You Were Found First

Transcript

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[0:02] Well, now it's time for the sermon text, and that's from the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 1 through 17. There's a verse or two in here that you might have heard before. Pretty exciting. So it's a pretty famous passage.

[0:19] What's great about it, and since it's Trinity Sunday, is every member of the Trinity is mentioned in this passage, and that's probably why it was chosen today in the lectionary. And when I preach on this, I'm only going to really be focusing on this text, more or less, and so I'm going to say about the Trinity what this text says about the Trinity. There's other things about the Trinity in other parts of the Bible, but I'm not going to preach on them today. That doesn't mean that I don't believe them or that they're neglected or anything like that. It's just we're going to go with the text, so sort of text-oriented. Same thing last week when I talked about the Spirit from John. There's a description of what the Spirit does, but there's other places in the Bible where the Scripture talks about what the Spirit does, but last week I only preached on that section. So that's not a deficiency. It's just kind of using the text as a guide. So today we're going to focus on somebody named Nicodemus and his encounter with Jesus, and I want you to listen for what I would call a disconnect, okay? People talking at very different levels. Nicodemus is talking on this level. Jesus is talking on this level. I think above is probably better.

[1:20] Maybe they're just further apart. I'm not sure. Nicodemus isn't above Jesus, but maybe far away. And above. So I want to try to explore what's happening here and what it has to do with the Trinity. And I want to make a note on verse 3, which is famous and culturally relevant. In verse 3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, you must be born again. And you've heard this phrase before. It's pretty famous, and we talk about born-again Christians, and we believe we're born again. The Greek word there is anothen, and actually has four possible meanings. One is could. Could be from above. So you could say you must be born from above. Or from an earlier period, so you need to be born from the past. Or from the first, which is similar in an idea to from an earlier period. Or anew, or again. And that's the meaning that Nicodemus understands it as, because he asks a question that really kind of shows that that's how he thought about it, as being born one more time from his mother. But it's possible that, as we read this, what Jesus is saying, is that actually Nicodemus misunderstands Jesus. It's possible. And Jesus is actually saying you must be born from above. But we keep saying that we should be born again. And that's not wrong either.

[2:37] The beauty of Greek is sometimes when a word carries multiple meanings, here it has about three major meanings, they could all be working. You know, I wouldn't rule all of any of these out necessarily. Okay? So let's go to our reading with that sort of caveat about verse 3. John 3, 1 through 17. And it goes like this from the New Living Translation. There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening he came to speak with Jesus.

[3:11] Rabbi, he said, we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you. Jesus replied, I tell you the truth. Unless you are born again. Or literally born from above. You cannot see the kingdom of God.

[3:31] What do you mean? Exclaimed Nicodemus. How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again? Jesus replied, I assure you no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life. But the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised. When I say you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going. So you can't explain how people are born of the spirit.

[4:13] How are these things possible? Nicodemus asked. Jesus replied, you are a respected Jewish teacher. And yet you don't understand these things. I assure you. We tell you what we know and have seen. And yet you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when I tell you about earthly things. How can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the son of man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness. So the son of man must be lifted up. So that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For this is how God has made us. God loved the world. He gave his one and only son. So that everyone who believes in him will not perish. But have eternal life. God sent his son into the world not to judge the world. But to save the world through him. Let's pray.

[5:12] Father thank you for this word. We pray that you add your blessing to it in Jesus name. In the spirit's name. Amen. Well. Nicodemus is a bit of a. Mysterious person. I'm going to talk. Just. I'm going to tell you all the places where we kind of know anything about him. Right. He appears here in John chapter 3. Then twice more in the gospel of John. Once. In chapter 7 to ask that Jesus get a fair hearing. He cares. He cares. It's clear that he is interested in Jesus. Comes to Jesus to get some more information. And in chapter 7 insists that Jesus should get a fair hearing in front of the authorities. And then. In chapter 19 he helps bury Jesus. So. He cares for the body of Jesus after Jesus dies. Now the thing about Nicodemus is that he comes to Jesus. But he comes to Jesus at night. This is important. Why would you come to somebody at night? Because you don't want other people seeing what you're doing. He's kind of sneaking around. He. His. His Pharisee friends would be mad at him. Maybe you know be like what. Why are you talking to him? He doesn't seem like the right person for you to talk to. So.

