Over this season of Lent, our Gospel readings are drawn from the Gospel according to John. John's Gospel, is not a biography of Jesus but rather presents in a framework like a legal argument, the case for the reader to believe that Jesus is who he says that he is.

The prologue, which we hear each Christmas is like the opening statement in the case and the evangelist then, calls a number of witnesses, as well as detailing a number of miracles in order to prove his case - that Jesus was divine.

In our Gospel this morning, Nicodemus takes the stand and is presented as a credible witness. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and no doubt one of great learning. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the governing council of the Jews. He was one who was anticipating the Messiah, and rather than let his prejudices get in the way, when he heard about Jesus and the things that he had done, he was keen to investigate and find out more. That he did so at night, suggests that Jesus' activities had already begun to stir up trouble amongst the rulers.

Nicodemus appears twice more in John's story.

In chapter 7, he stands against those who are trying to arrest Jesus and is accused of being a secret follower and again when he and Joseph of Arimathea take charge of his body from the Cross and place it in the garden tomb.

But in today's story he is beginning his faith journey. He knows that there is something special about Jesus and he has the courage to find out what it is. Each of us must also make this journey. In that we through baptism are joined into the family of God, we must ourselves take this next step, of taking on for ourself the statement of faith - that Jesus is more than just a human, but God in human flesh.

Nicodemus show us the way in this Journey. In this fourth Gospel, John often portrays a dynamic exchange between his characters and Jesus in his presentation of Jesus' teaching. This is in sharp contrast to the technique of Matthew, where Jesus stands or sits and delivers the message. In John, the encounters with Jesus are a dialogue in which the witness not only hears that which it is to be taught, but has the opportunity to have his or her own misconceptions corrected.

Nicodemus was seeking answers, but he had the wrong framework. Jesus challenged him - If you want to see the kingdom, you must be born from above.. 'Born from above?' Says Nicodemus, 'How can any one have a second birth?' It is easy for us, with two thousand years of history to understand, but for Nicodemus this was something new. You see his thoughts are set in the framework of this world. He new what birth was, so he used his experience to try and understand, but got it wrong.

It is a warning to each of us, that we are not to try and understand heavenly things in terms of earthly imagery. Jesus was not talking of the physical birth, but rather the birth process, in which the foetus, becomes the child. Birth is a transition that is not reversible, and is not controlled by the individual experiencing it. In the birth process, we are passengers and so it is with the heavenly birth, this birth from above.

In the same way, that the foetus has the potential to become a child, so does each individual have the potential to become a child of the kingdom, but it is only via this birth process. Each of us must not only be born into the human family, but by the influence of the Spirit, we must also be born into the family of the Kingdom. The waters of physical birth can be likened to the Spirit in action, preserving, nurturing and preparing us to enter the world of the kingdom.

But above all, it is from above. The second birth is not in our power… It is in the hands of God and in particular in the hands of the Holy Spirit who will bring us to faith. In Christianity, unlike the other religions of the world, we can only be the passive recipient. There is nothing that we can do, to be born again.. Nothing, except to allow God into the process.

And this is the meaning of the end of the passage…. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

We can get caught up in a number of parts - God's love, God's giving, God's promise. But the important part, the key is in the So that -, so that everyone who believes in him. It is all that is required. Only to believe…in Him.

How does this inform us as God's people? How are we to work in the world to draw others like Nicodemus to Jesus.

First, we must look at ourselves. How are we expressing our faith? It is easy for us to get caught up in programmes and in fellowship and mutual caring, but is the underlying premise that we believe in him. Is it obvious to the outsider, to the inquirer, that we believe in him. Not only corporately, but individually as well?

Second, we must allow God to work. Perhaps it took three years, before Nicodemus' faith grew strong enough for him to stand up and be counted, but the Spirit was at work. We must allow God time to work in the lives of other. To give them time to grow, to mature and to take their place in the kingdom. It is not our place to judge others or to attempt to measure their faith, but rather to walk beside them and encourage their faith.

John Bell spoke of how we have a tendency to see God in a narrow way. Somehow, we try to grasp him by defining him in terms of a limited theology. But God is bigger than any theology and just as we feel that we know all there is to know about him, he will surprise us by defining himself in a different way. The adventure of faith, it that our God will not be limited in earthly terms. Like Nicodemus, we must be prepared to see him through new eyes.

Finally, we are called to allow the Spirit of God to act in our lives as individuals and corporately. It is God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit that is the active agent. Let us be open to the possibility of him working in and among us.

AMEN.