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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2008

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT

John 3:1-17 (Entrance at the gate of heaven)

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TODAY’S SERMON THEME:

The Bible is very clear. We must be re-born if we want to enter heaven. And how does that happen? It is as simple as counting to four: (1) We must RECOGNIZE our sins. (2) We must have REMORSE for our sins. (3) We must REPENT of our sins and turn back to the Lord. (4) We must REALIGN our lives. One. Two. Three. Four. Recognition. Remorse. Repentance. Realignment. When we do these things, God rejuvenates us and we are re-born. We are made new.

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1. Every year during the season of Lent I find myself thinking about people I used to know. Former teachers. Former coaches. Former professors. Former friends. But especially at this time of year, I find myself thinking about friends and family who have lost contact. Not too long ago, I found myself thinking about one former friend who used to live in Dallas. Let's call him Bob. We grew up in Fort Worth together, had similar backgrounds, went to the same high school and the same college. He was, without question, one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He was a true RENAISSANCE MAN. He excelled in music, algebra, trigonometry, biology, Latin, French, and Spanish. I took all those courses, too, but I had to push myself really hard to make A's. Bob made A's without much effort. At one point in college, he took up the sport of golf. With a few months of intense work, he was playing a decent round of golf. He was just an extremely talented person. He graduated from college in only three years, just like I did, and he immediately took over his family business. By 1986, he was financially set for life. By that point, I had left the newspaper business, surrendered my life to the Lord, enrolled in and finished seminary, and gone full-time into the ordained ministry. Bob only dabbled with things of the spirit. For the most part, he wanted nothing to do with God. He was doing well enough all by himself. He had money, a pretty wife, a great career, two beautiful children, and a secure future. As he told me on several occasions: "WHY DO I NEED GOD? I'VE GOT EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED RIGHT NOW."

2. Suddenly, in late 1986, things started to unravel in Bob’s life. He had a health scare with his daughter. His mother died. His wife began showing signs of depression. He began anesthetizing himself with alcohol. And his bank account began to dwindle. A couple of alcohol-induced bad business decisions left him in a less secure position financially. He was also in poor shape physically. SUDDENLY, AS THINGS WERE STARTING TO FALL APART, HE TOOK AN INTEREST IN GOD. He wanted to know all about God. All about heaven and hell. All about salvation. I had three or four opportunities to talk to him at great length about the spiritual life -- a life which is infinitely more important to us than our physical life, our mental life, our emotional life, our financial life. At one point, Bob told me that he KNEW he was going to go to hell when he died. And the thought scared him to death. On at least three occasions, he tried to turn his life around. He wanted to change. He tried to change. He tried to read the Bible. He tried to go to church. He tried to make promises to God. And to his family. And to his friends. Every time, though, he slipped backwards. Every time, he dropped back into familiar patterns. And his life continued to unravel until I lost touch with him 15 years ago.

3. Here is the tragedy about my friend Bob: On at least three occasions, the Lord handed him a paid-in-full ticket to eternity. An entrance pass for the gate of heaven. And each time, Bob took a long look at it . . . and handed it back. I will add a final note about Bob. A few years ago -- in 2003, I believe it was -- I stumbled across a news item in the Dallas Morning News. It was an obituary for Bob’s father. Inside the obituary, there was this line: “He was preceded in death by his wife AND BY HIS SON.” Somewhere between 1992 and 2003, Bob died. In 1992, Bob was 40 years old.

4. It is important that we hear the message expressed in our Gospel lesson this morning -- the lesson that we must be RE-BORN if we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And it is important that we remember that the Bible is very clear. We must be re-born if we want to enter heaven. And how does that happen? I believe it is as simple as counting to four: (1) We must RECOGNIZE our sins. (2) We must have REMORSE for our sins. (3) We must REPENT of our sins and turn back to the Lord. (4) We must REALIGN our lives. One. Two. Three. Four. Recognition. Remorse. Repentance. Realignment. When we do these things, God rejuvenates us and we are re-born. We are made new.