[6:19] But what he has. He has seen. And his. His curiosity. Is somewhat. Peaked. Because Jesus has done some miraculous signs. And if you read in the Gospel of John. You read about the miraculous signs of Jesus. And they happen. Both before and after this chapter. Right. He does all sorts of things. So. There's something going on. And so this. Inside Nicodemus. You can just imagine. The Pharisee side of him is. Must be thinking. Well. I can't really be seen with him. Because. He's not a Pharisee. And he's. Acting like a Pharisee. He's acting like a teacher. But we don't think he's. We're not sure about him yet. We don't think he's quite. The right person. But at the same time. As some other Pharisees were probably thinking. But he's doing miracles. How could he do miracles. Unless God was with him. And if God is with him. Should we be listening. To what he's saying. So it's a bit of a quandary for Nicodemus. But he goes to Jesus at night to find out. And so he. He's convinced though. He says. Rabbi. We all know that. That God has sent you to teach us. So. Nicodemus is now. At the point where he says. We've got to hear a little bit more from Jesus. Right. So Jesus does begin to teach. Nicodemus. There's like no time. There's no time. Jesus doesn't say.

[7:30] Yep. That's right. No. He just starts teaching. But. Jesus starts teaching in riddles. Right away. It's like. That's the disconnect. Okay. Nicodemus is. Asking for a teaching. Jesus starts giving a teaching. But he gives a difficult teaching. In verse 3. Now. These are not parables. They're. Parables are different than this. This is kind of. A word play. That points to something. Bigger. And what does Jesus says. Unless you are born again. Or born from above. You cannot enter. The kingdom.

[8:02] And. Nicodemus. Is confused. Now. Here's the misunderstanding. He thinks Jesus means. Be born. Again. Be born one more time. And. And again. Like I say. I think that's. A good translation. But you could also say born from above. Unless you're born again. You cannot enter the kingdom of. Of. The enter the kingdom of heaven. And. And. Nicodemus. Comes at it.

[8:25] With. What I would call logic. In sort of. Objective. Fact based. Kind of thinking. And says. Well. How is that possible. How can I be physically. Born again. How can anyone. Actually do that. Like it's just. It's just. Won't work. It would. It would. Not work. Right. It just doesn't work physically. Right. But Jesus. So then Jesus begins to explain. But there's more riddles. There's more riddles. Right. So he says. You have to be born again. You have to be born from above. You have to be born. Of the water. You have to be born. Of the spirit.

[9:01] And. So there's more riddles. And all of those things. Really are pointing. To the same thing. They're not different kinds. Of being born. They're all sort of being. Talking about one thing. Which is really about. Coming to faith. And understanding. What the gospel is. So he says. You have to be born. Of the spirit. And now. The Holy Spirit.

[9:18] Makes an appearance. Right. So we've got. We know that God's. At the end. God's at the beginning. God's at the end. Jesus is here. Now the spirit is here. So we've got the trinity. So we can go home. We're good. We've got. Got it all done. No. Just kidding. The spirit is here. Jesus talks about the spirit. But then Jesus says. A few more riddles. Because the spirit is mysterious too. This is what Jesus says. The spirit goes where it wants. And it does what it wants. It's just like the wind. That blows any direction it pleases. At any time. Now here. I. I think that's actually true. Because. Sometimes it seems like. Always. The wind is coming from the north. From the bay. But then other times. It's blowing that way. Other times. It's blowing that way. So it really just depends. Right. Now we know. Weather patterns. Are a bigger thing than that. But. The. The physical. The physical comparison. That. That Jesus is making. Is that. We. At any given moment. When the wind's blowing. You don't know. If it's going to. Change direction. Or become still. Or turn into. Something else. And. Jesus says. The spirit is like that.

