A, Mid Week Lent 3- Sermon Series "The Litany of Jesus' Treasures - Work"

By the toils of Jesus, Lord teach us how to work; allowing the Holy Spirit to inspire work within us.  Amen.

If you’re going to do the job, you may as well do it right the first time.

But how was God to do the work of saving humanity?  He tested humanity and showed that anointing the Israelites as his chosen people was not good enough.  He placed kings over Israel and they too failed.  His most faithful king, King David, also turned away from God, trusting the strength of his own fighting men.  Even David, was not good enough!  God had to find the right way for humanity to fulfill all righteousness; one that was effective, functional, and perfect.

God needed the work to be more than just pragmatic, that is, done because a certain deed works, or  for the love of the deed.  No!  He needed the work done to convey his deep love for humanity.  This love needed not just be practical but personal, relational, and demonstrate to the recipient their worth to God the Father, and his willingness to make the recipient holy.  Only through becoming holy can a person come to God without fear of God’s almighty holiness causing death.

It seems God the Father was in a bit of a quagmire over how to sort out humanity’s sin and at the same time, give us access into his holy presence, for a relationship that brings life rather than death.

In Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father found the effective, functional, and perfect answer to bring the work of righteousness to completion.

Last Sunday, we heard Jesus at Jacob’s Well with the Samaritan Woman.  Here, Jesus proves to be the perfect mediator between a Holy God and a sinful woman.  Without fear the woman speaks to Jesus, and without condemning the woman, Jesus condemns her sin and gives her his Word of life, God the Father’s Word of life!

To the woman, Jesus teaches and says, “[T]he hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  (John 4:23–24 ESV)

Then to his disciples, Jesus teaches and says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.  …Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.  I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. …Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.”  (John 4:34,35b,38 ESV)

See how Jesus works!  He mediates the two together.  Sinner and teachers, so the sinner leaves to become the teacher, and the teachers learn that they are sinners. 

But the work Jesus does just does not end there!  We know if the work was finished here, it would be left undone, and the sinners would not have the power to teach, and the teachers would lose the power to learn about their sin.  God needed to do the complete job.  If he was going to do the job he needed to do it right.  If there was to be righteousness on earth, Jesus needed to finish, complete, or fulfil all righteousness.

The mediation work of Jesus was completed on the cross, when Jesus cried out, “it is finished”!  He hung his head, and he died!  The work was done!

God now calls you to hang your heads, and know that, “it is finished!”  His work is done and so too is yours.  However, like the disciples Jesus taught, you are called to enter into the labour of others, to continue the work of others!

Therefore, the teacher-sinner paradox continues.  Jesus’ work is finished in you, but now through you he seeks to finish it in others.

It now seems we are in the same quagmire as God.  We have been finished, but death is not finished for all others.  In fact, certain elements of death still remain with us in this life, and will not be finished until the death of eternal death in our earthly death.  How do we demonstrate the death of eternal death to others, while we live on this side of death? Or, how do we teach others about life in the realm of death?

What does God’s Word say?  We go back to the work and Word of Jesus!  See how he functioned while he lived under the sentence of death, and listen to what he taught, knowing his death and resurrection justifies what he said and taught.

True worshippers of God the Father, workers of God, worship in spirit and in truth. 

Jesus said, “‘it is finished’, bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30 ESV)  You and I are called to give up our spirits and know it is finished.  This involves allowing the Holy Spirit to give us life, having died to sin, so he can inspire us to live in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

We the sinners, learn from our sinfulness to become the teachers, continually being taught by the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ righteous work, what the toil of God is.  So, what is the toil of God, given to us?  It is the work of holiness.

Paul gives us the reality of Jesus’ finishing work, saying, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.  For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”  (1 Corinthians 3:16–17 ESV)

The paradox of God’s holy work is strange to the world, and therefore, takes time to sort itself out in us.  This is because we still struggle with the works of darkness and death!  But God the Holy Spirit is constantly bringing us to the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  In fact, this is the work and purpose of the Holy Spirit in us, as individuals, and within the worshipping community of those needing to gather around Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit works to call, gather, and enlighten us with faith in Jesus Christ’s work.

Jesus left humanity’s visual presence, but he has not gone!  He is hidden but now we see him with faith, given through the Holy Spirit’s work. 

God the Father perfectly finishes the job by sending Jesus Christ, to work salvation on the cross.  He continues this work, by also sending the Holy Spirit, to finish this salvation in us, by constantly leading us to Jesus Christ, out of our sins.  You are both a student and a teacher of the Holy Spirit!

