Nick At Nite

By John Stallings

 
Recently the world was aghast at hearing about a small humble house in Seffner, Florida where a man was swallowed by the earth, never again to be seen nor heard from.
 
This man was in his bedroom ready to retire when his world literally dropped out from under him and he was gone. The rest of the house was intact and its inhabitants untouched. It was as simple as that.


That’s right; straight from his bedroom to the bowels of the earth.
 
Seffner Florida isn’t an unknown place to me as when I was a kid evangelist I held revival meetings there. It’s very close to Tampa. I’m sure that if I had pressured folk to be saved because they couldn’t be sure the earth wouldn’t someday swallow them up, I’d have been laughed to scorn. To even make a statement like that would have been tantamount to suggesting a flying saucer might kidnap them.


I can’t imagine a more shocking way to die neither can I imagine a situation that would be any more impossible to plan for or for that matter- guard against. Is there even insurance that could cover a person for a thing like this; - “If the earth swallows you, you’re covered”? Covered indeed.


The years have taught me that it can contribute to our spiritual growth to be thrown for a loop once in a while. Befuddlement can lead to experiencing familiar things in a new way. 
Confusion can be a prelude to new insight, a breakthrough to newness of life.  Perhaps this is why I’m so fond of Nicodemus. In him I find a companion for those times when the familiar suddenly drops out from under my feet, and things become strange and unknowable.

NICK

Spiritual confusion probably came as a surprise to Nicodemus, a man who occupied a position of power in the halls of faith.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and most probably a member of the Sanhedrin, the “Supreme Court “of the Jewish people. 

NIGHT

 Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, a time symbolic of mystery and uncertainty. 

Night time is a dark time.

Night time is a quiet time.

It’s easier to do something secretive at night.

It’s easier to do something illegal at night.

It’s easier to do something private and/or personal at night.

Nick came at night.  Night gives way to silence … to stillness … which then gives way to too much time to think … and to feel. It’s at night that we fight with self-doubt. It’s at night that the “what ifs” whisper in our ear. It’s at night that fear settles in. It’s at night that guilt and shame drag us into their torture chamber. Monsters do live in the dark!

There’s a reason that bars are filled at night. There’s a reason suicide rates climb at night. There’s a reason psychic hotlines and spiritual prayer hotlines peak at night. And there was a reason Nicodemus sought Jesus out at night.

Recently I heard a newsperson on a local station say; “nothing much happens in the daytime. Everything of any importance happens at night.” Maybe that was a little over stated but I’m sure the newsman didn’t think so.

Night time,-when we are apt to grope in the dark and to pray with fervor that old prayer -“and things that go bump in the night, dear Lord, deliver us.” 
Night time, -where the edges are fuzzy and the way unclear.

 Maybe Nick, being a religious leader, didn’t want others to know that he was seeking counsel from this upstart young Rabbi. Perhaps Nicodemus was afraid of the criticism of others. Perhaps He didn’t want others to hear what he was asking. Or Nicodemus could have come at night because Jesus was too busy for a private interview during the day.

Maybe you’ve noticed I’ve borrowed a phrase from the Nickelodeon Television Channel to name this message, “Nick at Nite”.

Nicodemus is the “cream of the Jewish crop.” One wouldn’t dream of having life any better than he has it. He’s a Jew, a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin -the highest legal, legislative and judicial body of the Jews-, and a highly respected teacher of the Old Testament Scriptures.

We don’t know all that was haunting Nicodemus, it doesn’t matter really – but we do know that he shows us what we should do and where to go when the night settles in on us.

Here's what we know;-“Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God …”. Nicodemus was looking for answers or help and he knew God was the place to find them.

It’s interesting to me that Jesus doesn’t give Nicodemus time to go much further. It’s almost as if Jesus cuts him off mid-thought; he interrupts and goes straight to the core of Nicodemus’ problem.

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again … you MUST be born again” (vv. 3 & 7).

