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The following message is delivered by Rev. Dr. Bruce Wheeler Thielman. Today's sermon is entitled, "For Those Pursuing Peace of Mind." Let us continue in worship by giving attention to the reading of God's Word, as it is recorded in the Gospel according to John, the third chapter.

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I begin the reading at the verse number 1. "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God,

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for no one can do these things that you do unless God is with him.' Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, 'How can a man be born when he is old?

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Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh,

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and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' The wind flows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes.

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So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.' Nicodemus said to him, 'How can this be?' And Jesus answered him, 'Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?

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Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe,

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how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

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so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish,

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but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned.

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He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world,

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and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light,

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lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. And may the same Spirit who inspired these words

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incline our hearts to their understanding. Pray with me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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There are some people who when they hear the alarm go off in the morning say, "Good morning, God." There are other people who when they hear the alarm go off in the morning say, "Good God, morning."

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It's to that second group that I would like to address myself today. For I would like to think with you about pursuing peace of mind. Now I think we can all readily agree immediately that it is very helpful when you are seeking peace of mind

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if you have some friend with whom you can share. Someone who cares about you, someone who understands you, someone who is willing to help you because this someone loves you. That kind of person, met with, consulted with,

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can bring great medicine to the soul. A good counselor helps us in the search for personal peace. Now this morning we are looking at the ninth chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. And in this prophecy Isaiah says that God's gift to us at Christmas

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is such a friend, such a wonderful counselor. Isaiah writes, "For unto us a son is born, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor." And I would like to think with you this morning of Jesus as our wonderful counselor,

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and I suggest that we do this by observing him in one of his counseling situations, namely his conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus. Now we all understand, of course, that a counselor is no good unless that counselor is available. And Jesus was always available.

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The day on which he met Nicodemus was a very busy day. It had in it preaching, which of course involves emotional effort. It had in it teaching, which demands intellectual effort. Healing was part of it, which requires spiritual expenditure.

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And then there was the mere matter of travel, and the pushing of the way through the crowds, which involves some physical expense. They come at the end of this day to a place of rest. The coolness of the evening is descending upon them.

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They sit down at some place and have the light evening meal together. The disciples put to Jesus all the questions which they had accumulated during the day. And then, quite early I would imagine, for that was the custom of the time, they went up to the roof of the house in which they were staying,

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and there prepared to sleep. It was cooler on the roof in those hot regions. But Jesus does not go to sleep. Instead, Jesus leaves the house and goes to a nearby garden.

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There he meets with Nicodemus. After all the pressures of the day, he makes himself available to this ruler of the Jews. Availability is essential in a wonderful council. Do you remember back in 1985, when Transworld Airlines Flight 874

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was held hostage in Beirut by a group of Shiite Muslim terrorists? They murdered one of our fellow American citizens, Robert Stetton, threw his body out of the plane onto the tarmac. They demanded fuel, and the airport said they would give them fuel

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if they would come to the fueling place, but they refused to come to that place and said they wanted to receive the fuel far out on a distant runway. The airport would not agree, and after some struggle, the terrorists finally said, "We will come to the fueling point."

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Now, the captain in charge of that plane was a man named John Testrader. He was the one who steered that great plane with its crew and 153 passengers toward that fueling place. And as he did so, he felt the quivering muzzle of a pistol at the base of his skull.

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There was a hand grenade held beside his face, and he was receiving the hysterical commands of Shiite Muslims who are convinced that if they die in the midst of such violence, they will, by some perverted understanding of decency and faith,

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spring immediately into the presence of God in paradise. Now, in spite of all this pressure upon him, Testrade was cool, calm. He displayed no fear.

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Not only that, but for the next 17 days, he held that group together through all the strain of those times. And how did he do this? Well, when it was over, he was asked, and he said, "I am a Christian."

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"Long ago, I gave myself to Christ. My life is His, and He is always with me. At no time did I feel separated from Him." And this made all the difference.

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The counselor, you see, is available always, anywhere, under any circumstances. Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." And He does.

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And this is the first step toward inner peace. But not only is a good counselor available, but a wonderful counselor is also available to all. Nicodemus was quite different from Jesus.

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In the first place, he was a man of wealth, and therefore had power and influence. In the second place, he was a Pharisee. He had the finest theological education available in that day.

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He was a ruler of the Jews. He held a position of rank and authority. And he was an aristocrat. He had nothing to do with tax collectors and harlots.

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He was altogether different from Jesus. But Jesus was still available to him as counselor. Jesus had time for him, as He has time for anyone. Have you ever paused to consider the fact that in the course of His ministry,

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Jesus counseled with people who had broken every one of the Ten Commandments? "No other gods before me?" Yet Jesus talked with Pontius Pilate about the nature of truth, and Pontius Pilate poured out the libation offering to Roman gods.