In this finishing school of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 ESV)

What is it you learn and teach?  What are these strange works, we both learn from, and teach?  What are the good works, the greater works we do now, since we are under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who makes us alive in Jesus Christ, so we can reflect this life, to the masses who are dead and dying around us?

These are the works of confession!  Confessing our sin, learning from what God teaches us about his forgiveness of sin, and teaching others about how they can be forgiven, by sharing what God has forgiven, and how God has forgiven in Jesus Christ.

In this finishing school of the Holy Spirit, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

Let us allow the Holy Spirit to foster in us, “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.”  (Ephesians 1:19–20 ESV)

Amen.

Next week: we hear about the love of Jesus, so we might allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us to love.

A, Lent 3 - Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95:6-9, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42 "Water and Word Aeration"

A new town and new experiences.  Not knowing what to expect, one hopes when turning on the tap one will have good water to drink. 

So, the tap is turned, the water seems clean, but there’s a strange metallic smell.  What on earth is this smell?  Suddenly sceptical of the scent, I warily taste the water.  Not great, but not bad either!  One might say, “mediocre”.  I thought to myself, “I’m just going to have to get use to this.”

Later on, I put a load of washing on.  After the cycle finished, there on my clothes was an orange stain.  “Woe is me, what on earth is this”, in all my life I had never seen anything as vile as this.

There was stain all over my clothes and orange gunk in some of the folds.  From where, had it come?  Later, I found out this was normal for the water supply.  The water reservoir was not enough for the city of forty thousand.  And the area where the water was dammed was high in iron, that is, the orange stuff staining my clothes.  I couldn’t believe an Australian city in the late twentieth century could have such an antiquated and disgusting supply of water. 

Three months after I arrived, the grand opening of the new water treatment plant was at hand.  Because I was working in the media, as a camera operator, I had the privilege of videoing the opening and the workings of the new plant.

This new plant did not use excessive chemicals to clean the water.  Instead, it used thousands of tiny air bubbles, pumped through the water, lifting the iron scum to the surface, and cleaning the water of orange metallic substance and smell.  Such a simple process and thankfully from then on, with all the other residents, I had town water that was refreshing, had no smell, and was colourless.  Liked the chocolate Aero bar advertisement, “it was the bubbles of nothing that made the water something!”

In the Old Testament reading today we hear the Israelites grumble to Moses about going thirsty in the wilderness.  Like me they whinged about water.  “Woe is me; we have no water!” 

Jesus in Samaria, likewise, is thirsty.   He asks a Samaritan woman, stained from ill repute, for a drink.

Rightly, “the woman said to Jesus, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” (John 4:11a,13–14 ESV)

Jesus, like the Israelites, is without water.  He has nothing with which to gain access to the water.  The Israelites in the wilderness have no water.  Why is it that Jesus trusts the Samaritan woman for water, yet the Israelites do not trust God working through Moses to quench their thirst?

The Psalmist says to the hearer, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.  Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” (Psalm 95:6–9 ESV) 

This Psalm together with the account from Exodus seventeen, places a warning before us to realise we need to come before God our Father, trusting he is our Maker, and he will shepherd us through the wilderness of this life.  Indeed, Lent is a time to stop and take stock of how God has sent Jesus to shepherd us in the wilderness of this life.

Jesus came not as the shepherd but as the Lamb of God.  But now, in the wake of his victorious death and resurrection, he is the Shepherd of his people, and he guards us with the Holy Spirit in his Word. 

Yet, we do well to clearly see the picture of Jesus at the well and understand just how lowly a picture this is.  We also do well to heed the warning of testing God, as the Israelites tried him in the wilderness.   But also see just how kept the Israelites were, having been freed from slavery in Egypt, and protected by God through the words of Moses in the wilderness.

Here Jesus has nothing, and he was thirsty.  He was in Samaria, Samaritans were nothing to Jews, but Jesus in all humility asks an adulterous Samaritan woman for water.  She is nothing to a Jew and yet Jesus comes to her with nothing but his Word.

On the other hand, the Israelites quarrel with Moses, they fight with the one through whom God’s word came. 

What is going on, in these two events?  The Israelites saw God’s Word as inferior in Moses and forgot his work.  Jesus trusts the work of God, and therefore his Word works.   

How does this play out practically for you and me?

It’s as simple as the bubbles of air removing the orange iron from the water.  In fact, the issues the church faces at the moment, understanding just what the substance of love and unity actually is, and how it plays out in the church’s cleansing, understanding, and obedience to God’s Word. 

In distinguishing issues of gender equality in the church, apart from society, discernment must return to, and be seen in, the simple process of how the Holy Spirit gives faith and understanding of God’s Word.  Just as the water is made clean with bubbles of air to remove impurities.

