WATCHWORD:
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:1-16
Meditation:
The Zax Encounter
A recent Our Daily Bread devotional began with this: “In one of Dr. Seuss’ whimsical stories, he tells of a “North-Going Zax and a South-Going Zax” crossing the Prairie of Prax. Upon meeting nose to nose, neither Zax will step aside. The first Zax angrily vows to stay put—even if it makes “the whole world stand still.” (Unfazed, the world moves on and builds a highway around them.)”
The story offers an uncomfortably accurate picture of human nature and the stupidity of the current political environment. We possess a reflexive “need” to be right, and we’re prone to stubbornly cling to that instinct in rather destructive ways!
Happily, for us, God lovingly chooses to soften stubborn human hearts. I offer as an example Nicodemus. One of the leaders of the Temple, Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and a teacher. He has heard much about Jesus and his teachings, and rumors of healings and miracles. So, he comes to Jesus at night, and it’s in this dialogue that Jesus speaks of being born-again, and the lesson ends with John 3:16, so familiar to us. While this did not mean an immediate change of heart for Nicodemus, it was the beginning, important seeds planted that began to change this man. It is that change that brings Nicodemus to Calvary with Joseph to lovingly claim the body of Jesus for burial. The continuing story of Nicodemus has yet to be told.
How “Zax-ie” are we? How stubbornly do we cling to the immoveable law of “right-ness”. I am right, and I refuse to hear anything else. My dogma is the only way. Everything else is false.
I have a friend whose life-journey did not lead to baptism, yet his belief in Christ led him to become a truly excellent Christian education Sunday School teacher. I think that my friend would argue that when he accepted Jesus as his Lord, at that moment he was baptized by the Holy Spirit, and he did not need to be “re-baptized”.
My book, A Life for Barabbas, will be released later this month (more on that later). The book is historic fiction. I have written a conversation between Peter and Barabbas on the subject of baptism and making disciples, just days after the Resurrection. Peter speaks:
“What has happened to you that changed you, that brought you to believe? You told me of your experience on Calvary when you encountered our Lord. You were convinced that something extraordinary happened to you then, and it did. You told me that you regretted and repented from the life you led, and you wanted to do it right, those were your words. You told me that you knew He had touched you and changed you. That is your story; that is what you share.
“One other thing, Barabbas, that you need to know and believe. At the moment that Jesus touched you, you were baptized by The Holy Spirit.”
In that same conversation with Peter, Barabbas tells of his experience in the waters of the Sea of Galilee where he felt cleansed, forgiven, and redeemed. A full and completed baptism? A literal theologian might cry, “not so”. Where was confirmation? Where was the Water and the Word? That was not a “real baptism”.
How strongly do we cling to the familiar, the liturgy, what we believe even in the face of other ideas and belief? We need to rest on that most important question: What Would Jesus Do or Say? So, fellow Zaxs, what is He saying to us, if we will but listen? Amen.
Humor for the Day:
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it! He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?”
He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?”
He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist. I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”
I said, “Die, heretic!” And pushed him over.
Morning Prayer:
Good morning, Lord! Today’s a new day, a chance for a new start. Yesterday is gone and with it any regrets, mistakes, or failures I may have experienced. It’s a good day to be glad and give thanks, and I do, Lord. Thank you for today, a new opportunity to love, give, and be all that you want me to be. Amen
