The Lutheran Hour
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"Re-Born Free"
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Text: John 3:1-17
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Christ is risen; He is risen indeed and because of Him, you can live in Baptismal freedom and hope again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Back in the 1960s there was a popular and emotion-inducing movie called “Born Free.” In this movie three orphaned lion cubs were taken in and raised by George and Joy Adamson. George, a game warden in Africa, was forced to shoot and kill the cub’s mother as she charged them. It wasn’t until later that they found out why; it was to protect her cubs that she charged. Their hearts went out to these little ones who were now helpless and in mortal danger in the wild. So, they took the cubs home to raise them.
But lions in the house? It didn’t take too long to realize the futility of raising the “King of the Jungle” in one’s home. So, when it became too much to do, two of the lions were sent to zoos, but Elsa, the third lioness, was kept for just a little while longer. But circumstances soon made her benevolent captivity impossible as well. So, the Adamsons, not wanting their favorite cub to be captive and enslaved not only in a zoo but also in the non-natural confines of their home, they decided to return the cub to its original home in Africa. After all, that is where it was born free and, therefore, that is where it should freely live.
Born free, free to live as God intended. You can almost feel the heartbreak of the movie. The tragedy of having to orphan the cubs, then raising the animals as if they were part of your family, only to have to let them go again into the dangers and opportunities of real freedom. It doesn’t just sound like a movie; those emotions sound a bit like real life, don’t they?
That’s because they are! Freedom, the desire to be free, the need to be free to worship God, to love and serve one another; that’s what it means to be human. The Apostle Paul says it best in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again with a yoke of slavery.”
Human beings, created in the image of God, were meant to live in freedom, in love, in peace, in joy. That’s the Bible’s message, that’s the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
But, born free? The reality of modern human life is that we seem to be born in captivity. We seem to be born in bondage. Our world is a world that works to keep people in their place. History is filled with facts of physical slavery and bondage among all peoples in every nation. In fact, that devastating reality still exists today. Still today, there are people who are trafficking and trading people as if they were commodities.
Ours is a world of various bondages. Freedom is the anomaly. There are physical and emotional bondages that overwhelm us; yes, even worse, there is a spiritual bondage from sin, guilt, and shame that human beings suffer that keeps them hopeless, helpless, and discouraged.
Born free? The reality we experience is that we’re born bound; bound to our sin, our guilt, and the death spiral that begins in our lives from the very day we took our first breath. No matter the money, no matter the fame, no matter the political power of the moment, all human beings are broken at that soul level, with no power to ultimately fix the problem.
Just do a self-check today with me, would you? You know the Bible is true here, don’t you? You know that deep down inside you sense the brokenness, the guilt for things you know you should do, or the guilt you suffer for those things you shouldn’t do but can’t seem to overcome. Even amidst life’s successes, there seems to be struggle and bondage at every turn. Maybe the movie of our lives should be “Born Bound….Get Used To It,” right?
Wrong! Wrong! And it’s not just wishful thinking that makes me say this; my encouragement to you today, it’s not some hope against hope message that we human beings can make a difference if we just try harder. No, faced with reality, that’s just another kind of hopelessness, isn’t it?
This Good News of Jesus Christ, then, is not of this world, it’s not something you’re born into. This is a gift of God. This is something that is re-born into you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You see, just like the cubs in the movie, there is One who sees the condition we’re in and can do something about it. There is One who understands the big picture of your life and can make life happen for you. The Adamsons were that to those cubs. They understood their plight. They took them in. They raised them. And even when Elsa was to be set free back into the wild, they prepared her, they taught her how to hunt again; they prepared her for the rigors of freedom. The movie ends not just with the releasing of Elsa into the wild, it ends with the Adamsons coming back a year later only to find out that Elsa still remembers them and now she is not only safe, she has three cubs of her own.
Jesus reminds Nicodemus that God is the One that makes life possible for him, for all people again. He tells him that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life!” God sees human bondage for what it is, a death sentence, and He has sprung into action for us and for our salvation.
