[Propertalk] Tidbits for sermons on Jn. 3:1-17, Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

In the 1800s, some people attempted to build a bridge across Niagara Falls. Engineers were consulted. Money was raised. No stone was left unturned, but they could not get a cable across the Falls. They could not float it across the rapids. They could not shoot it far enough with a bow and arrow. They could not climb the steep cliffs and get it across that way.

Finally, a ten-year old boy made a ridiculous suggestion: Fly the cable across the gorge on a kite. How absurd! How foolish!  Yet the red-faced engineers finally flew the cable across with a kite.

Occasionally in our lives, we come to the point that we know we need to be born all over again, and we long to be saved from all that is wrong within us. At such times, it is tempting to turn away, believing there is no way across the chasm that separates us from God.

http://day1.org/2754-salvation_by_faith

David Sapp, 2011
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The second reference to me (7:45-52) in John's Gospel takes place during a meeting of the Sanhedrin. The temple guards were being chastised for not taking Jesus captive. The guards defended themselves by saying, "no one ever spoke like this man." The Pharisees retorted, "do you see any of us believing in him? No, just your kind of rabble!" It seemed so smug and smart-ass-like. Then I spoke: "Does our law condemn a man without first hearing what he has to say?" They were again very condescending and accused me of being a Galilean, of all things, and reminded me that prophets do not come from Galilee!You see, by that time, I was now well on my spirit-led journey. I was convinced that Jesus was showing us the way to God and that in his teachings and actions, God was at work. I had to watch what I said in public, but I clearly wanted to understand. 
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The third reference to me (19: 38-42) is a moment I could never in my wildest dreams have expected. Jesus did talk about being lifted up and he did say that God "gave" his only son, but I did not see where this "giving" was leading. After he was crucified, we weren't sure what to do. Joseph of Arimathea and I took his body from the cross. I brought myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds, wrapped this within the strips of linen we placed around his body, according to our burial customs. We placed Jesus in a tomb in which no one had ever been laid in a nearby garden, because the Day of Preparation for Passover lay just ahead. And we waited. 

http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-8/060611-5-e.html

David Zersen, 2006
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Sometimes our prayers are like dictations to God rather than stopping and saying, "And God, what would you have me do?" Which is what Nicodemus had to wrestle with. What did God want him to do? Did God want him to give up that power and become a disciple of the scorned carpenter from Galilee? The wrestling must have been enormous. John only hints at it.

http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/perry_4914.htm

Carol Perry, 2006
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...three formative influences on our spiritual lives and our encounter with God. While these three are not exhaustive of the ways in which a person grows and deepens in their experience of God, it is difficult to imagine any substantial spiritual growth, any rebirth without them. 

The first of those formative faith influences is a community of faith. 

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Service, caring for and about others, is the second formative influence on faith and our encounter with God
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The third formative influence reflected in our Gospel this morning is openness to the guiding of God's Spirit. 
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Among the many problems presented with a literal reading of John 3:16 is a resulting lack of concern for human suffering. If the over riding goal is to keep people from perishing in the life to come, than the problem of their perishing in this life due to lack of food or health care seems unimportant. Nicodemus reminds us we encounter the presence of God precisely in those places where our hearts are open and we respond to the needs around us.

http://www.tcpc.org/library/article.cfm?library_id=81

Tim Johnson
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As I close this message, let me just say this to you. There are those who would always designate another as other and less than, but the word of the gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ is that God loved the world and sent Jesus into the world to be our presence and our symbol of God's love. There is that which is within us that defines us, not externals, not the superficialities of language and designation, but there is something within us. The songwriter says, "Something within me that holdeth the reins; Something within me that vanishes pain; Something within me I cannot explain; All that I know, there is something within."

http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/morris_4213.htm

Calvin Morris, 2002
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