Nicodemus was haunted by something. He was hoping Jesus could give him some relief … maybe a word of encouragement or a simple key to peace. But Jesus sees the real need and gives the real answer ... enough of the secrecy ... he comes out with it. “You MUST be born again.”

Hear Nick speak;

“Rabbi, please tell me. I’m a ruler. I’m an educated man. I’m a religious man. But Rabbi, I have this void in my heart and I am a broken man. I need to have something in my life that will transform my evil to good, darkness to light, hate to love, ugliness to beauty, stinginess to generosity, and sin to salvation.

 Rabbi, please tell me. What is it that I need?”

Hear Jesus speak;

• Nicodemus, you don’t need information - you need transformation.
• Nicodemus, you don’t need refinement- you need renewal.
• Nicodemus, you don’t need a new start, you need a new heart.
• Nicodemus, you don’t need a better life - you need a new life.
• Nicodemus, you don’t need to turn over a new leaf - you need to be born again! You need a “do- over” from the inside out.

Nicodemus, you weren’t born spiritually sick, you were born spiritually dead.

Bear with my humble illustration for a moment.  

You’re a renowned pianist, trained by the finest concert pianist the world has ever known. When you perform, crowds gather to listen. Everyone hails you as the master in your area of musical expertise. Now suppose some young man comes along who grew up in the back-woods and who never had a piano lesson in his life, but simply taught himself to play on a broken-down instrument in his grandmother’s house. When this hillbilly musician comes to town, his talent is discovered, and people throng to hear him perform. When he does, tears come to the eyes of those in his audience. You too listen to him play. You, better than anyone else, recognize in him a musical genius that you have never had and never will have. When you hear him play, you wish you had his abilities.

I believe this is the way Nicodemus must have felt about Jesus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee who is at the top of his field. Not only is he a member of the Sanhedrin, he’s a Bible teacher. Yet when he hears Jesus teach, he hears the answers to questions that have bothered him for years. He watches the crowds as they listen to Jesus, and he knows he has never held the attention of an audience like Jesus does. Jesus speaks in simple terms, but His message has great power. Nicodemus observes the miracles Jesus performs, knowing he has never performed as much as one miracle. By nearly any standard, Nicodemus doesn’t hold a candle to Jesus.

BUT--NICK CAME!

The most important thing was that Nicodemus did come to Jesus, and pays Jesus a compliment.

He sees Jesus as a teacher from God, because Jesus was working miracles.  Nicodemus was savvy enough to know that Jesus could only do the great miracles that He did if God was with Him.

 What was Nick searching for? I believe that Nicodemus was searching for the way to eternal life.  Jesus’ answer to Him in verse 3 would indicate that this was the case. 

 Nicodemus’ question was similar to that of the Rich Young Ruler who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 In spite of all Nicodemus’ religion, he evidently, like that rich young ruler, knew he was lacking something. For all of Nicodemus’ efforts as a Pharisee who tried to keep the Law of God, he must have realized that he was falling short of God’s perfect standard of righteousness.

 Nicodemus was trying to get to Heaven by performing good works, and I think that he sensed that he just wasn’t cutting it. To use a sports analogy, our good works are like a long fly-ball hit into center-field, right into the glove of the center fielder. It looks good, but means nothing.

An important discussion took place between Nicodemus and Jesus under the quite protection of the night. This discussion had great implications for Nick and for us as well.

I believe that Nicodemus understood that Jesus was using an illustration.  I don’t think Nicodemus expected to literally go back into his mother’s womb. I think he was asking, “You say everything has to be new; that there needs to be a new birth. How can all things be new?

How can I change who I am? Can I crawl back inside my Mama and start again? “How can I start over?”

Nicodemus knew that he needed something different. He just didn’t know how to get it!

  But Nick speaks out of a position of confidence, knowing that he has generations of tradition on his side. 

“We know….” He begins, taking the posture of a wise old rabbi, “taking the newer, younger rabbi –Jesus -under his wing in a family fashion.”

