“Is belief in God rational?”

How many of us have questions that we would like to ask God? How many of us have doubts about God that lead us to be skeptical about God? How many of us, if we are really honest, would say that there are times, maybe many times, where we are skeptical about God and even question if there is a God?

Maybe I have just described you. Maybe you do not buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing. You are not sure about whether or not there is a God, let alone whether you should follow Him or live for Him. Or maybe you would say that while you believe that there is a God, you are skeptical about what people who say they are Christians claim about God and what they say about how God acts or does not act in the world or in the circumstances that people experience in their day to day lives. Or maybe you are a follower of Jesus, but find yourself with questions about God and how He acts or does not act in the world that cause you to struggle with skepticism.  

During the next several weeks we are going to spend our time looking at eight questions that those who are skeptical of Christianity pose as a challenge to the Christian faith. And as we go through this series, my hope and prayer is that we would address these eight questions that challenge Christianity in way that engages the skepticism that these questions provoke  and provide answers that serve to develop confidence and convictions about God and His character and activity in the world around us.

This week, I would like for us to ask and answer the question “Is belief in God rational?” In other words, is it reasonable or rational to believe in God? Or is the idea of God irrational?

Now when it comes to the question “Is belief in God rational?”, as Bill Kynes points out, many people tend to approach the question of whether there is God in the same what that they would approach the question “is the earth round?” In other words, many people want to approach the question of God’s existence with the same approach that they would use to determine something scientifically or to prove something logically.

And because of this reality, the guiding assumption that drives many people in their search for an answer to the question of the existence of God is that only standard that can be used to answer the question of God’s existence is the scientific method. In other words, for many people, the driving assumption that drives their search for the answer to the question of God’s existence is that only what can be known and proven scientifically counts as being true.

But is that assumption true? Is only what can be known and proven scientifically true? After all, we all claim to know that things that are true that can in no way be proven by scientific methods. For example, to claim that torturing babies is wrong is not something that can be proven scientifically. As a matter of fact, any time we make any kind of moral judgment we are making a statement that is outside the realm of what science can demonstrate as being true.

Even ardent atheists agree with this reality. For example, Richard Dawkins stated “Science has no method for determining what is ethical”. In addition, is it even reasonable to expect that science could prove that God exists? After all science is about understanding what exists in the material universe. However, no one thinks that God exists as an object in this material universe as something that can be observed and measured. Instead, God exists outside this universe.

Also, there are other things that we believe exist but cannot be measured scientifically. For example, can you see an object called love? Does love exist as a material object that you can see and purchase at Wal-Mart? Can you measure love with a Geiger counter? Can you measure justice with a thermometer? No, you can’t. And in a similar way, scientific methodology is not equipped to determine or prove God.

Now a natural question that arises here is “Well Dave, if science cannot be used to provide determinative proof of God’s existence, then what about logic or philosophy?”  If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that you are asking a great question. And while there are many philosophers who have tried to answer the question of God’s existence through logic and philosophy, even most Christian philosophers concede that there is no singular argument from philosophy or logic that conclusively demonstrates that God exists.

But, if science and philosophy cannot prove the existence of God, then where does that leave us? So is it irrational to believe in God? Is belief in God unreasonable for rational people? While there is no singular argument that conclusively proves the existence of God, there are many pointers to God. In other words, there are many arguments that provide a persuasive and rational reason for the existence of God.  So I want us to look at five of these pointers that point us to the existence of God.

The first pointer is the pointer of existence. The pointer of existence addresses the question “why is there something rather than nothing at all?” In other words, where did all this come from? What caused all this? How did all this begin? Now a natural response to this question could be “The Big Bang”. But where did the “Big Bang” come from?

I mean, is it reasonable and rational to think that something really comes from nothing? And there is something within all of us intuitively that senses that the answer to that question is no, something does not come from nothing. You see, God is the one necessary being- God is the uncaused cause of everything that exists.  Now it is important to understand that this argument from existence is not proof of God. People could argue, for example, that matter has always existed. But that position contradicts the widely held conviction that if things can either exist or not exist, those things need to have a cause to come into being so as to exist.

Now that leads us to the second pointer that points us to God, which is the pointer of design. You see, not only does the question “why is there something rather than nothing at all?” point us to the concept of God, there is the question “Why do we fit in this world? Why does the universe fit together and function the way it does?”

There seems to be some design to the universe and how we fit into the universe. Even beyond the arguments that are made by science through evolution and natural selection, science has not been able to adequately explain the deep design that surrounds such things as the speed of light, the force of gravity, and the irreducible complexity of our universe.

