be back to church. Their son died from cancer at age 17 and they have never forgiven God.”
Over a few years, I did get to know this couple. They were huge volunteers in the community. They threw the best dinner parties for their friends and acquaintances. And as long as you did not mention church or their son, they had a smile on their face. We had many conversations.
They were still grieving. And yet, the grief was getting to be smaller and smaller each year. It never went away, and they were still angry at God.
But could I say that they weren’t wrestling with their faith? God can take us being mad at him! Were they being renewed in their walk with God?
You see we cannot answer that. We cannot pass our judgment based on what we think we see. We do not know of the conversations they had with God. We do not know if they accepted compassion, love, and renewal in their lives. From what I saw, I would say they had!
We don’t know how Jesus met them, but he did. We don’t know how the Spirit worked in them. But it did. And they were a vital part of loving their community.
No, they would never come back to a church building. And that is ok. It was where their son’s funeral was held and it was just too painful. Jesus had met them where they were with others of faith around to help them grieve, to show them love, to offer life to them again. That was Jesus using people to offer this couple a new path of faith. Maybe during this time their greatest growth occurred. A growth over time, even in their darkest days.
As I said last week, we were NEVER supposed to do this thing called faith alone! It is a community effort!
God joins us, wherever we are in life, in Jesus and in the Spirit each time we gather together!
And yet, we still, like Nicodemus, ask, “How can this be?” We don’t usually like it when we don’t know the answer. But Nicodemus is modeling for us that it is ok to question God! The questions are a central part of our relationship with him!
If we know it all, we not only stop learning, and growing, we begin to lose the relationship. Jesus never stops pursuing us, but we stop coming to him. We stop relying on him. We stop his grace from entering into our lives.
Acknowledging what we don’t know opens us up to God’s grace, answering our questions, and discovering more about God and ourselves.
Sometimes we must hold loosely to what we think we know in order to embrace new understandings or directions.
What questions about life are you asking right now? Have you asked God for clarity? Why/Not? How open would you be to something new?
Before we continue with our service, you will see pencils and paper strips near you. This is for you to write and submit one question that you have for God today. And soon in this service, I will pray over all these questions – no they won’t be read out! – and pray that you all will continue to ask questions of God every day. I promise if you will, your relationship with God will only grow deeper and deeper as you find out why God needs you here right now.
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