A Soccerdad’s Love

Wednesday, March 5, 2008 The Great Conversation Has Great Pauses with Great Meaning:

I had a great time visiting with my friend, Stephan Pantezelos. We had breakfast together at the Ranchhouse restaurant. We have started eating breakfast together Wednesday. It has become one of the joys of my life. I am reminded of the verse, ‘there is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother”. We are becoming that type of friend to each other.

As I reflect on the Great Conversation, I think about the way men and women engage in conversation. Most folks pause, linger on words, choose words carefully.. and in one way or the other, are halting in speech, sometimes to underscore the points they wish to make. In my mind, as Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, and those in the room listened, I envision Jesus emphasizing through pause and hesitation that God so loved the world . . . that He gave. .. His Son, His one and only Son. (John 3:16).

Those phrases must have sunk deeply into the heart and mind of Nicodemus who came that nite to learn more about the spiritual force and dynamic he saw at work in the life of Christ. He was not presented with theological truth, or an explanation of why the brand of Christianity he was followed was not correct. Instead, Nicodemus was presented with a God who loved the world so much that He gave and what He gave was His Son, his only Son.

Tuesday, January 29, 2007 : Jesus Sheds Light on the Comments of Nicodemus: One Condition

Max Lucado’s book, 3:16 . . The Numbers of Hope, puts the popular verse, John 3:16, into proper focus. The verse of course arises out of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. Nicodemus has just indicated why he risked his personal reputation and status by coming to Christ at nite. He had just verbally expressed a position that was out of sync with that of his fellow Pharisees. Simply put, he had acknowledged that Jesus was a “teacher from God” and that God was “with him” (Jesus) (John 3:2).

It is not clear whether Nicodemus sought a similar affirmation from Jesus, … or sought to establish himself as different from his fellow Pharisees and wanted Jesus to know that he recognized and respected Jesus as a man of God.

Jesus does articulate what was required to see the kingdom of God. I like the phrase used by Billy Graham in the title of one of his books, “Peace with God”. The Response of Jesus was to clearly and simply communicate what was required to be at peace at God, “Unless one is born again, one cannot see the kingdom of God”. (John 3:3) There are conditions and requirements before one can be at peace with God.

The articulation of the condition to be at peace with God is an issue we all must address. Each person present must have also wondered what was required to be at peace of God.

Certainly, Nicodemus, as a public teacher of spiritual matters, had developed ideas on what was required to be at peace with God. Jesus does not mention that there are many possible ways or many vehicles for one to achieve peace with God and see the kingdom of heaven. He also does not mention any particular effort or code of conduct… good or bad each man must pursue. Instead, he mentions the spiritual act of “being born again.”

One can ponder long and hard on the words of Christ. This is the context of the Great Conversation where Jesus says the words of John 3:16, ” “For God so Loved the World, that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but shall have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Saturday, January 26, 2007 - A Final Word on a Great Inquiry from a Good Man

It has been nice to return to my quiet time this morning. It is funny that sometimes, I feel I do not have ten (10) minutes to spare for a short devotional. And then there are times when I realize how much I missed thinking about spiritual matters; and amazed at how much that feeds the inner soul.

This morning, I read about the initial response of Jesus to the opening statement of Nicodemus to begin, what has turned out to be, one of the great conversations in history. The response of Jesus at John 3:3 is itself filled with meaning: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Yet, as conversations go between people there is often a delay or a pause between one speaker and the next. That is particularly true when men are carefully choosing their words and each thought is an expression of the heart.

Of course, that was true when this Great Conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus began to unfold. When Nicodemus had finished saying, ‘no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:3), there was naturally a pause and a brief moment of silence. To those present in the room that nite, it must have been a moment filled with inner reflection.

Nicodemus was a respected leader. He was a leader in a religious group, the Pharisees. He was known to be a man of character and integrity. In short, he was known to be a man who led a life that tried to mirror what he taught in the synagogues. The role that Nicodemus played in the public life of his day was to teach and lead others in spiritual matters. Nicodemus taught others what the Scriptures said and tried to follow those teachings himself. Nicodemus was a good man.

That fact is what makes the opening words from Nicodemus so meaningful. This good man, who sought to follow the teachings of scripture, had publicly acknowledged before others that God was with this man from Nazareth, one who was born in a manager, and who did not have the formal learning or training in scripture like him and his fellow Pharisees. Nicodemus clearly wanted to know more about Jesus and why God was ‘with him’.

All present in the room that nite understood that Nicodemus was inquiring about this relationship with God that Jesus possessed. This was indeed a great inquiry. Though Nicodemus could stand on his record of being a good man, Nicodemus clearly sensed there was something about the relationship with God that was different with Jesus… and that indeed, God was ‘with him”.

The Great Conversation was now underway. It begins with a inquiry into the relationship that Jesus had with God…. a relationship perhaps that Nicodemus also wanted for his own life. It was in this context that the conversation would end with the now famous words, “For God so Loved the World, that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but shall have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

My hope is that you guys.. Jonah, Josh & Joel.. would be be men of character and integrity. Good men. I also hope that you will make inquiries like Nicodemus into the relationship that Jesus had with God and covet that for your own life as well.

Dad