[10:21] It blows. Where it wants. And the word for spirit. And wind. Are the same word. Often. Right. So we're going to come back. To this. Misunderstanding. But what we want to do now. Is get to know. The trinity. Better. We're going to come back. To Jesus. And Nicodemus. In just a little bit. But.

[10:37] In this reading. I'm just going to list. For you. All the things. That are said about. God the father. God the son. And God the holy spirit. So that we can kind of have them all. As a list. This is a useful list.

[10:51] The cosmos. Remember the cosmos. The cosmos. Is that part of creation. That's actively opposed to God. And wants to destroy God. God so loves that. That part of the world. That hates him. So God the father. Loves the world. God loves the world. And gives his son for it. God the son. So that's God the father. God the son. Gives miraculous signs. That invite faith. Or at least. Interest. Right. There's something happening. Jesus makes. Does miraculous signs. The son.

[11:21] And the father. And the spirit. The son has come down from heaven. The son is lifted up. On the cross. In a way that saves people from death. The son is given by the father. To save the world. There's a lot going on here. The son doesn't judge the world. But saves it through the father. Do you see all these interconnections going on here? Now finally. God the holy spirit. Is the source. From which the new life flows. The spirit is the source of that new life. God the holy spirit. gives spiritual life, and that means that he brings people to faith. We're going to talk about that. The Spirit brings people to faith, and the Spirit does what it wants. The Spirit is kind of like an eight-year-old child, you know, a little bit, or a three-year-old child. It just does what it wants. It's not like that. It's something that can't be controlled, contained, put into a box, packaged, figured out, or anything like that. The Holy Spirit is part of that mystery, and it goes and it does amazing, beautiful things, and will surprise you every time. It really will. So the Spirit does what it wants. It can't be controlled. It goes where it wants. And how it gives this spiritual life. Jesus says this. You can't even understand how the Spirit gives this

[12:40] spiritual life. It can't be explained. It's a mystery. So that's the larger point. Remember, always Victoria preaches the sermon before the sermon, and it's right. The Trinity is a bit mysterious, right? It's hard for us to wrap our heads around. We come at it with logic and observable fact-finding like Nicodemus. We come up with analogies like apples or eggs or pies. You've probably heard some of these comparisons. They're all defective in the sense that they don't fully describe the Trinity because they can't. But they're useful. I'm not saying we shouldn't use them. We should, especially for children, to kind of help them learn that there's three in one. Things like that. But these things don't get us that much closer. And Nicodemus doesn't get that much closer. Now, I'm kind of sad for Nicodemus because he asked for a bit of teaching and he gets this set of riddles, which maybe takes him a lifetime to finally get to, you know? And he maybe had to see Jesus die to kind of start getting all this. He kind of had to understand how God actually wants to love. And save the world that wants to destroy it and destroy his son. So I want you to do something real quick. Turn to 884 in your hymnal. Go ahead and take out that

[13:57] blue hymnal. People at home, I keep meaning to say this, if you're at home and you can't get to the church, I'm going to send you an email this week. If you want a hymnal at home, we have extras and we will deliver a hymnal to your house so you can sing along with the notes for some of these songs that we sing from the hymnal. But then you can do things like this. So 884 is Luther's explanation to the Apostles' Creed. It's really good. If you look at the page opposite, you'll see something called the Barmen Declaration, which we're probably going to read part of on July 4th because it talks about the dangers of ultra-nationalism. Now, there's a difference between nationalism and patriotism. One is much better than the other by far, let me tell you. So, but there's some great things in our hymnal. It's a great resource. But I'm going to read that section where Martin Luther talks about the Trinity and he He treats each member of the Trinity. And so this is what he says. What do we confess about God, the Father Almighty?

[14:56] I believe that God has created me and all that exists. He has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers. He provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day. God also protects me in time of danger and guards me from every evil. All this he does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it. Therefore, I surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey him. This is most certainly true. Have you noticed that Luther has a way with words? Even in German, it must have been better, but this is translated from older German, right? What do we confess about Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, Son of the Father from eternity and true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, saved me at great cost from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious suffering and death. All this he has done that I may be his own. Isn't that beautiful? That you may be his own. All this he has done that I may be his own. All this he has done that I may be his own. Live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

[16:24] Just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true. And finally, what do we confess about the Holy Spirit? And this is the part we're going to focus on a little bit here. Pay attention to certain parts of this passage here. What do we believe about, what do we confess about the Holy Spirit? I believe that I cannot, by my own understanding, or efforts, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith and with the whole church body on earth and in heaven. Amen.

