The Gospel

Second Sunday in Lent

February 17, 2008

John 3:1-17

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

In the news, when discussion turns to Christians, it seems that the largest amount of talk centers on Christians who are called Evangelicals. This has been especially so, during this presidential race, as one of the contenders is an Evangelical. And, when Evangelicals are talked about, one always hears a term associated with them—Evangelicals are called born again Christians.

So, who, exactly, is an Evangelical? And, who is a born again Christian? This sermon will answer those questions, as we turn to an interesting one-on-one conversation which our Lord Jesus had with a certain Jew, who was a Pharisee, who was too scared to talk to Jesus in the light of day, but who was curious enough about Him that, come the cover of night, sought a meeting with the Lord.

The Pharisees, of course, were the religious rulers of the day. That this certain Pharisee, Nicodemus, desired to talk to Jesus showed that they were interested in more than simply shutting down Jesus. Because Jesus was performing great miracles—Nicodemus called them signs—Nick was pretty sure that these signs pointed to Jesus being sent by God.

How does our Lord answer Nick at night? He seems to begin His share of the conversation by speaking in riddles: "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Right off the bat, we have addressed one of our two questions, that of born again Christians.

Nicodemus didn’t have a clue to what Jesus was speaking, and he proves it by his next question: "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 replied to Nick. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

Born of water and the Spirit. Does this sound at all familiar to us Lutherans? Have any of you been born of water and the Spirit? A better question might be, have any of you not been born of water and the Spirit.

The Lord Jesus is talking about baptism. He is saying that, to be born of water and the Spirit is to be born again—or, as the actual words say, before they get translated into English, "unless a person is born from above."

In His next words, the Lord explains what it means to be born from below and from above. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

What He means is this: People give birth to people, made in the image of Adam, who lost the image of God in the fall into sin. Because people have a sinful nature, they give birth to children who bear that sinful nature. Only God can give birth to children who bear His nature—who possess the Holy Spirit. To be born of the Spirit, a person must be born again. The regular means used by God to deliver one into spiritual birth is Baptism.

Here is how God had Paul write of this spiritual birth, in Titus: "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior . . ."

Since physical life does not come from the one on the receiving end—the one being born—neither does spiritual life come from the one on the receiving end—the one being born again. Physical birth comes from below, from dad and mom, and spiritual birth comes from above, from the heavenly Father, by means of the Holy Spirit, because of the Father’s satisfaction with Jesus, God the Son.

That you cannot give yourself spiritual birth, Jesus affirms to Nicodemus: "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." He’s saying that you can’t control the work of the Spirit any more than you can tell the wind when and where to blow.

The Holy Spirit blows spiritual life into spiritually dead people according to His will. The Holy Spirit is God, every bit as much as the Father is God and the Son is God. The Holy Spirit works according to His good and gracious will, not according to our selfish desires.

And, the Holy Spirit is working in this world, because God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to be the world’s Savior. Jesus progresses the conversation with Nick at night. "No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man." Jesus, of course, is speaking of Himself. And now, He will speak of the reason this story is tucked into our season of Lent: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up"—clearly, He is speaking of His crucifixion—"that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

And, speaking of His crucifixion, and believing in Him, and being given eternal life, the most natural thing for Jesus to tell Nick is this: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

And, to ensure that everyone clearly and completely understands the person and purpose of God’s Son, Jesus, He continues: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Those last two verses, John 3:16-17, speak the good news of Jesus Christ—they tell us that Jesus is God the Father’s gift to this world, that everyone can have eternal life through Him.

The phrase good news is what the word Gospel means. The word Gospel comes from a Greek word which means good news. The word is euangelion. Euangelion begins with the letters E-U. Words, translated into English, that begin with E-U, are often changed to E-V. So euangelion turns into evangelion.

Is it beginning to sound familiar? A person who preaches the good news, the evangelion, is called an Evangelist. The people who listen to and believe the message of an Evangelist are Evangelicals.

When Martin Luther was doing his work, his hope was that the people who were with him would never be called Lutherans, but that they would be called Evangelicals, because the word means those who believe the Gospel, and Luther was all about the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now, in the United States, the large number of Christians, who use the term born again to describe themselves, are called Evangelicals. This is a large number of the Protestants. Sadly, we Lutherans are never included in either the born again or the Evangelical Christians. Why? Well, that would take too long, for this sermon.

But, funny thing about this; no matter what we call each other, there are no Christians who are not evangelical, or who are not born again. John 3:16-17 is the pure Gospel, and no one is a Christian unless he believes Jesus’s words, and believes in Jesus. And, as Jesus said, a person cannot be a Christian unless that person is born again, born from above by the Holy Spirit.

So you, dear Christians, are born again Evangelicals. You are born of water and the Spirit. You are fed from above on every word that comes from the mouth of God, and the Word of God is even delivered into your mouth in bread and wine, in which the Savior, Jesus, gives the same body and blood which was lifted up on the tree, where He bore your sins. You look to Him, and believing that He is God’s gift of life, you posses God’s gift of life, and His forgiveness, and His salvation. Amen.