A one off kid’s slot for the baptism of one of the covenantal kids!

This morning we’re going to baptise Flora and so I thought it would be helpful to understand what we’re going to do.

At the end of his life Jesus told his followers that they should encourage others to become his followers and encourage them to be baptised [Matthew 28]. Jesus did that because baptism helps us understand what he did for us on the cross and the good things that come from following him. It’s a symbol or an illustration that God has given us. But it doesn’t actually do anything to her now. Flora’s not going to be changed by her baptism. It won’t make her a Christian. Because Flora’s very little she can’t say these things for herself but as her parents we’re praying that one day she will.

There are four things that we’re hoping that she’ll say.

1. We’re praying that she’ll say ‘I’m with Jesus’

Baptism shows our new relationship to Jesus. When someone becomes a Christian they become someone who loves and follows Jesus. It’s like deciding to follow a football team. So here’s a shirt for Flora that shows that she has become a follower of a particular team. In Flora’s baptism we’re praying that she’ll grow up and want to identify with or belong to Jesus.

2. We’re praying that she’ll say ‘I’m clean from sin’

Baptism shows the way that Jesus has dealt with sin. Sin means not letting God tell us how to live. Sins are the naughty things that we then do. When Jesus died on the cross he washed away all the wrong things that we’d done so that we could be clean. It’s like playing football and getting dirty but then washing it all away in a strong shower. In Flora’s baptism we’re praying that she’ll grow up and decide to trust Jesus’ death to wash her clean from sin.

3. We’re praying that she’ll say ‘I’m a new person’

Baptism shows that we can become new people. When someone becomes a Christian they begin a new life. It’s a new life that means that they want to follow Jesus. It’s possible because God’s Spirit has changed them inside. When we start supporting a football club it’s a big day because we’ll start to do lots of new things. We’ll look in the paper for the scores and we might get up early on a Sunday to watch Match of the Day. In Flora’s baptism we’re praying that she’ll grow up and have this new life that Jesus offers. It’s a new life that starts when we become a Christian and continues into heaven.

4. We’re praying that she’ll say ‘I’m in the church’

Baptism shows that we’ve been joined to another group of people who also love and follow Jesus. When someone becomes a Christian they join God’s church and therefore they’ll want to meet up with others like them. When we start following a football team we become a supporter and we ought to show that by turning up so that we can cheer the side on. It means when we met other supporters even if we’ve never met them before we’ve got something important to us in common. In Flora’s baptism  we’re praying that she’ll grow up and want to be part of the church so that she can meet up with lots of other people who follow Jesus.

Let’s pray and then baptise her.

Audio download of this sermon available here http://www.christchurchbalham.org.uk/ccb/sermons.php

‘Born Again’. We’d be hard pressed to think of two words more likely to strike fear into the heart of any right thinking adult broadly familiar with the religious scene. The terminology ‘to be born again’ seems to have been hijacked by or attributed to the crackpot end of the religious spectrum, a certain type of Christianity that few of us find appealing. But here the phraseology is found not on the lips of the lunatic fringe but on the lips of Jesus Christ. Three times in the space of this private conversation he urges Nicodemus to come to terms with his need to be born again. He says the same to us.

But please notice four quick things about this conversation

a. It’s a conversation about spiritual things

I read an interview in yesterday’s Times with Kevin Pieterson, the England cricketer. It was all about his life and his ambitions for the future. I was engrossed. I love that sort of article. But this conversation is all about life with God on the other side of the grave. In (3) Jesus says that without being born again we cannot see the Kingdom of God. In (5) he says that without being born again we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the realm where God rules through His appointed King. It refers primarily to the future new creation but it’s experienced in the here and now by those who submit to Jesus’ wonderful government. But in (14) Jesus changes his vocabulary and talks about having eternal life. Yet he’s still talking about the same thing. John is letting us eavesdrop on a conversation about how to get into heaven. Even if we’re not spiritually on fire that’s got to be vaguely interesting.

b. It’s a conversation with a spiritually impressive man

Nicodemus was a member of the religious, political and theological elite. He was a senior Pharisee, one of the strictest sects within Judaism. He was a member of the Jewish ruling council, the Roman sponsored Government known as the Sanhedrin. He was the teacher of Israel, perhaps the representative voice of Judaism. He’s like the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is a man with an impeccable spiritual pedigree. Nevertheless this is not a conversation between equals. The great teacher of Israel is relegated to the role of student as he interacts with the true teacher of Israel. It’s striking that in this conversation the contribution made by Nicodemus gradually reduces. He speaks 24 words in (2), 18 in (4), 4 in (9) and he’s left speechless by Jesus’ rebuke in (10). We may come into the conversation predisposed to listen to the Archbishop but we can’t leave it that way.

c. It’s a conversation with a spiritual purpose

Jesus’ aim is to persuade this Archbishop of his need of spiritual rebirth. At the same time John is trying to move us from unbelief to belief. He says as much at the end of his account. Writing in 20:30&31

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John wants to persuade us through the careful presentation of eyewitness evidence that we need to believe in Jesus Christ if we’re to enjoy the eternal life of which he spoke. There’s no manipulation or deception involved he just wants to let Jesus walk off the page and convince us through these words that he holds the key to our existence.

d. It’s a conversation with an introduction

John introduces the conversation for us in 2:23-35.