Incredibly, Nicodemus doesn’t just get a lesson about this, he gets to meet the One who has come to free us from our bondage, to set the captives free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor for all who believe.
Our gracious Father, in the sending of His Son, offers us real freedom, a freedom that comes through repentance and faith, a freedom that comes in our adoption as His sons and daughters, a freedom that comes when we are reborn in His Name, by the power of His Spirit.
To be free then, to live freely, we must be born into it; or, as Jesus says here, “We must be re-born free!” As Jesus Himself says, “We need to be born again.” The bondage we’re in, the problems we face, the struggles, they are a part of the water we drink, the air we breathe, the broken-heart that beats in our mortal bodies. No religious fervor, no political policies, no self-help resolutions are going to overcome that bondage. As Jesus says, “You need a new life, one that only God can give you by grace, by His Spirit.”
“Okay, Pastor, now I’ve heard preachers talk this way, you know, ‘be born again,’ but I’m like Nicodemus; I’m a bit confused. How can a person be ‘born again?’ That sounds impossible!”
That’s a great question. In fact, Nicodemus has it right; we can’t do this!So, let’s learn like Nicodemus in the lesson. He was a good man, no enemy of Jesus. He was a fervent religious leader. He wanted to do what was right. He wanted to live a righteous life; but more than that, he wanted to know this Jesus. There was something radically different about Him. It was as if knowing Him could change everything. Why else would Nicodemus come to see Jesus in the dark of night, risking everything, his religious leadership, his public standing, everything?
And now, Jesus tells him straight, “you must do, you must receive the impossible. You must be born again for the life that God wants you to have.”Nicodemus has to be thinking, “Okay, Jesus, I’m here, but I’m still not getting this. Please help me!”
I feel like Nicodemus at times, how about you? He was listening as hard as he could, but he still wasn’t getting it. So, Jesus patiently explains it to him. First, He explains the problem. That which is born of sinful flesh is captive to sinful flesh and all that it entails.
But even in view of that reality, Jesus says there still is hope because there is another type of birth, a birth from above, a birth on God’s gracious terms. One becomes “born again” by being born to faith by water and the Spirit. God takes ordinary water, attaches His Name, His Spirit, His promise to that washing and delivers to His people His life and salvation as a gift. Washed in His Name, in His Spirit, God brings about your re-birth by grace!
The hope Jesus provided Nicodemus is the same hope Jesus provides for you and me. This rebirth, this being born again, is not some frivolous religious ceremony; it’s an invitation to be connected to the One who saved you, through an event of grace.
You know, sometimes when people read this lesson, they make the mistake of thinking that all flesh is sinful. You know, all earthly stuff is bad; all spiritually heavenly stuff is good. That’s not what Jesus is saying. He’s saying, “Because of your sin, your sinful flesh perpetuates itself.” But, My flesh lived out for you, offered for you on the cross, resurrected for your eternal lives; that flesh literally saves you. And Jesus can deliver the Good News of the gift of His life and salvation to you in earthly things that you can receive and understand as well; His Flesh, His gifts at the flesh-level of our life, those save!
It’s amazing that we can read and hear the words that are God’s Words to us. We can taste of His goodness in a meal called the Lord’s Supper, when we receive Christ afresh. We can also literally be connected to His death and resurrection. How? By being “baptized, washed with water, in His Name.” We have a Savior who comes, not to condemn the world; the world is on that condemnation path on its own. He comes to save and deliver the salvation that only He can!
Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they’re born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
To be re-born free, then, is to receive the gift of life and salvation of Jesus by faith. To trust that what He has done for you, what He says of you, that’s you! His promises become yours; His life becomes yours; and His purpose in life becomes yours too.
To be re-born free is to live freed lives by God’s grace, with God’s love for others, just as Jesus lived life for you.
