FEBRUARY 17, 2008  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

The text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for the second Sunday in Lent, John 3:

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." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him

Dear Christian friends,

At one time or another, every Christian feels the need to have some sort of sign or evidence that God is truly part of and working 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, the suffering Christian will deeply desire some sort of assurance, some indication or signal from God, that everything is finally going to be okay.

In fact, if God could just give me some small indication that He is guiding me in 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 made Nicodemus feel good.

These signs made Nicodemus feel like he had finally tapped into something deeply spiritual.

These signs made Nicodemus feel as though all his prayers had been answered and all his worries could be put to rest.

So Nicodemus went to Jesus. He wanted to talk with Jesus about the wondrous things he had seen Jesus do because those things made Nicodemus feel the way he so deeply wanted to feel. "Rabbi," Nicodemus said, "no one can do these signsthat You do unless God is with Him."

However, Jesus was going to have nothing to do with that kind of conversation. Rather than going along with the conversation Nicodemus was attempting to initiate, Jesus immediately changed the subject and spoke 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 did not want to speak about the very miracles He had performed! Instead, Jesus wanted to speak about something greater, something more assuring, something more comforting, something that can and will remain with people like you forever.

Jesus did not want to talk about turning water into wine or about healing people or about exorcising demons; Jesus wanted to talk about Baptism.

Jesus said, "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 wanted Nicodemus to know-just as He wants you 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 answered 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 drew Nicodemus up short, spun him around, and headed him into a different direction-the life-giving and eternal direction. Jesus told him 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."

Born again, because Christ Is Risen.

AMEN