The Lutheran Hour
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"Good News for Religious People Too?"
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Text: John 3:1-16
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Grace, and mercy, and peace be to you from the Father, by the Son, in the power of the Spirit. Amen.
Most of the time people think that things like grace, and forgiveness, and mercy, are things that bad people need. And, if you look hard enough, every society has a definition, implicit or explicit, of what a truly bad person is. You know, they are the ones scorned, the kind of people who really, really need to be saved. Now the Bible does speak about grace for sinners, the kind of people that most folks would agree need to come clean before God but today we need to learn an even more important lesson, the lesson that even the so-called good people, the religious people need God’s grace, too.
Today, Jesus confronts a very religious person, a good man in his day. Nicodemus is an upstanding person in the community. He is just the kind of person you would want living next door to you in the neighborhood. He is a person of moral character and esteem. He was a trustworthy person, a well-respected person among not only his peers but among the common folks, too. He was a Pharisee and to the common people, there was no one better in the world than they. Jesus, Himself references their perspective in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, when He tells the crowd that their righteousness must exceed the Pharisees to get into God’s Kingdom, to them, that was an impossible standard.
But Nicodemus comes to Jesus here in this text because he realizes that despite his character, his standing in the community, something is missing. Even all of that is not enough for abundant life now and life eternal forever with God. Jesus confronts him with the compelling message that God’s grace is for those who are sinners, period. And, neither religion nor unreligion can overcome mankind’s real problem with God, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, all need to be born from above, born again by grace!
So, who is this Jesus, who dispels all myths of self-righteousness and claims to be able to cast away all our sins? Who is this Jesus, who calls us not only to faith in God the Father, but faith in Him for abundant life and eternal salvation? Who is He? He is the One who comes to save all people by grace. He is the One who challenges every one of us to see our absolute need for God, our need to be born anew by the power of His Spirit. But even more, He calls us to trust in the incredible offer of new life by grace through faith in Him alone!
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from all over the world were discussing whether one belief was unique to the Christian faith. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s all the rumpus about?” he asked and he heard in their reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among the world’s religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.
Today we come face to face again with the Good News that God the Father sent God the Son in the power of God the Holy Spirit to redeem and restore the world by grace; one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in action for your salvation.
Jesus’ heavenly message for every human being on earth is that no one is forgiven, no one lives life eternally in God’s presence except for one reason alone, God’s gracious, forgiving love in Him.
Jesus said, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things… For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
The incredible message of Jesus is that God’s offer of unconditional love and grace is no respecter of persons and is open to all people the same, for all people, even religious people, need God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, God’s mercy.
Let me say it plainly then. All people need it the same, every one of us. One of the real problems in our world today is that people tend to compare themselves to each other and not to the righteous, holy standards of God. I often hear people say, “I don’t feel the need to ‘get right’ with God because things are pretty good in my life compared to others.” Well, they miss the whole point.
But, as hard as it is to reach indifferent people with the Gospel, it is often even harder to reach religious people.
Why? Well, religion, by definition, is you doing those things or not doing those things necessary to get God’s loving attention, or at least doing what is necessary to overcome your shortcomings and get God off of your back. It is confidence that your deeds meet the standard for such things. But whose standard is key? Who will determine when you’ve done enough? And, why should a holy and righteous God ever be satisfied with sinful people’s best efforts?
Nicodemus was a very religious person, a Pharisee, and they were especially committed religious folks, highly valued by the average person of the day!
The name Pharisee means the separated one, and the Pharisees were those who had separated themselves from all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the law of Moses, even some more laws that they and the scribes felt were vital to being moral people, too.
Their goal in life was the public, formal observance of religion. To many people of that day, they were the finest and the most committed people of the community.
And there was no greater example of such a person than this Nicodemus. But, according to the Bible, he was good by this world’s standards, but was still one who needed to be forgiven, redeemed by Jesus, by grace alone.
This may be a hard word to hear, but mankind’s best religion doesn’t satisfy God’s holy demands. It may give you great standing with others, but it is powerless in creating and sustaining a relationship with a holy and righteous God. Nicodemus knew this. Even though he came at night, he was still risking his position before men, in the community to find out what Jesus uniquely had to offer. What he wanted was his position with God to be right and this Jesus was just the One who could help.
So, Christianity is ultimately a proclamation of grace and mercy, earned by Jesus Christ on behalf of the world, a relationship with God offered as a free gift by faith. For God has paid the price for your rebellion, God has overcome your selfishness and separation and He has made your new life possible in Christ.
The Good News is for all people. God is at work for all of God’s work in Jesus makes love possible again for us. For Jesus says and literally serves to make it true that the Father loved the world unconditionally so He sent His Son. That God the Son loved the world so completely that He lived our life and died our death to give us His life. And that God, the Holy Spirit, loved the world in that He takes the work that Jesus has done on our behalf and He makes it our own by grace.
No other religion talks this way.Remember the British Comparative Religion’s Conference and the discussion among C.S. Lewis and his colleagues?
Well, Lewis went on to say that Christianity uniquely claims God’s love comes free of charge, no strings attached. No other religion makes that claim.
After a moment someone commented that Lewis had a point, Buddhists, for example, follow an eight-fold path to enlightenment. It’s not a free ride. Hindus believe in karma, that your actions continually affect the way the world will treat you; there is nothing that comes to you not set in motion by your actions. Someone else observed the Jewish code of law implies God has requirements for people to be acceptable to Him and in Islam God is a God of judgment and not a God of love. You live to appease Him
At the end of the discussion everyone concluded Lewis had a point. Only Christianity dares to proclaim God’s love is unconditional, an unconditional love that we call grace. Christians boldly proclaim that grace really has precious little to do with us, our inner resolve, or our lack of any inner resolve. Rather, grace is all about God and God freely giving to us the gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and love.
