WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.560 Good morning. 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.560 It's good to be here this morning. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:12.320 And um I've been I have known for quite some time that I was going to be standing before you this day and uh I've I've looked forward to it. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:25.039 Um the passage that we just read is a very familiar one, and um I gotta be a nut for preaching on that, but um there's some things here that really speak to me, and hopefully they'll speak to you this morning. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:41.600 And in particular, uh Brad shared in the opening, I think uh some of the challenges we face in life, just the rat race we're in, working so hard, um struggling, busy, trying to succeed in life. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.399 Um this passage really speaks to that. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:01:03.840 And and in particular, um I think with with Nick with Nicodemus, Jesus is telling him, He's telling us, um there's a need for you just to look at life, stop, take a breath, and sometimes sometimes we need to start over. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:11.680 Um have you ever been at the place in your life when it would just be nice just to hit the reset button to give me a do-over? 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:22.719 Uh Lynn and I early, back early in our marriage, um year this has been years back, we've been married almost 39 years this month. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:26.640 Gray hair, not enough hair, I might add. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:38.000 But we were uh we were in a cycle with the job that I was in where we were moving every two to four years, not not including school, I might add. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:53.599 We moved seven times like that, and initially it was it was difficult, it was kind of hard, but then I realized there was a there was a huge benefit in being able to move every two, three years, and that was the chance to start over. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:02:08.240 So we would we would be established in a place and you know gotten involved in church and social activities and community activities, and my tendency is to get real busy and to take on too much. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:14.400 Maybe maybe some of you have that same issue, and before you know it, we're just we're just buried. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.719 It's like I've got to get a break. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.159 So we get transferred, go to a completely new state. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:21.680 It is so nice. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:28.639 Just start over, all of all of the responsibilities go away, and immediately you you get relief. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:40.960 And you know, I thought, well, you know, that's and and after a while, in fact, we would, you know, it's like two years, three years, well, it's about it's about time, isn't it? 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:48.879 And sure enough, here comes the transfer, and we'd sit down with the girls, family meeting, it's time to move, and we kind of go through the process. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:51.360 Well, we don't do that anymore, thank goodness. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:03:00.479 Um, but it was a not kind of a nice way of escape, and that's what it became if escape is is really what we needed, and I'm not sure it is. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:15.840 Yeah, and sometimes sometimes there's a need to hit the reset button just simply because life has gotten difficult, and and maybe even there's a major change needed in in my life. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:32.560 And I've had a few of those as well, and that's that's what we're gonna see with Nicodemus, and that Nicodemus, maybe you need to take a breath and re-examine your life, and maybe maybe you need to start over, and we'll we'll see that very clearly. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:43.520 But but even more important is Jesus' message to Nicodemus and to us, and it's overwhelming in this passage. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:47.199 Let me just love you, let me love you, and we'll see that. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:58.400 Um there are other times in our lives, and not all of us experience this, but maybe most of us do, where we just we just hit bottom. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:11.439 When we when we need Jesus' love the most, when sometimes you know we're by ourselves, lonely, hurting, and we're crying out to Jesus, Jesus, I I need you. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.000 I I really, really need you. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:27.680 And that those are times that if you have an experience, you probably will, where we need Jesus to say, just let me love you, and let me show you that I love you. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:34.959 Um there's there's an author I've been reading a lot uh lately, and some of you some of you know, um Brennan Manning. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:38.879 And uh he is a phenomenal writer, was. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.079 He's passed away a couple of years ago. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:44.319 Um, also a phenomenal speaker. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:50.079 He's a former priest, priest that left the priesthood, got married. 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:56.480 Um he was also an alcoholic and um had struggled with that his entire life. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:07.360 If if you ever want to know more about grace, and I'm assuming we all do because we're here, he's a great one to read because he's experienced it. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:15.839 He's experienced the bottom of life, and he's he's seen God work miracles in his own life, and and he struggled through that. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.040 He he wrote this, um, one of the times where he had hit bottom. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:28.319 He said, For that matter, speak to me sitting on a kerbstone along General Meyer Avenue here in New Orleans. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.519 I am intoxicated after a relapse with alcohol. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:46.639 My clothes are in tatters, I reek with rancid body odor, I am unshaven, my face and belly are bloated, my eyes are bloodshot, I'm clutching a fifth of Smirnoff vodka, only a few ounces left. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:52.879 My marriage is collapsing, my friends are in near despair, and my honor is broken. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:06:00.639 My brain is scrambled, my mind a junkyard of broken promises, failed dreams, unkept resolutions. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:02.480 That's Brennan Manning. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.319 And he he writes about God's grace. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.000 He hit bottom. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.759 So Nicodemus is a completely different person. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:14.800 Nicodemus, I think, is more like the rest of us. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:23.199 We're gonna see four key words in this passage or four um phrases. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:24.639 Uh success. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.959 Nicodemus was a successful man. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.360 Pride, he was a proud man. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:35.680 Broken, he was a broken man, somewhat like what I just read, but in a different way. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:36.639 And loved. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:37.600 He was a loved man. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.160 So let's let's just work through the passage. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:45.439 We'll look at the first verse and take them take them one by one. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:52.879 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:07:01.279 So we typically think of Nicodemus affectionately, but Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and you know, we think of Pharisees in a negative way. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:05.439 Um, but just a little bit about the Pharisees. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:17.519 Pharisees were people they they go all the way back to Ezra and Nehemiah, and even to modern day with uh the the rabbinic Jews. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:24.079 Uh there's there's still that link all the way back, directly back to the Pharisees. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:28.079 And the Pharisees were very concerned about the law. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:31.199 They were very concerned about honoring God. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:32.399 That's a good thing. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:43.040 They looked up to God as infinite, um, holy, completely separate, and so they wanted to separate themselves in a holy, righteous, righteous way. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:47.199 And the way that they thought best to do that was by following the law. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:08:05.839 So you have you have the Ten Commandments that we've been going through in Exodus or have have gone through, and they understood the Ten Commandments, but then there was the rest of the Torah, the Torah being the first five books of the Bible, which which has another 615 rules in it. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:12.720 I don't know if you've noticed that, but if you if you flip through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, you'll see rules after rule. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:24.319 And and the uh the Jews have have written those down, not 615, there's 613 uh rules in addition to the Ten Commandments. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.360 But for the Pharisees, that wasn't enough. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:44.720 There was also the oral Torah, so that was the word that was received by Moses and was not written down, so that's that's word, the his word or God's word from Moses that's been transferred verbally from generation to generation. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:50.240 A couple of things that Jewish literature says about the oral law. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:57.840 It includes all that Moses learned from God by heart, which he did not write down but transmitted orally to his successors. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.799 That tradition is passed on from generation to generation. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:07.919 And then I think more telling and kind of explains a little bit of the Jewish mindset and the Phariseeal mindset. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:14.480 The oral law is a legal commentary on the Torah explaining how its commandments are to be carried out. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:29.679 Common sense suggests that some sort of oral tradition was always needed to accompany the written law because the Torah alone, even with its 613 commandments, is an insufficient guide to Jewish life. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:37.919 For example, and this is very interesting, the fourth of the Ten Commandments says, remember the Sabbath day to make it holy. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:51.440 Yet when one looks for specific biblical laws regulating how to observe the day, one finds only injunctions against lighting a fire, going away from one's dwelling, cutting down a tree, ploughing and harvesting. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:59.039 Would merely refraining from these few activities fulfill the biblical command to make the Sabbath holy? 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:09.840 So that the Pharisees thought mind think or their way of thinking was, well, we we need to take those commandments that are in the Torah. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:17.519 We need to take the oral law, and we need to make sure that we follow them and that we explain to other people how to follow them. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.879 So their job was to be good. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:23.519 They were professional do-gooders. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.519 That's the Pharisees, and that was Nicodemus. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:37.360 Their idea was we're going to become righteous by being good, and we know that's exhausting. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:44.080 And certainly they must have experienced that, even though they may not have ever acknowledged it. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.039 Although I think we'll see that Nicodemus does. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:54.159 So a Pharisee had worked very hard to earn this position to become a Pharisee. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.600 They were typically well established, they were confident. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:07.360 Nicodemus was older, he was self-assured, he was concerned with how he appeared in public. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:08.879 He was moral. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.799 He was successful by any measure of that time. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:19.039 And certainly our culture is similar in that we admire success. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:28.320 So we don't look at goodness maybe the same way that the Pharisees looked at goodness, but we certainly admire, maybe even idolize success. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:30.399 I think of Bill Gates. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.120 Anybody know what Bill Gates is worth? 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.720 1.7 billion dollars. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.759 That's 1,700 million dollars. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:40.879 He's successful. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:43.120 And here's the depressing thing about Bill Gates. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.159 He was born the same year I was born. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.879 So that's that's depressing. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:54.399 So in fact, I I've worked my entire life to be successful. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:03.360 And by many measures, I've been successful, but to my own measure, I've not been successful enough. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:13.759 When I look at the jobs other people have or the things they've accomplished in their careers, I think, gosh, I've not been successful enough. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:25.360 When I see someone else's home, I think, wow, that's nice and big, and it's nicer and bigger than what I live in, and I think I've not been successful enough. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:33.519 When I hear about the vacations that people have gone on, and I think, gosh, I've never been to those places. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:36.480 And I kind of feel regret. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.559 It's like I've not been successful enough. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:49.279 Or the one that really gets me is I'll pull up beside somebody and this they've got this nice new car, and I think, man, I would really like to be sitting in that right now. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:52.080 Not necessarily with that person, but by myself. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:13:01.200 And you know, I've I can I kind of feel a little bit of shame because I've not been able to accomplish that in my life. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:07.120 It now, what I what I just described, so there's there's no mistake about this, that's covetousness. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:15.360 And I realize that, but still I can't help feeling a twinge of shame because I've just not accomplished enough in my lifetime. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:23.200 And and I bet there are others of us in this room that kind of feel the same way, and I'm betting Nicodemus did as well. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:28.159 Um that that actually is the tyranny of success. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:34.000 And it says something's just not quite right in my life. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:38.559 I wish I had a chance to start over, but you know, maybe not. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:46.480 But here is Nicodemus, this successful, godly man, and he's seeking out Jesus. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.960 Let's look at verse 2 and try to figure out why. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:14:04.720 He came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, you know, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the miraculous signs that you are doing if God were not with him. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:07.919 And so here's this Jesus. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:12.159 He's already created a bit of a stir, he's worked a few miracles. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:22.399 Um here's Jesus, he's he's like just he's just this carpenter guy, but yet he's out doing things that he shouldn't be able to do. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:29.600 And he didn't follow the rules that the Pharisees had said you're supposed to follow. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:38.399 Um but yet when he talked, it seems like he knew what he was talking about, but yet he hung out with with tax collectors and prostitutes. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:44.399 He commanded attention and respect, but he didn't conform to the accepted traditions. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.360 Jesus was a bit of an enigma. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:53.200 And then Nicodemus, you notice, is showing up at night. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:59.440 And we've all we all know this passage, or most of us, I think, that have been in church our entire lives know it. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:04.320 Obviously, the reason he's showing up at night is because he didn't want people to see him. 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:07.600 Um he had an image to protect. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:12.320 And he goes to Jesus in the first place for what reason? 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:16.000 Was it because maybe he needed some help? 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:22.960 I kind of doubt it because Pharisees, I mean, he was older, my age, concerned about his image. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.919 And I'm not going to this carpenter guy and ask ask for help. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:34.399 In fact, when Nicodemus starts to talk to Jesus, he doesn't ask for help. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.000 So I think that would probably be unlikely. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.679 Um maybe he needs to prove something to his colleagues. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:46.960 It's like this Jesus guy, he's he's starting to cause a little bit of trouble, he's getting some attention. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:48.159 I'll go check him out. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:57.679 So Nicodemus goes over to Jesus' house, but or not Jesus' house, wherever it was he was staying, but I'm not going there the day, I'm going at night, so nobody will see me. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:04.320 But anyway, regardless, Jesus is where Nicodemus is going. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:06.559 Nicodemus has a purpose. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:15.759 It's like the Pharisee, the good man, going to meet the God man. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:25.919 And Nicodemus starts out by flattering him, building him up, giving him a sense of importance as if Jesus needed it. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:34.559 In verse 3, in reply, Jesus declared, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:46.960 And you read that statement in context and you realize there is no context because Nicodemus is flattered Jesus, but yet Jesus is talking about something entirely different. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:48.799 So where does that come from? 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.639 It's like out of left field. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:02.559 And I would think if Jesus were going to listen to Nicodemus and realize that Nicodemus is, well, kind of flattering him, it'd say, Yes, I'm from God. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.279 And so, Nicodemus, what does that mean to you? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:09.119 I think that would be a great segue, but that's not what Jesus does at all. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.680 And I'm guessing Jesus probably did know what he was doing. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:30.480 He, in fact, he in fact leaps on Jesus with a, I think, what maybe is incredibly presumptuous and provocative, because he's basically telling Nicodemus, you must be born again if you want to see the kingdom of God. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:37.200 In fact, Nicodemus probably should have been offended as a Pharisee. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:42.400 Because what he's saying is, Nicodemus, you're not good enough. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:43.920 You need to start over. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:51.119 So that's pretty offensive to somebody that's a professional do-gooder. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.880 You're not good enough. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.000 And that's basically what Jesus was telling him. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.880 You're not good enough, you haven't accomplished enough. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:10.079 That the premise of Nicodemus's life was to be good enough to see the kingdom of God is without doubt, because that's that's what the Pharisees were all about. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:15.440 So Jesus assuming this is all about eternal life, I think that's a fair assumption. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:25.200 But you look at Nicodemus, and by any measure, he was doing what he needed to be doing. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:32.799 I mean, nobody was more righteous, no more good, more moral than Nicodemus. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:49.440 And it was like what he taught was be good, be good enough, and that's not too dissimilar from what we teach in our culture, which is be successful, be successful enough. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.920 Nicodemus had, um, what about us? 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:58.799 I mean, our careers, our children, our lifestyle. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:05.839 If if we're successful, if we're successful enough, then then what? 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.279 We're gonna be admired or respected? 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:13.839 If if we're admired, respected, then we're gonna be what? 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.640 Happy, maybe? 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:22.799 I tell you, you get my age and you realize it's not looking that way. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.839 It's not looking like success is gonna get me there. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:34.400 In fact, it's it's I think it's kind of interesting because success has become kind of for our culture, that's that's an end, that's a goal. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.799 It's important for us to be successful. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.039 That's that's what we're here for, right? 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:48.000 But yet I think what Jesus is saying is is probably that maybe that's not quite the case. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:20:02.960 If you if you think it think about it, Nicodemus was no doubt a proud man, maybe, maybe a little smug at times, maybe grumpy occasionally, and I think I can be that way, smug and grumpy and proud. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.799 The truth is I'm I'm very proud. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:17.279 Um I I want the attention because life is about me, and I want the whole world to know that I'm important and tell me about that. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:20.160 And to me, that's success. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.680 So if you'll tell me how important I am, I'll feel good about myself, and maybe that's success. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:34.319 Um but one thing I know is that people don't like proud, smug, grumpy people. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:36.000 And I figured out why. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:41.839 The reason we don't like proud, smug, grumpy people is because they're thinking about themselves. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.119 They're not thinking about me, and I want them to think about me. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:50.559 And so I'm not getting the attention. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:52.319 A couple of quotes. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:57.599 We all suffer from terminal pride, and our response to pride and others proves it. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.839 We tend to avoid those people because they're not about me. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:04.799 And Voltaire said this, I love this one. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:10.720 The infinitely little, that's us, have a pride that is infinitely great. 