Psalm 121:1-8
John 3:1-17

One Sunday morning a Southern preacher was shaking hands with worshipers as they left church. One man who was seldom at the worship services was there that day.

As he shook hands with the preacher, the preacher took his hands in both his hands and grasped them tightly and held on a little longer than normal as he said, "It's good to see you here today, Joe. But, my friend, you need to belong to the army of the Lord!"

The man replied, "I'm already in the army of the Lord, Pastor."

The preacher continued, "If you are, why don't we see you here except a few times a year?'

The man replied, "Because I'm in the Secret Service."

In our Gospel story in John 3, we meet a man named Nicodemus who may have been the first Secret Service Christian. He was a Pharisee who knew and practiced the Law. He was so good at what he did that he was elected to the Sanhedrin, a group of seventy Jewish scholars who, next to God, were the highest authority of the Jewish people.

Over the years Nicodemus has received what I believe is an unfair reputation. It began when he chose to come to Jesus in the darkness and the secrecy of night. He did this because he did not want the others of the Sanhedrin to know of his interest in Jesus. Nicodemus had evidently heard Jesus teach and he had witnessed some of the things Jesus did. He concluded that only someone who had God's blessing could do such things.

What makes matters worse for Nicodemus is that he, at first, did not understand what Jesus was trying to tell him about the need for being born again, which literally means to "be made over from above."

Nicodemus was both a concrete and literal interpreter of things. We do need to keep in mind that while others followed Jesus at this time rather early in his earthly ministry none of them really understood what Jesus really meant about many things.

In spite of having arrived at the top of his world, Nicodemus sensed something was missing in his life. He didn't know what it was but he was willing to admit, at least to himself, that he had a need and he was willing to search for an answer even if it meant doing it in the secrecy of darkness and even if it meant looking a little foolish.

Jesus sensed that which was missing in the life of Nicodemus and Jesus took his inquiry seriously. The problem was the darkness Nicodemus experienced was not only because of night but because his highly trained and educated mind wasn't really open to other possibilities. Moving to a new physical location is often challenging in that you have to leave what is familiar and move to something that is uncertain. The same is true with ideas and concepts. Sometimes we have to let go of what has been truth for us for a long time before we are able to embrace something that is new but necessary for our own well being.

William Sloane Coffin in 1987 wrote in his book, Sermons from Riverside, " ... all of us are like Nicodemus most of the time. When we find ourselves in distress, and when we seek guidance, we think we want to change. In fact, we want to remain the same, but to feel better about it. In psychological terms, we want to be more effective neurotics. We prefer the security of known misery to the misery of unfamiliar insecurity."

Over the centuries Nicodemus has been accused of being both a coward and a thickheaded. At first it would appear that he is not being open to what Jesus is trying to tell him. However, four chapters later in John Nicodemus is urging his fellow Sanhedrin colleagues to at least listen to Jesus and give what He is saying a chance to be understood. Later Nicodemus is present to help bury Jesus. He brings the spices that are used for burial. Keep in mind that most of the closest disciples have run away and are in hiding.

The reason I titled the sermon, Be Like Nick! is not because I want you to be slow to understand or to appear to be incapable of understanding. At least two very important things have happened since the events of John 3. Jesus has been crucified and raised from the dead and the Holy Spirit of God has been made available to those desiring to receive this gift. I invite people to be like Nicodemus because he was an inquirer seeking the truth.

In spite of his great learning, years of experience and important social ranking he was able to admit to himself that something was still missing in his life. He correctly sensed it had something to do with God, and he was willing to take some risks, albeit guarded ones, to attempt to find whatever it was that was eluding him.

Like most of us Nicodemus at some point has to weigh the costs of staying where he is versus the cost of making a decision to believe in something new or of doing something in a new way. I think it is critical for us to keep in mind this was a deeply religious person who was highly committed to following his beliefs as he understood them. Commitment to something that is faulty or incomplete never moves us to the truth we need to experience.

This is one of the primary things Jesus attempts to do for us. Jesus calls us to look at life and at our life differently from what we have previously seen or acted upon. Every great teacher calls us to new understanding.

However, it is one thing to think about new understanding. It is another thing entirely to act upon it. This takes faith. Abraham and his family were well entrenched in their very good life when God called them to something entirely new. It took faith to leave the familiarity of home and travel to an unknown land. It took faith to believe God could bring a child to a couple well past the age when people normally have babies.

It still takes faith today for us to believe in new possibilities. In John 3:5 Jesus says, "No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. This is most often understood to mean one has to admit their sinfulness and separation from God. As an act of declaring intent to belong to God, each of us must be baptized with water. In order to live a life of discipleship and transformation we must invite God's Holy Spirit to take charge of us.

Quite often people make the mistake of assuming this has been done or that it is not necessary to be all that specific about it. Just being around the church doesn't get it done anymore than being on the Sanhedrin got it done for Nicodemus. According to Jesus in John 3 this is something each of us must do. Nicodemus, I believe, eventually understood his need and did what Jesus told hem he must do. My suggestion is that all of us "Be Like Nick!"