[17:16] In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth And the sins of all believers. On the last day, he will raise me and all the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true. Isn't that great? This is good stuff. Now, I want to be really clear. What I just read is not scripture. It's not at all scripture. It's Martin Luther's opinion about the Apostles' Creed, which is also not scripture. The creeds are not scripture. We read the Nicene Creed this morning. The Nicene Creed is not scripture. But the Nicene Creed is derived from scripture. And after great deliberation by early church leaders. And just so you know, the Evangelical Covenant Church, which this church is a member congregation of, actually says in its own foundational documents that we appreciate things like the Apostles, the Nicene Creed, the Nicene, Nicene? I'm having trouble. Probably need a cup of water. I don't. The Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, even the Athanasian Creed. But those are at a lower position than scripture itself. Scripture itself is of the highest authority. And these other creeds are useful, helpful, but they're not determinative of faith.

[18:36] Okay? So that's an important thing to remember. But here we have in these creeds, and the creeds, many of them, really, the goal of the creeds, especially the Nicene Creed, was to lay out an understanding of the Trinity. That's why we're talking about it today, because of the Trinity. And Martin Luther was trying to flesh it out.

[18:58] Now, one of the things you probably heard in that section about the Holy Spirit, and this is kind of interesting, and this is tough for evangelicals, is a challenge to the idea that you chose to have faith in Jesus Christ. Right? And I know, I feel in my own way, I probably feel like I chose to believe in Jesus. But if you look at our passage for today, and other passages in scripture, and even some of the creeds and things like that, there really is this thinking that you don't entirely come to faith all by yourself, but that the Holy Spirit has a really important role to play when you do come to faith. Last week, we heard that the Spirit will lead us into all truth. That's one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit that John mentions, or Jesus mentions in the Gospel of John. And so that truth is about the Son, it's the truth about the Gospel. So what does that mean? It kind of means that we can't really get that truth without the leading, or the guiding, or the companionship of the Holy Spirit. This is a bit abstract, I get that, you know. But it's important. It's important. Because if we think, here's the problem, if we think that our faith is our decision, our work, that we came to it by a rational point of view,

[20:25] then we're acting a little bit more like Nicodemus in this story. Do you get that? We're saying, well, how can physically, can somebody be born again? Like missing, that there's a whole spiritual, mysterious side to this, where God is working to save the world through his Son, and in ways that we can't quite understand. And so, you know, we can't quite explain to you, but the Spirit has power to make it happen. So you can't understand spiritual things without the Spirit. So in our reading from Romans 8, this is what Paul says, and Adele read this earlier. She says, Now we call him Abba, Father, for his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. So his Spirit and our Spirit join together to enable us to call God the Father, Father. Abba is Father, or Daddy.

[21:14] So when you put all this together, I, and listen, you can absolutely disagree. It's okay. If you are really sold on the idea, and that's okay, that you came to faith all by your own decision, I'm not going to tell you you're wrong. All I'm saying is that there's a lot of evidence in Scripture that the Holy Spirit had a really big role in bringing you to faith. Okay?

[21:39] The Spirit is involved. He calls you. He enlightens you. He gifts you. He leads you. He brings you into all the truth. Right? So the problem is that we're a bit like Nicodemus. Right? We think in physical terms. Things we can touch and control and explain and make decisions and judgments about. This is natural for us. We want to actually touch, control, sort of categorize things. And so we ask, how is this miracle of being born again possible? I must have to do something to get it. But what does Jesus say in verse 8? He says, Because you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit. It's a mystery and a miracle and a paradox, but it's real. And now this is where I really want to end up. Okay? Because this is the part where I think it's really beautiful what the Spirit does. If, and I mean if, you can come to believe that the Spirit was instrumental in bringing you to faith, then I want you to consider this. Okay? Consider these next ideas. At some point, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, considered you. Just think about that. At some point in time, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit said, We're going to save the whole world through the Son. Right?

