We All Have a Story to Tell: Nicodemus: Yesterday a Pharisee, Today a Believer, 3/29/15

Mar 29     Title:  Transformation - Nicodemus      Jn 3            palm Sunday

                                Yesterday a Pharisee, today a believer

Jn 3:1-17                       see also for sermon jn 7:50 and 19:39

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² 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.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴ “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!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c]must be born again.’ ⁸ 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.”^[d]

⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heavenexcept the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.^[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^[f]15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”^[g]

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Part of what has been fun about this series are the testimonies of our members… paul and billie mcclain…….

Tell the palm Sunday story

In the palm Sunday account of Luke 19 the Pharisees complain to Jesus that his followers are praising him.  He tells them that if the disciples stop, the rocks and stones will cry out.

The rocks would talk for God.  They still do.  What does the grand canyon say to you

PS 19 The heavens declare the glory of God;  the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;    night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;  no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,  their words to the ends of the world

God’s first bible was creation

Back to the story

The Pharisees did not get it.  They were stuck in their rules. 

Stuck in their ways.    Are you stuck in your ways?

Most of the Pharisees helped plot to put Jesus to death

How would you respond to someone who challenged everything about your way of life and said repeatedly that you did not get it?

Would you want to hang with that person?

A Pharisee was –

·        Insisted that others follow the rules

·        Didn’t follow the rules themselves

·        Used their power to hurt others

·        Were filled with falsehood

·        Where more interested in nice clothes and looking right than being right.

Jesus told the story of the cup.  Clean on the outside, dirty on the inside

Mt 23:1-7 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. ⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries^[a]wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee

Nicodemus was different. He met Jesus, and visited him at night.

He did not want his buddies to make fun of him or think he was a traitor.

They had a great talk.  Aren’t you glad when you have someone that you can talk to really talk to?

Bob Fillmore, Karen schuler, mike scott, wendy Minshall,

What a blessing

Back to the story

They had a great talk………you must be born again.

Why we hate that phrase - - - But it is not a bad phrase………

Is there such a thing as a Christian that is not born again?

Just because some people make you feel funny about it, doesnt mean it is bad

To be born again is to be changed by the spirit

It does not mean you run around and make people feel guilty

It does not mean that you become a know it all

The work of the spirit comes in to change you

To make you sweeter

When we are born it is about us.  Babies cry, feed me, hold me, help me……..

Flesh gives birth to flesh.  Its about me

Many of us do that our entire lives

Spirit gives birth to spirit

When jesus gets ahold of us were born again, not to sit around & sing kumbaya

But to learn to live a new life.  A life outside of ourselves

Jesus told nicodemus Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^[f]15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him

The snake in the wilderness -  numbers 21

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,^[c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” ⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived

When our lives are about us, we become toxic and poisonous

Jesus teaches us to lift up our eyes, to get them off of ourselves and follow something greater

To love the lord our god, and love our neighbor as ourselves

To do unto others as we would have them do unto us

Nicodemus was changed.

While other Pharisees clung to hatred of Jesus, Nicodemus changed

This should remind us that anyone can change

Someone that you want to give up on, anyone can change

[a good spot for a story about someone who changed……]

Nicodemus is later found in jn 7 taking up for Jesus and jn 19 assisting other disciples in Jesus burial.

Never give up on anyone - - - PAUSE

Never give up on yourself.

How might god be working to change you

If you really listened to the voice of the spirit, what would you hear him saying to you about who you are?

Oh, jeff I’m sorry you are having a problem.  I didn’t know. Let me fix that.

Let me hold you and scratch your back

Or would the Spirit say, its not about you. Live outside of yourself.  Take up your cross.  Find the joy in difficulty.

Maybe you are here today and u r in trouble.  Dealing w some kind of sin

The Pharisees condemned. Jesus did not

Here is another example of Jesus ministry being completely mapped out as against the Pharisees.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The work of the spirit is never condemning, just convicting.

Condemnation says, you are bad.  Too bad to change.

Its over for you.  Feel guilty.

Conviction, the work of the spirit says, hey, there are some things to work on, but I will help you. God is with you.  You are loved.  You can make it.

People had to make a choice when they met Jesus

Either it was going to be about them, or they were going to change

The Pharisees did not change. Nicodemus did

We too meet Jesus and have to ask ourselves. 

Are we those who stay the same, or are we those who change

Its holy week and the spirit invites us to change.

What might he be saying to me?  To you?

Are we going to stay the same, or will we listen to him?