John 3:1-17    NT p. 89 or 1303

[1] There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews.

[2] Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."

[3] Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom."

[4] "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"

[5] Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind hovering over the water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom.

[6] 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.

[7] "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'—out of this world, so to speak.

[8] You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."

[9] Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"

[10] Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics?

[11] Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions.

[12] If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God?

[13] "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man.

[14] In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—

[15] and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

[16] "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

[17] God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

[MSG]

INTRODUCTION:

This is probably the most beloved passage of scripture in the entire Bible. And verse sixteen is the first verse most of us memorize. Sometimes it's the only verse people memorize and they cling to the message of this verse as if it were an Olympic Gold Medal. And they should. This is passage is filled with power and hope and has within it the heart of the Gospel.

Today we meet Nicodemus. A seemingly incidental character in the Gospel of John. But one that is very, very significant to us, to Jesus and to the early church.

Here, Nicodemus reminds me of an old story, One Sunday morning, a minister was shaking hands with people at the door as they left the sanctuary. And one of the people in church that day was a man who was rarely there. As he shook the pastor's hand, the minister said to him: "It's good to see you here today. But friend, you really need to join the Lord's army."

The man was a little surprised and said: "But Pastor, I'm already in the army of the Lord."

The preacher said: "Oh, really? Well, if that's true, then how come we only see you at Christmas and Easter?"

And the man said: "Because I'm in the Secret Service."

WE know there's no such thing as the Secret Service for God. We're called to live our faith boldly for all to see. But that's sort of how Nicodemus started out. In the Secret Service. He didn't want anyone to know of his leanings. And here in the Gospel of John it says that Nicodemus first came to Jesus at night, secretly, so no one else would notice what he was doing.

Nicodemus came OUT OF SIGHT, to gain INSIGHT. But that INSIGHT INCITED something in him which eventually would IGNITE into faith.

I. OUT OF SIGHT:

I just read a story about two cowboys who were working cattle one day. One of them discovered he was in trouble when a wild bull, with his head down and nostrils flaring, came charging toward him. The cowboy saw a deep hole in the ground and quickly jumped in it. As soon as the bull passed over him, he jumped out of the hole.

The bull, madder than ever, came charging back again, and the cowboy jumped back down into the hole. When the bull passed, the cowboy jumped out of the hole again. He did this several times. Finally, the other cowboy, who was watching it all from a distance yelled out, "Why don't you just stay in the hole?"

The first cowboy yelled back, "I would, but there's a bear in the hole!" (1)

We never really know what someone's motivation for doing something is, until we know them intimately. Or as they say, until we've walked a mile in their shoes.

I've often wondered just what it was that caused Nicodemus to set up this private interview. What moment of crisis in his life sent him there. What hunger in his life hadn't been fulfilled? What area of his faith was he still struggling with.

Or did Jesus simply attract Nicodemus like a magnet attracts metal? We don't know what brought Nick to that garden that night. All we really know is that he was a powerful man, one of the leading Pharisees. And he came under the cloak of darkness. He came OUT OF SIGHT to gain some INSIGHT into who Jesus was and what he was teaching.

But because of his visit, because of his questions, we now have one of the most beautiful and loved passages of all.

II. INSIGHT TO INCITE:

A. Nicodemus came OUT OF SIGHT seeking INSIGHT into the faith of Jesus and into his own faith. But what he found was enough to INCITE his spirit.

Now it troubled him at first. He heard Jesus' words too literally. He can be excused for that because was a Pharisee. And they were concerned with keeping the letter of the law. So everything had to be taken literally. That way they wouldn't miss DOING what was right. But in so DOING they often missed the meaning and purpose of what they read.

The Pharisees remind me of a story I read. Dr. David Jeremiah tells about a suburban neighborhood in which several residents were extremely upset at the reckless and fast driving that was occurring in their quiet subdivision. They organized a petition drive and demanded that the police patrol the area with greater frequency and penalize drivers who ignored the speed limits.