[22:59] Let's do it for and through George or Natalie or insert your name here. Let's do it in and through this world. Let's do it for and through this person. You. And he looked at you. The Trinity looked at you. Maybe even before you were born. Right? Maybe even before time began, which is kind of crazy. If you want more mysteries, you can keep stacking them up on top of each other. And God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit said, We're going to save this person. That's you. We're going to save this person from their sin through the suffering and death of the Son. Right? And when the time was right, the Father and the Son, sent the Spirit to you.

[23:45] There was a moment maybe that it happened. It could be at your baptism. It could be at Bible camp. It could be when somebody was talking to you, a friend, a parent. Right? And in that moment, the Spirit did a miracle. Something that you can't explain. It may have spoken to you or prodded you to open up a book. Right? Or listen to somebody teaching. That little hint, that the Spirit brings. And the Spirit keeps sending little hints and jabs at you, at your side. And says, Go do this. Go say something. Go talk to that person. Right? Or, open yourself up to what Jesus has for you. Okay? So even though it feels like you chose, and on some level you absolutely did, or at least you didn't reject it, the Spirit had been laying all this groundwork in your life. And in heaven there was this rejoicing at the moment. That the Spirit was able to lead you into all truth. So there was this moment, absolutely, where you came to faith. And we think, or I believe, that the Spirit had a big role in it. So amen to that. So I want us to actually hear some of these stories. So we keep talking about this. And we want to have testimonies here in church about how people came to believe. We really want to do that. So if you get tapped on the shoulder someday,

[25:04] to come up and talk for about five minutes about how you came to believe. We want to hear those things. Okay? That's a goal. But now ask yourself, why me? Right? What's so special about me? Right? God loves the whole world.

[25:19] You can say, why me? Doesn't the whole world have to do something? Yeah, God loves the whole world. But the whole world has not yet responded to the work of the Spirit. Not yet. There's a lot of, in fact, there's so many more people who haven't responded to it than who have. So we're definitely in a minority here, right? God loves the whole world, but the whole world has not yet responded to it. So you say again, why me? Why me? And the answer is, we don't know.

[25:47] It's a mystery. It's a mystery. Don't try to figure it out. It's a gift. It came to you. It's like the best gift in the world. It's better than winning the lottery. I don't even know what the lottery is up to right now. I don't care. You can't win it anyways.

[26:03] But this is better. This is a bigger jackpot. Okay? I don't know why this exact group of people are in this room at this moment, but God does. I'm not going to even try to figure it out, but here we all are. And the odds of it all happening, you know, if you said 20 years ago, you said all these people would be in this room, the ones who are at least alive, the odds would be astronomical, right? And the fact, but the Spirit came to you.

[26:30] The Spirit brought you here. The Spirit brought me here. Right? We don't know how. The Spirit does what it wants. It blows where it wants. It does its own thing. You can't put it in a box. So you are amazingly fortunate, right? But that also means you have a responsibility to share that amazing gift.

[26:50] And it really comes down to this. This is all the teaching of John chapter 3, 1 through 17. It's all preamble to verses 16 and 17. God wants to save the world. Through his Son. And the next step after Jesus went to the cross is for the Spirit to speak into your life and for you to tell even more people about it. So God will save the world through the work that you do. So the Spirit gave you a great gift, but there's also a great, from that gift is expected great rewards and great dividends for the kingdom. So the next step is to do it through you. So yes, it's like winning the lottery, but you got to kind of get it through. You got to kind of pay taxes on it, I guess. I don't know.

[27:37] So I just want us to kind of walk away from today feeling incredibly grateful that the Spirit and the Trinity wants, has chosen us from a long time ago, I don't know when, in mysterious ways, brought us together and then sends us out again into the world. And so the Trinity itself has a very missional, has a very missional kind of composition. And that's important to remember too. So let's end there. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for Father, Son, Holy Spirit working together to save the world through us and through your Son, Jesus. Amen.