5. Let us look at our Gospel lesson this morning from John Chapter 3: The night-time visit of Nicodemus to see the Lord Jesus:

(1) Nicodemus was a leader of his people. And he was very interested in what Jesus had been teaching. But he was cautious, and he came to see Jesus at night -- far from the gaze of his academic colleagues.

(2) He immediately identifies Jesus as one sent by God -- “For no one can do the signs you do, apart from the presence of God.”

(3) And that’s when Jesus drops this crucial comment: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born AGAIN.“ Or, a better translation would be, “born from above.“

(4) Nicodemus is confused, thinking Jesus is talking about a second physical birth. Jesus quickly explains that this re-birth is of a SPIRITUAL nature. “What is born of flesh IS flesh,” he says. “And what is born of Spirit IS Spirit.” “Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born again. . . Flesh gives birth to flesh and Spirit gives birth to Spirit.” A spiritual RE-BIRTH is as powerful (and as simple) as the wind blowing. It comes, we hear its sound, but we know very little else about it. Wind brings life. Spirit brings life. “And you must be born of water AND of the Spirit.” You must be born anew.

(5) And then Jesus concludes with the two verses that have often been called “the Gospel in a nutshell” -- John 3:16-17. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through Him, might be saved.”

(6) From this short passage in John 3, we are not sure what is going on in the heart of Nicodemus. But something MUST HAVE HAPPENED. Something profound. For later in the Gospel story, Nicodemus shows up again, on Good Friday. That’s when he and Joseph of Arimathea go to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to ask for the body of Jesus. For anointing. And for burial. Something about Jesus so touched the heart of Nicodemus that he became a follower, a disciple. And not a private disciple, either. At the time of Jesus’ suffering, passion, and death, Nicodemus came forward to be recognized. And to help. To serve. During the hours of Jesus’ passion, when many of Jesus’ closest friends ran away and hid, Nicodemus came forward. He HAD indeed been BORN AGAIN. He had indeed been made new.

6. We, too, must undergo that re-birth if we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And we CAN be born again -- made NEW -- if we can remember how to count to FOUR. (1) We must RECOGNIZE our sins. (2) We must have REMORSE for our sins. (3) We must REPENT of our sins and turn back to the Lord. (4) We must REALIGN our lives. One. Two. Three. Four. Recognition. Remorse. Repentance. Realignment.

(1) REGOGNITION -- We recognize that we are sinners in the eyes of God. That we have fallen short of His plans for us. And that we need His grace, His mercy, and His empowerment to make a change in our lives.

(2) REMORSE -- We admit (and confess) that we are truly sorry that we have offended against God and against each other.

(3) REPENTANCE -- We consciously TURN AWAY from our old lives and make a decision (every day) to give up those old lives and to go in a new direction. The Greek word for this is “METANOIA.”

(4) REALIGNMENT -- We DO IT! We take action (every day) to change our lives. We make spiritual changes, believing in the grace and mercy of the Lord. We start WALKING on a new track. In a new direction. With hope and confidence in the Lord.

(5) RECOGNITION. REMORSE. REPENTANCE. REALIGNMENT. One. Two. Three. Four.

(6) For me, in my life, I try each day to LIVE INTO this new way of living, this new BIRTH. For me, it is clearly not a once-in-a-lifetime decision. My flesh is far too weak for that. I decide again EVERY MORNING, EVERY DAY, to live into the spiritual birth (and life) that God has given to me. For me, it is a daily choice. A daily discipline. A daily privilege and joy.

7. And now for today’s special offer: A free ticket to heaven. An entrance pass through the pearly gates into the eternal presence of the Lord. A paid-in-full ticket signed with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation comes as His gift to us. A free gift. And HOW do we get our hands on that free gift? Listen to the words again -- John 3:16-17. And, now, just HOW EXACTLY does this ticket became REAL for us? CAN YOU COUNT TO FOUR?