00:00:00.000 - 00:00:25.520

The scripture reading of the morning is from the Gospel according to John, at three places in that gospel, the third, the seventh, and the nineteenth chapters. I begin with the reading from John 3. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

00:00:25.520 - 00:00:46.720

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs 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."

00:00:46.720 - 00:01:05.520

Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

00:01:05.520 - 00:01:23.200

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, 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 blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes.

00:01:23.200 - 00:01:42.000

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can this be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen,

00:01:42.000 - 00:01:58.840

but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, 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.

00:01:58.840 - 00:02:25.360

And 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." And then from John chapter 7. This event occurs after the Pharisees have sent their agents to attempt to trap Jesus

00:02:25.360 - 00:02:42.760

in his conversation and subsequently to arrest him. The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man."

00:02:42.760 - 00:02:55.160

The Pharisees answered them, "Are you led astray? You also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd who do not know the law are accursed."

00:02:55.160 - 00:03:18.080

Nicodemus, who had gone to him before and who was one of them, said to them, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee."

00:03:18.080 - 00:03:41.200

And finally, from the 19th chapter of John's Gospel. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave.

00:03:41.200 - 00:04:03.640

So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial

00:04:03.640 - 00:04:31.000

custom of the Jews. And may God bless to us and to our understanding these readings from his Word. Pray with me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

00:04:31.000 - 00:04:53.920

Amen. Nicodemus was one of those who did a kindness for Christ on Calvary. But his kindness was so stained with caution and so prudential in nature that it had very little worth or effect.

00:04:53.920 - 00:05:17.520

Nicodemus, you see, was a very cautious man. He wore always both a belt and suspenders. His name appears in Scripture five times, and those five notations all revolve around the three episodes which I have just read in your hearing.

00:05:17.520 - 00:05:42.720

And in every one of these episodes, we find a man who is too careful, a man who never becomes what he might have been, his caution calling him to being so much less. In John 3, the first episode that we notice, Nicodemus comes by night so that he will not be seen.

00:05:42.720 - 00:06:03.280

Jesus approaches him in a very open way, but Nicodemus' words are closed and defensive. Jesus opens himself to commitments. Nicodemus makes no commitments and leaves with all of his options open. Very careful, you see.

00:06:03.280 - 00:06:27.240

The second episode in John 7 finds the Pharisees attempting to trap Jesus. They're involved in a debate about their plot. Nicodemus finds his heart wanting to say something good for Jesus, but his head tells him to be cautious of those who are listening.

00:06:27.240 - 00:06:51.560

So he brings up a technicality of the law, hoping that will deflect the course of the Pharisees, but it fails. And when it fails, he says nothing more, always being very careful. The third scene is on Calvary, recorded in the 19th chapter of John.

00:06:51.560 - 00:07:14.200

Joseph of Arimathea goes and begs for the body of Jesus to give it a place of decent burial. And Nicodemus offers the spices with which the body is to be anointed, but both of these do what they do, the Scriptures say, secretly, for fear of the Jews.

00:07:14.200 - 00:07:36.920

Nicodemus, in other words, was willing to send flowers to the deceased, but he wanted the card marked "anonymous." Always very careful. Now why is it that Nicodemus was too careful?

00:07:36.920 - 00:07:55.240

I've been thinking about that, and I would offer some suggestions. The first is, there is the possibility that he simply lacked self-confidence. That story in John 7, when he's in a debate with the other Pharisees, as soon as they reply to him, "You know no prophet comes from Galilee," he immediately quiets himself, says

00:07:55.240 - 00:08:06.920

nothing else. Maybe he lacked self-confidence. Maybe he had that kind of self-doubt that held him back from asserting the very best that was in him.

00:08:06.920 - 00:08:22.040

That happens to us a lot of times. I remember how little confidence I had when I left seminary. I recalled almost every day the story of the preacher who was new in town, and he asked a little boy the way to the post office.