The police obliged and immediately ticketed five drivers who ignored the speed limits. All of them were fuming at the fines they received. It seems, however, that all five of these ticketed drivers had signed the petition calling for enforcement. (2)

That was many of the Pharisees of the day.

Nicodemus, even though he was with Jesus, sort of fell back into that way of thinking. As a consequence, there was a little bit of miscommunication. But there shouldn't have been. Jesus is very plain in what he says. Unless we are "born again, born anew, born from above" however you want to put it or whatever your translation reads, we won't see the Kingdom of God.

Nick misunderstood. That old literalism kicked in again. He thought Jesus was saying that we had to literally be reborn, which of course is a physical impossibility.

B. What Jesus was talking about was a Spiritual Rebirth. A birth from the inside out. A birth that started with the INSIGHT received from Jesus and his teachings but then moved to a Spirit that had been INCITED by the very Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit.

And the only way it can really work is if we depend upon and call upon the one who was lifted up for our sakes.

Like Moses lifting the serpent in the wilderness and everyone keeping their eyes focused on it and believing that God would heal them. So, too, will Christ be lifted up on the cross. And if we keep our eyes on the cross of Christ. If we keep our eyes on Christ then it will INCITE our spirits and we too will see the Kingdom of God, be given new life and experience eternal life.

Did it work for Nicodemus? Did this OUT OF SIGHT meeting with the Messiah make a difference in his life? I think scripture is clear that it did. Maybe not right at that moment. Maybe not that night. Maybe not for awhile but it did change him.

In John 7:50-51 we see Nicodemus defending Jesus at the Temple in front of his colleagues, the other Pharisees. And then in John 19:38-41 we find out that it was Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who went to Pilate to get the body of Jesus released after the crucifixion. And it was the two of them who buried Jesus.

So, yes, I think scripture is clear. This OUT OF SIGHT encounter gave Nicodemus the INSIGHT he needed to let the Spirit INCITE his spirit.

III. IGNITE:

A. Not only was it enough to INCITE his spirit but it was also enough to IGNITE his heart. And once his heart was ignited, he experienced being born anew, being born from above. He experienced that inside out change. And we all need that inside out change.

One of the most tragic figures of the last century was Marlyn Monroe. A freelance reporter for the New York Times was interviewing Marlyn Monroe years ago. He knew about her past of being shuffled from one foster home after another.

This reporter asked Marlyn Monroe, "Did you ever feel loved by any of the families with whom you lived?'

She got teary eyed as she told about the only time she ever felt loved. She said, "Once, when I was seven years old the woman I was living with was putting on make-up and I was watching her. She was in a happy mood and she reached over and patted my cheeks . . . for that brief moment I felt loved." (3)

That's one of the saddest comments I've ever heard. No one should go through life feeling unloved or unwanted but we do. There are folks who have never known even an inkling of love in their lives. They've never even experienced that one "brief moment" that Marlyn Monroe felt.

That's why the Kairos Prison Ministry is so important. For the first time, 99% of the inmates experience love, unconditional love. And it changes their lives forever.

That's why the Offer Them Christ Campaign that our Conference is undertaking is so important. It's purpose is to raise the money to buy property to help build new churches so that folks who have never heard the Good News can hear it.

And it will renovate and bolster one of the most important parts of our ongoing ministry with young people, Campus Ministry. The lives of college age young people from all over the world are challenged and changed through the work of Campus Ministries. Our part will help those ministries flourish and will help the love of God be spread even further.

B. I have to tell you, that I have thank my friend and colleague in ministry, Rev. Mary Claire Lowrance, for one of the keys to today's sermon: In her recent newsletter article she points out that "John 3:16 is the heart of the Good News. God loved. God gave."

I think she summed it all up beautifully and simply. And when we take it out of that order we get it all wrong. Notice that the heart is God. God's love and God's giving. It's only through God's love and God's giving that we can even approach believing in the one sent to give us new life.