Now while some atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, argue that this universe is just one of many universes and that ours simply has the constants for us to be here, there is no way to prove that argument one way of the other. The pointer of design points to the reality that the design of the universe points to a designer of the universe.

And in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of Romans, we see a man that we know today as the Apostle Paul point to this pointer of design as an argument for the existence of God. So let’s look at Paul’s argument together, beginning in Romans 1:18:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Now to fully understand what Paul is going to communicate in these verses, we first need to wrap our minds around some of the 50 cent church mumbo jumbo talk words that Paul uses here. When Paul uses the word wrath, this word refers to God’s just and right response to selfish rebellion and sin. This is God’s perfect justice resulting in a rightful response to the wrongdoing and injustice of others.

In addition, when Paul uses the word revealed, he is revealing for us the reality that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel makes fully known God’s just and right response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. You see, for God to allow selfish rebellion and injustice to go unpunished would make Him unjust. God’s very nature dictates a response to rebellion and injustice. And God’s justice is revealed in the gospel against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Ungodliness, simply put, is leaving God out. Ungodliness is a failure to acknowledge God and thus dishonoring God by leaving God out. Ungodliness is not just horrible acts of rebellion and sin; it is ignoring God.

The word unrighteous, simply put, is not being right with God or the truth about God. Unrighteousness involves being at odds with God and the truth about God that results in acts of selfish rebellion and sin. When Paul uses the word suppress here, this word means to hold down or ignore something. Paul’s point here is that God justly and rightly responds to humanities failure to acknowledge God and being at odds with God as a result of living our lives as though He does not exist.

Now a natural question that may arise here is “well Dave, how do I suppress the truth about God? I mean to suppress or ignore something requires evidence of that something. So what evidence is there that there is a God that I am ignoring and living like He does not exist? Paul, anticipating this question, provides the evidence to prove that humanity is guilty of leaving God out and living as though He does not exist what he says next. So let’s look at this piece of evidence together, which is found in Romans 1:19-23:

because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Here we see Paul reveal for us the reality that we suppress the truth about the existence of God that is revealed within us when it comes to the evidence from creation. When Paul uses the phrase that which is known about God is evident, Paul is revealing for us the reality that God clearly reveals the truth about His existence to all humanity through His creative activity in the universe in a way that is understandable and can be clearly seen.

But notice where Paul says God reveals the truth about His existence; the clear and plain truth of God’s existence is within us. You see, in the core of every human being is an intuitive sense that there is something out there bigger and beyond us. Something within in us provokes a clear and plain concept of a Creator. Paul then unpacks this further in verse 20 by explaining that since the creation of the universe, God’s character, power, and nature have plainly and clearly been on display. God’s wisdom, God’s might, God’s greatness, God’s goodness, and God’s creativity is evidenced in the universe around us.

When Paul uses the words seen and understood here, he is explaining that God’s existence has been noticed and perceived in a way that has been grasped and comprehended by humanity throughout history as a result of His activity of creating the universe. Across cultures and continents, across calendars and centuries, humanity has been provoked to worship something that they clearly comprehended as their creator.

And because of this intuitive perception that all humanity experiences regarding the reality of the existence of something bigger and beyond us, called God, all of humanity is without excuse. In other words, no human being can say that they did not know that God exists, because the evidence that God exists is overwhelming through the creation.

However, in verses 21-23 Paul explains that humanity rejected the evidence of God’s existence through creation to instead chose the path of foolishness. Humanity foolishly chose to refuse to live their lives in a way that enhanced God’s reputation; instead they chose to ignore Him. Instead of expressing appreciation for all the blessings and benefits that God gave humanity within the creation, humanity foolishly chose to ignore Him.

While all of humanity was able to clearly perceive and understand that God exists and created the universe, yet all of humanity worthlessly rejected that truth and proceeded to live life as though God does not exist. Instead of responding to the clear and plain evidence of God’s existence has been perceived and comprehended through His creation by worshipping God, all of humanity has foolishly chosen to worship the creation.

Whether it is in the image of an animal, the image of position, the image of possession, or the image that we seen in the mirror, all of humanity chooses to worship something other than God than God, which is called idolatry. Paul here is pointing the readers of his letter to the pointer of design.

Tomorrow, we will look at two more of these pointers that point to the existence of God?

Two individuals and the role they played in the Easter story...

This week we have been meeting two individuals that we usually do not talk about on Easter Sunday. Yet, it is these two individuals that actually make it possible to tell the Easter story. These two characters and the role that they played in the events of Easter allow us to be able to stand here some 2,000 years later and confidently say that Easter is about an event that happened in history that radically and forever changed how human beings would relate to God.

