Born From Above

Posted by Chris on January 25, 2009 under Sermons

Read John 3:1-21

So here’s Nicodemus, he’s in the dark. It is night and he wishes to interview this Rabbi, Jesus from Nazareth. He’s heard about the signs and Jesus has been discussed often in the religious council. But Nicodemus’ first word to Jesus really isn’t a question – it’s a statement …

“We know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

We know. Nicodemus and his colleagues have it all figured out. That’s sort of appealing in a way to be so confident. They’re not obtuse academics or scholars gushing with liberal ambiguity. We know, says Nicodemus. And here he is presenting this knowledge to Jesus. Maybe he’s wondering if Jesus really is sound and conforms to what he and his colleagues know. After all, the only way Jesus can do signs is if God is with him. Nicodemus and his associates have spent a lot of time sorting, classifying, and rightly dividing what they know – and anything that doesn’t fit one of their categories must not be right.

Nicodemus relies on what he knows. He relies on his orderly, systematic sorting and typing of all things religious. Nicodemus knows. He is a teacher of Israel.

But Nicodemus cannot see. He is in the dark and he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.
He cannot see the kingdom of heaven because he hasn’t been born from above. What he knows is from the earth, not from above. What he speaks is from the earth, not from above. That doesn’t mean that Nicodemus is worldly or non-religious. No, it means that his religion and his belief isn’t spiritual. It hasn’t been inspired by the spirit from above.

If you haven’t heard, television signals are going to change. If you haven’t then don’t worry because you don’t watch TV anyway. You can have a TV, a TV antenna, a TV guide but if it isn’t converted to the new signal, then you will get nothing. [This illustration and other observations are inspired by the work of Gregory Stevenson, Tom Olbricht, and David Fleer in Preaching John’s Gospel: The World It Imagines (Chalice Press, 2008).]

Nicodemus is on a different wavelength. According to his dial, Jesus is a teacher sent by God. He would have to be sent by God to work those signs. That’s sounds like a confession of faith, but it is really a limiting and defining statement. Nicodemus is trying to explain it, limit it, categorize it and classify it.

Here’s a warning that even people on the inside can still be in the dark. Nicodemus is not a godless pagan. He’s not a hopeless sinner. He’s one of the chosen. He’s a teacher and leader. But he’s still in the dark because he’s more invested in what he knows rather than knowing God’s Spirit.

What wavelength are we on? Can we get in tune with the Spirit from Above and see the kingdom? Or are we going to rely on what we’ve always known, like Nicodemus. What does this means for us?

Born Again means Born from Above
The difference between dark and light is the ability to see. We can stand in a dark room and we may be able to get around because we “know” the layout. But we cannot see a thing. What happens when the furniture get rearranged?

Jesus says that if we want to see the kingdom of God breaking into this dark world, then we need to be born from above.
Your text probably reads born again. You might have an asterisk explaining that it can also be translated as born again. There’s a word play here and it’s odd that the majority of translations in history have followed not what Jesus is saying, but what Nicodemus misunderstands. Nicodemus understands the phrase as born again because that’s all that fits is categories.

But truly, truly Jesus is saying that being born again is being born from above: a rebirth that involves the spiritual renewal of heaven. To be born from above through water and Spirit tunes us into the wavelength of the spirit. It fills our eyes with light. Flesh and Spirit is a not a dualism of body and soul, rather they are points of reference.