00:08:22.040 - 00:08:34.120

And the little boy told him, and then the preacher said, "Thank you very much, and if you'll come to church this Sunday morning, I'll tell you how to get to heaven." And the little boy said, "I don't think you can tell me how to get to heaven if you can't find the way to the post office."

00:08:34.120 - 00:08:51.320

Well, that's the way I felt. I'd spent all those years of school and academic preparation and the like, but I didn't really feel ready for the task. And I will never forget a member of the board of trustees, Joe Johnston, who took me aside

00:08:51.320 - 00:09:05.000

and said, "Look, this is a negative-minded church. They really don't think they have much to do in the kingdom. And you've been called here, and that means God is going to empower you in what you're going to do.

00:09:05.000 - 00:09:15.880

And some people are not going to like it. As a matter of fact, you will run into some real antagonism. You can be sure of that. But do what you're called to do.

00:09:15.880 - 00:09:30.000

Live up to what God has put in you, and that will make the difference." Well, he was right. Some of the people in that church made it very high. I wasn't even paid for the first three months I was there because some members of the board

00:09:30.000 - 00:09:42.080

of trustees wouldn't sign my salary checks. Before it was all said and done in nine years, the church was larger. We had merged with another church. We had three buildings instead of one.

00:09:42.080 - 00:09:56.640

We were the only integrated congregation in McKeesport. The budget had gone up from $28,000 to $111,000 a year. Even the mayor of the city, whom we had been trying to oust from office, said we were the most influential church in the community.

00:09:56.640 - 00:10:22.320

Not because of me, but because Joe had given me a call to be responsive to what God had put in me and was ready to do through me. And I wish that Nicodemus would have heard that call of Jesus and responded to it. It would have made him much more of a man than he was.

00:10:22.320 - 00:10:40.720

But he was always very careful. Maybe his problem was that he thought he was too old. When his name is mentioned in Scripture, he is referred to as "the teacher." And when the word "the," the definite article, is put in front of the word "teacher," it

00:10:40.720 - 00:10:55.520

means "older" and "revered." So Nicodemus was an older man. And maybe confronting this situation with Jesus, he simply said, "At my age, I can't be of much help."

00:10:55.520 - 00:11:19.320

It's sad to hear older people talk like that. They have such great value, such riches to share, such experience to offer. I remember once listening to Arthur Rubinstein, the great pianist, do a recital in Los Angeles. He was 80 years old at the time, and he came out before a packed house, greeted with applause,

00:11:19.320 - 00:11:33.320

sat down to play the first number, played it from beginning to end, and made two very obvious mistakes. When he was done, the audience applauded anyway. After all, it was Rubinstein.

00:11:33.320 - 00:11:45.840

He got up, walked to the footlights, held up his hand, and said, "I'm 80 years old now." Another round of applause. And he said, "I take more chances than I used to.

00:11:45.840 - 00:12:00.120

I used to worry about things like playing the right notes and keeping the right tempo. The stakes were higher then. But now that I'm rich and famous, I can afford to try whatever I want, so I'm not nearly so careful.

00:12:00.120 - 00:12:14.560

But even I can't let anything like this go by, so I'll play the first piece over again." And he went back and played it from beginning to end, and he played it flawlessly. Now, he could do what he did.

00:12:14.560 - 00:12:32.120

He could play like he played. He could apologize like he apologized. He could be free and not worry about the details of earlier, more pedestrian performances because of the riches of his experience and his age.

00:12:32.120 - 00:12:45.600

I wish that Nicodemus, I wish that all older people would remember that Jesus says if you're going to enter the kingdom of heaven, you want to enter it as a little child. That means on tiptoe. Don't let your age hold you back.

00:12:45.600 - 00:13:06.280

Don't be too careful. Of course, Nicodemus' problem might have been simply that he lacked courage. It says that he gave those spices secretly and that he came to see Jesus at night when nobody else would see.

