Our scripture lesson this morning, the second scripture lesson which the sermon is based, comes from Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, the 8th chapter.  I’m beginning with the first verse and reading through the 11th verses, and I’m reading from the Revised Standard Version.  This is the word of the Lord, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.  Sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the just requirement of law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit.  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that set on the flesh is hostile to God, and it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it can not.  And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  But you are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit.  If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ, does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness.  If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his spirit, which dwells in you.”  Let us pray.

Be among us in a vivid way, now, Living Lord.  Convince us of your presence and cause your word to come alive in us.  Amen.

Not long ago, I received a power-packed letter from a friend of mine in South Carolina.  She was somewhat ecstatic in the joy of the supportive fellowship she was finding with some friends, and the direction she was finding in her life of prayer.  It was not an all is easy and an all is clear kind of witness, but rather a grappling with reality in the context of certain faith.  Here is a part of her letter.  “I would be less than truthful if I didn’t say that these are very difficult times for the Whitakers.  We’re still dealing with the trauma of Whit’s loss of his job.  The anger, the resentment.  The “why us” rising in us from time to time like some kind of specter, a specter that will not die.  It is just here that you have helped me tremendously.  As I learn to use prayer, not only as an access to the Father, but as a defense against the forces that would destroy his loving plan for my life... 

I have been ‘mashed up’. I didn’t know what that meant until last week. A few weeks ago, I put two messages on You Tube, expressing my opposition to some constitutional amendments that were being presented to the annual conferences of United Methodism around the world. You can view these here.

Being technologically challenged, this was my You Tube debut. I soon learned the effectiveness of this communication media…positive and negative. Someone called me last week and told me to go on You Tube and view MAXIE MASH UP. There it was...

“Abide in me, and I will abide in you.” (John 15:4).

Chapter 15 of John’s Gospel is one of the most power-packed in the New Testament. In this Chapter Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and the branches, telling us who he is in relation to God, and who we are in relation to him.

"I am the true vine," was Jesus' stunning word, "and anyone who loves me-not just the de­scendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not just those who have been circumcised, but anyone who loves me-they are the branches."

Abide is a key word in this scripture passage. It occurs ten times in the first eleven verses of John 15. It is a crucial word in Jesus' faith vocabulary. The noun expression of the Greek word is mane, the word Jesus used in John 14:2 when he said, "In my Father's house are many rooms," or many dwelling places. Jesus is assuring his disciples and all who will ever trust him that the goal of our lives, the end toward which it all moves, is to dwell in the presence of God forever. As a verb, this Greek noun for dwelling place means "remain" or "abide"...

For years, the opening of "The Wide World of Sports" television program illustrated "the agony of defeat" with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure down to the snow below.

What viewers didn't know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal. Surprisingly, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble. To change one's course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but change is better than a fatal landing at the end.

This is the problem Nicodemus is having. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he is facing a fatal landing if he does not change directions. But Nicodemus knows only one way and that is the way of earth. It is the only way that any of us knows. Suddenly Jesus appears on the scene and begins speaking of Heaven, of being Born Again. Nicodemus hears the words "You must be born again," but he is confused. So he asks, "How can a person go back into his mother's womb and come out again?"

It is surprising to us that Nicodemus is so confused. He’s a religious leader and should understand spiritual lessons but somehow he feels he has missed some crucial truth. And, there is a reason he is going to Jesus. He has an inkling that Jesus might be able to provide that missing important detail. Nicodemus has somehow been headed in the wrong direction and now he must change his course. This he knows but Nicodemus seems hesitant. He seems uncertain about making such a drastic change. Why? What makes this remarkable man slow to take Jesus at his word? What is confusing him?

1. First, Nicodemus was a religious man.
2. Secondly, Nicodemus was a powerful person.
3. Third, Nicodemus was a man of pedigree.
4. Fourth, Nicodemus was an educated man.