Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In
our Thursday Bible Study we’ve been watching a debate that took place a month
or two ago between Bill Nye the Science Guy and a man named Ken Ham, who is the
cofounder of the Creation Museum, which is located in the Cincinnati area and CEO
of a group called Answers in Genesis.
The debate was over whether the Biblical account of creation has a place
in today’s scientific era; Ken Ham was adamant that it does, Bill Nye was
adamant that it doesn’t. During the
debate Bill Nye used the “reasonable man argument,” that it wasn’t reasonable
to believe in a literal six day creation, it wasn’t reasonable to believe in a
world-wide flood, it wasn’t reasonable to believe the Bible at all. If one was to boil it down, I guess, you
could say that it came down to man’s reason vs. faith.
A
similar debate takes place in our Gospel reading for this morning. Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews; he’s a
worldly man who understands worldly things.
He understands where babies come from and scoffs at the notion that one
could be born again. It’s not
reasonable, it makes no sense! “How can a man be born when his is
old? Can he enter a second time into his
mother’s womb and be born,” he says with what I presume to be a heavy dose
of derision in his voice.
It’s
true that the Lord has given us reason and, like the rest of His creation, He
calls it good. God intends for us to use
our reason to make informed decisions, to figure out problems, to discern the
best thing to do when God’s Word is silent on an issue. Do I eat Corn Flakes or Raisin Bran for
breakfast? Should I wear the red shirt
or the blue shirt? You’ve been given
Christian freedom in such matters. Or we
use reason to study things. How does
photosynthesis work, let’s study it? How
do we go about mapping the human genome, let’s figure it out? Reason plays a big role in these questions,
we have minds and God intends for us to use them, but reason always takes a
back seat to God’s Word.
That’s
Nicodemus’ problem; he’s been watching Jesus from a distance, watching the
things He’s been doing and reasons that He must be from God. But as soon a Jesus starts talking about
being born again or born from above, his reason can’t take it. It’s not reasonable. He understands none of it. He’s a man who lives under the law, who can
understand and can wrap his mind around the simple formula: good works +
obedience to God’s Law = salvation. That
makes sense, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Do enough and God will smile upon you,
Nicodemus reasons.
Jesus
continues by telling him, “No, Nicodemus, this all happens by water and the
Spirit, apart from anything you can do.”
He still understands none of it, rather finds it ridiculous. “How can water be a mother?”
We
can understand Nicodemus’ attitude; after all, we’re modern people. We know that one can’t be born twice, we know
that water can’t give birth. Have you
had your Nicodemus moments? In a moment
of weakness, the devil creeps into your mind and whispers, “Now that’s not
really reasonable, is it? Saved by a
little water poured over your head? That
sounds pretty stupid. Look what kind of
person you are, the things you’ve done, the dark thoughts of your mind, it’s
not really reasonable that you can call yourself a Christian, is it? It’s beyond comprehension that Jesus would
forgive a person like you.”
Reason
is a gift of God, but like the rest of creation our reason has been corrupted
by the fall. Nicodemus is trying to
understand the things of God by his reason and senses, but that’s like trying
to catch a gallon of water being poured out into a sieve. We don’t grab onto the promises of God by
what sounds reasonable, but by faith given to us by God. As we remember what Luther has to say on the
subject, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord
or come to Him.”
It’s
a temptation, part of our human nature, to gauge everything, even God’s Word to
what sounds reasonable. But God makes a
promise and attaches it to external means.
In the desert, God attached His promise of life to the serpent that
Moses raised on the pole. I’m sure there
were people who were dying of snake bites that laughed at that too. But here’s the thing, it’s not reason that
holds onto God’s promises, but faith.
God had attached His promise to the serpent in the wilderness that all
who would look upon it and live. The
people looked upon that which had poisoned them, just as we look to the cross
and see Jesus who has taken upon Himself the poison of our sin.
God
makes a promise in His Word and faith latches onto it unwilling to break its
grasp. Faith hears the Word of God, “For
God so loved the world in this way, that He gave His only begotten Son that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,” and says,
“Amen!” Faith hears the Words of Jesus
that says to be born again through water and the Spirit, that by it you will be
saved and faith says, “Amen, I believe God’s promise is for me.”
So
here it is: the Word that creates and sustains faith. That Word that baffles logic, but faith gives
its enthusiastic, “Amen!” The Gospel from
which flows all the promises of God.
Jesus died on His cross for you.
God loved you so much that He couldn’t stand to be separated from you
because He’s holy and we’re not, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who became
man to redeem you. Like the snake in the
desert, He was lifted high upon the cross for you, carrying your sin, your
guilt, your shame. And what does God
expect of you? Nothing. Sounds unreasonable doesn’t it? But when it comes to your salvation, God does
the unreasonable, the unheard of, the unthinkable and gives His innocent Son
into death and through Him He gives you eternal life.
The
salvation job has been completed, in full, for you. It doesn’t make sense, it’s not rational that
God would do everything and we contribute nothing, but that’s the way God would
have it, He loves you that much. He has
washed you clean and given you rebirth through the waters of baptism, where He
proclaimed you to be His own dear child.
The forgiveness that Jesus won on the cross for you, He bathes you in at
those baptismal waters.
Salvation
isn’t an equation, it’s not something that we rationally figure out or do,
Jesus simply does it for you. Even
during those times the devil is whispering in your ear, tempting you to
distrust the promises of God, you can say to that old liar, “Go back to hell,
you old ancient foe. I have One who has
gone to the cross, carrying all my sins.
I have One who has given me new birth through the waters of baptism,
where I am made His brother and have God my loving Father.” Believe it.
Eternal life is yours in Christ.
Amen.
