NICODEMUS
November 7, 2010
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.

THE GOSPEL
John 3:1-21

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’

Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’

Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.

If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’

SERMON

You are familiar with today's Gospel. You have heard it many times.

There are a number of persons in this Gospel. First we have Jesus. Then we have Nicodemus. It is my impression that the disciples were also present because that would have been unusual for it was either during or after supper when Nicodemus came to visit Jesus.

The next person that was spoken about was the Holy Spirit. And, lastly, Jesus invoked God. I want to talk about the Holy Spirit. Jesus used an interesting analogy. He said: The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.'

Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit of God goes wherever God wants it to go; you do not hear the sound of the Holy Spirit; you do not know where the Holy Spirit comes from or where the Holy Spirit is going. The people of Jesus' time accepted the mystery of weather. Even today, with all of the weather satellites and computer forecasting weather is still an uncertain science. I have often thought that the career choice where a person can be wrong almost 50% of the time and still be a professional is a weather forecaster. At least it seems that way.

So Jesus' use of the wind analogy continues to enlighten us even today. God's Holy Spirit comes from a place we cannot name, has no sound, has an effect on what is encounters, and goes on after it's encounter. But God's Holy Spirit does have an effect on what it encounters.

Let's look at the wind. When the wind blows against a tree the leaves move. In this time of the year, the leaves fall. And fallen leaves, in nature, build up the soil. That is their destiny. We have a destiny in life – and the Holy Spirit guides us to that destiny.

James S. Stewart, who died in 1990, was the chaplain to the Queen of Scotland, and a professor at the University of Edinburgh. He wrote, in Wind of the Spirit, "No man can tell where the Spirit of God is going to lead him before his life on earth is done."

In today's Gospel we know where God's Spirit led Nicodemus. We can say that it was pure curiosity that drove him to Jesus. But I think it was more than that. The reason is that John's Gospel describes Nicodemus as a leader, or ruler of the Jews. He was a Pharisee. And he went to see Jesus at night!

Why at night? Because he did not want his fellow Pharisees to know that he was visiting Jesus! He might lose credibility. He might lose status. He might lose authority and standing with his fellow leaders and rulers. Yet Nicodemus wanted to meet face to face with Jesus

But, even in his meeting, Nicodemus addressed Jesus as a Rabbi, a teacher. In other words, Nicodemus felt that Jesus and he were equal as teachers. In Jesus later alluded to this when Jesus answered Nicodemus' question by asking him: ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

Now, let us fast forward to the same Gospel of John, 16 chapters later, in chapter 19, verse 39, where we learn that Nicodemus brought 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes to Jesus' burial spot so that Jesus was given a proper burial in accord with religious law.

Nicodemus did become public! He openly delivered a lot of spices so that Jesus was given the appropriate burial for a good Jewish man. So, "Here was Nicodemus. Nicodemus did not know that the wind of the Spirit that was stirring in his heart was going to lead him . . . do you remember where? To the judgment hall of Pontius Pilate, [with Joseph of Arimathea] to demand the dead body of Jesus, to give it a decent burial.

It was one of the boldest, most heroic actions in the Gospel narrative." [Stewart] The Holy Spirit went where it wanted to go – and it encountered Nicodemus – and Nicodemus was affected by the Spirit.

Let's look at the apostles: "The little group of men in the upper room in Jerusalem did not know that the wind of the Spirit that was stirring them that Pentecost day was going to carry them and their successors to the presence of Caesar and the conquest of the world." [Stewart] The Holy Spirit went where it wanted to go – and it encountered the Apostles – and the Spirit affected each of the Apostles.

Chaplain James Stewart observed that: "Martin Luther, the German monk studying the Epistle to the Romans in his monastery cell, did not know that the wind of the Spirit that was stirring there was going to lead him to the shattering and re-making of the Church." The Holy Spirit went where it wanted to go – and it encountered Martin Luther – and the Spirit affected Luther.

The early Separatists who bravely confronted the monarchy of England, and eventually sailed the ship Mayflower to this country did so under the stirrings of the Spirit. They could, as did almost all of their fellow countrymen, just decide to live quietly under a religious rule not of their choosing; instead they courageously were led to this country –and Congregationalism!

The Holy Spirit went where it wanted to go –and it encountered each of the Pilgrims– and the Spirit affected them. James Stewart also wrote of the church today when he said, “And today, Christendom with two thousand years behind it does not know where the next two thousand years, ... are going to carry it – to what strength of unity, what triumphs of mission, what redeeming impact on the total life of men and women.

And for the individual – for each of us ... this incalculable destiny of the Spirit stretches out before us." The Holy Spirit continues to go where it wants to go – and it is encountering each of us here this morning and yesterday – and will again tomorrow.

The BIG questions are these: How is the Spirit affecting us? How are we responding to the Spirit? How are we reacting to God's Spirit?

This morning we saw the people who took action in Appalachia. And there are many, many other stories of response in this very congregation, both in front of me, above me in the balcony, and behind me in the choir.

The question I must continually ask myself is: What am I doing in response to God's Holy Spirit. I entrust the same questions to you.