It's the first Sunday of November; the time when we always have a special worship service to remember those who have passed away.

As you all can tell, quite a few pictures are placed at the front of the sanctuary for us to see this morning. Most of these pictures represent people who have had their funerals here at our church. Though some died very young and long ago due to the terrible war, some lived to be over 90! Just looking at these pictures, and remembering each one of you, I can't stop feeling that I miss them very much. However, one of our well-used pastors in Japan, I recall, shouted "Hallelujah!" when he attended his only daughter's funeral, though she had died very young. He said with certainty that now he has a strong relation in Heaven owing to her death -- We'd like to think this way too; our nationality belongs to Heaven, not earth.

Now let us fix our eyes on today's scripture reading; a certain well- educated man, Nicodemus, came to Jesus, who had had little formal education. Being a teacher of the Law, Nicodemus was well respected by the people around him. Though Jesus didn't have much education, just being a carpenter, Nicodemus found out that Jesus was not at all like a typical man. Most of the Pharisees despised Jesus, giving Him no interest. Or, rather, they regarded Him as their enemy. But, Nicodemus was not like them. Though he was a Pharisee, he thought of Jesus in high terms [he thought that Jesus might have been the long- hoped-for Messiah of Israel] but secretly. He was respected all right. He must have been wealthy enough to support his family as well as himself. He had a good job in teaching -- But there was also something wrong in his life. He was getting old. He was close to his end, probably. In his life, he had already reached "Night". Well, this "Night" doesn't always come to just the elderly. Even among the young, there should be some who feel their "Night" once in a while. There is the time when we think of religion, or God. This should apply to most of us. When we are feeling death is near, we can't deny the natural feeling of thinking about God, or trusting God.

True, Nicodemus was old enough, but he was also experiencing his "Night" in his own way. Then, he must have heard the rumour about Jesus; the Holy man who had special powers of healing. Finally, I think, he went secretly to Jesus so that he could find his way out of his "Night".

Look at verse 3: "Then Jesus answered him, saying that he needed to be born again." In spite of being a "somebody", with a higher education and the respect of his community, Nicodemus just couldn't quite grasp what Jesus was saying. Nicodemus was a scholar, but it was difficult for him to grasp spiritual truths. Then, Jesus spoke about the "wind" -- blowing.. He compared what we really are (souls and spirits) to the invisibility of the wind. We never think of what we can't see. So it is hard to understand the invisible.

Verse 10: Sad to say, Nicodemus left Jesus without understanding what He said. Jesus didn't blame him for not being able to understand it though, even though he was a teacher.. He went on (in verses 13-15): No matter how heavily poisoned you may be, if you only look up to the snake, you will be healed. [This is a prophesy of Christ's in reference to the serpent of brass that Moses had made and lifted up on a pole so that people could be saved, through God's power, from certain death; See Nu.21:6-10.] This "snake poison" also refers to our sins. The snake is of course Jesus. Though we are full of sins, only looking up at Jesus will be enough to cleanse us. In this scene, probably Nicodemus still had unsolved problems in his life. However, he started to be more and more curious about Jesus -- Then, a few years later, he saw Jesus on the cross, at Calvary. Jesus: carrying all of our poison to death.

Nicodemus must have looked up at Him, and then started to understand what Jesus had meant. To know the truth, we don't need to have special education. Only with the Spirit we understand.

There was once a very stubborn old woman, who wouldn't accept Christ, though all of the people around her were Christians. People prayed for her, but she wouldn't believe in Him. Then, the time of her death approached. A pastor became so concerned for her that he took special pains to speak the truth to her. In his talk, she finally understood that the physical body was to return back to the ground from where it had come, but the soul was supposed to go up into Heaven. Yet, with sins, souls couldn't go back to Heaven. It was like they were attached to a string of darkness. A soul burdened with sins cannot go up! The only way to be free is to cut the string off with "cross-scissors"; the scissors of Jesus' cross! In this saying, the old woman could finally understand what the cross was all about. She accepted Christ, and then a miracle occurred: she lived a few years longer than she expected to, and had time to go around to many places on her son's bicycle, spreading the good news of our Lord in every direction!

Yes, our souls are to go back to where they ought to be. Only with a relationship to Jesus, can we go back to our true home town.