The Holy Spirit wells up the purity of God’s refreshing Word in us.  We cannot do this ourselves and nor should we begin the futile exercise of trying!   One will end up sinning against the Holy Spirit if they do!

When we are baptised, we are washed with water and the Word.  Like the Israelites, we are cleansed of sin in the water, just as the Israelites were of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, and at the end of forty years were led by Joshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) across the Jordan into Canaan, into a paradise, the land of milk and honey.

But because Israel continued to sin in the land of milk and honey, Jesus reverses the order to fulfil all righteousness.  He comes from paradise, from the right hand of God the Father, is born into the bondage of humanity, baptised into death, and given the Holy Spirit at the Jordan,  and goes into the wilderness of human existence to be tempted, but does not succumb to the temptation.  From temptation he enters the Red Sea of death, where his innocent blood was spilt in bondage on the cross.

Today, we live with God’s Word too, so we might have faith in Jesus Christ.  But what is this faith, how do we get it, how does one believe?  Seeking faith  in oneself, individualism, vainglory, or self-worship are always the reasons for confusion and chaos in the church.  When these occur, the ways of the world invade our thinking, muddying the waters of God’s Word, and stain his church!

Jesus gives clarity in what he says to the Samaritan woman.

“‘But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’  The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’  Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” (John 4:23–26 ESV) 

Like Jesus, who received the Holy Spirit in baptism, so too do we.  The water and Word are one in baptism.  The water receives its power from the Word.  We receive the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, and we receive the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit aerates the Word of God with in us and separates the sin from the self.  He removes our stained being and gives us faith in Jesus and his Word.  He wills and moves us to place ourselves in submission to God.  Rather than disagreeing with God, returning to the bondage from where we’ve been freed, we bow to God hearing the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the effervescence of the Holy Spirit bubbling within.  

Saint Paul gives us a theological trinitarian summary in Romans five, saying, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God… …and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-2,5 ESV) 

Let us come and worship God, not what we love, or think, or feel.  These are the idols and ideologies the Holy Spirit is trying to cleanse from you.  These are not bubbles of nothing, nor are they hot air coming from our own nothingness, puffing, or pumping up our ego.  No!  These bubbles are the loving works of God the Holy Spirit, with the softening waters of God’s Word within.  So, our hearts are not hardened by our goodness or our evil.

Jesus Christ seeks to aerate his Word in us by the Holy Spirit, to bring the muck and stain to the surface to be removed.  Like Jesus, we have nothing with which to get the water, but his Word together with the water are freely given through which the effervescence of the Holy Spirit works, welling up within to eternal life.  The fizz of the Holy Spirit kills and clears the muck, pouring the loving purity of Jesus Christ into our hearts.

Do not let your sin, my sin, or another’s sin harden your heart, so you cut yourself off from hearing the Word of God, hearing God’s forgiveness, and receiving the love of God in Jesus’ body and blood, through which the Holy Spirit unifies and wells us up to eternal life.  Amen.

A, Mid Week Lent 2- Sermon Series "The Litany of Jesus' Treasures - Gift"

By the gifts of Jesus,     Lord teach us how to give.

The gifts of Jesus, so we might allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us to give.

Lord God Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit so we might rightly use your Word, to hear and learn how to give as Jesus gave to us.  Amen.

Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed.  Amen.

We all know this table grace.  Some of us say, “let this food to us be blessed”. 

Did you know praying before a meal is a continuation of the rabbinic practice of ritual cleansing oneself before a meal! 

A two handled cup is used to wash the hands and is followed by this prayer, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.”

This rabbinic practice extended to all Jews, and therefore, we hear Jesus giving thanks many times throughout his ministry.  In fact, Jesus most closely adhered to the traditions of the Pharisees, which is why he came into conflict with them so often.

Ritual purity was central for a faithful Pharisee, so they could be sanctified before God.  However, Jesus’ purity before God was done for no other reason than to give glory to God, whereas the Pharisees practiced the rituals to be glorified in themselves, and by those around them who honoured them for being “so holy”.

We give thanks before a meal, so what we put into our bodies does not defile us and make us unholy. So we receive it as a blessing from God.

In Matthew fifteen, we hear the Pharisees complain to Jesus that the disciples do not wash when they eat.  This is not a complaint about hygiene, but rather about one’s ritual practise and holiness before God.

However, Jesus teaches, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?  But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:17–20 ESV)

Jesus’ thanksgiving is not so much about what goes into the mouth but on what the heart is set, when one eats.  It’s at this point I now understand mum scolding me, concerning gluttony, on eating too many sweets when I was a child.  She would say, “One eats to live, not lives to eat!”

