Scripture: John 3:1-17
Sermon Title: “What Is This Born-Again Thing?”
Peace Lutheran Church
Sunday, March 1st, 2026
“What is this Born-Again thing?”
Have you wondered about that?
[During a practice session for the Green Bay Packers, things were not going well for Vince
Lombardi’s team. Lombardi singled out a big offensive lineman for his failure to “put out.”
It was a hot, muggy day when the coach called this player aside and unleashed his mighty
pipes, as only Lombardi could do. “Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not
blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you
today, go take a shower.” The big lineman dropped his head and walked into the dressing
room.
Later, when Lombardi walked in, he saw this same player sitting in front of his locker still
wearing his uniform. His head was bowed, and he was sobbing quietly. Next, Lombardi did
something that was also typical of the Packers’ legendary coach. He walked over to his
discouraged player and put his arm around his shoulder and said, “Son…I told you the truth.
You are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, and you’re not
putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story. Inside of you,
son, there is a great football player, and I’m going to stick by your side until the great
football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself.”
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With these words, Hall of Famer, Jerry Kramer, straightened up and the rest is history – one
of the greatest linemen ever to win multiple championships with Lombardi’s Packers.
(Illustration used from a sermon by Jerry Shirley, 2/11/2009 The Whole Story about You,
www.sermoncentral.com)
Folks, what happens on the gridiron is just a game, but please hear the deeper meaning—the
10 Commandments—the Law—in God’s holy Word is like a holy mirror that shows us for
what we truly are…real sinners.
It’s true.
Let me illustrate the mirror this way.
Typically, I’m an earlier to bed, earlier to rise kind of guy…an early bird…you might say. I
can guarantee you that when I look in the mirror early in the morning…the Incredible Hulk
or a GQ model doesn’t appear suddenly.
Shoot! Regardless of the time of day, that Hulk image never happens.
Here’s the truth.
In and of ourselves—when we look in the mirror—the 10 Commandments—we are
lousy…wretched…at keeping them. Let’s face it. The sacred mirror exposes our “warts,
wrinkles, zits, skin tags, and all,” revealing how we fall short of the eternal glory of God,
which by nature, makes us defensive, trying to cover up the ugly under belly, pretending like
it’s not really that bad.
We try this solution, that brand, this product to cover it up…only to find out it was
short-lived. Nicodemus tried too (we’ll get to that soon), but we justify our sinfulness like
this… “I may not be perfect, but I’m better than that guy, gal over there.”
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We compare our religious righteousness to one who keeps score, covering up the ugly
underbelly that even the product of religion can’t fix.
You might be thinking, “That product, brand, solution…That’s just for shallow people. I’m
not like that!”
Folks, please understand. Nicodemus fell into this trap too, and he was far from being a
shallow man. He was no dummy! He was the leading Jewish scholar of the leading Jewish
religious council of the day—called the Sanhedrin. If you wanted to compare it to today’s
standards, he had a PhD in the 10 Commandments, a PhD in the Old Testament, a PhD in
Jewish religious festivals, when and where, what you ate, what you wore, what you did, etc.,
Nicodemus…knew it like the back of his hand. For example, when Jesus mentioned the
serpent that Moses raised up on a pole, Nicodemus would have known the exact place and
history of that story in a flash.
Besides Nicodemus’s religious knowledge, he was very, very wealthy. It was a
well-accepted religious belief among Jesus’ countrymen that if you were well off God clearly
blessed you, but if you had a disease or succumbed to poverty or both, it was because you or
your relatives did something nefarious that brought God’s punishment on your household
(i.e., you brought that terrible fate upon yourselves).
Could you imagine living underneath that terrible burden?
With that history in mind, what happens next in this Spirit-filled dialogue is just awesome!
The Sanhedrin’s leading scholar says, “Rabbi,” (thinking…we’re in good company…talking
Rabbi to Rabbi) … “Clearly, you’re a teacher from God…you couldn’t do the signs (the
miracles you’ve been doing) without God.”
Let’s stop there for a minute.
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Did you catch the details that Nicodemus…met with the Lord at night?
Have you ever wondered why?
You see, being afraid about what holy Law would expose, being afraid about what his
spouse, his religious contemporaries would think if they found out what God’s Law exposed,
Nicodemus met with Jesus under the cover of darkness.
Can Nicodemus’s religious knowledge and experiences cover up his sins?
If this top religion scholar knows that Jesus is from God, what’s he trying to hide?
Jesus already knows; He always does. The Savior exposes Nicodemus’s ugly under belly,
“Truly, truly.” That’s on purpose to tell Nicodemus, “Listen up…we’re not messing
around…truth be told…Unless you’re born again … “born from above,” …nobody can
see the kingdom of God.”