 “We know…” Nicodemus speaks on behalf of a theological set of principles that have long since worked out the kinks of uncertainty.  Nicodemus appears to be confident, bold, self-assured, a man with all the answers. However, in this nocturnal meeting with Jesus, “where things go bump in the night,” his safe little world begins to unravel. 
  
Nick doesn’t fully grasp that underneath his certainty is the possibility of uncertainty, and that even though he thinks of himself as having it all figured out, below the surface he is deeply curious, and perhaps a little uncertain, thus his nighttime visit with Jesus.

“Nick, we see you making your way through the darkened streets, and we wonder why you are here.  The records indicate that you’re a man of light and reason, a learned man steeped in the discipline of scholarship.  Yet here you are, driven by your curiosity, pulled by your insatiable desire to answer the question “Who is this man Jesus and how relevant are his teachings?” 

You begin with a statement and set the stage for a speech.  But underneath… the questions are bubbling away.

Nick, you are experienced in detecting the subtle nuances in the thought of a rabbi.  You are skilled in finding the loopholes in logic. You can articulate with great ease the deep intricacies of faith.  Why is it that you stumble here?  There is no board lighting up with answers or directions for you in this midnight meeting with Jesus.  You follow your curiosity and find yourself walking on thin air trying to fit Jesus’ words, into an understandable pattern.”

Jesus says one thing: “you must be born from above,”  “What’s that supposed to mean--? You must be born again?” 

If Nick were alive today he might have said…” Say what?

Nick doesn’t stop there.  Think about it:  if you are born again, then you must grow up again.  Think about your life, Nicodemus.  What would you do differently if you had half the chance?  How would you grow up differently?  How would you re-edit the narrative of your life?  As you enter more deeply into your puzzlement, Nicodemus, you’ll find that Jesus is inviting you to be curious about your life, and to rethink your assumptions and conclusions with an altered perspective. 

 You are challenged not only to conduct an autopsy on your past, but to look to the future through the eyes of redemptive possibility.  How might your life be different if you were born again?  How would your life be altered if you truly believed, from the beginning, that God loves you with an unconditional love?  For God so loves the world, Nicodemus, for God so loves you.

“Nicodemus, patron saint of the curious, we see you in the flickering lamplight, your face an arresting mixture of confusion and interest.  Jesus waits, the silence broken only by the sound of the wind banging the shutter against the house.  You tug at your beard and rethink your life, seeing your past and future through the eyes of the One who loves you. 

Every true Christian has been born again. Being born again isn’t about improving one’s morality or having a powerful spiritual experience. It’s a completely new way of seeing the world. It’s the eyes of the new birth that allow a Christian to see the truth of the Gospel. The new birth is also the engine of Christian growth. It’s the new heart God gives that helps us put our hope in God rather than the idols of this world.

 In a moment Nick, you’ll disappear from this story.  It’s as if you need time to think about what Jesus offers you. You’ll remain silent throughout the rest of the gospel.  We’ll wonder time and again what happened to you after this night. 

 As the story unfolds, and Jesus’ popularity grows and his message spreads and the drama builds and the crowd shouts “Crucify him,” we do not see your face, Nick, but we know you are there in the shadows, watching it all, your safe, predictable world coming apart at the seams.

Nick, later, we’ll see you one more time, for you will come again to Jesus, this time as the day is dawning.  Along with your friend Joseph of Aramathea you come to the tomb of Jesus, your hands full of burial spices and your heart full of sorrow.  The last of your clearly defined world crumbling around you, and finally, you discover you are wide open to a God you cannot reduce to a set of beliefs or lock safely away in your theology. 


 Your spiritual confusion leaves you open to a God powerful enough to re-work your life and make it into something altogether new.  

And you will turn your face into the breeze that stirs, faintly at first, but then stronger, and you will catch the scent of dawn, and turn your open, newborn face toward the day, full of possibilities you can’t yet imagine. 

 
Blessings,

John