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Jolly Old Saint Nick
John 3:1-18
02/17/2008
There was a New York Times reporter who was assigned to a story in New Orleans. The first morning that he arrived, he went to a local restaurant and ordered pancakes. When he received his pancakes, he noticed a glob of grayish white substance on his plate. He asked the waitress what it was. She said it was grits. He shrugged it off and went about his day. The next morning, the reporter went to another local eatery and ordered ham and eggs. Again when his plate arrived, there was that glob of grayish white substance. And again he asked the waitress what that substance was. And again she said grits. By the third morning, as he was ordering waffles, he knew what was going to happen. When the waitress brought his plate with his waffles and grits, he said, “I have eaten at many restaurants in New Orleans. Each morning despite not asking for grits with my breakfast, I still receive grits. Can you tell me why I keep getting grits?” The waitress looked at him, puzzled, and responded, “Grits just is.” Grace is a lot like grits: “just is.” The text we read this morning contains John 3:16, probably the most quoted passage in all of scripture. Nicodemus was a man who knew he needed something. But he didn’t want a whole lot of others to know. In fact, the Bible tells us that he went looking for it at night, in the dark, sneaking around when no one else would see him. Why? Was he ashamed? Was it because this was something illegal? Something embarrassing? We can only guess.But, to Nicodemus’ credit, he had heard of the One who had the answer, Jesus of Nazareth. What was needed by Nick at night? Before we see that, I think it would be helpful to see what Nicodemus did not need.[1]Nicodemus did not need religiosity. He was a Pharisee. He believed in the resurrection and immortality. He was very strict in the observance of the Law. The Pharisees even tithed, as commended by Jesus. His religion taught that what was needed was to obey all these external commandments, and God would be pleased. From a child, he had sincerely been a Pharisee all his life. But Jesus and Nicodemus both knew that he needed something more than religion.
Today, America is more open to more forms of religion than ever before. Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Astrology, Satanism, New Age, Eastern Religions... 6 million people in this country called Miss Cleo! It is all quite religious, but people today are still empty. And even this morning in churches across this country, people fill pews but still are empty. They think that being a Christian means going to church and that’s it. I’m all for church, but being a Christian means more that sitting on a pew.
Signs and MiraclesSome think they could believe in Christ if only they could see a miracle. But I want you to know that Nicodemus, who was lost when he came to Jesus, had seen many signs and heard many firsthand accounts of the many miracles Jesus was doing, and still he did not recognize Jesus as anything more than a teacher.To be fair about it, the miracles did not turn him off. He was interested, but neither had they caused him to believe. So if you’re thinking today that, if only you could see a miracle, you would believe, you are fooling yourself. Jesus never said to Nicodemus, “What you need is a supernatural demonstration! What he needed was something else.Another teacher [2]Nicodemus recognized that Jesus was quite a teacher of God. He came to listen to Him. But he still needed something. And sometimes people fall into the trap of thinking that if only they knew enough, and they study, and they go to this seminar...and they come home as empty as ever. And they know the truth. What they need is something better.What, then, did Nicodemus need? The irony of this story is that Nick that night was standing right there looking at the only One he needed and His name was Jesus. He needed a relationship with this man!Jesus told this good, religious man, that he needed to be born again. What does that mean? again = ANO = “from above”It is something God does to you and for you. You can’t do it on your own.[5]Water = normal birth. Verse 4 makes this clear (not baptism)And Spirit = how it is applied to your life. When Jesus becomes our Savior, it is not because we had the good sense to do it. It happens because the Spirit of God is leading us into the truth.[8]What did Nicodemus need? Look at [verse 18]. In a sense, he needed something already on the plate. He needed forgiveness. The scriptures had always taught that the soul that sins shall die. But in Christ there is life eternal. Believe = faith, not mere mental assent Real faith produces fruit in our lives.Listen, if you love someone, you give. That means to your family, to your spouse, to God. That is a principle. Don’t tell me you love the Lord and don’t give of your resources and your time. How can I say that? Look at verse [16 a]God loved you and God gave the most expensive thing He could ever give, His Son. God loves you and does not want you to perish. He has prepared a place for you for all eternity and longs to have you, His child, live with Him and be in relationship with Him, from now on until eternity. He wants that so badly that He paid the price for you.
[v. 16]How does it happen? How do we appropriate what the Spirit leads us to? Four times in this passage Jesus explains it: Believe[14]Numbers 21: A disobedient people incurred the penalty from God. Fiery snakes began to bite them. And God gave them a choice. He commanded Moses to put a bronze serpent up on a pole. And whoever looked up in faith would live. Some did, some didn’t.And every human being has that choice to make. The Holy Spirit has set before us Jesus and the cross and the Spirit is giving us a choice of life and drawing us to Christ. What Nicodemus needed and what we need is to look up in faith and say, Thanks, Lord. That’s for me. Let’s enter a love relationship.” Jesus has promised to come into your life and make it new. Here he calls it being born again. It’s not the end, but the beginning. It’s like a fresh start. That’s great news. This is what we call the gospel. It will change our lives!You see, there’s more to this story. Nicodemus came one other time to Jesus, at least that we know about. That story is told in John 19. After Jesus was crucified, only two men had the courage to come to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus, so that he could have a decent burial. The first was Joseph of Arimathaea, who donated the tomb. The second man donated his courage and spices to properly anoint Christ’s body. Guess who the second man was: Nicodemus! I believe the scriptural evidence is that Nicodemus had a true change of heart that night. He had gone from a cowering inquirer to perhaps the bravest disciple. And I believe that when we have a true experience with Christ we ought to change.Lord Kenneth Clark, internationally known for his television series Civilization, lived and died without faith in Christ. He admitted in his autobiography that while visiting a beautiful church he had what he believed to be an overwhelming religious experience. “My whole being,” Clark wrote, “was irradiated by a kind of heavenly joy far more intense than anything I had known before.” But the “gloom of grace,” as he described it, created a problem. If he allowed himself to be influenced by it, he knew he would have to change, his family might think he had lost his mind, and maybe that intense joy would prove to be an illusion. So he concluded, “I was too deeply embedded in the world to change course.”This Lent God calls us to once again re-examine our faith. Is our relationship with Christ real? Are we simply religious? Are we trusting in our own righteousness? Do we really believe and receive the good news? And if so, has it changed us? Lord Kenneth Clark was right in that Christ’s joy makes us different. Will you be different?
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