Earnestly from the Heart, Reflections from the Pastors of Lord of Life

“I Will Give You a New Heart and Put a New Spirit in You…”

 

There are times when life gets a little stale, boring, and empty, when you do the same things over and over and over and over again. You go through the motions, but that inner motivation is not there. It happens to us in so many different aspects of our lives-in our jobs, in our marriages, in our religious life, and in our relationship with God. We become stale. We are washed out, worn out, burnt out. We all know that feeling. This was the same for Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a man who was going through the motions of religion without the inner motivation of God.

 

He needed to reorient his life to God's way. Now, I imagine that Nicodemus was a man in his mid-fifties or mid-sixties, gray haired, physically distinguished, accomplished, successful in his work. He was a teacher of the law, a professor of religion at the temple in Jerusalem. He was one of the primary teachers of the law. Now, according to the story in the Bible, he is "older in life," that is, an older man. That means he probably had about twelve children, all gone from home. He probably had fifty grandchildren plus ten great grandchildren. He probably heard that the eleventh great grandchild was to be born and he thinks to himself, "Another great grandchild. I can't keep track of all of their names. Nicodemus was a man who had pretty much seen it all.

 

In his relationship with God, Nicodemus was a man who was going through the motions. He knew the law; he was a teacher of the law, but his inner enthusiasm for God wasn't there anymore. It was not quite right in his relationship with God anymore.

 

So Jesus of Nazareth showed up in town, and Nicodemus had gone to hear Jesus preach in the temple. Nicodemus sensed that Jesus had something inside of him that Nicodemus no longer had. Nicodemus was touched by Jesus' preaching and decided to talk to Jesus.

 

He went in the evening so no one would see him and said to Jesus something like this. "Things are not quite right with me. I sense that you have something that I don't' have anymore. I am tired. My lectures are stale. I am getting old and slow. I am interested in what advice you would have for me?"

Jesus, of course, had this uncanny ability to look right into a person's heart, and he said, "I know the problem that you are having Nicodemus. It is not that you are old; it is not that you are tired, it is not that you are worn out. The problem is that you are no longer close to God. You have drifted away from God. God is no longer living in the center of your heart. Nicodemus, you need to be born again."

Nicodemus replied, "Born again? Take and push me back into my mother's womb? Come on, now?

Jesus said, "You don't understand Nicodemus. You need to be born anew, to experience a rebirth in your relationship with God. You need to be born of the water, the cleansing waters of God. You need to be born of the Spirit, you need to be born from above."

He is saying to Nicodemus, there is this kingdom, my kingdom, a kingdom of the heart, a kingdom of the spirit. In order to enter that kingdom you need to experience some profound change in the way you think and the way you feel. You need to open yourself to a new level of devotion, a new capacity for love, and a new set of eyes by which to see the world-eyes filled with compassion and acceptance and forgiveness. He is saying to Nicodemus what God said through Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you ..."

In the waters of baptism we are recipients of God's grace. We are born anew and our relationship with God is allowed to grow as allow God to have His way with us.

It is why we love the song, "Have Thine own way Lord, have thine own way, thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will while I am waiting, yielded and still.

Jesus wanted Nicodemus to wake up and to be aware that God's Spirit was alive and at work in the world.

 

Go with God

Pastor Qualley