Who doesn’t need a second chance?
Life is a journey …
A series of twists and turns …
A little of this and a little of that …
Going somewhere … and going nowhere at all.
Light and dark;
Hot and cold;
Fast and slow;
Moving and stopping …
Seeking and finding;
Wondering and wandering;
Asking and receiving;
Knock and the door opens …
And sometimes the doors close, right in our face …
The unexpected setback, the slowdown, the downturn, the upset and the setup …
Barry Bonds doesn’t hit a homerun at every bat …
Tiger Woods doesn’t make par every game …
Even the best bowlers throw a gutter ball now and then.
Who doesn’t need a second chance?
That’s what Jesus offers to Nicodemus … a second chance … a chance to start all over again … because Nicodemus was on a road leading to nowhere!
“What do you mean Jesus? What’s all this about?”
“I’m a member of the ruling class … I’m one of the teachers of Israel … I’m an important man … I say ‘jump,’ and folks say, ‘How high?’”
But why was Nicodemus paying a late-night visit to Jesus?
Under cover of darkness …
Nic at Night, if you will …
Not wanting his colleagues to know …
He addresses Jesus with respect … and says, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God, because of the signs you do.”
“Houston, we have a problem!”
If you have your Bible open, just at the end of chapter 2, it says, “Many believed because they saw the signs.”
But Jesus didn’t trust them … “because he knew them” … fair weather faith, unpredictable and self-serving.
So here’s Nic at night - “We know,” he says.
What do they know?
We’ll soon find out, they know nothing!
Jesus doesn’t waste time … no invitation to have coffee next week and talk about it.
No “thank you” for the compliment …
Because Jesus knew that Nic at night was a spiritual mess in spite of his outward success … inside of Nic, it was “Nic at night” … Nic lived in a land of shadows and shades.
Who is Nicodemus?
He’s a leader, a man of influence and position … a teacher of Israel … to all outward appearances, he’s powerful and successful … but Jesus sees the empty heart.
Nic is searching … I doubt if Nic could have put his finger on it, but Nic knows something is missing … that much can be said for him, and that’s where Jesus goes.
Jesus doesn’t waste time with Nic … “You must be born again.”
Now that’s a phrase that’s been lifted out of context and turned into an evangelical war cry … “You must be born again.”
The “you” is plural – Marj from Texas might say, “Y’all” – “Y’all must be born again” referring to Nic and to all of Nic’s cohorts – the ruling elite of Jerusalem, the powerbrokers, the royalty and the hangers-on, on a collision course with Rome, heading for disaster “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if only you had known.”
You’ve been on the wrong path Nic, and a mid-course correction won’t do … something a little more radical is needed … a fresh beginning, a second chance.
“But how can I do it?” asks Nic.
“Is it possible for a man to go back to his mother’s womb and start all over again?”
Jesus pushes hard: “You’re a teacher of Israel and you don’t understand spiritual rebirth? What’s up with you Nic. You ought to know this, but you don’t.”
Why is Jesus so tough on Nic?
Because Nic is a man who has spent a lifetime hiding from God, and hiding in one of the best places – hiding in religion!
Everyone who’s been religious for a long time needs to pay careful attention to this provocative story … the story of a religious man, well-respected and powerful … but Jesus sees the heart … Jesus sees a room without furniture, an empty spirit, a soul without a clue.
Religion is a good place to hide from God.
Have you ever thought about that?
Religion, a good place to hide from God.
Form without substance …
Creed without conviction …
The sounds of faith without the surrender of faith …
It easy for religious folk to fall into the trap that engulfed Nicodemus … it was a long time since his heart felt the love of God.
A long time without joy …
Years without delight …
A dutiful man without devotion.
A religious man without a relationship to God!
“Nic, you’ve got to be born again.”
The Holy Spirit will help you Nic.
There’s no telling when, and no telling where, but the Holy Spirit will help you on a second chance.
The story ends abruptly … what happens to Nic?
Nic appears twice more in the story.
Chapter 7: Nic counsels caution when the ruling elite begin to formulate plans to arrest Jesus and put a stop to His preaching.
Chapter 19: after Jesus is crucified, Nic goes to Pilate with Joseph of Arimathea to claim the body and give it proper burial.
Does Nic connect all the dots?
Does he become a believer?
A follower of Jesus?
This we know for sure … God is the God of the Second Chance … the third, the fourth, the fifth … and as many as it takes. God never gives up on us.
God is a God of patience and unconditional love …
God seeks the lost and finds them …
God touches the eyes of the blind and they see.
Nic at night is on his way …
Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening:”
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
It’s a long journey … what counts is that we don’t hide from God … we let God correct us, guide us, confront us and change us.
I think it’s tough for religious folk … we get into the habit, we turn it into routine, we go through the motions, we know the hymns, we say the creed backwards and forwards … we’ve been a church member our whole life … a Presbyterian forever; we’re on the cradle roll; we’re elders and deacons, Sunday school teachers and choir members … we’ve been there and done that ten thousand times.
All of us need to be born again! And again and again!
One of the saddest moments in the Bible … the Book of Revelation … Jesus addresses the seven churches, reviews their character, lifts up their victories and illumines their issues.
Of the church at Ephesus, Jesus sings their praise, and then says, “But this one thing I have against you. You’ve forgotten your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent, and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (2:1-7).
Faith no longer fresh and clean …
Like dried flowers … the color, the form, but no fragrance; brittle to the touch.
The other day, at Togos – under wraps a four-foot deli sandwich – I sat right next to it – bread, lettuce, luncheon meat, tomatoes and sweet peppers – it looked real, but hard as a rock; just a plastic mockup.
Every believer has to fight this battle from time-to-time.
God isn’t interested in our religion; God wants to have a relationship with us.
It’s not duty that counts, but devotion.
I kissed Donna the other morning and said, “Well, I did my duty.”
Two hours later I woke up with a knot on my head and a black eye.
The enemy of a living faith - religion … religion, cold and calculating … religion, dry and barren … we go through the motions, but the soul no longer sings; the name of Jesus no longer intrigues us; amazing grace is no longer a sweet sound to us.
But God gives a second chance!
I’ve needed that second chance a number of times.
Three times in my life I walked right out of the faith.
Questions overwhelmed my mind and my soul no longer believed.
Three times I entered the desert … I was still a pastor, still prayed and preached - I doubt if anyone could really see the wasteland of my soul.
Religion is a great cover.
Being a preacher one of the best covers …
I’ve know preachers who’ve gone through the motions for years without the love and grace of Christ … it’s a terrible place to be, and a terrible price is paid.
God gave me second chance, a third and fourth chance … lots of chances.
My specific recovery was simple: I closed my theology books and opened my Bible.
Without commentaries; without thought …
Just read it!
I needed to born again!
The simple things of faith, hope and love:
God is real.
God’s unconditional love gets us through those terrible times.
Grace is always amazing and always there …
Take our time; trust God … through the wilderness!
The Second Chance!
There are questions here for all of us – especially for those who’ve been Christians for a long time.
Have we turned this into routine?
Do we know the drill so well that we can throw our mind into neutral?
Are all the answers pat?
The fires of faith banked and burning low?
What’s the state of our faith today?
Now’s a good time to come to Jesus … nighttime, daytime, when we’re on top of our game, or slugging it out in the trenches …
Jesus will not waste our time … He’ll cut to the chase and get to the point …
Start over … that’s always possible … no matter what, no matter who, no matter where … the journey can always start anew … because God is God of the Second Chance.
Amen!
