Where Are You?

Searching

John 3:1–17 NRSV

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “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. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

This is the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Introduction:

Have you ever noticed that some of life’s biggest questions don’t show up in the middle of the day when everything is busy and loud… They show up late at night.

When the house is quiet. When the emails are done. When the TV is off. When there’s nothing left to distract you from your own thoughts.

And suddenly, you find yourself searching.

You might say:

Some of us search by scrolling endlessly on our phones. Some of us search by lying awake staring at the ceiling. Some of us search by replaying conversations we wish had gone differently.

We search when we wonder:

Am I doing the right thing with my life?

Is this all there is?

Why do I still feel restless even when everything looks fine on the outside?

And here’s the truth:

Searching is not a sign that something is wrong with you. Searching is often the sign that God is already at work in you.

That’s where we meet Nicodemus in John chapter 3.

He comes to Jesus at night — not because he’s hiding this time — but because he’s searching.

He has status. He has education. He has influence. He has religion.

But he still doesn’t have peace.

So he goes looking for Jesus.

And John tells us he goes looking for him at night.

In the cover of darkness, Nicodemus seeks out Jesus.

This detail given to us by John is important because on the surface it seems as though Nicodemus is trying to conceal that he is seeking out Jesus.

In other words, Nicodemus doesn’t want to be seen others.

Remember, Nicodemus is among Israel’s elite. He is a Pharisee and throughout the gospel narrative we see the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees.

So, it is understandable why Nicodemus would come and seek Jesus under the cover of darkness.

If someone saw Nicodemus seeking out Jesus openly then it would ruin Nicodemus.

Nicodemus’ Pharisee colleagues would be unhappy if they knew that he was intrigued by the enemy.

At first glance, Nicodemus should not be seeking out Jesus.

But that’s at first glance.

If we look throughout the narratives of all the gospels, it would seem that Jesus and the Pharisees did not have the best of relationships.

It would seem as though the Pharisees and Jesus disagreed on a lot.

However, that’s at first glance.

Here’s a fact that will impress your friends, relatives, and neighbors.

Jesus was not at odds with all Pharisees.

Despite how it reads in scripture, Jesus did not hate all of the Pharisees.

In fact, some of Jesus’ followers were Pharisees and remained Pharisees until their deaths.

If we were to compare what Jesus preached to any of the religious and social groups of that time; that is, the Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and Pharisees, (and we can talk about the differences before Bible Study if you get here early on Tuesday).

But Jesus’ teachings would mostly align with or resemble those teachings of the Pharisee tradition.

The Pharisees just as Jesus agreed with authority of the Hebrew scriptures and not just the Pentateuch. They just sometimes didn’t agree with the interpretation.

They believed that humans are given divined free will.

Neither believed in societal withdrawl. In other words, they believed that you could live a faithful life and still blend well in society.

They believed in the existence of the spiritual things; angels and demons.

And finally…and this is what links them more than anything; They believed in the physical resurrection of the body.

The Pharisees as a whole were not the enemy, as a matter of fact, the Pharisees respected Jesus as a rabbi and would often invite him to teach.

I say all of that to say, I don’t believe that Nicodemus was truly trying to hide his dealings with Jesus.

I don’t believe that John is telling that Nicodemus is trying to hide.

I want to challenge you to do something during your spare time this week.

I want you to read through the entire gospel of John and there is something you will notice.

Throughout John’s gospel we constantly see this idea of light and darkness.

From the beginning of John’s gospel, he mentions this conflict between light and darkness and how the light always overcomes the darkness.

The darkness in John’s gospel always seem to point to a time of uncertainty, a time of searching, a time of seeking the light.

For example, John recreates the creation narrative and talks about how at creation nothing but darkness existed and how God out of the darkness brought forth life. All things came into being through him, wrote John.

Then he talks about how after the fall, darkness returned and how the light of God’s word penetrated the darkness and overcame it.

The fact that encounter occurs at night is a deliberate choice in John’s gospel, where light and darkness are symbolic of understanding, revelation, and moral/spiritual posture.

Night in John’s Gospel, is often a time of confusion, fear, or uncertainty-but also of transition and potential. Night is the space between the known and unknown.

Nicodemus may be hiding his visit out of fear of his Pharisee brethen or perhaps he is searching, wrestling with spiritual questions he can’t yet ask in daylight.

