Becoming a Christian

John 3.1-17
20 February 2011
Introduction

Adult baptisms represent an interesting story in terms of St Cuthbert’s.

In my time here….

o John Perry
o Joey & Anthony Price
o Stuart Watson
o Rebecca Sandiford

Sadly, they have been few and far between. My hope and prayer is
that they become far more frequent

c.f. a baptistry

Baptism is a very powerful symbol. More than that, a sacrament, that

is a promise and a seal, though always we would want to insist, one
that should be accompanied by faith.

A Protestant moved into a completely Catholic community. Being good

Catholics they welcomed him into their community. But, also because they were
good Catholics they did not eat red meat on Fridays. So, when their neighbour
began barbecueing some juicy steak on a Friday night, they began to squirm.

They were so annoyed that they went to talk to him about it. After much talk they
convinced him to become Catholic. The next Sunday he went to the priest and
the priest sprinkled holy water on him and said:
You were born Protestant.
You were raised Protestant.
But now you are Catholic!

And so, the next Friday, as the neighbours sat down to eat their fish, they were
disturbed by the smell of roast beef coming from the neighbouring house. They
went over to talk to the new Catholic because he knew he was not supposed to
eat beef on Fridays. When they saw him, he was sprinkling ketchup on the beef
saying:

You were born a cow.

You were raised a cow.
But now you are fish!

Which is why an adult baptism, though not different in principle from

an infant baptism, in practice, feels like a more substantial rite, for in
an adult baptism, as properly practised, faith and sign are joined in a
way that, in infant baptism, they are not.

c.f. John 3. – born of water and the spirit

This means that, in my view, confirmation is less significant for

someone who has undergone adult baptism. It still has value, in that it
symbolises one’s entrance into the wider church, and that is
important. However, it does not carry with it the same sense of
completion of a work previously begun as the confirmation of
someone who was baptised as a child does.

My theme tonight, then, is the surprising change that the Lord

summons all of us to undergo, the change that Jesus, in our passage,
describes as being ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’ – the word can
be translated either way.

Show Priest / Coca Cola video

 I. WHY become Christian?

I want to suggest three main varieties of reason (relate to the Trinity?)

c.f. John 3. The Spirit blows where He wills (c.f. Brandon Jackson)

i. Reasons of the mind

Hard as it may be to believe today, historically, a large proportion of

people have become Christians because it made intellectual sense to
do so! Perhaps this is what Nicodemus was seeking to do? Certainly
the symbolism of light and darkness is evocative.

e.g. Augustine – the most famous Christian of all time – Ambrose

e.g. C S Lewis - Magdalene College

the most reluctant convert in all England

e.g. Ken Olson – D.E.C.

c.f. Elly herself

Although, in the post-modern world, there is a realisation that truth, at

least in the narrow modernist sense, can never provide the complete
answer to life’s deepest questions, pace Richard Dawkins, it is still not
the case that the majority of people will willingly believe in something
that they know not to be true. So whilst books like Val Grieve’s
‘Evidence for the resurrection’ are not much in vogue these days
because they engage, essentially, in rational argument, the evidence
they marshal remains important.

e.g. 1 Corinthians 15.1f

The Christian faith, then, offers ample material on which the mind can
‘bite’

The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on
something solid. G K Chesterton (Autobiography. Collected Works Vol. 16, p.
212)

That is why the becoming a Christian involves a commitment to

lifelong learning.

e.g. Lent Courses

e.g. the gift of a New Bible Commentary
 ii. Reasons of the conscience

Inland Revenue joke

Even if we do not have a bad conscience – and conscience is not

always an accurate guide, as some people can do terrible things and
still retain a clear conscience whilst others can do little wrong and yet
be racked with guilt – one of the main ways that the Holy Spirit brings
people to faith is through a conviction of sin or, perhaps better, a sense
of a need for forgiveness.

Our sin, whether we are aware of it or not, represents a barrier that

stands between us and God

e.g. the RW Jones invoice

The Christian claim is that the barrier I have described, between us

and God, can only be removed in one way, and that is through the ‘sin
bearing’ death of Jesus Christ. This is the point of Jesus’ rather
strange re-telling of tale, originally told in the Book of Numbers,
concerning the bronze serpent which Moses instructed the people of
Israel to make. Just as looking to the serpent on the pole was the cure
for the physical disease that was harming the people of Israel in the
wilderness, so looking to Jesus on the cross is the cure for the spiritual
‘disease’ of sin.

c.f. It is finished = It is paid (John 18 )

John, in his commentary on Jesus’ words in 3.16ff takes up this
illustration and applies it to the readers of his Gospel.