So, to give thanks as Jesus gives thanks, we give thanks to God for giving us earthly gifts to sustain us as we wait to receive the fullness of the heavenly gift of eternal salvation.  We eat to live in preparation for eternity, to feast in Paradise with thee.

Jesus’ thanksgiving opens to us his motives for giving.  It’s from what Jesus gives that is remarkable.  It’s not just a lesson on giving, but it’s also one of trust.  Jesus’ gift to you and me is a giving through faith.

As last week, in understanding Jesus’ prayers, to learn how we pray, and how to pray, we return to Philippians 2, to learn the motives of Jesus’ giving, what Jesus gives to us, the cost to him, and the value of what it is he gives to us.

Saint Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  (Philippians 2:3–8 ESV)

Jesus gives thanks, but not as we give thanks.  The position from which he gives thanks is quite profound in light of the situation from which he gives.  We thank God for our food, with it usually sitting in front of us, but Jesus gives thanks in faith, with as little as five loaves of bread and two small fish to feed five thousand.

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus took the cup and the bread, and when he had given thanks, he gave the broken bread and wine to his disciples.  (Luke 22:17-20)   To give thanks to God the Father, knowing the body and blood to be given and shed, the very next day was to be his own, takes a humility more significant than all others. 

Jesus emptied himself!  What was left to give?  Nothing?  No!  His life! 

From a seemingly impossible position he gives.  In the same way, as something was made out of next to nothing to feed five thousand, Jesus allowed himself to be made nothing, and even then, gave everything for you and me.

Before Jesus gave himself on the cross, he makes an observation while at the temple in Jerusalem…

“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box,  and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.  And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’”  (Luke 21:1–4 ESV)

Like the widow, Jesus gave out of his poverty of human spirit, trusting in God by the work of the Holy Spirit.  How does your giving match up next to Jesus’ giving?  Our giving cannot match up to Jesus’ giving, this is the reason Jesus came and gave himself for us.  When you give to God, what do you think Jesus thinks of your giving?”  Do you give out of poverty like the widow or out of our abundance like the rich?

It’s here the Holy Spirit needs to step in before we condemn ourselves before God in our self-justification.  You and I need to be constantly brought back to the cross and receive the forgiveness of our many sins of gluttony, greed, withholding from God, and lack of trust in God’s providence.

We also need the Holy Spirit to inspire us, to give like Jesus gave.  We need the Spirit to motivate us in our giving so we, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than ourselves.  Let each of us look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind in yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

We need the Spirit to give as Jesus gave, we need the Holy Spirit to trust Jesus’ gifts, so we receive them in faith, without hedging our bets, keeping back what we know God wants us to give to others.

Without the Holy Spirit, we are greatly stricken.  With the Holy Spirit, we know we are greatly stricken.  So, in our affliction the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus and we receive the gifts that came from his suffering and death on the cross.

Therefore, “What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?”  (Psalm 116:12 ESV) You are God’s saints!  You are precious in God’s sight.  The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son to encourage you to die to self and give to God your trust, by giving to others what he has first given to you – yourself, your time, and your possessions.

May we not only pray, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed”.  But also pray and live our lives so, “Blessed be God who is our bread, may the world be clothed and fed.” Amen.

Next week - By the toils of Jesus, Lord teach us how to work.

A, Lent 2- John 3:1-17 "Unbinding Nicodemus' Flesh"

John 3:11–15 (ESV)  Truly (Amen), truly (Amen), I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Nicodemus was a champion of the Israelites.  He was a pharisee, and a leader.   He was victorious amongst those bound together by their Jewish culture and temple practice.  He was a leader and a ruler in Jewish society.  And he comes to Jesus at night.

This man of God’s people comes to Jesus somewhat confused, not knowing who this Jesus is, but knowing to do the signs Jesus was doing, he had to be somehow connected with God.  But how?   It appears Jesus mysterious signs were amazing the Jews but at the same time confounding and mystifying them.

The language of signs is right the way through John’s Gospel.  The first sign recorded in John’s Gospel is the Wedding at Cana in Galilee where Jesus turns water in to wine.  The second is in the temple at the Passover, when Jesus overturns the trading tables and is asked for a sign as to why he acted so destructively.  He gives a sign by saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 3:19 ESV)

We are told by the author of the Gospel of John, as a side note, that the disciples only realised Jesus was talking about the temple of his body after he was raised from the dead. 

We are told many believed as a result of his signs.  But we know the disciples did not yet believe the Scriptures, until the after the resurrection.  Therefore, we know the belief of those who saw the signs with the disciples was bound in the sinful thoughts of humanity too.