John, the writer of this account of Jesus life, brought us into this event from history by introducing us to a man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. The Pharisees were a leading group of Jewish religious leaders during Jesus life on earth.  Nicodemus was also a part of the Sanhedrin, which was the Senate and Supreme court of the Jewish nation. John tells us that Nicodemus came as a representative of the Jewish religious leaders one evening in order to have a conversation with Jesus.

However, before Nicodemus could even ask what that message from God was, Jesus took control of the conversation by telling Nicodemus that, in order to be a part of this kingdom with the Messiah, one must be born again. This little phase, born again, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to be born from above.

Jesus statement, if communicated in the language we use today would have sounded something like this: “No Nicodemus, you cannot enter into the womb again, you cannot be born from above because of something you do. To be born from above is something that the Spirit of God does to you. In the same way that you have been brought into the world physically in a way that resulted in you entering into a relationship with your earthly parents, you also have to be brought into a relationship with God by the Spirit of God. Nicodemus, you should not be surprised at what I am telling you. It’s like the wind. The wind moves throughout the world every day. And no one has any control over the wind. The wind does whatever it desires. The wind starts when it wants to start; the wind goes where it wants to go; the wind ends when it wants to end. Just as no one can control the wind, no one can control the activity of the Holy Spirit and what He does in bringing people to the place where they are brought into a relationship with God.”

After blowing up all of the categories that Nicodemus had when it came to God, Jesus answered the question that drove the religious leaders to send Nicodemus to Jesus in the first place. That question was this: Who did Jesus think He was and what authority did He think He had to say and do what He was doing. We see Jesus answer that question in John 3:13-15:

"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that He alone can speak authoritatively on how one is able to be brought into a relationship with God, because He alone is the Son of Man. Jesus pointed Nicodemus back to a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13-14, the prophet Daniel predicted and proclaimed that the Messiah would come from Heaven to usher in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus then reminded Nicodemus of an event from history that is recorded for us in a letter in our Bibles called the book of Numbers. In Numbers 21:9, we read of an occasion where the Jewish people selfishly rebelled against Moses and God. God responded to their rebellion by sending poisonous snakes to kill those who were involved in the rebellion.

The Lord commanded Moses to make an image of a bronze serpent and lift it on a standard so that it would be visible to all. Moses then explained to the people that God would heal them if they looked at the serpent. All those who trusted in God and looked at the serpent that was lifted on the pole were healed, while the rest of the Jewish people who failed to trust God but continued in their selfishness and rebellion died.

Jesus then took this Old Testament story and explained that this story was a foreshadowing of what would happen to Him. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that just like the bronze serpent in the wilderness, He would be lifted up on a pole and that everyone who placed their confident trust in Him would be brought into a relationship with God. Jesus then made a statement that is probably the most familiar verse in the entire Bible. And it is in this single verse that we see the core message of the good news of the message of the gospel.

If you are here and you are not sure you buy the Jesus, Bible, church, thing; if you are here and you have had Christians share “the gospel” with you but found yourself walking away confused or found the message filled with big 50 cent theological words that you did not understand, I just want to let you know that I am glad you are reading this, because, in this verse, we see the gospel most clearly and simply put.

I am glad you are reading this because while you have every right to reject and walk away from the message of the gospel, I want to make sure that you walk away clearly understanding what you are rejecting. And this may be the first time that you have had the opportunity to clearly hear the good news of God’s message of rescue through the message of the gospel. So let’s look at this verse together, in verse 16:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

In this verse, we see Jesus reveal for us we need to know and what we need to do in order to enter into a relationship with God. First, Jesus stated for God so loved the world. God sent His Son Jesus to earth not because He was mad at the world; God is in love with the world. Jesus then tells us that God did what people, who are in love, do. God gave. God sent His Son Jesus because He loved the world.

You see, while God created humanity to experience a relationship with Him and a relationship with one another, all of humanity selfishly rebelled and rejected that relationship, instead choosing to love ourselves over others and do things out of that selfish love that hurt God and others. That selfish love and rebellion is what the Bible calls sin. God responded to that selfish love and rebellion by giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away.