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs [clearly he’d been doing more than the water into wine episode recorded for us in 2:1-11] that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jesus was reluctant to entrust himself wholeheartedly to a certain type of individual. The individual with a superficial faith based solely on the performance of miraculous signs. Nicodemus was just such an individual, he was the archetypal individual who could see the signs but couldn’t see what was significant about them. In that he’s pretty representative isn’t he? Most of us are pretty impressed with Jesus Christ it’s just we don’t what to do with him. This conversation ought to help.

The conversation is structured around three questions and three answers. The questions come from the lips of Nicodemus and the answers come from Jesus. The answers come in (3), (5) and (11). You’ll notice how each of Jesus’ answers is prefaced with the words ‘truly, truly I say to you’. It’s the first century equivalent to ‘honest to God this is no word of a lie!’ Let’s consider each stage of the conversation as it happened and think about the three points that Jesus made.

1. Being born again is essential for entry into the Kingdom of God (1-3)

3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we [he’s come as a representative] know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John tells us that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. An innocent enough observation it would seem but for John’s masterful and deliberate use of ambiguous language. By reporting that it was night he’s telling us the truth. But he’s telling us more than it was after sunset. Nicodemus was on a covert operation and required the cover of darkness to instigate his personal investigation of Jesus’ credentials. But John’s also telling us that spiritually speaking Nicodemus was in the dark. Like many of us he had an opinion about Jesus but wanted to take the opportunity to investigate for himself. He came to Jesus with affirming words but also with an agenda. Nicodemus reports the view of some of the Jewish religious elite. In their human wisdom they’d concluded that though Jesus was unconventional it was hard to get round the apparent divine attestation of his ministry through his miraculous activity. Every investigator of Jesus Christ has to account for the undeniable performance of historically verifiable miracles. They get as far as ‘teacher from God’ but stop short of ‘Son of God’. Jesus’ riposte in (3) was abrupt and from here the conversation took an unexpected twist. He might have been abrupt but he wasn’t clueless about social interaction. At first sight it may appear to us that Jesus completely ignored Nicodemus’ gracious introduction but in reality he answered not his words but his thoughts. Nicodemus’ question is implied rather than explicit. It concerned Jesus’ identity. So Jesus’ response is right on the money because he goes right to the heart of the matter. Nicodemus was in no fit state to be able to appreciate spiritual realities unless he’d been born again. Jesus was saying that he hadn’t got a clue because he hadn’t been born again. Jesus is not being unfair to Nicodemus at this point. He’s not singling him out as being especially spiritually incompetent. This guy was no slouch in the religiosity department it’s just that in his current state he will remain in the dark and never enter the realm where he can give an informed opinion of Jesus’ identity. 

Jesus’ words have universal implications. According to Jesus the truth of the matter is that unless we have been born again we will have no involvement in God’s eternal kingdom. The new birth is indispensable to possessing life in the eternal realm. None of us are excluded from this necessity. We may have the most impressive spiritual, social and political credentials in the world but so did Nicodemus. And Jesus made it clear to him that there’s no getting into his party without this qualification. That’s pretty humbling. No one likes rejection and that’s what it amounts to. As the conversation moves on Jesus’ second answer clarifies what he means by the new birth.

2. Being born again is supernatural life from the Spirit of God (4-8)

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.”

Nicodemus’ questions betrayed his complete ignorance of the matter at hand. Jesus’ new birth was spiritual but Nicodemus was lost in some obstetrical conundrum. Perhaps we ought not to be too hard on him since the word translated ‘again’ as in ‘born again’ can also be translated ‘from above’. That perhaps led to his misunderstanding. But Jesus was not talking about a new birth in the physical realm but a new start in the spiritual realm. He was talking about supernatural life from the Spirit of God. In (5) he alluded to the OT part of the Bible that anticipated this new spiritual life. Through the prophet Ezekiel God promised two things

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

a. That one day he would clean his people’s sins.

Imagine being filthy from head to toe and then stepping into a power shower to be washed clean and we’ve got the idea. God promised that he would wash away the moral filth that makes us dirty in His eyes. Imagine being able to stand in front of God morally clean.

b. That one day he would change his people’s hearts.