GOD -- The Greatest Lover

SO LOVED -- The Greatest Degree
THE WORLD -- The Greatest Company
THAT HE GAVE -- The Greatest Act
HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON -- The Greatest Gift
THAT WHOSOEVER -- The Greatest Opportunity
BELIEVETH -- The Greatest Simplicity
IN HIM -- The Greatest Attraction
SHOULD NOT PERISH -- The Greatest Promise
BUT -- The Greatest Difference
HAVE -- The Greatest Certainty
EVERLASTING LIFE. -- The Greatest Possession

John 3.1-17 is a not unsuitable passage for someone involved in the

medical profession, for the serpent has long been associated with
healing of various sorts, though not just in the Christian tradition.

It was ‘reasons of conscience’, by the way, that led to the ‘classic’

conversion which sparked the Evangelical movement of the 18C, that
of John Wesley
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where
one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter
before nine, while the leader was describing the change which God works in the
heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust
in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken
away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

(William Grimshaw)
iii. Reasons of the heart

The last reason for faith that I mentioned has been, to use a footballing
analogy, ‘Route One’, for many years – think of, for example, the
Sixties Crusades of Billy Graham. However, personally I am not
convinced that it is the only or the main way by which people are
drawn to faith in Christ. Granted that it is only the sacrificial death of
Jesus that it is possible for people to know God’s forgiveness, to me it
appears that the majority of people come to faith not because they
sense their sin so much as they sense their need of are relationship
God. Indeed, that relationship is even more fundamental that he
possibility of forgiveness, for forgiveness is simply a means to an end,
the end of knowing God our Creator and Sustainer.

Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee Augustine

c.f. John 17.3

That is why the best definition if repentance I ever heard is ‘allowing

God to love me’.

It is quite something to know that you are loved, whether by God or

people or both. So lucky you, Elly, for tonight you have received a
symbol of God’s love and, in July, you will be receiving a symbol of
Phil’s love. In fact, there it would not be hard to make a link between
the symbolism of a wedding ring and the symbolism of baptism, for
both are visible signs of something deeper and more profound.

Quote Brunner in Watson My God p.51

 II. HOW TO become a Christian

i. Becoming a Christian is not automatic

It is not the same as going to church, adopting certain patterns of

behaviour or even believing certain things to be true. Nicodemus on
that score would have not had an issue

Quote Milne p.

McDonald’s and the hamburger

ii. Becoming a Christian is different for different people

That is implicit in what I have already said. God deals with us as

individuals, hence the wonder and significance of every story.

iii. Becoming a Christian can take time

It is not something that, usually, happens overnight. If Nicodemus did

become a follower of Jesus – and commentators are divided on the
question – it didn’t happen instantaneously.

iv. Becoming a Christian is not all down to us

John 3. - You must be born from above

v. Becoming a Christian involves an important decision

Whoever believes has life

Quote Stott pp.128, 129

My experience
 vi. Becoming a Christian, whilst a decisive step, is only the
beginning

Egypt - Nehru’s speech in BST p.161

Conclusion
A little boy was walking down a dirt road after church one Sunday afternoon
when he came to a crossroads and met a little girl coming from another
direction. "Hello," said the little boy.

"Hi," replied the little girl.

"Where are you going?" asked the little boy.

"I've been to church this morning and I'm on my way home," answered the little
girl.

"Me too," replied the little boy.

"What church you go to?"

"The Protestant church back down the road," replied the little girl. "What about
you?"

"Mine's the Catholic church at the top of the hill," said the boy.

They discover that they both go home the same way so they decide to walk
together. They come to a low spot in the road where spring rains partially
flooded the road. There was no way that they could get across to the other side
without getting wet.

"If I get my new Sunday dress wet my Mom's going to skin me alive," said the
girl.

"My Mom'll tan my hide too if I get my new Sunday suit wet," replied the boy.

"Tell you what I think I'll do," said the little girl. "I'm gonna pull off all my
clothes and hold them over my head and wade across."

"That's a good idea," replied the little boy. "I'm going to do the same thing with
my suit."

So they both undressed and waded across to the other side without getting their
clothes wet. They were standing there in the sun waiting to drip dry before
putting their clothes back on when the little boy finally remarked, "You know, I
never had any idea how much difference there is between a Protestant and a
Catholic."
Grace – Wm Temple quote on sin