John 3:1-17

Nick at Night

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. The man prayed for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none came.

The man was exhausted but he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood for protection and a place to store his provisions. But one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived at his temporary home to find it in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened.

Everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “How could God do this to me?” he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. When they arrived he asked, “How did you know that I was here?”

“We saw your smoke signal,” they replied

God acts on our behalf in ways that are often beyond our comprehension and imagination. We like to believe that we are in control of our lives but often we are not.

Nicodemus is at the top of his game. A Pharisee among Pharisees. He is a leader of the people. He teaches in Jerusalem. He is part of the Sanhedrin, kind of like the “religious” city council of their day. And he works hard to be faithful to God.

The writer of the Gospel of John portrays Nicodemus as a sincere man, a devout man, who obeys the law and exercises responsible leadership in his community.

But there is something tentative about Nicodemus. He thought he was in control – but something is missing. His vision is blurred, he can’t see things as they really are in the eyes of God. So he comes to Jesus for help in understanding this mysterious kingdom.

Nick, of course, had heard of Jesus.  Everyone in Jerusalem had.  Jesus had been traveling around and had gotten himself a reputation as a healer and a man of God.

Nicodemus had gotten wind of some of his teachings and recognized how dangerous they were. But he also heard of the wonders he had done. Even John’s disciples seemed to accept Jesus as the real thing. Only God can give a person the ability to do all that Jesus did.

Nick wanted to learn more - more than he could from other people’s reports or from public events. He needed to see Jesus face to face! So, Nicodemus went to see Jesus. But like I said, Nick was a smart guy, so he went at night; far away from the prying eyes of the religious elite - away from the clamor of the crowds. Just Nick and Jesus alone so that Nick could ask the questions he wanted to ask. And so that he wouldn’t cause any more trouble for himself than was necessary.

You could say that Nicodemus comes in from the dark, seeking more light.

He approaches Jesus and says, “I have come here because I know that no one can do the things you’ve been doing without God’s help.”

Jesus could see that he was sincere, so he laid it on the line for him. Jesus said, “You can’t see the kingdom of God without being born over.”

Of course the way Jesus said it there were two possible meanings from the Greek word that Jesus used.  It could mean, you must be born over again or it could mean you must be born from above.

Old Nick was good at book learnin’ but sometimes he could be a little thick. He grabbed on to the first meaning and took it as literally as he could.

He replied to Jesus “How could I crawl back into the womb and be born all over again? Is that some round-about way of saying it can’t be done, that there’s just no hope for an old codger like me,  that too much water has passed under the bridge?”

Jesus chuckled a little at the misunderstanding, but then he explained himself. He said you must be born of water and the spirit.  By that he meant you must have a physical birth, the one Nicodemus was thinking of, and a spiritual birth. It is a new beginning but it is one that comes from above by God’s Holy Spirit!

This was still a little hard for Nick to take in. “How can this be” he said. You see Nick had grown up thinking he had to earn forgiveness. If he did all the right things that would please God, then God would not punish him. He also worshipped in the temple where God’s holy presence was separated from the world. How could the Holy God of the universe send the Holy Spirit to him and just wipe the slate of his life clean giving him a clean start?

But Jesus was ready for him. “You should know better,” said Jesus, “after all you are a teacher. You remember the story of the children of Israel in the wilderness. They sinned and the Lord allowed fiery serpents to bite them. “But do you remember that the Almighty also provided a way for them to be saved from the fiery serpents? He told Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole and lift it up and all the people had to do was look at the snake and they would be healed.”

Jesus says to Nicodemus that life in the kingdom is a gift given by God, from above, unearned and unachieved. No set of rules, no formula, is going to get you there.

I guess Nick finally got what Jesus was saying. He seems to have become a believer. When the Sanhedrin was trying to arrest Jesus Nicodemus defended him. And when they finally crucified Jesus he was with Joseph of Arimathea when they took Jesus’ body for burial.

Isn’t it interesting that when some folks talk about this passage today, sometimes referring to it as the absolute essential passage for understanding the Christian faith they often speak of it the way Nicodemus misunderstood it, rather than the way Jesus explained it?

Some folks – many of them frustrated preachers - will tell you, “You must be born again,” and talk about being a born-again Christian. And so, when a stranger buttonholes you to ask if you have been born again there is only one right answer. 

Of course there was one woman who responded, “Certainly not!  I’m Presbyterian!”  As Presbyterians, we don’t always get this whole “born again” thing.

Sometimes I wonder if these folks who tell us we must be born again to be saved feel like, since Jesus said in this very passage that he didn’t come to condemn the world, they feel God must have appointed THEM to do it!

But often we misunderstand the meaning just as Nicodemus did (maybe even more so). We are a nation of high achievers, do-it-yourselfers, pragmatists.

What do we have to DO? Is there a technique that produces the best results? Is there a “Christianity for Dummies” book I can buy and read about it? Is there a web site I can visit that has illustrated directions? Is there a fresh wind of the spirit blowing anywhere today?

I believe to be “born again” means to live your life as though God is in control, not you. And when the wind (or spirit) does blow, it means we allow it to move us, rather than resisting it.

The man’s hut was on fire and he was devastated. However, the fire that destroyed his house became the very signal that saved his life.

How hard for us it is to see that in a midst of a crisis, God is working. How hard it is for us to trust the wind that blows us off course. How difficult it is for us to cease being in control of our lives and become fully dependent upon God.

Nicodemus wanted information that would lead him to God. He was conditioned to think and therefore believe that life is all about rules, laws and following a prescribed system or process. God is not a mathematical equation or formula. God cannot be explained by some scientific reasoning. God is a mystery.

In her sermon, Luminous Darkness, the Rev. Patricia De Long, of the First Congregational Church of Berkley, said “To be willing to be born anew means that we preserve a place for the mysterious in our lives, and that we live with soft souls which are willing to be changed.”

To be changed, means to be healed. Have you ever noticed that a band-aid has holes in it? The bandage compresses the wound to stop the bleeding, but air needs to get through to heal.

Remember Jesus telling Nick about Moses and the bronze snake place on a pole as an antidote to snake bites? The snake had the power to heal for anyone who looked at it.

In the same way Jesus had to be placed on the cross to heal us. How that happens is a mystery. But by believing in Jesus we believe in the power of healing and forgiveness. It is not something we can do for ourselves. It is a gift, one which like the wind, blows new life into us and consequently makes us “born again.”

We are “born again” when we put our trust in God instead of our own resources. We are “born again” when we are open to the possibility that the spirit of God can come at any moment. We are “born again” when we believe in Jesus as the source of our healing. We are born again when instead of fearing the wind, we embrace it and allow ourselves to be moved by it.

In truth we are born again not just once, but again … and again … and again.  Ain’t the Gospel great!!! 

Amen.