Secret Meetings

John 3:1-17

Any one know about that lighted paining in the back of the sanctuary?

“Offer them Christ”

John Wesley sending Thomas Coke to America.

We are called to “offer them Christ.”

The central character of this story is Nicodemus. It is Nicodemus' struggle to understand and believe the truth that is right before his eyes. He is receiving the word of God in the form of instruction from Jesus and not only that, he is in the presence of the Word Made Flesh, Jesus, yet he struggles.

I don't know anybody named Nicodemus. So lets call him Nic. Nic was a pretty important guy in his day. He was actually kind of a really big deal. To start with, he was a Pharisee. Now I know from reading the New Testament we get a pretty negative image of the Pharisees but these were really devout guys. They learned the whole law of Moses. They dedicated their whole lives to studying and interpreting it. Not just anybody could be a Pharisee, you had to be something special. This Pharisee, Nicodemus...Nic, was also a member of what was the equivalent to our Supreme Court in Israel. He was a leader among leaders (as much as was possible in an occupied country).

Though either his own eyes or from the witness of others ole Nic heard about this young Rabbi in town named Jesus. They say that he is the son of a carpenter from up in Nazareth...but that doesn't matter you see, this Jesus, he's the real deal. He speaks with authority. He heals. He teaches. He is truly from God and, well, those who are in positions of power and authority ought to go and talk with him. Because that is what powerful people do. They make sure that you know that they are the ones with the power. But don't you know that Jesus loved Nicodemus? Don't you know that Jesus wanted Nicodemus to have a good and right relationship with God the Father? It's true.

So ole Nick the Pharisee made plans to go and meet with Jesus. You see he couldn't just go up to him on the street. Jesus was always surrounded by a crowd of people. Nick wasn't just one of the crowd. Plus he had questions that he didn't feel comfortable asking in front of a crowd, given his position in the community.

But I think Nic came with an agenda that was different than just projecting his power. I think he came to Jesus because he recognized that Jesus had something special that he wanted. He said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one an do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

I think Ole Nic is coming to the realization that every seeker of spiritual truth comes to: that this life will someday end; that, no matter how much power, influence, resources or even knowledge you have, it will one day end. It is when you really grasp this that our illusion of control over this life starts to dissolve. It is then that you find a way to stop being controlled by things below and start following the leading from above.

It is that moment when someone looks toward God...toward Jesus. The thing most folk are like ole Nic. They have the desire to know God. Some even think they know quite a bit about God. But when it comes to admitting that we are powerless we get a little tentative. When it comes to openly asking questions of Jesus, truly seeking answers we hedge our words so that we don't sound uninformed or make ourselves vulnerable. You see, most people have something to lose when they start following Jesus. Like Ole Nic, we build a life for ourselves the best way we know how. We learn from people that we trust. We take on a world-view based on what we have learned in our lives. We go so far as to argue and defend this world-view, this life, this mental construction that we have built. Then Comes someone clearly from God speaking the truth and it cuts to the quick! We hear from God and the false world that we have constructed starts to crumble. When our world starts to crumble we can do a couple of things: we can either re-orient ourselves toward God or we can dig in and try to hold our earthly world together.

The thing is, all those things that Jesus teaches that are so true and right are still there, and we still resist Jesus. We still balk against his words. If you don't believe me, just read what he demands and stop yourself when you start making excuses for yourself for not fully complying. As if your specific situation exempts you from the eternal truths that he speaks. That resistance to Jesus is our earthly nature trying to hold on to control. When we can finally let those things from below that control us go, we can finally die to our earthly nature.

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Nicodemus' earthly Nature protested immediately to these words, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?”

I am sure that Nicodemus knew very well what Jesus was talking about, but it was difficult for this learned, powerful man to begin to die to his earthly nature. It is difficult to surrender control of ones life to God even though the control that we have is merely an illusion.

Brothers and sisters, we are all somewhere on the path between the illusion of self control and surrender to God. We are all, in some respect a “Nicodemus” coming to Jesus in the night looking for truth, looking for answers, looking for something. There are parts of our lives that we keep hidden. There are parts of our lives that we have not released control of. Yet Jesus remains. Jesus waits at the door waiting for you to knock. Jesus will receive you in the middle of the night with your questions but he will not tell you its okay to stay there.

     Jesus said, “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.”

     The Son of Man must be lifted up refers not only to his sacrificial love when he died on a cross but it also refers Jesus being glorified, exalted and venerated. But Jesus is comparing his being lifted up to the bronze serpent being lifted by Moses in the wilderness. When the people were being plagued by deadly serpents God commanded Moses to make a serpent of bronze and lift it up and who ever would look upon the serpent would be saved. It reminded the people of God. It reminded the people that God was in control. They were no longer slaved to what was happening below but were lead from above.

When we turn our eyes to Jesus we are reminded of God's love. When we trust in Jesus as our lord we are freed from the bonds of Slavery that this world has and are given freedom in His name.

Our mission here at St. Paul Church To know Christ and to make him Known. We come to this place in the light of day to encounter the living Christ. To follow Him. To learn from Him. And then to go out and “Offer them Christ.”

This a photo of a photo of me in my former life
as a "pizza man." I had plenty of opportunities
to "offer them Christ" in that life as well.

So How is it with you today? What part of your life are you still waiting to give over to God? Are you still having secret meetings with Jesus waiting until you get it figured out? Come into the light of His love this morning be born from above.