How do We know?
How do we know that the Sun will come up tomorrow? How do we know that eventually the ground will warm up and we will have spring?
How do we know that when we turn the water tap on, water will flow?
How do we know that we will all eventually die?
How do we know?
In our Gospel lesson this morning from John, we hear about a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a very learned man. A smart man, an intellect. He was also a respected teacher.
He comes to Jesus and says, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God, because no one could do the things you’ve been doing if they weren’t.” But Jesus confronts him and says, wait a minute, you may think you know who I am by what I do, but no one truly can know until they are born from above.”
Nicodemus is confused. Why is that?
He thought, in fact, he is pretty darn sure of himself and what he knows and he KNOWS that Jesus must be from God. What is Jesus saying?
Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus that what we see isn’t always what it is. Yes, Jesus is a man, born out of woman, flesh from flesh, but he is also something more.
He is also part of God, and he is also part of the Holy Spirit…Therefore he is one part of the Trinity
But there is something else he is trying to teach Nicodemus….and that is as George Michael sang, You Gotta Have Faith, a-faith, a-faith.
Without Faith, we have no hope of the promise of eternal life.
It is that Faith, that we rest our hope on.
Having faith in something can be very difficult. I tend to be one of those people who has to see it to believe it. Like bigfoot. It wasn’t until I saw, that I now believe. A story, for a different time.
So how do you know that God exists?
How do you know that Jesus lived and died on the cross for us?
Why do you believe?
Our Faith in God commands that we do something extra. It demands that not only do we believe, but that we put that belief into action.
That we practice what we preach
Judith Jones, wrote the Working Preacher from 2018, that we must
- put theory into practice,
- knowledge into faith, and
- curiosity to commitment.
How do we know Jesus is our Savior?
We believe
We have Faith
How do we put our knowledge into practice?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who BELIEVES in him may not perish but have eternal life.”
Amen