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:14.000 That's that's so true about me. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:28.559 So in a last-ditch effort by Nicodemus to gain control, he he asks what seems like a logical question, but um maybe it was just him trying to think of something to say. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.319 He says in verse 4, how can a man be born when he is old? 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:37.839 Surely he cannot enter into uh a second time into his mother's womb to be born. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:43.680 And Nicodemus, he's thinking maybe, but yet he's on the wrong track. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:52.400 And Jesus answers I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water in the spirit. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.720 The flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.599 You should not be surprised at my saying you must. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.599 Must be born again. 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:06.799 And I'm sitting here thinking, Nicodemus must have said, huh? 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:10.079 Like, Jesus, what are you talking about? 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.839 And Jesus has repeated himself. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:12.799 You get that? 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:16.400 A second time, you must be born again. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:18.400 That must be important. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:24.880 And in verse 9, Nicodemus, the last words Nicodemus ever speaks in the Bible are these. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.680 He says, How can this be? 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:33.599 So he, 29 words, 24 words, and now he's down to four words. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.000 And then after that is complete silence. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:38.640 What's going on here? 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:44.079 Is this maybe Nicodemus coming to the point of realization? 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:47.119 Have you ever been there? 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:56.319 It's like, oh, the color drains, knees get weak, and I've just realized I'm wrong. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.559 And this is a life crisis. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.920 It's like, and we're, I'm this way, we're all this way. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:17.039 We're like spoiled children trying our best to get what we want out of life by any means possible, and we're completely missing the great adventure. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:26.559 And this great adventure is what Jesus is putting in front of Nicodemus, and Nicodemus is completely flummoxed. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:32.240 These are moments of brokenness. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:34.720 And I'm going to read Brennan Manning again. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.039 This is such a good quote. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:47.759 He says, the great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:50.559 We hide it, evade it, gloss over it. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:57.279 We grab for the cosmetic kit and put on our virtuous face to make ourselves admirable to the public. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:07.519 Thus we present to others a self that is spiritually together, superficially happy, and lacquered with a sense of self-deprecating humor that passes for humility. 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:24.000 The irony is that while I do not want anyone to know that I am judgmental, lazy, vulnerable, screwed up, and afraid for fear of losing face, the face I fear losing is the mask of the imposter, not my own. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:28.240 It's that fake self that we put out in others. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:36.640 The great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:48.400 But Jesus is loved, and he says to Nicodemus, and we've got to think about this for a minute, because Jesus, here he is. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.640 He doesn't have to be there, by the way. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:53.279 Jesus did not have to come visit us. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.160 He could have chosen to stay home. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:58.559 But that's not at all what he did. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:07.440 He came and he spent time with us, and the very fact that he is speaking to Nicodemus and speaking to us is pure grace. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:13.680 And he says this to Nicodemus, you are Israel's teacher, said Jesus, and you do not understand these things. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:22.160 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:30.720 So, and I won't read the rest of that passage, but he's saying to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, stop thinking. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.880 Stop trying to figure it out. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:41.279 Stop trying to control things, because Pharisees tended to be a bit of into control like we are. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:51.839 We try to control our lives, and I don't know about you, but I don't feel like I've been particularly successful with that, controlling things around me, especially when it comes to other people. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:57.359 Just stop thinking, Nicodemus, and just look at me and listen. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.880 You are searching for something. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:03.599 You are searching for a love that's bigger than you are, perhaps, Nicodemus. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:07.119 You need to look beyond yourself for that. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:19.200 And recognize that Jesus, standing there talking to Nicodemus, loves us beyond our wildest dreams. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:26.960 We can't comprehend the depth and the magnitude, and it's what Brad said earlier. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:29.279 He read it off the front of our building. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:37.359 We can't comprehend the degree to which Jesus loves us because he is the author of love. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:38.720 He invented it. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:45.920 What we understand is love is just a drop in the bucket with what he shows us. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:54.559 And so what he essentially is telling Nicodemus, Nicodemus, yes, you must start over, but when I when you start over, let me love you. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:56.319 Just let me love you. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:18.960 And so this story is not about Nicodemus, it's not about us, it's about Jesus who has come to his creation to tell them, us, that he loves us to make all things new, to make his creation like it was intended to be in the first place. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:24.799 Something that for Nicodemus, and even for us, that that's mind-blowing. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:31.680 That we get to participate in that cosmic drama, that also is pure grace. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:48.960 So what if, what if our self-focus, our pride, our insatiable appetite to succeed, to have more, is the source of all our difficulties? 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:59.279 What if the entire world were created differently, or created to be different than what we actually see on TV? 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:12.799 Like the rest of creation, we were created to worship and glorify God, the one, the only one who is truly holy, the one who loved us first. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:19.599 What if there is in each of us the desire to connect with the infinite? 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:31.680 To belong, to be loved by the one who created us, to be at home with the one who loves us more than we can comprehend. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.640 So verse 16. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:44.720 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. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:49.920 So what Jesus is really saying to Nicodemus and to us is start over. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:59.920 Abandon all of your previous misconceptions and just let me love you. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:10.319 And I'm not going to read the rest, but if you go on to John 19, if you jot this down, you can look at it in verse 36 through 42. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:11.680 We see Nicodemus again. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:13.039 Do you know what he's doing? 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:16.000 He is with Joseph of Arimathea. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:18.880 It's after Jesus' crucifixion. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:23.359 They are taking his body to a tomb to bury him. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:36.319 And Nicodemus and Joseph wrap Jesus' body in linen and cover him with spices, and that was typically what was done. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:38.799 By the way, a lot of spices. 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:51.279 Here is a Pharisee that would never ever think about touching a dead body, much less a dead body of someone that is a troublemaker or a carpenter that really doesn't matter. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:57.039 Here he is not only carrying Jesus' body, but covering it for burial. 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:02.000 And why would a Pharisee do that? 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:09.519 And there's only one possible reason, because he had discovered the truth that Jesus was who he said he is. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:12.319 Same truth that we discover. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.720 Nicodemus discovered. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:17.759 I'm going to read this one more quote and we'll be finished up. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:19.279 This is from C.S. 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:20.079 Lewis. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:27.200 Now we cannot discover our failure to keep God's law except by trying our very hardest and then failing. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:38.319 Unless we really try, whatever we say, there will always be at the back of our minds the idea that if we try harder next time, we shall succeed in being completely good. 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:44.880 Thus, in one sense, the road back to God is a road of moral effort, of trying harder and harder. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:49.759 But in another sense, it is not trying that is ever going to bring us home. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:56.480 All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say, You must do this. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:58.000 I can't. 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:00.640 And the beautiful thing is he has. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.960 Jesus has rescued us from the tyranny of success. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:19.119 All we have to do is recognize our need to start over, abandon all our previous misconceptions about what's important in life, and let Jesus love us. 00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:20.640 Let's pray. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:27.039 Heavenly Father, thank you so much for what you have done for us. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:33.359 It's beyond our ability to fully understand, but we know that you love us. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:35.519 We know that because of what you've done. 00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:38.960 We know that because of what you've given to us in your word. 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:43.519 And we know that because you connect with our hearts. 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:46.559 And so, Lord, I ask that you would connect with us this morning. 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:59.519 Help us to understand how to deal with the practical aspects of life, the difficulties that we all face every day, our natural desire to want to be more than we really are. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:07.759 But also speak deeply to our hearts about that deep, deep desire that we have to connect with you. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:10.799 And Jesus, I pray that you teach us how to do that. 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:12.160 In Christ's name. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:13.039 Amen.