So, you will never understand the depth of your sin before God until you realize that even your good works need His forgiveness. And you will never know the joy of abundant, eternal life until you realize that it is beyond your best efforts, but not beyond God’s effort for you in Christ.
Here’s the simple truth. You need God’s love and you can have it freely and fully by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. Trusting this most basic message can change your whole life.
Back in the 1500s, people didn’t have a Bible that they could read. The church of the day controlled the translating of Scripture and offered it only in Latin. But, Martin Luther challenged the abuses of the church of his day, so much so that he worked hard to make a translation available in German (the language of his people).
The daughter of the printer that Luther used was cleaning in her dad’s shop one morning and she picked up a piece of paper off the floor. It read, “For God so loved the world that He gave…” and that was all. The rest of the verse was not printed yet, but what she saw excited her. The thought that God would give her anything moved her.
Her mother noticed a change in her and asked why she was so happy. The girl pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and showed it to her mother. The mother read it…. “God so loved the world that He gave….” and she asked, “Well, what did He give?”
The girl said, “I don’t know but if God loved us enough to give us anything, we should not be afraid of Him.”
What she read on that scrap of paper changed how she looked at God. It changed what she expected in her life from that day on.
Nicodemus needed to learn that it wasn’t what he gave to God that determined his life and salvation, but what God gave for him. And even his life lived for God; that was so that others might see God’s love for them as well.
Jesus told him, He tells us: “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how should you believe if I tell you heavenly things? … For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”
Jesus says it clearly, completely to Nicodemus and to us, that God’s things are beyond our reach. He goes further, saying, that all those who wish to have a relationship with Him, they must be born again, be born from above.
Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Don’t you know? You must be born from above. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to Spirit!”
Jesus offers Nicodemus, not religion, but grace. God comes looking for us with His love before we do anything worthy of His attention. He makes new life possible for us before any of us deserve it. And then He offers it to us graciously, too; new birth by water and the Spirit!
Birth from above; such heavenly things are that God has a plan for the world. It is a plan that makes this world’s wisdom look foolish, it makes this world’s power look weak, it makes the world’s grandeur seem gaudy, and all of the world’s religion seem empty by comparison. It is the message of the manger, the cross, and the open tomb. It’s the message of salvation by grace alone for you!
But, even more incredibly, is that this message from above is available right here, right now, on earth for you.
God not only saves the world out of His love, He not only makes this possible by His work on our behalf, but even more incredibly, He delivers this Good News in ways that we can receive and understand. He proclaims this Good News in words you and I can understand and receive, He makes this good word visible to us in His washing and His supper. Christ comes all the way to where we are in words andwater, bread and wine to deliver His grace to us, so that we know that this Good News of John 3:16 was indeed meant for each one of us personally.
In John 3:5, Jesus speaks about rebirth through Water and the Spirit, new birth in the grace of Jesus. I hear that people say this passage has nothing to do with Baptism. Technically that might be true, for at this point in the Scripture, Baptism in Jesus’ Name has not yet been unleashed on the world. But practically, even this passage has everything to do with Baptism. For God is always bringing salvation to our level. He brings salvation through words, water, bread, and wine so that you might hear it, and see it, and touch it, and taste it, and know that it is true for you, too! This is but a foretaste of what is sure to come.
The Good News of Jesus is a Sacramental Word. It’s not magic, it’s not hocus pocus, it’s the Good News that God’s Good News comes all the way to sinner’s ears, eyes, mouth, and heart so that grace might be possible in every human being’s life! When Jesus is called the Word itself, we see clearly that God’s Good Word always comes to the flesh level of life; comes all the way to us that our flesh might be redeemed, restored, and yes, one day resurrected. New birth.
Yes, it’s true that our flesh gives birth only to more flesh, but His Spirit, right here at the flesh level of our ears, eyes, mouth, and senses, gives new birth at this flesh level of our life, to all who trust in Jesus.
And like the text says, the God who made the heavens and the earth wants everyone, including religious people, to receive His gift!
God’s grace is for all people, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, religious people included. So when you hear that John 3:16 is the summary of the Gospel of Jesus, make sure that you remember that this isn’t just another religious statement. This isn’t another variation of the eight-fold path, or the ten principles for a spiritual life, or the “5 Pillars,” or just another version of a religious call for you to get your act together. Learn with Nicodemus that the Good News that Jesus is offering is God’s love as a gift, God’s favor by grace, and real forgiveness through a real cross with a real resurrection and new start for all who trust in Him. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not about religion at all. Nicodemus knew that Jesus brought something entirely different, God’s love graciously given.
Max Lucado writes: “There are many reasons that God saves you: to bring glory to Himself, to appease His justice, to demonstrate His sovereignty. But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because He is fond of you. (He loves you). He likes having you around. He thinks that you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while. If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose to live in your heart. Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you!”
That’s Good News for sinners, that’s Good News for religious people, that’s Good News for us all.
Amen!
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Return to the Lord” by Henry Gerike. From Blessed by the Concordia Seminary Chorus (© 2000 Concordia Seminary Chorus) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Create in Me a Clean Heart” From With High Delight by the Children’s Choirs of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (© 2002 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne)
“Not All the Blood of Beasts” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Lamb of God, Pure and Holy” arr. Timothy Moke & Georg Masanz. From Magnificent Christian Hymns, vol. 3 by Timothy Moke & Georg Masanz (© 2006 T. Moke Recordings)