Baloney.

John 3:7-10

(Jesus answered,) Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 

“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied.

Change is difficult, even when we desire it. Nicodemus is struggling to understand where the power behind Jesus’ miracles is coming from. He wants to know why His teaching is so powerful and why so many are drawn to Him. Nicodemus has been a well-known teacher for many years and yet, people are not flocking to hear him teach and he isn’t doing any miracles. Nicodemus wants to be more like Jesus in his ministry work, but he just can’t understand what needs to change.

It reminds me of a story my dad liked to tell. It’s a dad joke. But it illustrates what is happening to Nicodemus and what can happen to us if we aren’t careful. Keep in mind that my dad worked in a shop for many years, and he carried a lunchbox. He worked hard and had a patch on his shirt with his name on it.

Two construction workers took a lunch break and opened their lunch boxes. One of the men looked inside and said, “Not baloney again! I can’t believe it. I hate baloney. This is the fourth time this week I’ve had baloney. I can’t stand it!”

The other one said, “Why don’t you ask your wife to make you something different?”

He replied, “I’m not married. I made these myself.”

Most of the baloney in our lives we put there ourselves.

Nicodemus thought his family lineage, educational background, powerful position and personal wealth should make him a powerful teacher. But it didn’t. Jesus had none of these. So, what was His secret?

Jesus tells Nicodemus the difference is the wind and the spirit. Being born again means being “born from above.” Knowing the Lord and seeing the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life changes everything. Jesus knew the Father, He came from heaven. The Holy Spirit came to Jesus like a dove at His baptism. The secret power of His ministry was that He was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and was doing the Father’s will. He was fulfilling scripture and doing all the prophets had longed for. His secret was the active presence of God in His life and His total obedience to the tasks given Him to do.

In my personal life I saw an amazing change over the years in my dad, Ken Kinner. That blue collar worker became a pastor in his later years. He surrendered more and more of his life to Jesus Christ. Who would have thought a maintenance man in a machine shop could become a beloved Sunday School teacher and then a Pastor of two different churches before the Lord called him home.

There are many reasons I am proud of my dad. I am most proud of his desire to be changed by the Lord over time. Dad and I always traded books and talked about reading, in his later years we spent more and more time talking about the Lord’s Word. We encouraged each other in prayer and our relationship grew as the Lord grew our faith.

Maybe you don’t understand what God is up to. Maybe you don’t believe things can change. Nicodemus was struggling to figure things out and he was a very wise old man. He needed to trust in Jesus to be changed. So do we.

Check your lunchbox. See what’s inside.

Maybe it’s time to stop putting up with the same old baloney.