Series: “Loving Jesus”.... “Spiritual Understanding”

Sunday July 15, 2012                        
John 3:1-18

Pastor Richard Lischer shares a story that one of the pillars of the congregation stopped by his office just before services to tell him he'd been born again.

You've been what? I asked.

Yes, he said, last week I visited my brother-in-law's church, the Running River of Life Tabernacle, and I don't know what it was, but something happened and I'm born again.

You can't be born again, I said, you're a Lutheran. You are the chairman of the board of trustees.

He was brimming with joy, but I was sulking. Why? Because spiritual renewal is wonderful as long as it occurs within acceptable, usually mainline, channels and does not threaten my understanding of God.
-Richard Lischer, Acknowledgment, Christian Century, March 3, 1999, 245.

Prayer:

We start a new series today… no… this isn’t in particular part of the transition process… unless you look at your faith as transitioning. We will spend today and the next 3 Sundays reflecting on Loving Jesus.

 At the end of John’s gospel Jesus asks Peter a very important question. It’s a question that’s often assumed by people that fill the church. It's a question all of us will have to answer someday. It’s a question I believe most of us say YES too, but often don’t understand what they’ve said yes too. It’s also a question that we will reflect more intently on in part 4. Have I peeked your curiosity yet? This is a dangerous, yet an important question I believe we all must answer; in fact, you may not want to answer, or at least not answer to quickly.

                                  The question is…. “DO YOU LOVE JESUS?”

At my ordination my mentor preached and made the statement to the congregation I was being called to serve; if they saw or didn’t believe I was leading them in a spirit-filled way they were to ask me… “Pr Dennis, do you love Jesus?” He told them that the ministry of this church depended on its pastor/ me and them “Loving Jesus.”

In the nearly 9 years of being a pastor, no one has asked me that question. No...  I’m not perfect at loving Jesus… I never claimed to being perfect, besides... Jesus never asked that we be perfect… just committed. So… today we will begin our series of “Loving Jesus” by reflecting on having “Spiritual Understanding.”

We know our story well today… Nic, a Jewish religious leader, a Pharisee, one who is close to the inner workings of the Sanhedrin, and sits on the council of the High Priest. He’s an insider… and he’s searching for some understanding of Jesus. He knows the Hebrew Scriptures. He knows the Law inside and out. By all accounts, he is considered a spiritual man. Yet… this Jesus brings all he knows and understands about God and faith into question, and he goes to Jesus, at night, searching and looking for some understanding about who and what Jesus is.

Nic is drawn to Jesus like a bug to light. He has seen some of Jesus miraculous signs and he even acknowledges Jesus must be from God because of the things he’s doing. Then… with all that… Jesus makes a statement that all but shatters Nic… Jesus says, “You must be born anew”… some translations say, “You must be Born Again.” And, not only with water… but also from the Spirit. Nic doesn’t know what to do with this… he doesn’t understand… “How can a man be born a 2^nd time?”

Nic’s not ready to concede… there’s something compelling going on. There’s something about Jesus that he can’t let go of, even though he doesn’t fully understand. I wonder how many of us truly understand Jesus’ words. Are we like the pastor in my opening story…? “You can’t be born again, you’re Lutheran.”

Searching for spiritual understanding is nothing new. Since the beginning of creation humanity has been searching for God, and in many ways trying to be like or become God.

Eugene Peterson states that current spirituality like that of the ancients has fostered 2 qualities Transcendence and Intimacy.

            Transcendence: There must be more that extends beyond me.

            Intimacy: A sense that deep within me there is a core being that is Inaccessible.

He continues, “This is why we long for Transcendence and Intimacy, but these elements suggest spirituality must be conceived as something we think up and must do. So… humans continue to exhaust themselves all the while missing the point.”

What I believe Peterson is saying, is that people seeking to find spirituality often have the tendency to try and make God into something of their own design they find fashionable.

How do we avoid this tendency? Vs 15-18 Read Text.

The core of having a spiritual understanding is “Being in a relationship with Jesus.

Theologian Mark Powell in his book “Loving Jesus” says,

“When we understand our spirituality as a relationship with Jesus our spiritual lives are grounded in a reality external to ourselves.”

Jesus was a real person… not someone or thing we make up. Jesus actually walked the earth, ate, drank, slept, died… not someone or thing we dream. Jesus was raised from the dead.

The Apostle Paul says,

“As all die in Adam, all will be made alive “in Christ” 1Cor. 15:22

“If anyone is “in Christ” they are a new creation” 2Cor. 5:17

When you are “in Christ” you are connecting to the core of the spiritual experience. When you are “in Christ” you “Love Jesus.” Jesus says this throughout the gospels… “Believe in me” “Stay connected to me” “Have faith in me” “Everyone who has faith in me”

When you love Jesus you will have greater understanding.

We will never have total spiritual understanding this side of the grave. Those who have had near-death experiences probably have a closer understanding because they come back with a different perspective about faith and life. Those of us who truly want to be in relationship with Jesus… to love Jesus will grow in understanding.

The strength of Christian spirituality is that God really does exist and became accessible to us in the person of Jesus, God has been seen, heard, and touched.

Mark Powell states it this way, “If Jesus really is risen, raised from the dead and living now with a spiritual body, then we can indeed have a relationship with Jesus who is real, not just imaginary. We can come to know this Jesus and be challenged by him. We can grow in understanding and to love this Jesus in ways that are both intimate and mature. And, we can experience what it means to be in a reciprocal relationship with a spiritual being who loves us back… indeed who loved us first.”

Over the coming weeks of this series we will reflect on ways we can grow and develop in “Loving Jesus.”

See You Out on the Road.