It started with a question in the form of a statement. It ended with the most memorable words in the Bible. In between, there were many mysteries, not the least of which was the declarative statement by Jesus about rebirth and the kingdom of God. I'm talking about the story of the nocturnal meeting of Nicodemus, the member of the Jewish supreme court, with Jesus, who according to John's gospel was the dynamic and unpredictable messianic ruler of the universe, the word of God become flesh and blood who came to teach us about the kingdom of God.

The implied question of Nicodemus hid behind his statement: "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him" (John 3:2). The implied question was "a powerful teacher, yes, but how much more are you?" Nicodemus asked the question of the ages: "Just who do you claim to be?"

Notice two reversals in our story. First, Jesus neither comments on Nicodemus' statement nor does he answer the implied question. Instead, he completely changes the subject. Based on his knowledge of what Nicodemus really needs to know, Jesus tells him: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3).

This first reversal must have shocked the learned judge from the Sanhedrin. "What is he talking about?" he thought. Defensively he said: "How can someone be born when they are old?" (John 3:4). In other words, "Jesus, would you like to have a theological discussion about the kingdom of God and this idea of rebirth you are raising?" Effectively, Jesus said, "No" to the proposed discussion of theology. Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). In other words, Jesus is saying, "No, I am not interested in an intellectual discussion at all. I want to talk about you."

This second reversal takes Nicodemus, and us, completely off guard. After saying, "I don't want to talk about ideas at all." Jesus says, "You may be inquisitive about who I am, but I want you to think about who you are and what you need from God. You are a sinner. You need forgiveness, salvation, and spiritual rebirth." That's what I call a staggering confrontation with the truth for the well-intentioned religious leader and for us.

Talk about shocking reversals! These opening volleys in the Nicodemus story would knock your socks off if you were standing there in the shadows listening to the exchange. So would the concluding words of the story. These words at the end of the story are so familiar to us that we can almost forget how shocking they must have seemed when Nicodemus first heard them. Again, put yourself into the story, as if you are standing, hidden in the shadows, overhearing these familiar and beloved words for the first time: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

The love of God? God's Son? Born again of water and the Spirit? All these terms and ideas are about the kingdom of God? If you can hear the words as if you are hearing them for the first time, you must be asking, like Nicodemus must have asked, "What's it all about?" This appears to be an enigma wrapped in a mystery in a dark corner of an ancient and ambiguous story unrelated to real life today. What in the world does this kingdom story have to do with our lives or with anything?

Intrigue lurks between each of Jesus' statements to the inquisitive judge. Maybe the place to start is to peel away the outer shell of this mystery by looking at what the words meant for Nicodemus. Then we can examine what they might mean for us today.

When a confused Nicodemus asks Jesus: "How can this be?" (John 3:9), Jesus begins to explain the meaning by calling Nicodemus, "Israel's teacher" (John 3:10). The implied meaning is that as a religious teacher of the Jews, you should understand these things.

First, the kingdom of God is God's rule over us for our own good. "Nicodemus, you know all about the kingdom from your study of scriptures. The Bible is filled with references to God's rule over us. The scriptures tell us of the coming day of the Lord when righteousness shall rule and justice shall finally be done, when evil will no longer hold sway and good will emerge completely from the shadows. You know, Nicodemus, it is there in the law. It's there in the prophets."

God doesn't rule over us like some eastern potentate who conquers us to make us his slaves. No, God wants to rule over us with love for our own good. We aren't who we were intended to be until we come under the one who created us. When the great rebellion took place and Adam and Eve disobeyed God, the pattern was set for all of us. Misusing our freedom, abusing our potential for good by turning it into something demonic, we left the rule of God only to discover that if God doesn't rule over us, something or someone else will. You know, Nicodemus, you are a teacher of these things.

God wants only the best for us. He knows that we get the best only when we live as we were created to be, that is, as his children. When we, like prodigals, take him for granted and wander off, we are miserable and we have to face the consequences of this disobedience. You know, Nicodemus, you are a teacher of these things.

