John 3:16

A sermon based on John 3:1-17.

When you see this sign at sporting events, or on a billboard on the side of the road, what does it mean to you?  What does it make you think about?

This is a strange phenomenon, that began in the 1970s with Roland Stewart hold up signs saying simply “John 3:16” at baseball games, football games, Olympic events.  He would place himself at strategic locations in the crowd, often while wearing a rainbow wig, so that he and his message could get on TV.

Roland Stewart believed that seeing that sign could change people’s hearts in an instant, and could bring them to God.

This phenomenon has continued to evolve since Roland Stewart.  It has moved to professional athletes like Tim Tebow, who puts “John 3: 16” on the eye black on his cheeks, or into those billboard signs that you see on the turnpike headed west.

John 3: 16 is considered to be the text that most epitomizes who God is to us.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”

But somewhere along the way this text has come to symbolize that lightning bolt moment we’ve been told we must have in order to have salvation–that moment when we open the door to our hearts and invite Jesus in.  After salvation you have your own personal Jesus,living in your heart.

Sometimes I wish it were as easy as just saying the prayer, letting Jesus into our heart, and calling it a day.

It didn’t seem that simple for Nicodemus.  In fact it seemed very difficult for Nicodemus to come to Jesus in this story.  He came in the darkness of night, in secret, to see Jesus.  And unlike other times that Jesus engaged with Pharisees, Nicodemus did not seem angry, or didn’t seem to be trying to trick Jesus.  He seemed genuinely interested in understanding what Jesus was saying.

It also seemed that Nicodemus had come as a representative of the other Pharisees.  Perhaps he’d been sent by them, or perhaps he brought the questions that they were discussing, those questions that had also been turning around in his own mind.  It’s hard to tell.

What is clear is that Nicodemus was having a hard time understanding what Jesus meant by this “born again” or “born from above” idea.

In fact, Jesus seemed a bit impatient with Nicodemus–when Nicodemus was trying to understand, and asked “How can this be?” a question that the people of Israel had been asking for centuries, Jesus replied, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet do not understand these things?”

Jesus seemed downright irritated by Nicodemus’ lack of understanding–”We speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony,” said Jesus.

Holding up that “John 3:16” sign seems like such a simple message, but it’s wrapped up in a more complicated word from Jesus.

So what does Jesus mean by being born again, or being born from above?

Being born again is at the heart of our faith.  This is not an intellectual pursuit.  It’s more than just believing the right things.  It’s more than just a once and done experience.

But I admit to feeling quite a bit like Nicodemus this week.  This idea of being born again is hard to grasp.  It’s can’t be intellectualized.  Because in our intellect, the story of Jesus is unbelievable.

But this is not about reason and intellect.  This is about testifying to what we have seen.  This is about seeing things in new ways.

And seeing things with new eyes is a process.  It’s not about a once and done moment that may have happened at a church camp, or a revival or a youth retreat.  It’s about an ongoing process of learning to see with new eyes.

And we understand that from looking at Nicodemus’ life.  He didn’t leave Jesus understanding all things that night.  But throughout the gospel of John, Nicodemus was being transformed.  He went from asking questions of Jesus in the dark of night in John 3, to defending Jesus publicly, in front of his peers in John 7, to in chapter 19, providing myrrh for his burial and preparing the body of Jesus.

We don’t know exactly what was going on in Nicodemus’ head, but, what we see, and what the scripture testifies to is that transformation was taking place in Nicodemus.  Nicodemus’ experience with being born again happened over the span of gospel of John.  It happened again and again, as Nicodemus encountered Jesus, and was moved by the spirit.

Just as Jesus’ process of choosing to be human began at baptism and sent him into the desert on to his ministry, Nicodemus also had to choose to see with new eyes the work of God in his life.  That process of seeing with new eyes began with his questions and that encounter with Jesus on that dark night, and it continued after he lovingly buried Jesus.

We have memorable events that we can say, “I saw with new eyes today.”  Perhaps it was when the waters of baptism were poured over your head.  Maybe it was when you gathered here in this room and felt the spirit blow new energy and new life into this body.  Or maybe it was in the silence when you met God, pushed past the fear and saw what was beyond it.

These are moments we hold dear to us.  And we use these moments to testify to what we have seen.  These are the moments that help us to understand how God loves us and sent us God’s son, to show us the way, to teach us about facing our fears, and to save us.

We learn this concept over and over, in different ways, as we give testimony and receive testimony from those around us.  We learn again and again that God loves us and saves us by giving us new ways to see.

This is not a once and done, a moment that begins with inviting Jesus into our hearts and ends just as quickly. This is an ongoing journey of seeing, of testifying, of believing.  But those moments of seeing sustain us for the journey, and give us hope to continue to seek God.

Let us be born again–born from above–today and every day.  This is a journey of discovery with God and with each other.  AMEN.