Sermon - John 3:1-17

RLD

Title: To See the Reign of God

Focus (What does the text say?): Unless anyone be born anew, they will

not able to see the reign of God.

Function (How will the text affect its listeners?): To remind us that we

continually need to look to God for our vision of life.

Helpful References

For a discussion on the meaning of the Gr. ""anothen"" Bucshel''s article

in the TDNT was very helpful.

I have greatly enjoyed following the scriptural references given in the

margins of the Nestle NT. They have provided a depth of understanding

of our sermon texts that I usually miss. However, following all of the

references takes a very long time. On the one hand, they are very

valuable. On the other hand, I''m not sure how much time I can

consistently devote to searching them out. For the next week or so,

I''ll keep following them to see if I can find quicker ways of finding

them (i. e. Biblical websites, biblical software, etc.)

Sermon Outline for John 3:1-17

Title: To See the Reign of God

Focus (What does the text say?): Unless anyone be born anew, they will

not able to see the reign of God.

Function (How will the text affect its listeners?): To remind us that we

continually need to look to God for our vision of life.

Introduction

Jesus points out that the teachers of Israel did not have a very

impressive understanding of God. They spend a lot of time telling

others how to live, but they have a fairly limited understanding of

spiritual things. I do not think this was a problem unique to first

century Jewish leaders. We all have a tendency to resist new ways of

looking at our world.

Change Is Hard to Resist

In the most recent issue of Presbyterians Today magazine there is an

article on Celtic Christianity. Among their beliefs, Celtic Christians

believed God''s goodness could be seen in creation and that all people

were equal in God'' sight. It was for these beliefs that Celtic

Christianity was considered heretical. The Celtic tradition was

suppressed by the official Church. The official Church had defined

faith in such a limited way, that whole cultures were excluded or

ignored or sometimes even persecuted.

More than a thousand years ago, the Church fought against environmental

theology and the equality of believers. But these ideas did not go

away. Today they are still an important part of the faith of many

people.

Changes We Resist

I am sure we people of faith are still doing this. We don''t mean to

exclude or ignore or persecute people. But we like to maintain a sense

of human certainty in our faith. And yet, how will we ever learn to

live side by side with Muslims, a faith that did not even exist when our

faith began, if we cannot adapt and change? How do we as Christians

show them the love of Christ? We need new ideas to live in this ever

changing world.

When Mohandas Ghandi spoke of his spiritual search, he described trying

to become a Christian. For 21 years he worked for the rights of Indians

in South Africa. His teachings were largely based upon the New

Testament (He insisted on non-violence in political struggles). But,

because he was not white, he was not welcome as a fully equal member of

the South African Church. Because of this rejection, he abandoned the

attempt to join the Church. Throughout his life, he studied the

teachings of Jesus. He prayed twice a day every day. After doing all

he felt he could in South Africa, he returned to his nation of birth,

India. There, he continued to work for the rights of all people,

helping India become independent of Great Britain without a violent

struggle. Wouldn''t it have been a great testimony to the world if

Christians had granted him the right to call himself Christian?

And this type of rejection happens in our own communities. When I

worked as an engineer in Austin, I worked with a man who wanted to be a

part of the Church, but he did not know of a Church that would let him

think in a scientific way and still explore faith. He had been rejected

repeatedly by very narrow-minded Christians and had spent years wanting

to be a part of the Church, but unwilling to deny the intellectual life

God had given him.

(I hope to add a positive story here of a Church that took a risk by

trusting or accepting someone new. However, I haven''t found one yet.)

Conclusion

Unless anyone be born anew, they will not able to see the reign of

God. This is true of Church as well as individuals. There are people

around us who desperately want to be loved but who are afraid of us

because of past rejections by the Church. There are people who could

become great leaders in the Church and society who do not trust us

because of our history of narrow mindedness. Jesus could still say to

His Church today, ""You must be born anew, or you will not see the reign

of God."" I pray that we will always look to God for the vision of how

our Church ought to look. We have much to teach, but we also have much

to learn. Let us keep listening for the good news even as we proclaim

it. Amen.