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Lenten Series: See I Make All Things New #1 Jesus Encounters Nicodemus Nicodemus (or can I call him Nick?) was a Pharisee. A teacher of Israel. He knew the Jewish law and code, could recount it forward and backward. Knew when someone had dishonored the Sabbath. Knew when someone had broken the rules, had disobeyed the Holy law. Nick was a Pharisee. A teacher of Israel. Not only was he in Temple every Saturday, praying and reading from the Torah, he was hanging around most other days of the week too. Eager to engage in a good discussion of the Jewish law. The path to God. Nick was a Pharisee. A teacher of Israel. Like most of the other Pharisees, teachers of Israel, Nick had taken notice of this young Rabbi come to town. How could he not? First day in Jerusalem and this Jesus had created a single-man riot at the temple. Driving out the livestock and throwing over the tables of the money changers. It was a spectacle. Following that, many people began to believe that he was the One sent from God, the Messiah. Nick was a Pharisee. A teacher of Israel. A respected member of Jerusalem’s religious community. But he was curious. He would go to Jesus and find out for himself. But what would the other religious folk think? He’d need to be careful. Inconspicuous. Discreet. Go to where he was staying. That evening. No, better make it that night. Well after dark. When no one might see him speaking with this Rabbi. So Nick, at night, comes calling on Jesus. “We know...” he began. “We know you are special. We know you are from God. We have heard and seen the miracles....” Jesus hardly notices the compliment. “I’ll tell you the truth,” he says. “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born “anothen.” I didn’t say, “again.” I said, “anothen.” That’s the greek word from the original text. A bit of a lesson. (I don’t do this to show off --but because it makes a great difference in how you hear this story.) The greek work “anothen” has two meanings. One is “from above.” The other is “again from the beginning.” Do you see where I am going? Jesus says, “unless one is born “anothen.” And Nick misunderstands, saying, “How can someone be born “again, from the beginning.” He automatically interprets the word’s second meaning. But I think Jesus clearly implies the first. “Born from above.” Here’s what he goes on to say to Nick. “I’m not talking about your being born again as in the beginning. I’m talking about being born from the Spirit. Clearly, the Spirit of God, from above. To be born of the flesh is one thing. Nick--I’m talking about being born from the Spirit, being born from above, “anothen.” Get it? Sadly, Nick doesn’t quite get it. Truth is….we often don’t either. Like Nick we think that to be born again is yet something for us to do. Nick’s good at doing things. Remember? He’s an expert in the law. Just give him the rule, and he will keep it. Give him the law, and he will obey it. Give him the action, and he will do it. Trouble is, to be born from above isn’t something for Nick to do. It’s something God, our heavenly parent, has done. We are born “from above.” This time, by a heavenly parent....that we might know we are children of the kingdom, rather than children of the world. Or, as John will say later in his gospel, if we are to be children of the light, rather than children of the darkness. You see, I think John is trying to show us that Nicodemus’ is in the dark, not just physically, but spiritually as well. He’s in the dark about Jesus, and that makes him uncomfortable. For Jesus comes to challenge the religious practices of the day, and offers instead a glimpse of what the kingdom of God might really look like. Jesus comes and shed’s light on the mystery of who God is, and what our relationship with God might be like. Jesus goes on to explain to Nick, “how will you believe me? I have taught and spoke about earthly things, and you do not believe me, how then will you believe me when I speak of heavenly things. And yet...no one has ever gone to heaven except for me.” Jesus clearly is taking apart Nick’s world. A well built, rational, sensical world based on religious practices, and begins to replace it with an offer that involves simple trust. Trust that the one to whom he has come on this dark, shadowy evening, is none other than the very Son of God come from heaven. It’s hard to let go of religious practices, rules, and old understandings so that we can embrace Jesus as the revelation of God. Especially when we’ve been taught that our religious practices, rules and understandings are what is necessary for our salvation. But the truth is, some of us are as in the dark today as Nicodemus was then. To simply accept that God’s love for us is not based on our worth, or our work. That God’s desire to be in relationship with us for all of eternity is larger than our ability to be good, to do right. That we cannot do anything to MAKE God love us, that God loves us only because it is God’s nature to love us. Jesus sums it up for Nick and for us. For God so loved the world. The dark, broken, sin-riddled, death-filled, hell-bent world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the it, but so that the world might be saved through him.” It is so simple, and yet.....it is so hard. To simply trust God enough to believe that God’s love is truly that deep. That profound. That abundant. That God would love us...would love you....that much. There is no longer any need to remain in the dark about this. Are you good enough to go to heaven? No. Absolutely not. Not you. Not you. Not me. Are you worth it? No. Absolutely not. Not you. Not you. Not me. Take the most sainted person you can think of. A beloved mother, Sunday School teacher, perhaps, a cherished grandfather...a stalwart of the faith? Or step it up....Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Junior. Any one of them. Are they good enough? No. Absolutely not. Not them. Not you. Certainly not me. And yet..... And yet....God so loved the world, that whosoever believeth, might not perish but have everlasting life. Whosoever. Mother Theresa. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. Whosoever. You. You. Me. Whosoever. When we move into the light, we realize that God’s work of Salvation is for any, is for all. The Sainted...and the Sinner. Whosoever. A few years back I was in Wichita to see a portion of the AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT at Century II. It was laid out in grids on the floor, so that you can walk up and down the aisles viewing each Quilt block. Large squares of fabric with photos, mementos, words of encouragement, sadness and loss. Some were quite colorful, reflecting the colorful character of the persons they memorialized. Some were hollow and dark, clearly filled with mourning and grief. It is a holy moment to walk among the blocks that make up the AIDS Memorial quilt. As I walked along, suddenly some large, block letters caught my eye. They made up a sizable portion of the quilt square. In one corner, a photo of a young man. His face shining, a large smile crossing his face. Some other decorations framed the borders of the square. But the majority of it was reserved for its’ message, spelled out as if to shout to the world. It read simply, I AM A WHOSOEVER! Then smaller, underneath, that famous marker, “John 3:16” For God so loved the world, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. To come out of the darkness and into the light is to realize that we are all whosoevers, not one of us more deserving, or less deserving than another when it comes to God’s love. For God’s love is not reserved for the good. The just. The religious. The pious. The upright. The respectable. Its for the rest of us, too. The Apostle Paul said it best in his letter to the Roman Church....”Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and that proves God’s love for us.” God’s love for us all. Whosoevers, every one of us. In the end, Nicodemus is left with much to think about. And we won’t see him again until the final chapters of John’s gospel. On that terrible Friday when the sky turns black. He will come again to Jesus. This time, just before evening falls. To help take down the tortured body. To care for it. To help entomb it. He will come again, this time to be seen. No longer in the dark. Nicodemus will come again to Jesus. This time, a child of the light. Born again. Born from above. Made new. In the light…the light that even death cannot shut out. Thanks be to God.
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