00:13:06.280 - 00:13:27.160

Fear defeats a lot of people. It's been said many times, but it's absolutely true that a brave person dies only once, but a coward dies thousands of times. And maybe Nicodemus was one of those who died again and again because he was unwilling to

00:13:27.160 - 00:13:47.320

run any risk in his life. It's so easy to slip into a kind of bored believing. The poet put it in only four lines. He said, "Some folks die by shrapnel and some go down in flames, but most folks perish inch

00:13:47.320 - 00:14:17.640

by inch playing at little games." And maybe that was Nicodemus' entire problem, that he was a penny-ante person. I wish that he would have been there that day when Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."

00:14:17.640 - 00:14:46.760

I don't know whether Nicodemus would have believed it or not, but it's true. His problem was that he was too careful, and we must not allow ourselves to become so careful that we lose our courage and the excitement and the vitality that make believing not a bore but an adventure.

00:14:46.760 - 00:15:02.260

Or it may be that that which held Nicodemus back was his unwillingness to risk his religious security. He's described in Scripture as a ruler of the Jews. That means he was a very prominent man.

00:15:02.260 - 00:15:22.460

He was very, very knowledgeable in the things of his faith. And for him suddenly now to move from that faith to a deep conviction and promising of his life to Christ, well, that would have been tantamount to saying that what he had held before was at least to a certain degree wrong.

00:15:22.460 - 00:15:44.380

And it takes a lot to do something like that, risking all the security of his professional attainment. It's very easy to be terrified by a new idea. I go to a lot of seminaries to lecture about preaching, and often I speak to graduate students

00:15:44.380 - 00:16:04.320

there. And you know, the single greatest problem that young preachers have, and I've read over their sermons by the tens of dozens, is that when they were in the fourth or the fifth grade, they heard a Sunday school teacher interpret a certain passage of Scripture in

00:16:04.320 - 00:16:20.360

a certain way, and they've been repeating that interpretation for all of their life since. They've never done independent research. They've never really looked into the story from a different perspective, from an off-camera

00:16:20.360 - 00:16:39.640

angle, and as a result they repeat the same platitudes again and again. The reason people do not listen to their sermons is because the minute they announce what they're going to talk about, everybody knows where they're going to conclude. What kind of excitement is there in following the same path you've gone down week after

00:16:39.640 - 00:16:56.480

week after week? Just two weeks ago, some dear ladies in this congregation presented me with a book that I've been looking for for a lot of years. It was a book written by Dr. Clarence Edward McCartney, who was probably the most brilliant

00:16:56.480 - 00:17:13.080

man to ever preach from this pulpit. He wrote over 50 books, but this book is the hardest of all of them to locate. And it's a book called Right Here in Pittsburgh, and it has to do with historic events that happened around the city.

00:17:13.080 - 00:17:28.360

And I've been looking for this book, and they gave me a copy of it. And I took it home and read it immediately. And you know the book is full of mistakes. I love the book, and I'm so glad to have the book.

00:17:28.360 - 00:17:47.320

And I know how brilliant McCartney was. But a lot of things have happened since 1935 when he wrote that book. A lot of new research, a lot of new information is available, so that things that he wrote as true then are now known to be untrue.

00:17:47.320 - 00:18:07.680

Had he been writing that book today, it would be a different book, because he was a man who exercised his mind and kept up with that which is new. You know, there are new things in our study of the Scriptures about the role of women, about biblical economics, about the homosexual question, about war and peace issues, about

00:18:07.680 - 00:18:23.320

the authority of Scripture. I really get uptight when I hear somebody say, "I know it's true, because I've believed it all my life." Which is another way of saying that it would be easier for a breeze to blow through a billiard

00:18:23.320 - 00:18:40.960

ball than for a new idea to get into their heads. The important thing, you see, is to not be so secure in our past that we allow ourselves to be ignorant of our present. You see that little cartoon in the New Yorker?

00:18:40.960 - 00:19:02.040

Group of people standing out in space, and the world has gone beyond them, and one of the people says to another, "Goodness me, the world has gone off and left us." A lot of people fail in their witness to the 20th century, because they're not speaking to the 20th century in 20th century terms.