God's love first.

God's gift of Jesus, His only Son, to us second.

And then us last and least. But through grace, through the grace born of that love and that gift, we are then lifted up and given new life.

We are given a second chance that we can't get on our own. We try and we try on our own, and all WE do is fail. But then comes the love of God and the Gift God, His only Son, Jesus the Messiah and Savior of the World, the one we call the Christ and everything changes.

We're no longer alone in our struggles to change. We're no longer alone and unloved. We're no longer devoid of hope. Instead we are given the power and the will and the inspiration to change from the inside out. And we succeed, because accepting Jesus as our Savior changes everything.

Jesus changes how God looks at us. And Jesus changes how we look at God.

No longer do we see the stern disciplinarian who is out to smite us at any given moment. No longer do we see the angry, jealous, vindictive God who is waiting to strike us down for even one small offense. No longer do we see a God of Laws we couldn't possibly begin to keep. No longer do we see a God who wants us to be perfect in every way possible before He will love us.

Through the gift of Jesus, we find a God of love. We find a God of Grace. We find a God of understanding. A God who offers second chances. A God who doesn't want perfect Christians but Christians who can be perfected.

Through the gift of Jesus, we find a God who loves us so much that He sent his only Son to prove that love on the cross. And that is enough to IGNITE any heart and any soul.

Mary Claire is right, that's the heart of the Gospel. And the heart of the Gospel changes everything. The heart of the Gospel is love. God's unconditional, unlimited, redemptive love which was shown in it's fullness on the cross of Christ.

That's what Nicodemus encountered that night when he came for that OUT OF SIGHT visit. That was the INSIGHT that INCITED his spirit and IGNITED his heart.

CONCLUSION:

As we conclude, let me you an example of what the power of that love is like. Let me tell you about a man named George who had a son named Ben.

After George's wife died of cancer, he struggled to raise their five children alone. Some of the children dealt with their grief by rebelling against their father. But all of them eventually straightened up. All of them except for Ben.

Ben's anger drove him to start fights at school. He began using drugs. And soon, Ben was stealing from his family to support his habit. When George tried to confront him, Ben knocked his father unconscious with a beer bottle and left him lying in a pool of blood. Finally, the family knew Ben had hit rock bottom when he stole his mother's jewelry and sold it to buy drugs.

For months, George searched the crack houses and homeless shelters for some sign of his son Ben. And then the call came. The voice didn't even sound like Ben's .It sounded old, tired, strained from infections and illnesses and nights spent on the street. Ben knew he'd done wrong. He was so sorry. Could he come home?

Of course, George said yes. Yet as Ben boarded the plane to return home, he wondered if his family would ever receive him back. And at the airport, he found his answer. There was George, along with the rest of the family, waving colorful signs declaring, "Welcome back, Ben. We love you!" (4)

That's the meaning of grace, God's amazing grace. Our God is a God of unconditional love, second chances and new life. Ben experienced that kind of love and that second chance.

So did Nicodemus. Because the meaning of "being born again, born anew, born from above." And that's the kind of love that INCITES the spirit and IGNITES the heart.

But it all starts with God. With God's love. And God's Gift. And it can't really be experienced if you are trying to be a part of the Secret Service. You see, this love and this gift are further empowered by our willingness to share it. Not hide it.

Let the Love and the Gift of God INCITE your spirit and IGNITE your heart. Experience again or even for the first time, that unconditional, unmerited, redemptive love of God in Christ.

1. The Protestant Hour Matthew 25:31-46, United Methodist Preacher Dr. Thomas Lane Butts, Jr. February 18, 1996

2. THE CONTEMPORARY PULPIT

3. From www.preachingplus.com Copyright 2002, Group Publishing

4. Mark Guy Pearce, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, August 19, 1987. Dale Galusha, www.pacificpress.com/signs

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