Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, wanting to discuss with Jesus all
the miraculous signs that he had heard Jesus was performing for the people.
"Rabbi," Nicodemus said, "no one can do these signs that You do unless God
is with Him." Jesus speaks instead about Baptism. "Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Dear Christian friends,
At some time or other, every Christian feels the need to have some sort of
sign or evidence that God is truly in his or her life.
· For some Christians, this happens during times of great loneliness
or doubt or hardship. In the midst of his struggle, a suffering Christian
will deeply desire some sort of assurance, some indication or signal from
God, that everything is finally going to be okay.
· Other Christians desire a sign from God when they are agonizing
over major decisions in life, such as whether to change jobs; whether to
move to another town; whether to marry this girl or that one. If God could
just give me some small indication that He is guiding me all of this, my
horrible decisions would not seem quite so horrible.
· Still other Christians will look at their ongoing struggle with sin
and despairingly think that God could not possibly remain with such a sinful
person. Some sort of sign or assurance would be most comforting during the
dark night of the soul.
If you find yourself every once in a while searching or wishing you could
have a special sign from God, today's Gospel is for you. Nicodemus sought
exactly the same thing-and he thought he had found it in the miracles he saw
Jesus perform. "Rabbi," Nicodemus said, "no one can do these signs that You
do unless God is with Him."
This Gospel takes place during those early, heady days of Jesus'
humiliation, when He was rocketing toward popularity and when everyone still
loved Him. The signs Jesus had been performing seemed like indescribably
wonderful things: water had been turned to wine (John 2:1-10), people had
been healed and demons had been exorcised (John 2:23). These signs make
Nicodemus feel good. These signs make Nicodemus feel like he has finally
tapped into something deeply spiritual. These signs make Nicodemus feel as
though all his prayers are answered and all his worries can be put to rest.
So Nicodemus to Jesus. He wants to talk with Jesus about the wondrous things
he had seen Jesus do because those things make Nicodemus feel the way he so
deeply wants to feel. "Rabbi," Nicodemus said, "no one can do these signs
that You do unless God is with Him."
Jesus will have nothing to do with that conversation. Rather than going
along with the conversation Nicodemus was attempting to initiate, Jesus
immediately changes the subject and speaks instead about Baptism. "Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God."
This is a rather stunning turn of events. Jesus does not want to speak about
the very miracles He had performing! This is because Jesus wants to speak
about something greater, something more assuring, something more comforting,
something that remain with you forever. Jesus does not want to talk about
turning water into wine or about healing people or about exorcising demons
because Jesus wants to talk about Baptism.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God. unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the kingdom of God.. You must be born again.
It is as if Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Do you want to talk about My truly
great miracle that comes from God? Do you want to know where your true
comforts and true assurances are found? Here it is: you must be born again,
born from above, born of water and the Spirit. Forget the healings and the
exorcisms! Don't worry about how the water was turned into wine! All those
miracles had to do with the physical body, and not a single one of them will
last! Water that has been turned to wine passes through the body whether it
is water or it is wine and soon is gone. That paralytic over there is
walking again, but he will only be walking as far as the grave. Let's see
what good his new legs do for him when he is dead. And that blind man over
there who now can see-those eyes will grow dim again, they will again lose
their sight and finally close in death. I might even raise a person or two
up from the dead before this Gospel reaches its conclusion, but I will only
be delaying the inevitable. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God. There is but one sign that is truly
significant for your eternal life; one sign that will give you on-going
assurances that God is with you and will never leave you: You must be born
again!"
This is a very important Gospel, Christians, because we are a sin-riddled
people; because we are lonely people and grieving people. This is a very
important Gospel because we are people who never outgrow our need for a sign
from God: a sign that He loves us; a sign that He truly has not grown weary
of us; a sign that He will always be with us. This is an important Gospel
because it teaches us with clarity and simplicity where to look for our
sign: God's miracle of Baptism.
There is nothing greater-there is no other sign or miracle that God might
perform-that will give you more than what you have been given God's miracle
of your Baptism.
· In miracle of your Baptism, God your heavenly Father grafted you
into His Son, Jesus, in the same way that a gardener might graft the shoot
of a tree into a well-established root. This graft-this inseparable
connection between you and Jesus that Baptism gives to you-also promises you
that everything good thing from Jesus continually flows to you. In a grafted
plant, nutrients and life flow up from the stem, through a graft, and into
the new plant. In the same way, Jesus on-going forgiveness and life flow
from Him, through your Baptism, and into you unceasingly.
· In the miracle of your Baptism, God your heavenly Father gave you a
second birth-a birth from above-and nobody can take your birth away from
you. People may take away your clothing, your house and your family. They
make take your limbs and your senses and even your life. Be that as it may,
no one can take your birth away from you! Just as surely as no one can take
your birth away from you, so certainly and without doubt can no one take
your second birth, your new birth away from you. No matter what you shall
experience in this life, no matter what suffering may be imposed on you or
what shame you may call down upon yourself, your second birth remains
forever!
"Rabbi," Nicodemus said, "no one can do these signs that You do unless God
is with Him." Nicodemus thought that the miracles were absolutely great.
Jesus wants Nicodemus to know-just as He wants you and me to know and to
never lose sight of the fact-that there is no greater miracle for you than
you Baptism. Even if God should appear right here and miraculously heal your
body or miraculously give you your loved ones back, those things will still
be taken away from you again, just as the new sight given to the blind man
and the new legs given to the paralytic were finally taken by death.
The preaching of the Word and the celebration of Holy Communion are also
signs and miracles from God. But these miracles are not like God's miracle
of Baptism. Preaching can be taken away from you. Holy Communion can be
taken away from you. If you doubt it, just ask our Lutheran brothers and
sisters in the Ukraine and Russian and Siberia who somehow survived the days
of the Soviet tyranny. Preaching and Holy Communion can be taken away from
you, but your Baptism cannot be taken away. Your Baptism is God's on-going
sign and miracle for you that you can never lose! Your Baptism is God's
continual assurance to you that you shall never wear out His patience and
that He shall never be too far from you. Your Baptism is God's river of life
welling up within you, continually supplying you with forgiveness of sins,
and life, and salvation.
"Rabbi," Nicodemus said, "no one can do these signs that You do unless God
is with Him." Is it any wonder that Jesus answers the way He answers?
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God." With these words, Jesus draws Nicodemus up short, spins him
around, and heads him into a different direction-the life-giving and eternal
direction. Jesus wants to talk about Baptism: "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Do you want to
talk about My truly great miracle, the greatest miracle that comes from God?
Here it is: you must be born again, born from above, born of water and the
Spirit."
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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