God loves us. He doesn't want us to come to harm. No good father or mother wants evil for their children. How much more God loves us than any human can love his or her child! How much more, Nicodemus? You know. You are a teacher of these things.

Listen from the shadows as Jesus is saying something like this to Nicodemus: "You are a teacher of Israel, and as such you know a lot, but there is more to know. As a teacher of Israel, you must learn something more. 'God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life.' That's who I am. That's what I am doing here on earth. I am the Son of God, doing the work of God that people, including you, Nicodemus, might have eternal life."

"Think, Nicodemus, there is more to know. As you know and teach the story of Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness so that the people who have sinned may look up and live, so the day is coming when I will be lifted up on the cross and those who look up will have eternal life. Think, Nicodemus; that time is coming and remember these words when that time comes."

That's what the kingdom of God is all about. God wants to rule over us from his place of ultimate authority because he knows what is best for us. He made us in his own image. We only fulfill the potential of that image of God within us as we come to submission to his will and ways. Yes, Nicodemus, that's what the kingdom of God is all about.

According to tradition, Nicodemus did in fact have a chance to remember these words. After the crucifixion and resurrection, he remembered what Jesus said, and he believed what Jesus told him. He became a Christian and a leader in the infant Christian church. That's the good news about Nicodemus who first heard what has been called "the gospel within the gospel." That "gospel within the gospel" summarizes the whole of the Christian faith. Children memorize it. Artists set it to music or paint it in pictures. People hold on to it for dear life. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life." That's what the kingdom of God is all about -- coming under the banner of God's love by surrendering to Christ as Lord and Savior by the power of the Holy Spirit, experiencing forgiveness and new life, though we in no way deserve what we receive. You have been in the shadows, listening to these words and hearing the responses of Nicodemus. Now it is time for you to come out of the shadows, step into the light, and hear the words of Jesus spoken to you.

Is it possible that you can step out of the shadows from which you have been watching Nicodemus and Jesus, from which you have been listening to their words? Is it possible that you can step out of the shadows into the story? Can you now hear the words as if addressed to you? Yes, I believe since God created you, Jesus died for you, and the Holy Spirit is alive and well, working in you to come to a deeper faith and giving guidance for your life. Yes, I believe that you can step into this Bible story personally. In other words, I believe the kingdom of God, God's reign over us for our own good is possible to experience today. Can you appropriate what has been accomplished for you in Christ? Yes, I believe the word of God can come alive for you today.

It's Trinity Sunday. We have the possibility of returning to the God who created us by appropriating what Jesus accomplished on the cross for us by the power of the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith and faithfulness beyond our wildest dreams.

Like Nicodemus, we experience something different than we deserve or expect. Like him, we are called to faith and faithfulness beyond our ability or strength to fully understand. In addition, we have the possibility of experiencing the love of God which is beyond words to fully describe.

First, as we come before Jesus and enter the story, we notice that he doesn't answer all the questions we raise. He does more. He tells us what we need to know not what we think we need to know. We come to the presence of Jesus with one set of expectations and often find that our preconceptions are burst like so many precarious bubbles fluttering in the air. In other words, we come into the light of Christ with the distinct possibility that we will come to know a great reversal.

Another Bible story may help us connect with the reversal in this story. A Samaritan woman, despised by the Jews, living in sin with a man who was not her husband, expected to draw some water from a well. Instead, she met a man named Jesus who told her about the water that wells up to eternal life and that she could personally be a part of this new life.

Staggered by Jesus' words which showed that he knew all about her life and her sins, she tried to get the spotlight off herself by posing a theological question. Should we worship on the mountain in Samaria or in Jerusalem? Jesus would have none of it. He saw through the thin veil she erected just like he saw through the curtain Nicodemus tried to hide behind. Stopping ever so briefly at the question of where to worship, Jesus brought her face-to-face with the question of faith as she raised the question of the coming Messiah. "I who speak to you am he," he said (John 4:26).