God’s love and interest in us was made known and shown in the most powerful way when He sent His unique, one and only Son to earth, who allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives through His death on the cross, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

Jesus then explained that God loved and God gave so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish. Now this little phrase believes in, in the language that this letter is written in, literally means to entrust oneself entrust to someone with complete confidence. While I can say that I believe that a stool can hold my weight, it is only when I sit on the stool that I demonstrate that I trust the stool to hold my weight. And for the person who believes, trusts, and follows Jesus, Jesus explains that they shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Now eternal life is not simply living forever. You see, everyone lives forever; we are created as eternal beings. The question is not whether or not you are going to live forever, the question is where are you going to live? When Jesus uses this phrase, He is revealing to Nicodemus that the person who places their confident trust in Jesus life, death, and resurrection will not be separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, but will experience forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for.

And that is the good news of the gospel: God loved, God gave, so that those who believe and place their confident trust in Jesus would receive life in relationship with Him. Now you might be thinking “I am still having a hard time buying that God is like this. I still see God as being like a cosmic cop around the corner waiting to bust me. The idea that Easter is about God’s love for me and desire for relationship with me is hard to accept”. If that is where you are at this morning, just look at what Jesus says next in verse 17-21:

"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

If Jesus was communicating this in the language that we use in our culture today, these verses would sound like this: Nicodemus, God did not send Me as the Messiah to the earth in order to judge all of humanity, but that all of humanity would have the opportunity to be rescued from their selfishness and rebellion. The person who places their confident trust in Me is not condemned. However, the person who refuses to place their confident trust in Me is already condemned because of their selfishness and rebellion. Everyone is condemned and the reason that they are condemned is because I have revealed Myself throughout human history and all of humanity has responded by rebelling and rejecting Me. They want nothing to do with Me because I expose the selfishness and rebellion that is in the center and core of their being. Everyone is already condemned because of their rebellion and I have come to rescue those who trust in Me from condemnation. And everyone who places their confident trust in Me and live in relationship with Me reveal the reality of My transformational intervention and activity that has brought them into relationship with Me.” 

Jesus wanted Nicodemus to clearly understand that all of humanity stands condemned to an eternity apart from God as a result of our selfishness and rebellion. Jesus wanted Nicodemus to clearly understand that rescue from selfishness and rebellion was not based on what we did for God, but in trusting in what God was doing through Jesus, who entered humanity as the culmination of God’s Divine plan to provide an opportunity for forgiveness and restoration.

And with that, Jesus conversation with Nicodemus was over. A little less than two and a half years later, Jesus fulfilled the prediction and promise that He made. Nicodemus cautiously objected and was ridiculed by his fellow religious leaders as they planned to kill Jesus. Nicodemus watched as Jesus was arrested, tried, convicted, and handed over to the Romans, who lifted Jesus up on a pole, a cross in order to be crucified.

Now crucifixion was the most humiliating form of punishment ever devised. Death on the cross was usually reserved for condemned slaves, who were considered the lowest form of humanity. This was a death that was reserved for the worst criminals and for enemies of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire used crucifixion to send a simple yet powerful message- don’t mess with the Roman Empire.

And the message was delivered not simply by the humiliation and suffering of the crucifixion. The message was communicated after death by crucifixion as well. Family members and friends were not allowed to have the bodies of those who were crucified for treason or revolt. Instead, the Roman government allowed the dead and decaying bodies to remain on the crosses, where they would be ravaged by wild animals and the forces of nature. As a matter of fact the phrase “food for the crows’ derives its origin from what would occur after a crucifixion. This was the ultimate humiliation.

After being ravaged by animals; after decaying for days or weeks, the bodies would then be cast into a common grave, or worse yet, in a garbage dump, never to be claimed or have a proper burial. So what should have happened to Jesus was that, like so many other false Messiahs and political insurrectionists, his body should have been left to rot and then be thrown away into a garbage dump or common grave, where He would have vanished into obscurity. But that is not what happened to the body of Jesus. We discover what happened to the body of Jesus after His crucifixion in John 19:38-42:

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

John introduces us to a man named Joseph of Arimathea. In another account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible, we learn that Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin who had not consented to the decision to hand Jesus over to be crucified. John tells us that Joseph, like Nicodemus, had demonstrated a timidity and caution when it came to following Jesus.

However, after Jesus death Joseph of Arimathea did what would have been considered almost unthinkable. Joseph approached the most powerful man in the Roman government in Israel, the man who had personally condemned Jesus to death as an enemy of the Roman Empire, and asked for his body, a request that was almost never granted. Can you imagine the courage it must have taken to enter into the presence of Pilate and then ask for the body of a person whom he had just sentenced to death as an enemy of the state?