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"Worship no graven image?" Jesus counseled with a rich young ruler, and tried to lead him away from the adoration of gold. "Never take the Lord's name in vain?"

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But Jesus talked with Peter, after Peter had cursed and profaned the name of God, and led Peter to forgiveness, and the words, "Feed my sheep, feed my land."

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Remember the Sabbath day? And Jesus took time to meet with and teach Greeks, who had no concern whatever and no knowledge whatever of Jewish law. "Honor your father and your mother?"

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Yet Jesus told a parable about a young man who did anything but that, who ran off and led a prodigal lifestyle, but when he came home, was received with great love. "Thou shalt not kill?"

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And those men who were hanging beside Jesus on the cross, were killers as well as thieves, else they would not have been in that place. And Jesus says to that man,

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"This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." "Do not commit adultery?" They brought to him a woman who was caught in the very act of it, and Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you."

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"Theft?" Jesus saw a man in Jericho up in a tree, a little fellow named Zacchaeus, who was crooked in the collection of taxes,

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and he said, "Zacchaeus, come down, I'm going to have a lunch at your house today, and we'll talk a bit about your business methods." "Thou shalt not bear false witness?" And Jesus washed the feet of Judas,

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and extended to him the sop of honor, and accepted from him the kiss of friendship, all in an effort to counsel him in the direction of truth. "Thou shalt not covet?"

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And Jesus had a long conversation with the mother, who coveted the seats at his right and left hand, for no one other than her own son. The fact is that Jesus talked with people

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who are morally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically weak. In fact, we might go so far as to say that there is nothing in us that Christ has not already encountered in someone else.

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There is no deed that we have ever done, no word that we have ever spoken, and no thought that we have ever thought that he has not already met in someone else's life.

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That, you see, is a wonderful counselor, who, knowing these things about those with whom he counseled, still receives them. Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor,

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and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." None are excluded, and that's an important step toward the acquisition of inner peace.

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But a wonderful counselor also must have great understanding. You notice in the story of the interview with Nicodemus that Nicodemus begins the discussion. Christ is a listener,

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and any good friend or counselor learns to listen. Now, it's true, when you study the gospel records of Jesus' counseling sessions with others, the words that are recorded are almost exclusively the words of Jesus.

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That is, of course, because the gospels were written to record the words of Jesus. But it's interesting to notice that in almost every counseling experience of Jesus which is recorded on the pages of the gospel,

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the conversation is begun by the counselee, not the counselor. In other words, Jesus forces himself on no one. Instead, he brings to the situation

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listening understanding. And why does he so listen? And why does he so understand? Because he was a human being as we are human beings.

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We as Christians are not like nit-nat Indians who bow down before some wooden totem. We as Christians are not like Buddhists who sit in awe looking at our leader

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as he contemplates himself beneath a bow tree. We as Christians are not devotees of L. Ron Hubbard and his Scientology, seeking to unburden ourselves by talking into machines. We do not take company with astrologists

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who look at self-incinerating stars far out in freezing space and try to derive from them some comfort and peace of heart. We're not like witches who do weird angular dances

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around Kabbalistic symbols which they chalked on their cellar floors. We have one who has lived as we live and who therefore understands the human predicament. Isaiah says, "Unto us a child is born."

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Christmas is not the celebration of a philosophy or a theory or even a theology. It is, rather, an event in history. It is the coming of a person,

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one who experiences in life the ups and the downs that we know, the victories and the vicissitudes which are part of our experience. And this is a great boon to anyone who is seeking peace of mind. You know, the scriptures often say

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that Jesus was aware of what was going on in the minds of those with whom he was talking. Which leads me to understand that though he met with Nicodemus in the darkness of that garden that night, and though the mind of Nicodemus was darkened with wrong ideas,

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still the light of the understanding of Christ penetrated that darkness. That's what a wonderful counselor can do. And a wonderful counselor is also a trustworthy guide. See how gently Jesus leads Nicodemus.

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There's no pushing, there's no shoving, there's no arguing. He introduces him to the concept of new birth, how to begin again. He teaches him about the Holy Spirit. He explains to him the covenant of redemption.

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And can you imagine what it must have been like under the cover of darkness there in that olive garden, with perhaps only the murmur of soft breezes moving through those dry olive leaves, to hear in the midst of that, Jesus speaking in that soft, sibilant, Aramaic tongue,

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which was his natural language, and saying, "This is what heaven is like. This is where light comes from darkness." Oh, it's true.

