Born Again (John 3.1-8)

Introduction

Well, welcome Niall to the community of people who want to learn more about God’s amazing love and grow in faith.

We say at the beginning of the ceremony “In baptism the Lord is adding to our number those whom he is calling.” Baptism doesn’t make you a Christian. Baptism shows that you want to be one and that God is already working in your life. God loved us before it ever even occurred to us that we could love him.

Some people get baptized when they are old enough to say “This is what I want to do, this is my choice.” We had three people who were baptized in that way last month.

Some people get baptized when their parents say “This is how we want to bring our children up. We identify with Christianity as a family and we want our children to know that these are our values.”

Some dress up to be baptized. Others come just as they are.

Some get baptized with a trickle of water on the head. (The main health and safety issue there is to not drop the baby before he or she goes back to the parents).

Other people get fully immersed in the water. (The main health and safety issue there is to remember to pull them up again before they drown)!

The Outside and the Inside

What’s important is not really the form of the ceremony itself. The important thing is what’s going on inside.

The Bible says that people look at outward appearances, but God looks at the heart. He looks deeper. He sees what’s on the inside.

Let me explain how that works. We’ve all been to weddings haven’t we? Think of a wedding you’ve been to, maybe the last wedding you went to.

Let me ask you a question. What do you remember most about that wedding? Maybe or the dress, or the bells… perhaps the cake (I always remember the cake), or if you notice flowers it might be the poesy and buttonholes. Or the best man forgetting the rings, maybe the confetti, or the smiles and tears… Those things are all part of what makes a wedding day special; different to other days.

But what would you think if, as soon as the wedding was over, the bride and groom went on separate honeymoons, settled in different towns and lived miserably ever after?

You see, the really important thing about a wedding is not the dress, the rings and the bells; it’s the love between the bride and groom and their promise to go on loving each other whatever happens after that. So we remember the visual details in a wedding but God remembers the love of the bride and groom. People look at outward appearances, but God looks at the heart.

And with baptism, it’s the same. It’s great to remember the things that make you smile today, and let’s celebrate. Let’s have a party! But let’s remember what’s at the heart of all this as well.

God loves you, Niall, and he is calling you to know him.

There’s a prayer in the Bible that says:

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

Who Said That?

Someone once said to me, “I want to be a Christian, but I don’t want to be, you know, a happy clappy sort of Christian.” I didn’t say it but I thought to myself “Would you rather be an unhappy clappy one?” He could see I was thinking about that so he said, “I just want to be a normal Christian. I don’t want to be one of those born again types.”

Where did this expression “born-again” come from? It sounds sort of American doesn’t it? Those evangelists you see on TV often talk about being a born again believer.

So it comes as a surprise to some people that the phrase “born again” was not in fact coined by Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. It wasn’t invented by Billy Graham or Cliff Richard or even Mother Teresa.

If you’ve ever read the Gospels, you’ll remember that the first person to use the expression “born again” was none other than Jesus himself.

What he said was written down in John’s Gospel, chapter 3 and we're going to read from that passage now…

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’

Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’

‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’

Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are 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.^’

Spiritual Searching

So here’s this man Nicodemus who can see there is something different about Jesus so he comes to him one night with some questions. Why doesn’t he speak to him in broad daylight? Maybe he is afraid of being associated with a controversial figure like Jesus. Perhaps he just wants to know a bit more before deciding to come out into the light and follow Jesus.

Whatever it is, Nicodemus is searching for something; for answers, for truth. He knows there is an empty place in his heart. Do you feel like that sometimes, that you haven’t really found what you’re looking for in life yet? Some kind of spiritual longing… so he comes to Jesus and tells him what’s on his mind.

A Surprise at the End of the Trail

Jesus looks at him and says, “Nicodemus, you know what? You need to be born again.” In fact, he says, “Very truly I tell you…” Whenever Jesus said “Very truly I tell you” it meant that he was about to say something really important, really significant. “Very truly I tell you no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

What does it mean, “born again”? The Bible explains this experience in many different ways (it talks about new life, redemption, regeneration, conversion, justification, salvation, reconciliation - but it’s just different ways of saying the same thing).