Imagine being indwelt by the Spirit of Mother Theresa so that we could live like she did and we’ve got the idea. God promised that he would send His Spirit to equip us to delight in living for Him. Imagine being able to obey God and enjoying it. That’s the new supernatural life from the Spirit of God. Being born again is a new beginning with God and inner transformation from God.

Nicodemus should have known this from his Old Testament. That’s why in (7) Jesus rebuked him. But then he provided an illustration in which he plays on the common word in both Hebrew and Greek for wind and spirit [ruach and pneuma]. In so doing Jesus compared supernatural new life from the Spirit with the wind. The wind is unfathomable. We’ve no control over its direction and no idea of its origin or destination and yet we don’t doubt the existence of the wind because we see its effects. In the same way neither should we doubt the existence of the new birth. We may not get it but we can’t deny it. Look around us for evidence of the Spirit’s work. In a church like ours we’re full of people who’ve experienced this new spiritual existence from God. Many of us here are proof that God changes people.

Rosslyn and I watched Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Ideal Husband’ on DVD whilst we were away. There’s a great line from the devious, scheming blackmailer Mrs Chievely played by Julianne Moore that was so good I wrote it down. Speaking to Sir Robert Chilton, the victim of her plot and a rising star of the Government she exploits his shady past and says, ‘Even you’re not rich enough to buy back your past, no man is’.

We may not be able to buy back our past but we can have new life from the Spirit. And now Jesus explains how that’s possible.

3. Being born again is possible through the work of the Son of God (9-15)

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Nicodemus’ exasperation is complete. His question is essentially, ‘how can any of this new birth stuff happen?’ Jesus answered by drawing attention to his work of revelation in bearing testimony to spiritual things in (11-13) and his work of salvation in being lifted up on the cross in (14&15). Let’s take each of those in turn.

In (11-13) Jesus asserted that he alone, as the one sent from God and the one who would ascend back into the heavens, was uniquely qualified to bear witness about spiritual matters. It’s hard to argue with that. And so being born again is possible because God sent Jesus to speak reliably and authoritatively about these things so that we might believe.

But then Jesus explained in (14&15) that knowledge is not enough, we need to be saved. He explained the effect of his own exaltation in death on the cross in terms of Moses’ exaltation of a bronze serpent during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. There’s much to explore here but our time is limited. We need only know that in response to Israel’s flagrant rebellion God had sent poisonous snakes into the camp to inflict a terminal penalty on his people but that they need only take God at his word and look to the bronze snake to be healed and live. Jesus was saying that new spiritual life would come to any that take God at His word and trust in the death of His Son for eternal life.

There’s a painting of this scene that depicts what I imagine were the different responses to the salvation offered by God in the bronze serpent. Not everyone is looking at the snake as we might expect. It’s a brilliant illustration of how we might respond to the new life offered to us in our salvation lifted up.

• There are a number of people asleep on the rock. They represent those of us who couldn’t care less about our spiritual state and are quite content to languish as we perish.

• There are a number of people fighting off the attacks of the snakes. They represent the self help brigade who don’t think that they need anyone to come to their aid.

• There are a number of people nurturing the sick. They represent those who rely on a catalogue of charitable works and good deeds to commend them to God.

• There are a number looking adoringly at Moses. They represent those who hope in their church leaders. There’s no point in putting our hope in mere mortals. They cannot help. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they wear or what we call them.

Different responses but a similar result. The sad truth is that all of them died because they would not do what God told them to do. They refused to take God at His word and trust in the salvation he had provided and they perished.

Conclusion

Everyone is on a spectrum of belief to unbelief. It may be that this morning God has awoken us to our spiritual state and we feel that it’s something that we’d like to address. I’m going to pray a prayer in a moment that may be suitable for you. But let me also tell you about something that’s intended to help move us further along that spectrum and sure up our uncertainty about some of these issues. It’s starting this Thursday night at our place. It’s a six week course called Christianity Explored and the name kind of gives it away!

1. What is it?

It’s nothing more than a meal where the topic of conversation has been decided beforehand! We sit round a table, eat dinner, watch a DVD clip, look at part of one of Jesus’ biographies and discuss it. You won’t be asked to pray or sing. There’s not a tambourine in sight and you can ask any question you like.

2. Where it is?

Rosslyn and I host the evening at our home in the heartland of the Balham Borders near the peak of the Streatham Hill.

3. When is it?

It starts on the first Thursday evening in November, we’ll serve food at 8pm and we’ll be done in time for you to be home by 10pm.

4. Why do it?

Because it’s a course that provides answers to questions. You may not agree with them not everyone does but at least you’ll know what the Bible’s answers are.