If you are washed in His Name, re-born free, that means your life will change too. But even here, the Holy Spirit is Christ’s gift to you to help make that happen in your life. That kind of gracious transformation doesn’t happen overnight either. It’s a daily revisiting of that “washed into our life” grace, where we die to ourselves and rise in the grace of Christ to face the challenges of the day.
To live re-born free lives is to let God have His way with you, to follow His lead, to learn from His Word, to imitate the One who has already saved you 100%.
Winter is the time of car shows in the United States. It’s something that I love to attend with my daughter Devin. We each have our favorite cars and we love to see what changes have been done to them or what new designs might be in the future. As I was thinking about how to illustrate the re-born free life that we get to live now in Christ by the power of His Spirit; that’s right, what came to my mind was cars. Let me explain.
I was thinking what would have to happen if a Volkswagen Beetle wants to become a Cadillac? Well, first, the Beetle would have to leave the VW lot to join the Cadillac family, right? That’s the least it could do. But, doing that still wouldn’t change its VW identity at all, would it? How about if you took the Cadillac emblem and put it on the VW? Well, that would be more of a change, but still, it’s a VW with minor changes, that’s all. What finally has to happen is a trip not just to the dealer lot, but to the refiner’s fire, to the steel ovens to be remade, to be melted down, poured out, and molded into the real thing, the new thing.
As Christians, our lives will go through similar transformations as we grow up as Christ’s people, living life that He has already made possible for us by His death and resurrection!
John 3 tells us that God loves us, loves to save us by His grace. But the rest of the Bible tells us that He also loves to see to it that we become all that we were created and redeemed to be; that included Nicodemus; that includes you, and that includes me.
Nicodemus had it right when he said, “Re-birth, how can this be?” What a joy to realize that re-birth isn’t a work for us to do, but a gift for us to receive! I love how Martin Luther explained this spiritual re-birth. He said, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”
Ordinary means for extraordinary grace! Nicodemus got to learn and receive that too; that “In Christ,” God has a fondness for the ordinary and an affinity for the finite. Nicodemus learned that God extends His love and grace especially to the common level of our lives; the place where most of us live and work. In fact, God doesn’t just demonstrate His love; He communicates it so that you and I can receive it!
There are all kinds of places in the Bible that illustrate this, places where God uses ordinary means to communicate His extraordinary blessings to ordinary people. Look how God revealed Himself to Moses – in a bush, an ordinary bush. Look at the means of transportation used by Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday – a donkey, a lowly beast of burden. Remember Jesus’ first miracle, it included some ordinary stuff. He changed water into wine. Water, wine – common stuff of daily life. And look how Jesus taught. He communicated the Kingdom of God in words – simple, ordinary words.
God has a fondness for the ordinary and an affinity for the finite. Even more, He has a love for ordinary people like you and me. He has a re-born free life for you to live right now, by grace, through faith.
George and Joy Adamson gave the gift of freedom to Elsa, the lioness cub. They literally raised her and restored her to life in the wild! It was a touching story. Sadly, George and Joy, the two grantors of freedom in the movie “Born Free,” didn’t ultimately experience the same freedom as their Elsa. Not only did they both experience the brokenness of relationships among other struggles in their lives, but each one, sadly, was murdered violently, suffering the ultimate indignity of this broken world. I don’t know if they knew the One who could re-born them free, even from the travails of this world. I pray that they did!
But, you and I, today, this very day we can know Him and the new birth that He gives! The Jesus who receives Nicodemus, who calls him to faith and life in Himself; He is calling out to you today too. What is impossible for you and I to do on our own, to free ourselves, is possible in the freeing work of Jesus Christ that He Himself applies to us with His baptismal grace. Be baptized, believe in Him, and know the joy of not just being re-born free, but living re-born free now and forever.
Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 16, 2014
Topic: Why Can’t People Get Along, Even In Church?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Today, here’s a question I think that really hits close to home. Maybe you’ve noticed this, people don’t seem to get along with each other all that well- sadly, not even in church! Is there something we can say about this?
