The Journey[Pain and Blessing] of Starting Over

I. Introduction

What if I told you, God’s greatest blessings come to those who are willing to start over?

One of the most famous and productive individuals of all time had to face the challenge of starting over before he could ever experience any element of success.

Kansas City Film Ad Company: In 1920, he and a business partner started a company called the Kansas City Film Ad Company. This business faced financial difficulties and eventually filed for bankruptcy.

Laugh-O-Gram Studio: He went on to start Laugh-O-Gram Studio where he produced a series of short films based on classic fairy tales, but this studio also failed and filed for bankruptcy in 1923.

Loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: Later he created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a cartoon character, and successfully produced a series of animated shorts. However, he lost the rights to Oswald in 1928 due to contractural disputes.

Here we find, in an 8 year period, this man experienced 2 bankruptcies and the loss of a lucrative character. However, the culmination of these previous failures led to the creation of a new character that would take the world by storm. That character was Mickey Mouse, and from this—the world was introduced to the one and only Walt Disney.

Question: How would your life be if you never started over?

Approximately 15 years ago, I faced a major decision in my life that required me to start over. It was one of the scariest moments of my life, because this particular journey was a religious one.

The challenge was measuring my traditional understanding with biblical revelation. The question I was left asking: Is the all the hype real?

Is there a miracle with my name on it?

If I put a praise on it, will it turn around for me?

When it comes to going to heaven—how good is good enough?

At some point, I had to wrestle with what I heard from others and what I was reading in the Bible. In other words, I had to experience God for myself, and this was one of the most intimidating and fearful things I had ever done.

And this is no knock on my previous churches or my parents. Rather, it is the simple fact: God wants to be intimately experienced by His people. He wants to be experienced in a way that is not dependent on any one being or institution. So then, the purpose of the church is to convince no one, but invite everyone into an experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.

Abraham was faced with this same situation in Genesis 12. Abraham was from the land of Ur, modern-day Southern Iraq. In Ur there were several gods:

Nanna (Sin): Nanna was the moon god and one of the most important deities in Ur. He was considered the father of Inanna (Ishtar) and Utu (Shamash), and he played a crucial role in the lunar calendar and divination.

Inanna (Ishtar): Inanna was the goddess of love, fertility, and war. She was a major deity and held great importance in the Sumerian pantheon. Inanna was associated with the planet Venus and was worshipped widely in Ur.

Utu (Shamash): Utu was the sun god and was associated with justice, truth, and divine judgment. He was also seen as a protector and was venerated in Ur and throughout ancient Mesopotamia.

Enlil: Enlil was considered the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon and was associated with the air, wind, and storms. He held immense power and was considered a god of destiny and kingship.

Ereshkigal: Ereshkigal was the goddess of the underworld, ruling over the land of the dead. She was a sister to Inanna and played a crucial role in Sumerian mythology.

Ninhursag: Ninhursag was the goddess of fertility, motherhood, and childbirth. She was also known as the mother of all gods and was revered for her nurturing qualities.

Enki (Ea): Enki was the god of wisdom, fresh water, and magic. He was considered a benevolent and helpful deity, known for aiding humanity with knowledge and inventions.

Anu: Anu was the god of the sky and the king of the gods. He held a high position in the Sumerian pantheon and was believed to have created the heavens and the earth.

However, Abram decided to follow none of these gods. In Genesis 12, Yahweh told him to leave his family and land to go to a land He [Yahweh] will show him. The question is: What made Abram get up and follow Yahweh?

It was because out of all the gods that existed in Ur, this God spoke to him and Abram decided to follow the God who will speak to me.

Write this question in your notes that you will have to wrestle with at some point in your life: Am I following the god I heard about or the God I heard from? Until you follow the God you heard from, you will never find satisfaction and fulfillment in your life. To live in religion is to serve the god you heard about. To live in a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ is to live in a relationship where He is constantly speaking to you.

How do I hear from God? Through His Word—the habitual study of God’s Word should be a revelatory experience of God revealing Himself to you day by day.

Personal/ individual study

Communal study

Just like you and me, Abraham and virtually every person God has ever used—Nicodemus had to start over.

II. Nicodemus’ Journey

What keeps a person from starting over? There are three things that will keep you from starting over:

Fear- of what will happen if I start over

Intimidation- by what others will think

Time- invested in something that has taken up resources

Hurt/ Disappointment- You wished so badly “it” would work out, but it didn’t. And you’re just wishing it would get better.

I believe Nicodemus experienced each one of these challenges (see John 3:2). He was an expert of the law and highly respected in the Jewish community. However, he recognized something unique about Jesus that developed some sort of inquisitiveness. While many may question Nicodemus’ lack of courage, I commend his humility.

The question is: what made Nicodemus go to Jesus in the night? Could it be what he was seeming during the day was not working. All the things he was doing in the tradition was failing, so he had to go to someone in the night.

Textual Observations

There are three movements in this passage:

Kingdom

Rebirth

Belief

Truthfully, the biblical passage should be reviewed in reverse order, because Jesus starts with the end-goal or destination of the believer—assuming Nicodemus would understand this concept as a teacher of the law.

However, the proper order of walking with Jesus goes:

Belief

Rebirth

Kingdom

This is a lesson for all of us. How many people are experts in their tradition, but do not understand what it means to follow Jesus Christ and live in the kingdom of God?

Belief- When the word believe is used in John 3:12-21 it means to put trust in someone or something.

Ultimately, this trust is a continual process (trusting)

Who are trusting/ believing? Jesus, the one of one; one of a kind Son of God.

The trusting relationship leads to a posture of obedience

The kind of faith God is looking for is not a one-time action or expression. Rather, it is the habitual process going back to the one who is trustworthy.

Chair example.

Whatever I’m believing or trusting in will determine the outcome of my life. If you want to change your life, change your faith.

Rebirth- to be fathered by God (John 3:3)

The implication is that no one has ever been fathered by God—not even the most religious people—not even Israel.

Out of all the church we’ve had, none of it makes us God’s children unless we have believed.

I can’t work my way into a rebirth

Humans can produce spiritual things (John 3:6).

Kingdom- the realm of God’s rule (John 3:3)

the Greek word for “see” means to perceive, but the most natural way to interpret it is “experience.”

A man must be born again to experience the kingdom [rule] of God.

Conclusions

The kingdom of God is not a place I go, but a power I experience.

My faith, not my works leads to my rebirth (John 1:12-13).

It’s never too late to start over

III. Embrace The Journey of Starting Over

Many of us are at a point where we know its time to start over. Starting over will look like:

Leaving some things

Repairing some relationships

Starting some thing new

Embracing a new religious journey

In whatever way we may need to start over, it is important that we keep Jesus at the center of our process.

Nicodemus did something most people are afraid to do. He started over, and in John 19:39 he was one of the individuals that took care of the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.

Will you have the courage of Nicodemus tonight?

If you would like to start over tonight with Jesus, I want you to stand. This is a recommitment and rededication of your life. For some, you need to dedicate yourself, because what you thought was a dedication was not a dedication to Jesus, it was a dedication to something or someone else. It was a commitment to the hype or the idea of “beings somebody” in a religious community. And for the first time, you’re hearing the gospel—a message that tells you none of these things matter. It is our trusting in Jesus that pleases God.

The word for the week is: START OVER! (THIS IS NEW....2 Corinthians 5:17).