It seems that Jesus had a problem proclaiming the Good News.  How could he unwrap years of Jewish expectation and assumptions?  A problem that every evangelist faces when they are called to take the Good News of Jesus Christ into a culture bound up by its expectations and understanding.

We hear of Jesus, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:23–25 ESV)

These are the verses immediately prior to Nicodemus coming to Jesus.  Therefore, we know Nicodemus was bound in the same thoughts as everyone else at the Passover.  We do not know what the motivation was for  Nicodemus’ coming to Jesus.  We are not told whether he was spying on behalf of the Pharisees or if he was genuinely interested in following Jesus.  But, regardless of the reason he came to Jesus at night, we know he and Joseph of Arimathea lovingly took Jesus from the cross and prepared his body, binding and burying it in the tomb.

Jesus’ word to Nicodemus did its work on unbinding Nicodemus!  A Pharisee bound in Jewish tradition and leadership would not have become associated with a dead human body during the Passover preparation and then expect to celebrate the Passover meal.  Something had to of changed within Nicodemus to unbind him from his temple tradition to allow him to do what he did.

What was it in Jesus’ word that had effect on him?  As I mentioned earlier it seemed Jesus had a problem in bringing the Gospel of salvation to a man who was a champion in the teachings of Jewish Law and culture.  But something had changed.  What is it in Jesus’ word that brings change, brings faith, belief?

Jesus says to Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12 ESV)

This question captures the struggle Jesus had with Nicodemus, and indeed, the difficulty anyone has in taking the Gospel to those whose ears, have not heard it, or, are closed to hearing it, as a result of cultural conditioning from their environment.

But Jesus launches straight into the heart of the matter to begin unbinding Nicodemus.  He makes three personal, “truly, truly, yes, yes, amen, amen” statements.

The first: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  (John 3:3 ESV)

The second: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5–6 ESV)

And the third:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:11–15 ESV)

Three times Jesus addresses Nicodemus, but the third time the culture and history of Jewish teaching in Moses’ lifting up a bronze serpent in the wilderness, together with the lifting up of the Son of Man is brought into the light.

A great practical thing happens in these threefold, yes, yes, truly, truly, amen, amen proclamations.  In his word, Jesus announces the Holy Spirit.  But, at the same time the Holy Spirit is deposited within Nicodemus through his word.  From this deposit to Jesus’ death and resurrection and beyond, the Holy Spirit is the one who unbinds Nicodemus. 

Ironically, the one who is unbound by Jesus’ word and the Holy Spirit, binds Jesus, after he was taken from the cross and prepared with expensive spices, then placed in the tomb.

What Jesus says is true!  We do not know how the Holy Spirit works.  But in hearing the Word we know faith is given, in hearing the gospel the Holy Spirit works!  How does one believe earthly things and heavenly things?  Through the work of the Holy Spirit together as one hears the Word of God!

You and I are called to hear God’s word.  In God’s Word we trust the Spirit is given and works in us.  This first happened with water and the Word.  Together with the water and the Word, the Spirit was given in Baptism.  Now every time we hear the “yes, yes, truly, truly, or amen, amen” of God’s Word of forgiveness, we know the Holy Spirit is given and is raising faith within us.  Like Nicodemus we are being unbound to be victorious among God’s people.

As we leave here today and head back out into the culture around us.  You and I know we take the “yes, yes” of God with us.  When you engage with your family, your work colleagues, or those with whom God decides you to cross paths, trust that the Holy Spirit will give you the ability to speak the words and be the person through whom eternal life can flow.  Through whom the love of God can declare, “Yes, truly, amen, your sins are forgiven when you believe.  And “Yes, truly, amen, belief is possible” in those who are receiving the Gospel because the Holy Spirit, opens hearts with the Word of God, when you speak it.   

When Jesus was raised from the dead, he was born again.  Before he died, he was washed in the sin of humanity, yet he faithfully allowed the Holy Spirit to lead him without sin.  He was baptised into death and having laid down his life in love, God the Holy Spirit raised him up.  The temple was destroyed, and God raised it up.  He raised it on Easter morning, he raised this temple in Nicodemus with the Holy Spirit, and in the same way he raises it in you and me. 

We can now let God use us, to raise his temple in those he seeks to build with the Holy Spirit, in the yes, yes, truly, truly, amen, amen of sin’s forgiveness and eternal life.  

Like Nicodemus you have been unbound so you are victorious in God’s kingdom.  What a privilege and joy it is to be the instruments of the Holy Spirit in giving the same victory to others.  Amen.