ADVENT 2005 #3/5
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
Text: John 3:1-8
Can you believe that we are so close to Christmas day? It doesnt seem possible, does it? A little more than three weeks ago, we were having Thanksgiving dinners. Today, the fourth advent candle has been lighted. The conclusion has been inevitable: like the song says, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go.
One of the problems that I think that we run into as Christmas day fast approaches is that, even though it looks a lot like Christmas, it does not always feel a lot like Christmas. Now I'm not talking about the weather. The temperature has certainly given Christmas feelings - cold. The feelings to which I refer are those internal thoughts and emotions that move us toward or away from the meaning of Christmas. Is the season, once again, a time that we rush to prepare for and then look back afterwards to discover that it has zipped by without our awareness? I think firmly that one of the purposes of the church is to call us into awareness of the spectacular glory of Christmas. What is Christmas?
First and foremost, Christmas is the birth of the Messiah, whose name was given to be Jesus. It is the fulfillment of God's promise to save His people as described by prophets hundreds of years before. Christmas is Immanuel, which means, "God with us." These truths are not necessarily with us as we jostle to the checkout lines and wait - patiently? - for our turn. But we need these truths with us in order for it to feel like Christmas.
"For unto us a child is born," writes Isaiah. This child is born not because the world needs another male infant, but because God shares His divine love with us through His Son. Christmas is a time for sharing. We share gifts with family and friends, and we share resources that can help others in need. Through Jesus, God shared the gift of His kingdom. This is why we are looking at the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus instead of one of the traditional Christmas passages.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, 'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.'"
The encounter between Jesus and this religious ruler begins somewhat like that between Jesus and the rich young man, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus is clearly recognized as someone who stands apart from the typical person. Not because of dress or stature, but because of his teaching and devotion to God. It appears that Nicodemus, who Biblical scholars tell us was well off financially and politically, was searching for something that he had not yet found. So he came to speak with Jesus at night. We are told that he came at night so that he would not be noticed by other members of the Sanhedrin. This may be true; however, William Barclay adds: "The rabbis declared that the best time to study the law was at night when a man was undisturbed... It may well be that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night because he wanted an absolutely private and completely undisturbed time with Jesus." (William Barclay, The Gospel of John, vol. 1, p. 112)
Jesus shared his time with Nicodemus. He recognized that Nicodemus was searching - trying to fill in an unfulfilled part of his soul. So he said, almost mystically, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Imagine being Nicodemus trying to make sense of that without the benefit of the New Testament or even the event of the resurrection. Although a man of great learning, he had nothing to help him understand Jesus meaning. Born again? What is that supposed to mean?
The Greek word used for "again" can carry at least three different meanings. It can mean from the beginning, completely, and radically. Or it can carry with it the sense of doing something over for the second time. It can also mean from above and, therefore, from God. Barclay writes, "To be born again is to undergo such a radical change that it is like a new birth; it is to have something happen to the soul which can only be described as being born all over again; and the whole process is not a human achievement, because it comes from the grace and the power of God." (p. 114)
This is what God has shared with all of humanity. This is the gift of God lying in the manger, who the shepherds came to see. This is the gift which Simeon and Anna recognized at the Jerusalem temple as the fulfillment of God's revelation of salvation. Sharing in this context goes well beyond something that is nice to do at Christmas time. It becomes a part of the essence of life itself.
Through the gift of Jesus, we have been given access into the Kingdom of God; we have been made as children of God; we have been given eternal life with God. All of these are products of entering into the perfect will of God. So it is that the gift of rebirth comes in. Through our own strength, we are quite unable to give to God our perfect obedience. Only when God shares His gift of grace by taking possession of us and changing us can we share with God the devotion we ought to have. As with Nicodemus, it is Jesus Christ who works such a change in us. Through Jesus we are reborn. He enters in and the change comes.
When we receive God's gift, we are "born of water and the Spirit." Water is cleansing. We take baths and showers to clean us from the accumulation of a day's activities. Jesus uses it here as a symbol of that same cleansing. When Jesus takes possession of our lives, when we love him with all our heart, the sins of the past are forgiven and forgotten. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
The Spirit is the symbol of power. Not only is our past forgiven and forgotten, there is also a new power that enters in. With God's power, we are enabled to do those things which we could never do alone. Water and the Spirit stand for the cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ, which wipes out the past and which gives us victory in the future.
In this passage, John shares with us the same great truth that Jesus shared with Nicodemus: that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. We, by ourselves, are flesh, and our power is limited to what the flesh can do. Sometimes that's not very much. We can be defeated and frustrated. But the Spirit is different. The Spirit is the power and the life which extend far beyond human power and human life. When the Spirit takes hold of us, we are changed from the defeated life of human nature to the victorious life of God.
This is what began with Jesus' birth. This is why we celebrate, year after year, Christmas. Because of Christmas, we have been given that opportunity to be born again - made whole - renewed. We rejoice alongside those who recognized the meaning of the humble birth and rejoiced. They rejoiced because they saw salvation in the flesh. They rejoiced because they saw God's promises made real. They rejoiced because they knew that they were made citizens of the Kingdom which God promised, proclaimed, and fulfilled. Is it any wonder that we celebrate Christmas? It would be a greater wonder if we did not.
Even though our lives become rushed and pushed and harried this time of the year, let us nonetheless be glad because we have something to celebrate. We have God's gift of love which brings us true life and redemption. This is a great time of the year to be busy sharing our love for God because He shared His love for us.
Rev. Charles A. Layne
First Baptist Church
Bunker Hill, Indiana
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org