“Your long flowing robes and jewelry and PhD’s in the laws of Moses cannot wash you
from the filthiness inside; you must be reborn from above.”
Gulp!
Left to Nicodemus/to ourselves, it’s impossible to leave, walk away from something that we
thought meant everything…that we tried so hard to earn the approval of others…but do you
see why God’s Law/Mirror matters?
Don’t get me wrong. While the 10 Commandments are truly good because God created
them to bless our relationships with Him and each other, they were never meant to earn
God’s approval, along with the approval of others, which often means trying to please
people more than God.
“What I want to do, I don’t do; what I should be doing, I hate doing,” Scripture says.
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O’ my filthy underbelly, as God’s Law reveals, there’s nothing I can do on my own power to
change it. Wearing this white robe, clerical collar, and stole can’t change it either.
Okay, how does this born-again thing change my sinful underbelly that God’s law has
exposed?
Isn’t that what Nicodemus asked?
We’ve heard about the Law of God’s word, exposing what we’re trying to hide, but there’s
more! The Gospel! The law always points to the gospel—the Good News of Jesus
Christ—about what He accomplished “for you,” that God wants to share with Nicodemus,
the world.
(*By the way this lesson is consistent in all of Scripture).
To illustrate the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have a story I’m about to share with you.
But first you have an insert titled “sermon notes”, and on that insert, there’s a saying in
Latin…Verbum Dei Manet in Aeternum…(repeat).
Think about that as you listen to this story. Another pastor shared it. It goes like this:
Years ago, I had the opportunity to tour the Villeroy and Boch porcelain factory in Torgau,
Germany. Porcelain is one of the most beautiful and enduring things that human beings can
make. Even today much of what we know about ancient cultures comes from what they
made from clay. I was presented with a beautiful gift of a flower vase that is painted with
these letters: V D M I Ae. They stand for the Latin words, “Verbum Dei Manet in
Aeternum,” which means, “The Word of God Endures forever.”
Will you say that with me?
“The Word of God Endures Forever.”
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Go ahead and jot that down in your sermon notes if you want.
Back to that pastor’s story.
Think about how true this is.
While the flowers come and go quickly, the meaning on the vase—the Word of God that
endures forever—that’s “born again” living.
(Michael Walther, May 18th, 2011, The Born-Again Vase, www.sermoncentral.com)
My friends, in the same way, not the word of Nicodemus (thank God!) … not the word of
Andrew Young (thank God!) …in and of ourselves we’re like flowers or grass that come and
go, but The Living Word of God Jesus Christ, the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning, the
End…The Holy Spirit always washes you, regardless of age, experience, or lack
thereof—His living word forever (one faith, one hope, one baptism) God accomplished
through Jesus on the cross, in the grave, and in the empty tomb “for you”.
Yes! Jesus Christ alone—the Holy Spirit brings out the new Spirit-filled child of God,
worthy to play on God’s team because Jesus—crucified, buried, and raised from the dead
“for you,” was, is, will always be a worthy player on God’s playing field.
Verbum…Dei…Manet in Aeternum…The Word of God Endures Forever…that’s what it
takes to be born from above.
Nicodemus says, “But…but…how can that be? Can one be naturally born again when
they are old and grey?!”
I’m paraphrasing what Jesus tells Nicodemus next, but work with me. (*Think about the
coach and player illustration.)
It’s as though Jesus is putting his arm around Nicodemus, telling him, “Nicodemus chill!
Listen…it’s time to get rid of this religious charade you’ve been playing…I already know
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what your under belly looks like…let the Living Word of God that endures forever wash
you clean…the Holy Spirit is the only One who makes this rebirth possible…through
Me…always through Me…not you.”
What about you, Peace Lutheran? Do you need your religious charade removed for God’s
Living Word—Jesus Christ—crucified, buried, and raised from the dead? Trust His Living
word—that His
“rebirth” happens from above “in you,” for all eternity.
While Nicodemus can point to the time, history of the story about the snake on a pole, I can
tell you he didn’t make this connection—that God—through Jesus Christ—would be
sacrificed on “that deadly pole/cross” with our poisonous sins on his back so that—just as
Moses and countrymen who believed in God’s deliverance—you too would be delivered
from sin and death because of what Jesus accomplished, just as the Lord preached in John
3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but
have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world
but to save the world through Him.”
It can’t get any more crystal clear than that! Law & Gospel! The Law of Moses exposes our
poisonous sins that the Gospel—the Living Word of God that endures
forever—willingly—obediently—faithfully “accomplished” for you and me.
Verbum…Domini…Manet…in Aeternum…the Living Word of God endures forever…in
your relationships, your commitments, your work, your play…the Living Word of God
“being born from above,” through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit loves doing in you daily.
That’s what this born-again thing is all about.
Let’s pray.
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