SERMON RECORDING

Did you know the Gospel of John is the only book in the Bible that mentions Nicodemus? 

And this isn’t just a one-time appearance.  Nicodemus, in a later passage, defends Jesus, and he’s there at the end with Joseph of Arimathea to prepare Jesus for burial.   Nicodemus means “conqueror of the people.”

Nicodemus is a very complex individual, just like us.  Like us, he had both assets and his flaws.   We’ve heard over the news recently that so and so is “a person of interest.”  Nicodemus is our person of interest this morning.  We read first that he was a Pharisee.

We read a lot in the gospels about the Pharisees.  They were religious leaders who faithfully followed the law and lived in expectation of the resurrection of the dead. 

However, in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees had not yet achieved the ascendancy and rigidity they did after the destruction of the 2nd temple in 70 A.D. 

The gospel calls Nicodemus an archon. This Greek word means ruler as in a ruler of the Jews.    Nicodemus may even have been a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. 

This, then, is a pious man, a teacher, an expert in religion – this was a man whose whole life centered on his religious belief and observance.  And now he’s sneaking out at night. 

Sharon Ringe, one of my professors at Wesley, noted in her book Wisdom’s Friends  that in the Gospel of John’s entire account of Jesus’ public ministry, the meeting with Nicodemus is the only one that takes place “under cover.”  

The rest of the gospel emphasizes Jesus interactions with a community.

We don’t know if Nicodemus came to see Jesus alone, but we do get some clues about his foray into the night.  Was he heading a delegation of Pharisees?  We don’t know.  But it’s clear some Pharisees must have been favorably inclined toward Jesus.

 Nicodemus calls Jesus RABBI.  That’s a real sign of respect.  Nicodemus also says we know, not I know.  Sounds like a group representative to me.

And what is it that they know?  They know Jesus is a teacher come from God.  That’s a major acknowledgment right there for someone representing the ruling classes. 

Nicodemus is asking Jesus: WHO ARE YOU REALLY?  

If Jesus has been sent by God, then Nicodemus and his associates want his message.     John is telling us, says Mathew Henry, that when we encounter things of God that are hard to understand, we must “with humility and industry” keep pressing on until God reveals the answer.

And when Jesus replies to Nicodemus, he speaks to all of us across the ages.   

Because the YOU that Jesus uses in that text is PLURAL.  Jesus wants each one of us to understand that we must be born anew, born from above.  The Greek word in the text, anothen, has two meanings: born again AND born from above.

Two meanings in one word: a time, which is “again” and a place, which is “from above.” 

Jesus also says we must be born of water and the spirit.  Water and spirit define what Jesus means by “born from above.”  What does water signify after all?  Every person here who has had children or who has been baptized knows the answer.  Water means birth and water means baptism.  Jesus is talking about a spiritual rebirth which is linked to physical birth.  It’s the path to a new relationship with God.

Nicodemus is just like us at FPC as we seek a new relationship with God.  Nicodemus has spent his whole life trying to do the right thing, to follow religious precepts.  Nicodemus is interested in truth with a capital T.   He’s probably as perfect a man as we meet in the bible. 

And now he’s old to boot.  He thinks it’s too late for him.  My friends, it wasn’t too late for Nicodemus, and it’s not too late for us.

But Nicodemus hesitates, just as we often do.  We want to be faithful Christians, but sometimes, we just don’t get it.  We’re lukewarm.

Our forebear John Calvin emphasized that each of us lives by the grace of God. 

He viewed lukewarmness as such a serious problem that he labeled the lukewarm Christians “the Nicodemites,” after Nicodemus. 

Calvin actually wrote a treatise in 1544 entitled Excuse To The Nicodemites. 

And then he spelled out four different kinds of Nicodemites.  Two of these sound very relevant for us 21st century Christians. 

One group of Nicodemites, said Calvin, consisted of intellectuals who thought it enough to know God by books and contemplation.  No need, they said, to become engaged in the community of faith, Christian worship, and Christian action.  All of these, of course, are pillars of Presbyterianism.

Calvin also mentioned businesspeople and others who did not want their pastors so involved in the fine points of doctrine that they “disturbed commerce” and workday tasks.  In other words, these leaders didn’t want their preachers to talk too much about controversial or contemporary issues.   Does this sound like any of us?

When I think about how we combine our faith with action, I’m reminded of an early 1960s Christian musical called “For Heaven’s Sake.”  Are any of you familiar with it?   If so, raise your hands.  I saw it at a Presbyterian youth conference when i was 14 or 15.  It was about Christian commitment. 

It had a song that has resonated with me my entire adult life.  The song was entitled “I Want To Serve You, O Lord, But Not Right Now.” 

The guy wants to do the right thing, but he’s just too busy.  He says he’ll get to it just as soon as he finishes school, gets a job, gets married, has children, retires, etc, etc, etc.  Finally, he’s about to expire and then he gasps, “Now, Lord, now!! 