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Nicodemus did not grasp everything that was being said, but the seeds were planted. And that is what is most important. One of our members, who is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

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sent me the October issue of their alumni magazine, which is called Technological Review. And in that magazine, amongst articles on such things as chemical warfare and international environmentalism and the development of the space plane, which is to be the next thing after the space shuttle,

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in amongst all these very sophisticated scientific articles, was an article on God and students at MIT. Now, MIT is a thoroughly secular institution. It has never had any religious affiliation.

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It does not hire any chaplains to minister to its students. Even its buildings are built in such a way that they resemble the Pantheon, which exalted truth and science before it exalted any ideas of God or the goddess. Yet in the midst of this secular environment,

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an environment deliberately cultivated to be secular in nature, there are hundreds of students, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of students, who each week worship and seek out spiritual counsel.

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Why? The writer of the article who interviewed many of these students says it is because they are looking for guidance in morality. They are looking for guidance in ethics.

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They are looking for guidance on the implications of the very technology that they are developing. I don't know what this says to you, but to me it's a wonderful thing to think that a young engineer who is designing a bridge,

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which he will prove his confidence in someday by driving across it, that a young engineer who is designing a plane, and who will prove his confidence in what he has designed by someday flying in it, that these young scientific, brilliantly bright youngsters,

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who are working on things like nuclear magnetic imaging and the use of lasers and the like, will do all that they can and be trustworthy enough of what they have accomplished to submit themselves to the very instruments which they have created. And these same youngsters who are looking for this certainty and dependability,

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a certainty and dependability on which they can rest their whole lives, when it comes to the science of life, seek out that which is equally trustworthy. And they find it in God.

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And of all those expressions of God made known to them, of all those expressions of God known to all of history, the one to whom most have come for trustworthy guidance is Jesus. This is a great comfort to those who are seeking peace of mind.

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For it says, you see, that this one is trustworthy. That this wonderful counselor offers incallible guidance. That this one who says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," speaks the truth, even as he says it.

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And of course, finally, and most importantly, a wonderful counselor must be one who loves those whom he leads. D. M. Stearns was for many years a prominent clergyman in Germantown, Pennsylvania. And on one particular morning, one of his members came to him and said,

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"You know, I'm tired of hearing all about Jesus and the cross. I wish you would just speak to us about Jesus as example and teacher." And Stearns said, "If I preach to you about Jesus as example, would you follow me?" And the man said, "Yes, I will."

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"All right," said Stearns, "we will begin with this. It says in the scriptures that Jesus did no sin. Will you equal him in that? Will you follow his example in that?"

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The man said, "No, I cannot do that, for I have already sinned, and I am sure that I will sin again." Then Dr. Stearns said, "First of all, you need a Savior, and after that, a teacher and an example."

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It is a good thing that a counselor is available, and available to all, and understanding and listening, and utterly trustworthy in his guidance. But beyond all these things, a wonderful counselor cares, and Jesus cares even to a cross.

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See how he is with Nicodemus. Nicodemus did not accept what Jesus said to him that night. He went away, and none of us know how many times Jesus preached and saw somewhere out there along the edge of the crowd,

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Nicodemus standing and listening. And how many times the great heart of Christ must have extended out to that man all the love and the compassion of which he was capable, only to see the man turn and go away.

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But there came a time when the truth he was hearing penetrated both the mind and the heart of Nicodemus. And he finally comes to Christ as Savior, bearing in his arms the rare oils and perfumes and spices and fine minerals.

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This is the body of the Savior. We'll be back in a day. It was J.Y. Simpson, the great obstetrician, the first man to use anesthesia in an obstetrical procedure,

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and a man who made many other contributions to the advance of medical science. It was J.Y. Simpson who, at the very end of his life, was asked, "What do you consider to be your greatest discovery?" And he answered instantly, "Why, of course,

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it was and is that God in Christ forgives." So Isaiah writes to us, "Unto us a child is born, and to us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsel." I do not think it happens things that when Jesus, the young rabbi,

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stepped up to preach his first sermon, he chose to preach it from the prophecy of Isaiah. And from that passage in which Isaiah says that this one who comes will release the imprisoned, untie the bound,

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bring light to those in darkness, set free those who are enslaved. And Matthew, early in his gospel, when he seeks to describe the ministry of Jesus, he also goes to Isaiah, and describing the impact that Jesus has on the lives of those who will listen and yield to him, he says, "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light."

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That light is peace down deep. What God wants to give us at Christmas is a Wonderful Counsel who will fill us with his love and his truth. And so I hope with all my heart that you will not miss Christmas again this year.

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You know, World War II was over in 1945, but there were some Japanese soldiers on tiny islands... ...and they were all killed. And so I hope that you will not miss Christmas.

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[Silence]