By the time she ran into town to tell everyone she had met the Messiah and that they should come and meet him too, she described her great reversal like this, "He (Jesus) told me everything I've ever done" implying, "he still accepted me." In other words, "I found someone (or rather, he found me) and he loved me unconditionally even though I am a sinner who doesn't deserve his love." Jesus answered the real question of acceptance. That's the first thing we notice.

Second, when we step out of the shadows into the story, we can discover the same love that Nicodemus heard described in unforgettable words and the Samaritan woman experienced in the story of her serendipitous experience of Jesus. We can step right into the love of God which comes to us when we do not expect it or deserve it. A story from today may help to drive home the point of God's personal, powerful, and profound love for sinners.

Her name was Gert Behanna. Her father, who was very wealthy, had high expectations for her. He thought she would be smart enough to discover the cure for cancer. Her mother was beautiful. Gert was not. After becoming an alcoholic and drug addict and failing at three marriages, Gert tried to commit suicide. When she failed at that, she was told by her doctor that she should see a psychiatrist. She replied, "I don't need a psychiatrist. I need God."

In her biography, God Isn't Dead (both a book and a Hollywood movie), Gert says, "I don't know where that statement came from. I didn't know anything about the Bible. I didn't even know anyone who said they were a Christian, but somewhere someone must have dropped a seed. I didn't do anything about it when I said it, but later I met my first Christians. I got drunk to meet them which is more of a comment on us as Christians than us as drunks. They were kind enough to listen to my story about how I had been mistreated by my husbands and my father, but then they said something that shocked me. They said, "Gert, why don't you turn your troubles over to God?" And they meant it. Things that are meant are heard.

When Gert turned her troubles over to God, she found a new life. She gave away her enormous wealth and went around the world telling her story to auditoriums filled with the down and out ("bums like me") as well as the up and out, churches filled with overflowing crowds and individual men and women who were led to a touch of eternal life in Jesus Christ by this woman who was born again like Nicodemus.

Step into that story too. Feel the pulse of what it means to become a new person by faith in Christ. God, the Father, created Gert; God, the Son, redeemed her; and God, the Holy Spirit, empowered her to turn to God when her life had fallen apart. You can turn around too. If your life is falling apart, you can step into this story. If your life is going along well, you can still step into this story. It is a story for everyone. We all need the love of God. That is the second theme of John 3:1-17.

Third, you can step out of the shadows and into the story of Nicodemus and personally believe the words you know by heart. "God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son...." The words are so familiar that we are apt to take them for granted. Familiarity with words often obscures their meaning, sometimes even breeding contempt.

His name was Ralph. He was a regular at church services, often serving as an usher. He had even served one term on the church council. When asked by a Chinese student from a nearby university if he was a Christian, he said, "Of course I'm a Christian. My father was even a pastor." The young girl said softly, "In China, there are no 'of course' Christians."

That got Ralph thinking about his faith. He had grown up in the church and had been baptized and confirmed. He had been born again in the waters of baptism, but he felt like he had lost something somewhere along the way. Ralph knew something was missing. "Maybe I'm an 'of course' Christian," he said to a Christian friend. A sermon his pastor had preached had started what he later called an awakening. The Chinese student had helped him see there was more to Christianity than just going to church. No big conversion event happened in Ralph's life, but on a retreat he felt a big burden move from his shoulders. Peace with God replaced it. "I really want Christ to rule my life," he told his pastor. "That's what the kingdom of God is all about," his pastor said. "Remember, the title of our retreat is From Membership to Discipleship."

It started with a question, "Am I just an 'of course' believer?" It ended with an overwhelming sense that God loves us when we don't deserve it. In between, Ralph experienced many temptations and mysteries.

The story of Nicodemus encourages ordinary people like Ralph to move from just being church members to being disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ordinary people thus become extraordinary kingdom of God people. What does the kingdom of God have to do with life and hope?