Pilate, who had previously questioned the motives behind the religious leaders desire to kill Jesus, but was too much of a people pleaser to do what was right, responded to the courage of Joseph of Arimathea by granting his request. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus then went and retrieved Jesus body from the cross and prepared the body for burial. Joseph, being very wealthy, had already acquired a tomb in preparation for his own death that was located in a prime and popular area. Joseph of Arimathea decided to take the tomb that he had purchased for himself and instead use it to bury Jesus, which is exactly what he and Nicodemus did.

And because Joseph of Arimathea had the courage to ask the most powerful person in the Roman government in Israel for the body of Jesus; because Nicodemus and Joseph had the courage to take the body from the Roman government instead of allowing it to be discarded in the trash or a common grave to vanish into obscurity and give Jesus a proper burial in a tomb located in a prominent place, we have the evidence of an event that happened in history that radically and forever changed how human beings would relate to God.

Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, other women helped prepare and bury the body of Jesus. Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, there had to be a guard sent to guard the tomb where Jesus was laid. Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, there was a tomb to be empty on that first Easter Sunday witnessed by many. Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, we know for certain that Jesus died on the cross, was buried dead as a doornail in a tomb, and was raised from the dead.

And because of Joseph and Nicodemus, we can have certainty today that God is a promise maker and a promise keeper, and that all humanity has the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for as a result of Jesus life, death, and resurrection…

An unsettling conversation...

This past weekend followers of Jesus from around the world gathered together to celebrate the closed handed and non-negotiable center of the Christian faith, which is that Jesus Christ, who is God in an bod, entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life by dying on a Roman cross, was buried in a tomb dead as a door nail, and was brought back to life as a result of God’s transforming activity on that first Easter Sunday. And whether you have never attended church; whether you only attend church on Christmas and Easter; or whether you regularly attend church, all of us would probably say that we are at least somewhat familiar with the Easter story.

And, if you have gone to more than two Easter services in your life, you probably expect to hear that same old and somewhat familiar story told once again on Easter; a story about an earthquake, angels, and an empty tomb. Or maybe your expectation was that you would spend your time together looking at a familiar passage that defends the truth of the resurrection by the Apostle Paul.

At the church where I serve, we did not look at any of those stories.  Instead, we spent our time together meeting two individuals that we usually do not talk about on Easter Sunday. Yet, it is these two individuals that actually make it possible to tell the Easter story. As a matter of fact, in many ways these two characters from the events that surround Easter actually saved Easter. These two characters and the role that they played in the events of Easter allow us to be able to stand here some 2,000 years later and confidently say that Easter is about an event that happened in history that radically and forever changed how human beings would relate to God.

So this week, let’s meet these two characters and the role that they played in the Easter story, in an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John, in John 3:1-2:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

John, the writer of this account of Jesus life, brings us into this event from history by introducing us to a man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. The Pharisees were a leading group of Jewish religious leaders during Jesus life on earth.  Nicodemus was also a part of the Sanhedrin, which was the Senate and Supreme court of the Jewish nation. John tells us that Nicodemus came as a representative of the Jewish religious leaders one evening in order to have a conversation with Jesus.

At this point in Jesus life, Jesus was approaching rock star status. Jesus had begun to perform miracles; He had recently turned water into wine at a wedding reception. Jesus had also recently entered the Temple courtyards with a whip, turning over tables and driving out those who were financially exploiting people who came to worship God. And when asked about why He had drove out and destroyed all the tables where they were making money; when asked who He thought He was that He would even think to do such a thing, Jesus replied by saying that if they destroyed the Temple, that He would raise a new one in three days. 

You see, for the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus was doing and saying things that were hard to understand and explain. They were having a hard time figuring Him out. And, worse yet, from their perspective, people were connecting with Jesus and His message. Jesus was becoming very popular. Large crowds were gathering around Him wherever He went. These religious leaders had questions that needed asking and answered.

So these, leaders got together and decided that someone would need to confront Jesus and get answers to their questions. These leaders wanted to know who Jesus was and selected Nicodemus to go on their behalf to find out. John tells us that Nicodemus, wanting uninterrupted time with Jesus and privacy for fear of being embarrassed by Jesus, approached Jesus at night in order to get the answers to their questions.