SELTZ: Mark, that is a close-to-home question, and there’s no excuse for people to continue to hold grudges or hurts; but here’s the real perspective to answer this question, “Where there are people, there is sin.” And that includes being at church.
ANNOUNCER: The Bible doesn’t evade this issue either. If we look in the book of 1 John, we read, “Since God so loved us, we ought to also love one another. And, if anyone says he loves God but hates his brother, he’s a liar.”
SELTZ: Good point. The key here is to understand, then, what we mean by love.
ANNOUNCER: What do you mean?
SELTZ: Well, you see, as sinners, we come to church because we know that we need to repent and to receive God’s forgiving love for ourselves. Church isn’t a place for people who have it all figured out. It’s a place to come where our lives can be redeemed and restored by the One who loves us and all people. So, if people aren’t taking responsibility for their actions, that’s a problem that needs to be addressed because God’s love says so.
ANNOUNCER: And, in order for us to love each other as Christians, we need to start by admitting that we often mess up and we hurt others and we have to turn to the Lord, then, in repentance and faith.
SELTZ: Exactly. So there are going to be times when our foolishness gets the best of us, even with those we love and care for. The Christian faith is well aware of that as it calls all of us to the foot of the cross in repentance. But, the good news is that life doesn’t have to remain that way. Faith in Christ also empowers us to live the life that God has given us in His Spirit!
ANNOUNCER: Does the Bible give an answer here as well?
SELTZ: It sure does. Now, there’s no easy answers for all personal issues. It’s always best to get specifics about a personal problem or argument before giving any advice. But there are some basic things that we all need to think about as God’s forgiven, loved people. The first point is this, that Christians, even though they may act foolishly or maliciously, daily they are called back to repentance and faith, and then challenged by God’s Spirit-filled Word, to look at the situation differently, namely through Christ’s eyes.
ANNOUNCER: In that sense, faith is giving us a different perspective on things.
SELTZ: Yes, it is. Just think about it. If we truly believe in Jesus, then the question for all kinds of issues in our lives is “What does Jesus wish for us to do as His people?” And when it comes to dealing with hurts or anger or frustration, even with fellow believers, there is a third-party perspective that is real in our lives.
ANNOUNCER: …to see this in the light of Christ and the example that He set?
SELTZ: Exactly, but there’s even more than that. It’s how has Jesus treated us when we were hurtful to Him, what He did to us, what He did for us. Then look at that person standing before you, who has maybe hurt you. Then, think to yourself, if that person was me and I was Jesus, what would He do for me? Then prayerfully, by His Spirit, act accordingly.
ANNOUNCER: I’m reminded there’s a small book in the Bible that speaks to this issue, isn’t there?
SELTZ: I think you’re talking about the little book of Philemon, right?
ANNOUNCER: That tells the story of a runaway slave named Onesimus. We read in that book how people can be reconciled when they treat each other as fellow believers in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
SELTZ: That’s right, and there’s even more in that book. Paul literally is also willing to pay the temporal price for the person who has offended, Onesimus. Paul willingly made amends, paid his debt “personally,” as Jesus did for him and more. That was key in this case to help reconcile Onesimus with Philemon. Powerful stuff.
ANNOUNCER: We’re talking here about a unique kind of love.
SELTZ: Right, but it’s not because Paul is perfect, or Onesimus is perfect, or Philemon is perfect. They had their good days and bad days, like everybody else. But they also had a love from God that made all the difference. It was a love that needed to be received as well as shared. It challenged them daily to be different, with a Spirit-filled Word showing them how to love a totally different way than anything else in this world.
ANNOUNCER: So, the world will begin to know that we are Christ’s people because they see His love active among us, sometimes even in spite of us!
SELTZ: Thank God for that!
ANNOUNCER: God grant we become better at practicing that love for each other. Thank you, Pastor Seltz. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Christ, the Life of All the Living” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart” by J.S. Bach. From Werke für Blechbläser von Bach, u.a. (© 1988 Hanssler-Verlag, Stuttgart)
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)