Maybe he represents all of us who are yet unsure- half-formed in faith, hesitant but hungry.

One of the most important things to notice about Nicodemus is this:

His search didn’t end in John chapter 3.

That late-night conversation with Jesus was not the finish line… it was just the beginning.

Because we see Nicodemus again.

In John 7, he speaks up to defend Jesus when others want to condemn Him.

In John 19, after Jesus dies on the cross, Nicodemus shows up again — this time in broad daylight — bringing expensive spices to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

And that tells us something important:

Nicodemus didn’t just visit Jesus once… He kept coming back.

He kept seeking.

He kept moving closer.

And church, Nicodemus is not the only example of someone whose faith grew through searching.

In fact, our own Methodist story begins with a seeker.

John Wesley was already a pastor.

He had education. He had discipline. He had religion.

He even traveled to America as a missionary.

But by his own admission, he did not yet have assurance of God’s grace in his heart.

Then tell the Aldersgate moment:

It wasn’t until May 24, 1738, at a small prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, that Wesley wrote in his journal:

“I felt my heart strangely warmed.”

And he realized that faith was not just something to understand… but something to experience.

Like Nicodemus… Wesley didn’t stop searching after one encounter.

And like Wesley… Lent is a season when we remember that faith is not something we arrive at once and for all.

It is something we keep seeking, keep growing in, and keep returning to.

Because the truth is:

The people who grow closest to Christ are not the people who think they have found everything…

but the people who never stop seeking Him.

“Salvation may happen in a moment…but seeking Jesus is a lifetime habit.”

If you want, I can also help you with:

So here’s the question Lent places before us today:

If Nicodemus kept seeking… and John Wesley kept seeking…

what does seeking look like for us?

Because let’s be honest:

Most of us are not searching in obvious ways.

We’re not traveling across deserts. We’re not going on spiritual pilgrimages.

Instead, we live busy, comfortable, structured lives.

But Lent invites us to do something countercultural:

It invites us to intentionally create space to search for God.

So, here are Three Practical Ways to “Search” During Lent

1. We search by slowing down

Nicodemus came at night — when life was quiet enough to ask real questions.

Lent invites us to turn down the noise so we can hear God again.

Maybe searching looks like:

Turning off the news earlier

Putting down the phone

Sitting in silence for five minutes a day

Because sometimes we aren’t far from God…

We’re just too loud to notice Him.

2. We search by asking honest questions

Nicodemus didn’t come with polished answers — he came confused.

“How can someone be born again?”

And my sisters and brothers, Lent gives us permission to admit:

I don’t understand everything

My faith feels dry right now

I’m not sure where God is in this season

Faith does not grow by pretending. It grows by seeking honestly.

3. We search by moving toward Jesus again and again

Nicodemus didn’t just come once. He kept showing up.

And Lent is not about one emotional moment. It’s about steady movement toward Christ.

“Lent is not about giving things up just to prove discipline… it’s about clearing space so we can seek God more deeply.”

Closing Story:

I once heard a story about a woman who lost her wedding ring.

She realized it was missing late in the evening.

So she began searching everywhere: the kitchen counters, the bathroom sink, the car seats, even the trash can.

Hours went by.

She turned on every light in the house. She got down on her hands and knees. She retraced every step she had taken that day.

pause

And here’s what’s interesting:

She didn’t say, “Well, I guess it’s gone.”

She didn’t stop after ten minutes.

She kept searching because she knew its value.

Then bring it home:

Finally, after hours of searching, she found it — not in some far-away place — but caught in the lining of her coat pocket.

It had been close to her all along.

My sisters and brothers, that’s what seeking God is often like.

We search and search, thinking God must be far away…when in reality, He has been near to us all along.

Nicodemus came searching in the night. And what he discovered was this:

The God he was seeking…was already seeking him.

So during these forty days of Lent, don’t just give something up.

Take something up.

Take up the habit of seeking Christ.

Seek Him in prayer. Seek Him in Scripture. Seek Him in stillness.

Because the promise of the Gospel is this:

When we search for God with our whole heart…

we discover that He has been searching for us all along.

Last week we talked about hiding. Today we talked about searching.

But next week, we’ll discover something important:

Beneath all our hiding… beneath all our searching…

there is a deep spiritual thirst that only Christ can satisfy.

Amen.