You can call it what you want; the thing is has it happened to you? Have you been born again? Does Christ live in you? Do you know it?

“You must be born again” Jesus says.

I have a friend who has thought for a long time about Jesus and Christian faith and yet has never said, “Right, that’s it. I am going to follow Jesus from now on.” He has never really made a commitment. Are you committed to Jesus Christ?

Nicodemus must have been shocked when Jesus said, “You must be born again.” He must have thought “What me?” He was a big cheese. He was one of the really important religious leaders of his time. He fasted two days a week. He had to spend two hours every day in prayer. All the people in his group gave away a tenth of their income to charity. He was a good, upright citizen. Everybody respected people like him.

Why did Jesus say that he had to be born again? Surely he could see that he was pious enough. Because Jesus could read his heart. People look at outward appearances, remember, but God looks at the heart. Jesus saw that Nicodemus was devoutly religious but he had not yet found friendship with God.

Nicodemus might have thought, “Well, I’m religious. I believe. Isn’t that enough?” “No it’s not,” says Jesus. “You must be born again.”

I used to believe that because I had been christened (aged 2 months), and took my first Holy Communion (aged 6), went to a school run by nuns (aged 5-11), and had got confirmed (aged 12) that that was it. That was all I needed to book my ticket to heaven.

But Jesus would take one look at me and say, “Yes, but what about when you went massively off the rails between the ages of 12 and 17? You must be born again.”

It wasn’t until I discovered (aged 17) that all that was just the outward appearance. God looked into my heart. And Jesus said “You must be born again.” I had to experience new birth or I was no better off.

Some people say “Well, I’ve lived a pretty good life and I’ve done more good things than bad things. I’m sure I’m all right.” But Jesus says “No you’re not. You must be born again.”

Nicodemus had to understand that this is not like giving Jesus a lift in his car. It’s about saying, “Jesus, here’s the keys and the papers. The car’s yours. You drive me.”

You must be born again.

Some people ask the question: “What is this second birth?” Nicodemus asked that question too: “How can someone be born when he is old?”

Life is completely different for a baby when it’s born. There’s space, there’s light, you can see for the first time, there are clothes to wear, there are new sounds. In the same way, when you’re born again your life changes forever. Last week Rose was just beaming from ear to ear telling us how her life has been transformed. She’s come out of darkness into light. She’s born again!

But there is a mystery to new birth as well. Jesus said, “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.^’”

I was out walking in a swirling wind on Wednesday. Honestly, it totally messed up my hair! But it was impossible to predict which direction the wind was going to come from next or where it was going to blow afterwards. But I could see the result. There were leaves and bits of rubbish blowing about everywhere. There were branches on the ground.

Jesus says that being born again is something like that. You can’t figure out exactly how it works but you know when it has - because things are different from the way they were before.

Simple as ABC

“You must be born again.” If this is all double-Dutch to you, let me tell you how you can experience this spiritual rebirth.

I like to think about in easy to remember terms; ABC.

Firstly, "a" is for admit. We all need to admit that we have not always lived like we know we should have done. If you’re not sure about that, imagine, if it were possible, that we could project on that screen all your thoughts in the last week. Who’d be relaxed to have all that up there for everyone to see? So “a” is for admitting to God “I’m a sinner, and I’m sorry.”

Secondly, “b” is for believe. We need to believe that Jesus is who he says he is. This is faith. Even Jewish and Roman historians in the First Century wrote about Jesus and said he did miracles, died, was seen live afterwards and gathered followers. Either he was a deranged lunatic, or he was an ingenious con man or he is the real deal. Billions of people down the years have come to the conclusion that he is who he says he is. Do you believe it?

Finally, “c” is for come. Jesus said “Follow me.” That is always personal but it’s never private. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Are you willing to follow Jesus in a new life of obedience?

Ending

If there is a doubt in your mind about whether you have been born again or not, I hope you will settle it this morning. Don’t put it off any longer because the Bible says “Now is the accepted time; ... [today] is the day of salvation.”

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 21st April 2013