When we imagine a reset in life, we can come up with lots of excuses. Here’s the story of an interaction between one man and Jesus:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8 ESV)
Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a religious law expert. He lives by the book, is religious authority and example to others. So why does he come speak to Jesus like this? One opinion is that he has sinister motives: he’s sucking up to someone famous by saying nice things. Or worse, he is trying to draw Jesus into saying something wrong or illegal.
But another, more likely opinion notes that he comes to visit Jesus by night. He’s truly intrigued, and is scared of the consequence if anyone realizes. It seems like that’s how Jesus treats him, like anyone else who comes to him asking questions.
Jesus makes it clear that following his teachings won’t just be adding a new religious layer on top of Nicodemus already impressive religious portfolio. It means a complete reset of his life, which is costly considering all he’s already invested.
Jesus uses the imagery of the ultimate reset – being reborn, when he says, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
This is where we get the terminology of being “born again”. Maybe you react to this word, or don’t like it, because it conjures up images of pushy evangelists. But it’s great image, and Jesus’ image, so we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss it. He’s saying that following him means a new life, 100%.
Nicodemus, though, misses the point. For one reason or another, he takes it quite literally. He’s probably not that naïve to think Jesus means he needs to climb back in the womb – he’s probably just shocked and confused so he argues with it, and tries to argue with the imagery rather than the concept.
Question: What does “born again” evoke for you? Do you embrace it, or challenge it?
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Jesus’ description of God as a loving, caring father who wants to provide for our needs, not necessarily our wants, means that God answers prayer in one three ways: Yes, No, Later
Most of us are happy when God says Yes to our prayers, although you should be warned that sometimes we get more than we bargained for when God says yes to our prayers, because the yes may lead to consequences we could never have imagined. So sometimes in a clear, and often dramatic way, God will say Yes to our prayers. We asked to hear Redeem the Commute stories, and the very day that someone prayed about that, we heard Jason’s story.
But sometimes God will say no for a variety of reasons. Our prayers may have the wrong motives, like “drop dead prayers”. Prayers for revenge, fame and fortune rarely get answered with the word yes.
Sometimes we are praying for simply frivolous things. “Lord please give us a sunny day for a soccer match”---when the local farmers are praying for rain. Sometimes God says no because we are requesting what is not good for us, and we can’t even see it. God loves us and knows what it is best for us.
Yesterday: Good parents do not always give their children what they ask for. If a 4 year old asks to play with the knives a good parent says no. By answering every prayer Yes, God would in effect abdicate, turning the world over to us to run. History shows how we have handled the limited freedom granted to us: genocide, wars, polluted the earth, concentrated pockets of wealth and grinding poverty.
God will answer no if the things we ask for are either not good in themselves, or not good for us, or good for others, either immediately or ultimately. Ruth Graham (Billy Graham’s wife) tells a story “God has not always granted my requests. If he had I would have married the wrong man, several times.
Awful things happen in world – like Oklahoma tornadoes. Some were praying in that moment of terror or death. Some people are still alive, and were not praying. Exactly how God answers prayer is a mystery. All that we say today about prayer must be said with all humility because at some point we stand back and respect and bow our heads before the mystery of prayer, especially the mystery of hearing the word No.
Later is of course a combination of Yes and No. Yes, but not now. No for now, but yes for later. And of course what we may perceive as a no right now, is in fact a later. Sometimes no and later can in hindsight be a great blessing, that only makes sense in hindsight.
Question: Since prayers can be answered in these three ways, how do you think Jesus wants his followers to pray?