Nicodemus carefully approached Jesus with a very respectful greeting. This greeting, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Jesus, it is a well known and generally accepted that you are a teacher that God has sent to us, because the miracles that you are doing could only be done by the power of God. We recognize that you have come as God’s messenger with a message from God”. However, before Nicodemus could even ask what that message from God was, Jesus took control of the conversation with a statement that John records for us in verse 3:

Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

When Jesus uses the phrase kingdom of God, He is referring to God’s royal reign. You see, the Jewish people were looking for a rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah who God had promised would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. Jesus told Nicodemus that, in order to be a part of this kingdom with the Messiah, one must be born again. This little phase, born again, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to be born from above. We see John record Nicodemus response in verse 4:

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"

At this point, Nicodemus was totally caught off guard. Nicodemus had a list of questions that he was supposed to ask Jesus, but Jesus has just blown up that list of questions and replaced them with a whole new set of questions. And while Nicodemus asked a question about the improbability of a physical rebirth, Jesus responded by blowing up some more of Nicodemus theological categories in verse 5-8:

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

At this point Nicodemus is probably thinking to himself, “Why does He always have to talk that way? Why does He always say things like that?” Jesus statement, if communicated in the language we use today would have sounded something like this:

“No Nicodemus, you cannot enter into the womb again, you cannot be born from above because of something you do. To be born from above is something that the Spirit of God does to you. In the same way that you have been brought into the world physically in a way that resulted in you entering into a relationship with your earthly parents, you also have to be brought into a relationship with God by the Spirit of God. Nicodemus, you should not be surprised at what I am telling you. It’s like the wind. The wind moves throughout the world every day. And no one has any control over the wind. The wind does whatever it desires. The wind starts when it wants to start; the wind goes where it wants to go; the wind ends when it wants to end. Just as no one can control the wind, no one can control the activity of the Holy Spirit and what He does in bringing people to the place where they are brought into a relationship with God."  Look at what Nicodemus says next in verse 9:

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?"

You see, at this point Nicodemus is totally lost; he has no idea what Jesus is trying to teach him. And in his lostness, Nicodemus asks a question that many of us can resonate with when it comes to the idea of God: How can these things be? John records Jesus response in verse 10-12:

Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

In other words, Jesus asked Nicodemus “Are you not a pastor to the Jewish people? Are you not one of the most educated and powerful people in the Jewish nation? How is it that you are unable to wrap your mind around what I am saying? Nicodemus, I am telling you that this is what the Bible says and what we have been saying this all along, yet the religious leaders that you represent have missed it all along. And if you are having a hard time understanding the simple earthly illustration that I gave you so as to trust Me, then what are you going to do if I really start unpacking what the Bible and what we have been saying to you?”

Now, to understand why Nicodemus was having such a hard time wrapping his mind around the significance of Jesus words here, we first need to understand how Nicodemus believed one entered into a relationship with God. You see, Nicodemus, and the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus day, believed that it was what you did for God that made you right with God.  Nicodemus grew up and lived his entire life trying to do things for God.

And now Jesus was telling Nicodemus that everything that he had learned, lived by, and was teaching others was wrong. Jesus was telling Nicodemus, and the Jewish religious leaders of the day that they had missed out on and misunderstood how they could live in relationship with God. 

Maybe you can totally relate to Nicodemus. Maybe you thought that a relationship with God was based on what you did for God. Maybe Jesus statement that a relationship with God is something that you cannot achieve apart from the Spirit of God has caught you off guard. Maybe you find that all your categories about God have just been blown up.

If I have just described you I just want to let you know that you are not the first person to experience that because that is exactly where Nicodemus was at. After blowing up all of the categories that Nicodemus had when it came to God, Jesus answered the question that drove the religious leaders to send Nicodemus to Jesus in the first place. That question was this: Who did Jesus think He was and what authority did He think He had to say and do what He was doing?

Friday, we will see Jesus answer that question...

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we earn the right to ask the right questions that expose the character of God and the heart of those who are far from God...

This week we have been looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. As Jesus finished telling a parable about self righteous people; and as Jesus engaged young families who were bringing their babies to Jesus so that He might bless them and pray for them, a ruler engaged Jesus so that he could ask Him a question. This ruler, who would have been considered a leading political and social figure in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, asked Jesus "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus responded to the ruler’s question with a question of His own: "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” Jesus basically asked the ruler three questions is one question. Jesus basically asked this ruler “How do you define goodness? What is true goodness?” And “Why are you calling Me good?”  Jesus responded to this ruler the way that He did was because Jesus wanted to question and challenge this ruler’s view of goodness.

However, before the ruler could answer His questions, we see Jesus redefine the concept of good by revealing the reality that God is the only source of true goodness. But why would Jesus do that? Why would Jesus redefine that ruler's concept of what good is? The reason why Jesus redefined good for this ruler was so that He could challenge the ruler’s view of who He was. Jesus is basically asking this ruler “so you believe that I am good. Well the only source of true goodness is God. So since you are calling Me good, do you believe that I am God?”  Jesus was, in essence, asking the ruler if he believed that Jesus was God.