I’ve spent my whole life trying to not be that man.  But like Nicodemus, I get distracted and lose focus, neglecting my relationship with God.  Yet, God wants that relationship with each one of us. 

The late South African theologian David Bosch wrote in his book Transforming Mission that we shouldn’t be too hard on the Nicodemuses of the 1st century.  They’re the ones, he says, who smoothed the transition of the church from a charismatic movement to a religious institution. 

In this way, they helped to guarantee the survival of the Christian faith.  Bosch is reminding us that the kingdom of God is for everyone, even the hesitant.  In fact, it’s especially for those of us in need of grace.

But how do we become new beings and enter into that new relationship with our triune God?  We have to be born in the spirit.  The scripture tells us that God is with us. God is all around us. 

God the Holy Spirit walks with us.  We may not be aware that God is there with us, but that’s the reality of our everyday lives.   The wind (or spirit) blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. The Holy Spirit is not something we can pin down.  No, the Holy Spirit is a mystery.  We can’t control it.  But it’s wherever we are.  We may not know whether it’s coming or going, but it’s there.

Rick Warren writes in The Purpose-Driven Life that God “wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem and even every thought.”   That’s part of having a new relationship.

The message, my friends is that each of us must learn to practice the presence of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- to achieve that new relationship. 

We must never think, as Nicodemus feared, that it’s too late.  

Jesus is out there reconciling us with the world and saving us from what the theologian Leanne Van Dyk calls “the glaring reality of sin.”  We confess our sins together every Sunday, but we tend to avoid talking about sin the rest of the week.  I certainly do.  Sin is a tough topic.  But I’ll bet each of us thinks a lot about what we should have done that we didn’t and about what we did that we shouldn’t have done. 

My friends, we can stop replaying that tape.   Because Jesus has already sorted this out for us.   It’s clear in today’s scripture that the Cross is the backdrop.  Look at vs. 14-15.  The Son of Man is to be lifted up so that we may have eternal life.  That’s the meaning of God’s grace.

This new relationship with God means we must accept God’s forgiveness and think positively about our own lives. 

How do we do this? The scripture concludes:

 “This is how God loved the world: he gave his Beloved Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.   For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” 

Jesus did not say he was sent because God wanted to control the world.  No, Jesus said he came because God so loved the world.  We’re the children of God who loves us so much that we’re invited into a new relationship with him.      

Like some of you here today, I’ve spent most of my life engaged in new relationships.  It’s unavoidable when you move every two or three years. 

Yet, I’ve always been at home in the world, because the church, the priesthood of all believers, is everywhere.  Jesus Christ, the head of our church, provides us with that home. 

And we have a worldwide family.  It’s rich and poor, it’s multinational, multiethnic, multi-denominational, and multi-linguistic. We are God’s people, living by the grace of God in community with God and one another. 

On February 3’s Mission Sunday, we heard from our church community about FPC’s witness to faith in action here in Virginia and around the world.  Expanding our witness in service to others, especially people who are poor, hungry, or needy in some other way is a key aspect of our new relationship with God.

Dear friends, we are living in a time just like Jesus’.  The gap between rich and poor, not just in the world but in our own country, is widening every day. 

Theologian Jürgen Moltmann, who became a Christian through his experiences as a German prisoner of war, tells us: “the whole Godhead suffers with humanity in the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ on the cross.” 

This means the Holy Trinity is a model for our human community.  Modeling the Trinity, we as a church must struggle for liberation, justice, and freedom.  We remember this week Presidents Washington and Lincoln who took tough decisions to keep our country strong and united.  Let us never forget that whoever has the wealth and the power must share it with others in this world-wide family. 

Friends, this is lent.  It’s a period of sacrifice.  It’s is a wonderful time to reflect on our faith and commitment, to recommit ourselves to be born of the spirit, to forge a new relationship with God, and by extension, with each other.

We have so many examples in the Bible of individuals who answered God’s call to set a new course.   Abraham responded to God’s call, heading out for a new place.  Abraham didn’t know how it would all turn out.  When Nicodemus sought out Jesus, he too did not know in advance what the result would be.  But he wanted that new relationship.

This has been a central part of our Meeting Ground theme.

This morning, we looked at two different portrayals of Nicodemus:  on the up side, he sought out Jesus to ask the question, but on the down side, he was lukewarm, not entirely ready to act after hearing the answer. 

It’s not enough for us to ask the question, as Nicodemus did.  We have to act, too.

Today is the day that the Lord has given us.  Are we ready to embark on a new adventure, to accept God’s grace and welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives?  Are we?

Are we ready for a journey to a new, exciting relationship with God and with others? 

My friends, it’s never too late. 

We at FPC are a family.  Let’s keep broadening this family by witnessing in love for each other and the world around us.  

That’s what a new relationship with God means.  Amen.