00:19:02.040 - 00:19:17.040

The very concepts of truth and time and authority are utterly different than those that were taught to you when you were young. When you speak to the 20th century, to our time, do you speak in a language which it understands?

00:19:17.040 - 00:19:38.320

Well, it takes a certain amount of risk to confront those new possibilities. Maybe Nicodemus was afraid to do that. Too careful, you see. Or maybe he was unwilling to risk his financial security.

00:19:38.320 - 00:19:46.960

He was a Pharisee. It took a lot of money to be a Pharisee. Also he bought 100 pounds of these spices. Now they were very, very expensive.

00:19:46.960 - 00:20:10.320

In fact, the amount he bought to anoint the body of Jesus was equivalent to that which was used to anoint the bodies of kings. So he had big bucks, and it may very well be that he was afraid that if he became an open disciple of Jesus, that he would have risked his financial resources.

00:20:10.320 - 00:20:29.680

You've all heard of the rich young ruler, the man who came to Jesus and said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus spoke to him about his use of his funds, and it says he went away sorrowing. Well, maybe Nicodemus was the rich old ruler who came to Jesus asking deep and profound

00:20:29.680 - 00:20:48.440

questions, but when he learned what they would cost, he went away sorrowing. It's a gift of God to be able to earn. Some people are especially gifted at profiting. They have been given special talents by God.

00:20:48.440 - 00:21:12.480

But it's a sad thing when you see these people become so attached to their talent that they lose interest in other things, like an athlete who can't think of anything but sports, or a scientist who thinks that the world exists to support his laboratory, instead of understanding that the purpose of his laboratory is to aid the world, or like clergymen who spend all

00:21:12.480 - 00:21:38.720

of their time theologically nitpicking, instead of being involved in trying to apply the truth of the Scriptures to the place where people live. You know, it's a very interesting thing to observe, but study after study has confirmed this, that the more financial resources people have, the less they give freely to the service

00:21:38.720 - 00:21:53.300

of others. More people give more on a percentage basis than people who have a lot, because they have become so focused, you see. Some years ago at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, there was a remarkable meeting.

00:21:53.300 - 00:22:15.320

The men who were meeting about that table included the president of the largest steel company in America, the president of the largest utility company, the most prominent wheat speculator in our country, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, a member of the cabinet of the president of the United States, the president of the Bank of International

00:22:15.320 - 00:22:41.480

Settlements, the biggest broker, the bearer of Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, and also one of the leading monopolists of the period, a man named Ivor Kruger. It was said that the amount of money controlled by those men was greater than the budget of the United States at that time.

00:22:41.480 - 00:22:58.160

And how did those men end up? Charles Schwab, the president of the steel company, died broke, living on the funds of others. Arthur Cutton, the wheat speculator, died abroad, insolvent.

00:22:58.160 - 00:23:20.600

The president of the New York Stock Exchange, Robert Whitney, was pardoned from Sing Sing prison so he could go home to die. The cabinet member, Albert Paul, was pardoned from prison after a long term. The president of the Bank of International Settlements, Leon Fraser, committed suicide.

00:23:20.600 - 00:23:44.120

The biggest bearer on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, committed suicide. And the leading monopolist of the period, Ivor Kruger, committed suicide. They built their lives, you see, upon the sand. I wish that Nicodemus would have heard Jesus talk about things that are built on sand,

00:23:44.120 - 00:24:07.380

how great the fall of such things is, but if he heard it, he was too careful to believe it. And there is, of course, one other possibility. It may be that Nicodemus was simply deterred from believing in Jesus by the negative people

00:24:07.380 - 00:24:20.440

that surrounded him. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin. That was a tight group. And it may be that every time a new idea presented itself, a new opportunity presented itself,

00:24:20.440 - 00:24:41.660

he was sandbagged either from the right or the left, surrounded with the pessimistic influence of his so-called friends. You know, we underestimate just how heavy a burden the negative influence of other people can be.