Jesus continued to engage this ruler and his question by quoting the 7^th, 6^th, 8^th, 9^th and 5^th commandments of the Ten Commandments that God had given the Jewish people through a man named Moses. Jesus was attempting to help this ruler see that he did not measure up to the standard of goodness that had been defined by God.

The ruler’s answer, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “All of those commands I have followed and obeyed since I was a child. I haven’t slept with someone else’s wife. I haven’t killed anyone. I haven’t stolen from anyone. I haven’t lied to anyone or about anyone. I have always treated my parents well. If that is the scorecard; If that is all I have to do, then I’m good with God. If that is all I have to do, I’ll be in Heaven.”

 In Mark 10:21, Peter tells us that Jesus looked up at this ruler and felt a love for him. You see, this ruler genuinely wanted to be right with God. This ruler genuinely wanted to be with God in Heaven. This ruler was genuinely searching and shopping for answers to his question.

However, this ruler was oblivious to the reality that he was in desperate need for the mercy and forgiveness of God. This ruler was oblivious to the reality that he was the subject of Jesus previous parable. This ruler missed the point of Jesus previous parable and the point of Jesus statement that only God is good. After all, the ruler thinks that he is pretty good as well, doesn’t he? “All of these things I have kept from my youth”. And Jesus loved this ruler and his desire to search and shop for answers to his question. Luke then reveals for us how Jesus responded to this ruler and his answer in Luke 18:22:

 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Now notice what Jesus does not do here. Notice that Jesus does not contradict the ruler’s statement. Notice that Jesus does not challenge the ruler’s statement. Notice that Jesus does not say “You are quite wrong. You are a liar. You are not good; you are a sinner. You are disobedient and need forgiveness”. Jesus does not do any of that.

Instead, Luke tells us that Jesus basically said to this ruler “Well there is one thing in your life that is deficient when it comes to your relationship with God.  There is one thing that ought to be present in your life that is not present in your life. In order to be right with God and be with God in Heaven, you just need to sell all of your possessions and give them to those who are without possessions. If you would sell the abundance of treasure that you have accumulated for yourself here on earth in order to help those who are here with you on earth, you will store up treasure in Heaven. Then after you do that, you need to come follow Me.”

Now to fully understand what Jesus is saying to this ruler, we first need to understand what Jesus is not saying to this ruler. Jesus is not saying that being rich or having lots of possessions is bad. Jesus is not saying that being poor gets you into Heaven and being rich keeps you out of Heaven. And Jesus is not saying that you get into Heaven by being generous to poor people.

Instead, Jesus here was challenging the ruler, who was rich, to give up the one thing that was in competition with Him in terms of devotion and worship. Jesus was challenging this ruler here because Jesus knew that how we handle our treasure reveals what we treasure. Jesus was challenging this ruler because Jesus knew that this ruler treasured his treasure more than he treasured Jesus. By calling this ruler to follow Him, Jesus was asking him to follow him as His disciple. So Jesus here is calling this ruler to make Jesus large and in charge of his life instead of making his treasure large and in charge of his life. Jesus is calling this ruler to follow Him instead of following His treasure.

You see, what ought to be present in this rulers life that was not present in this rulers life was that Jesus was to be large and in charge of this man’s life. What was deficient in this man’s life was that this man did not trust Jesus as his treasure. Instead this man trusted and treasured his treasure. Jesus was pointing the ruler back to the ten commandments that dealt with the worship of God and idolatry in an attempt to help the ruler see that he did not measure up to the standard of goodness defined by God and desperately needed the forgiveness of God. Luke then revealed how this ruler responded to Jesus answer in verse 23:

But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

Luke tells us that this ruler responded to Jesus answer by walking away from Jesus dejected. When faced with the decision about who or what he was going to trust in, this man walked away from Jesus because his treasure was more important than Jesus. If this ruler had to choose between his possessions and Jesus, this ruler would choose to trust in his possessions. And that was the choice that this ruler made. This ruler walked away from Jesus and toward his treasure because that is what he had placed his trust in. We see how Jesus responded to this ruler walking away from Jesus in verse 24-25:

And Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! "For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Now this morning, notice what Jesus does not do here. Notice that Jesus does not run after the ruler. Notice that Jesus does not say to the ruler “Hey come back, I really need to you to follow Me”. Notice that Jesus does not say to the ruler “Hey come back, I have decided that I will lower the bar of expectations when it comes to following Me".  Notice that Jesus does not say to the ruler “Hey come back, I have decided to compromise and change my position when it comes to what you must treasure”. Notice that Jesus does not say “I’m okay with being second; if you want to put your possessions first that’s fine with Me”.

