03072020 – John 3. 1-17 (Lent II)
Have you EVER entertained the idea that your thinking MIGHT be wrong? A little OFF? Tainted? Not, a part of God’s plan? You could be standing “in direct OPPOSITION to him” you know!
Nicodemus had EVERYTHING going for him. Talk about your “LIFE of PRIVILEGE” … HE “had” IT. He was A MAN. He was of “the right color.” He was fortunate to live WHERE he did and WHEN he did.
His WEALTH was a gift from God. His POSITION was a gift from God. His EDUCATION was a gift from God.
Nicodemus had everything going for him in that circle of JEWISH LEADERSHIP.
He was a man of PRIVILEGE and POWER. He was WEALTHY beyond his means. He had the RIGHT STATUS. He was LIKED. He was HONORED. He was A MEMBER of the ELITE JEWISH COUNCIL of 70 or 72…THE SANHEDRIN.
He was considered VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE of the HOLY WORD.
He was A TEACHER IN ISRAEL. “All of which” meant that God had blessed him, time and time again. HE was destined for GLORY!
God was GRACIOUS toward HIM. He was ONE BLESSED man. RIGHTEOUS, he was. GOD smiled DOWN upon HIM.
HOWEVER, there was ONE BIG PROBLEM Nicodemus had…
Nicodemus had a “PERCEPTION of GOD” (Shared by his counterparts) of “HOW” to enter GOD’S KINGDOM…
The PROBLEM WAS that HIS PERCEPTION was NOT CORRECT.
He (and his counterparts) were IN ERROR. It was all “Stinking thinking” on their parts…We DO THAT, sometimes.
We THINK that WE are right. And, EVERYBODY else is obviously WRONG. WE become CLOSE-MINDED. Sure, of ourselves. Sure, of our position.
ONLY “OUR IDEAS” hold water.
As to “the rest” – THEY are simply misguided, misdirected and downright WRONG. It is as plain as the nose on your face! WHY can’t they see it?
As a SINCERE Jewish LEADER, he had dedicated HIS LIFE to a “certain way of LIFE and LIVING.”
He was ABSOLUTELY SURE and would have STAKED his life on HIS “point of view.”
He was “traveling down the road” of what HE THOUGHT “was IMPORTANT.”
He was doing EVERYTHING correctly.
HE BELIEVED with ALL OF HIS HEART -that God was like “a grumpy old JUDGE” or “A sovereign KING,” who would SEVERELY PUNISH anyone who didn’t perform PERFECTLY, and there were NO SECOND CHANCES.
THANK GOD, Nicodemus was doing everything correctly. THANK GOD HIS beliefs were correct. THANK GOD he was right and everybody else was WRONG. Thank God he was so BLESSED.
YOU KNOW, more so than “his money” or “his REPUTATION,” he was MORE THAN willing to BET his VERY life on it.
It must be GOOD to live such a PRESUMPTOUS LIFE. It must be GOOD to be RIGHT all the time. It must be AWESOME to HOLD the only CORRECT VIEW.
How “EMPOWERING” it must be to be RIGHT when “everybody else” is ALWAYS WRONG!
And then, Nicodemus met the Rabbi from Galilee. But only AT NIGHT. Only under the CLOAK of darkness. Only when NO ONE could SEE him. He took A RISK. He walked on the WILD SIDE. He went to CHALLENGE or possibly to FIND OUT more, he wasn’t sure WHICH! He did NOT come seeking truth or maybe he did. BUT he already KNEW the truth! Maybe he came to TEACH, or PREACH, as it were…
Nicodemus THOUGHT that God’s HIGHEST PRIORITY was to SELECT the ELITE (like himself) for a place in heaven and REJECT EVERYBODY ELSE.
He was SURE of it. CERTAIN, even.
From what Jesus told Nicodemus “that NIGHT” on judgment day – God MAYBE THERE showing YOU the film of your life, but he will be HIGHLIGHTING those TIMES when HE was at work IN your life.
Like…when you were CREATED. When you were CLAIMED by HIM. When He gave you OPPORTUNITIES to develop as a human being. When he LED YOU. When he MOLDED you as a result of you experiencing HIM in Nature, in LIFE, in WORSHIP, in the SCRIPTURES, in “HANGING out with others” and as a result of YOUR prayer LIFE with HIM. And every time you MESSED UP, Jesus was standing right beside you, saying, “I PAID the PRICE for that…I told you I AM with you ALWAYS. Jesus said OUR GOD is the GOD of second CHANCES.
God is proud of the woman or the man that you have become. YOU are awesome in his sight. YOU ARE HIS…and you are loved unconditionally.
But you are NOT ALWAYS RIGHT! Drop the stinking thinking, because it is WRONG!
And Nicodemus was in shock! How could this be? Amen.