00:24:41.660 - 00:25:02.960

Let me illustrate that by turning the proposition around. When Lombardi accepted the job of head coach of the Green Bay Packers, in the previous year the Packers, out of ten games, had lost all ten. And when Lombardi met with the Packers for the first time, this is what he said, "Gentlemen,

00:25:02.960 - 00:25:11.800

we are going to have a great football team. We are going to win games. Get that. You are going to learn to block.

00:25:11.800 - 00:25:21.160

You are going to learn to run. You are going to learn to tackle. You are going to outplay the teams that come against you. Get that.

00:25:21.160 - 00:25:40.520

And how is this to be done? You will have confidence in me and in my system. The secret of the whole matter will be what goes on up here. Let enthusiasm take hold of you."

00:25:40.520 - 00:25:55.040

Now there were very few personnel changes between the year before when the Packers lost ten out of ten and their first year under Lombardi. But in that very first year, they won seven out of ten games. And the next year, they won their division title.

00:25:55.040 - 00:26:12.040

And the next year, they were the world's champions and went on to establish one of the most impressive records in all of the history of professional football. Enthusiasm, you see, is contagious and dynamic. But so is negativity.

00:26:12.040 - 00:26:28.160

So is despair. So is that which discourages and defeats. There are some very good and loving people in this church who would like me to talk more about the difficulties which we have as a congregation.

00:26:28.160 - 00:26:44.280

And like all churches, we do have problems. And I'm never going to stand up here and say that we don't or claim that we are succeeding in areas where we in fact are not succeeding. But I do not choose to accentuate the negative.

00:26:44.280 - 00:26:51.120

Not because it isn't there. You can come to any session meeting. You can come to any committee meeting. You can come to the annual meetings, the books.

00:26:51.120 - 00:27:13.280

Every aspect of this church's program is open to every one of you. But you will not hear me stand in this pulpit and focus majoring on minors. Instead, I delight in telling you that our average attendance for last year was up. Our average church school attendance for last year was up.

00:27:13.280 - 00:27:25.300

Our total membership again last year went up. The value of our endowment funds in real dollars has increased every year for the last five years. It's up.

00:27:25.300 - 00:27:42.640

I'm not going to spread any miasma of misery. Negativity begets negativity. Champions make champions. Lombardi manufactured champions because he was a champion.

00:27:42.640 - 00:28:12.680

The sad thing is, maybe Nicodemus didn't know any champions. And so he became very, very careful. And I wish, with all my heart, I wish he'd have been close enough to Christ to hear him say, "You are the light of the world, so go out and brighten the corner where you are.

00:28:12.680 - 00:28:35.140

You are the salt of the earth, so bring flavor to every bit of life that you touch. In the world you're going to have tribulation, yes, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." I wish he would have heard Jesus say, "Look, if you're going to enter my kingdom, you have

00:28:35.140 - 00:28:57.720

to enter like a little child, with the freedom and enthusiasm and the joy of children." I wish he would have heard Jesus say, "A new commandment give I unto you. Behold, I make all things new. Turn away from that which clots and cloys and be open to the new possibilities that

00:28:57.720 - 00:29:10.920

are there. To those trapped by their own financial resources." He says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all of these other things are going to be added unto you."

00:29:10.920 - 00:29:24.240

To anyone who doubts or is afraid, he comes and he says, "The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. Knock, and it will be open to you. Seek, and you will find.

00:29:24.240 - 00:29:50.080

Ask, and you will be answered. If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will be able to move mountains. For with God, all things are possible." I wish Nicodemus would have heard that and believed that.

00:29:50.080 - 00:30:24.800

I wish that all the children of God would hear that and believe that. For that is the gospel. And let us be careful that we're not so careful that we miss it. Let us pray.

00:30:25.800 - 00:30:47.320

Father, we wonder what happened to Nicodemus. We wonder what happened to him.