Instead, Luke tells us that Jesus looked at the man as we walked away and said "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! ”For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Now this saying was a common hyperbole about something that was impossible to occur. In the Jewish culture of the first century, a camel was the largest animal that lived in the region where Jesus lived and taught. By contrast the eye of a needle was one of the smallest items that a person in the Jewish culture of the first century would have dealt with on a daily basis.

By making this hyperbole, Jesus is revealing for us the reality that it was impossible for rich people by their own efforts or energy to live in a way that was right with God. By making this statement, Jesus was flying in the face of the cultural view of the His day and the prosperity gospel movement of today. You see, in the Jewish culture of Jesus day and the prosperity gospel movement of today, material wealth was viewed as a sign of God’s blessing. Material wealth was viewed as evidence of being right with God. And because of that reality, people in Jesus day would have been shocked at Jesus statement. We see Luke reveal this reality in verse 26:

They who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus disciples, along with the large crowds that were following Jesus, responded to Jesus statement with a question that flowed out of fight and alarm: "Then who can be saved?" In other words, Jesus disciples and the large crowds were basically asking “Well, if that is the case, if it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, then who can be right with God so that they can be with God in Heaven?”

From the perspective of Jesus disciples and the large crowds that were following Jesus, if rich people who were viewed as being favored by God could not get into the kingdom of God, then who could get into the kingdom of God? From the perspective of Jesus disciples and the large crowds that were following Jesus, if rich people could not get in then no one could get in. Luke reveals for us how Jesus answered His disciples and the large crowds in verse 27:

 But He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God."

In other words, Jesus basically said to His disciples and the large crowds that were following Him “what is impossible for people to do, which is to perform for God in a way that makes them right with God, God is able to do”. You see, Jesus wanted His disciples, and the large crowds that were following Him, to clearly understand that it was trusting in God’s performance for us through Jesus, not in our performance for God, that makes us right with God.

And it is here, in this event from history that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we earn the right to ask the right questions that expose the character of God and the heart of those who are far from God.   In order to invite people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus, we must take the time and the effort to earn the right to ask to right questions to those who are far from Jesus.

As followers of Jesus we need to take the time and the effort to ask questions that will help us better understand those who are far from Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we must live out the truth about Jesus in a way that demonstrates that we know Jesus and that we desire to know and understand those who are far from Jesus.  Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the effort ask the right questions that help people see the motives of their hearts in a way that helps them better understand themselves.

As followers of Jesus, we must earn the right to ask the right questions that penetrate to the heart so as to expose the heart of those around us who are far from Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we must take the time and the effort to not simply ask questions that focus on the “what” of a person’s behavior. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we must take the time and the effort to ask questions that focus on the “why” of a person’s behavior. “That was an interesting decision that you chose to make. Tell me more about how you came to that decision? Why did you choose to do that? What drove you to make that decision?”

However, to take this time and make this effort requires three things. It requires that we show that we care deeply for people so that they will let us know them well. It requires that we be willing to develop deep relationships with them that demonstrates a deep interest in them; and it requires that we count the cost of what it means for that person to open up their heart to us. We must be committed to invest in the life of a person who is far from Jesus when they choose to open their heart to us.

And inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we take the time and the effort ask the right questions that help people see the character of God in a way that helps them better understand God and their need for the forgiveness of God. As followers of Jesus, this requires that we take the time and the effort to learn to ask indirect questions that allow those who are far from Jesus to experience the conviction that comes from God instead of trying to bring that conviction upon them ourselves.

As followers of Jesus, this requires that we allow any wounding of a person’s heart to be the result of activity of God and not our activity. As followers of Jesus, this requires that the love of Jesus be the driving motivation behind all that we do and say, so that our words and actions are done with sympathy and compassion. As followers of Jesus, we are to lovingly demonstrate such sympathy and compassion, because when we help people see the character of God and their need of the forgiveness of God, we ought to be reminded of our need for the forgiveness of God as well.

So here is a question for us to consider: Are you willing to take the time and the effort to earn the right to ask the right questions to those who are far from Jesus? Are you willing to demonstrate that you care deeply for those around you who are far from Jesus? Are you willing to pay the price to take the time and effort to develop deep relationships that demonstrate a deep interest in those around you who are far from Jesus?

Because that is what is takes to earn the right to ask the right questions of those around us who are far from Jesus. And, as we have discovered, inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we earn the right to ask the right questions that expose the character of God and the heart of those who are far from God.