The staff at my doctor's office call me "Father." I explained a few times that I wasn't a Roman Catholic priest; I occasionally mention my wife, kids, and granddaughters; but still they call me "Father." I've given up; I find it easier just to smile and nod. But Friday the technician, Joseph said, "How was your St. Patrick's Day, Father." I told him I hadn't been feeling well, and he said, "Father, I hope you feel better tomorrow for my Saint's Day." When I gave Joseph my familiar look of non-comprehension, he explained, "You know, Father, the Feast of St. Joseph." I wonder if I just blew my cover - because any priest would have known.

The incident got me thinking. What a big deal we make of St. Patrick's Day! Don't get me wrong. I'm an Irishman, and sure Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland and got rid of the snakes, and all that. But nobody was shutting down 5th Avenue on March 19? You know - the Feast day of St. Joseph, husband of Mary, chosen by God to nurture the Son of God. The Feast Day of St. Joseph and Father Kennedy didn't have a clue and I'm guessing the sun rose and set yesterday without you once giving Joseph a thought. It does not seem quite fair that Joseph is almost an afterthought saint.

I'd like to carry that thought over to our Gospel guest this morning, Nicodemus. Since we know so little about I'd also label him an afterthought saint. Nicodemus, like Joseph, never really gets his due. And yet he is the very first Jewish leader who recognizes something special about Jesus. He's not quite sure what it is about Jesus - but Nicodemus is intrigued. Believe me though. When folks talk about St. Nick, they are not referring to Nicodemus. Like Joseph, he seems an afterthought, if at all, in the Christian Hall of Fame.

The text starts off like a mystery novel, "Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night...." Was he afraid of being seen? maybe. But i think he was just afraid. It could have been a number of things disturbing his quest for peaceful slumber, but I think Nicodemus is up again in the middle of the night because he is frightened. Sweat-soaked and frightened. Maybe my reading of Nicodemus says more about me than him, but I think he is frightened. Fears are so magnified at 3:00am.

Do you sometime have fears ... in the middle of the night? About what? Your children? Your wallet? Your job? Your health? Your diagnosis? Your prognosis? Your mortality? Whatever your fears - and we each have my own - we can deal with them in a more reasonable, rational way at three o'clock - in the afternoon. But three in the morning is a different animal. So yes, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night.

And whatever is on the agenda of Jesus that evening (maybe even sleep) he immediately turns his attention to Nicodemus, when he comes knocking. Jesus is one day going to die for all humanity. But that night, at that moment, there is no person in the universe more important to Jesus than one man, Nicodemus. I truly believe in a way I cannot begin to understand, that the person who catches the ear of Jesus is the most important person in the world, at that moment. Even if fifty million Christians catch his ear at once! Go figure.

The overarching question of Nicodemus is how to get closer to God. He seems to be looking for a spiritual rule book, a kind of Christianity for Dummies, a Twelve-Step program into the presence of the Almighty. And Jesus talks of being born from above. Not born again, but born from above." And with a classic look of non-comprehension, Nicodemus replies, "Say what"? "Well, it's like the wind, Nicodemus. You don't know where it comes from. You don't know where it goes. You cannot control it, predict it, or harness it. Being born from above and getting into God's Kingdom is something like that ... only more so!" And the last thing Nicodemus says in the text is more-or-less, "I don't understand." Jesus more-or-less says in reply, "You don't understand? Now you're catching on!"

But Jesus, sensing the discomfort of Nicodemus, gives him something to hold onto. And Christians have held onto the very sane thing for two millennia. What Jesus told Nicodemus has been called "the Gospel in a nutshell." And if this is all you get from the thousands of sermons you'll likely hear in a lifetime - you've gotten enough. "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." Can you imagine sitting face-to-face with Jesus, hearing Jesus say with your own ears, "For God so loved the world...."?

Now Nicodemus the Pharisee was steeped in the tradition of having to earn God's love and forgiveness and acceptance. And this is why the words of Jesus are so revolutionary. Jesus does not say, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who obeys his commands, may not perish but may have eternal life." Rather, "everyone who believes." About three weeks ago in a sermon I misquoted John 3:16 and said, "everyone who believes and is baptized may have eternal life." Father Kennedy was wrong; the good news is better than even that! "Everyone who believes may have eternal life."

To be sure, when Nicodemus leaves his encounter with Jesus, he does not have all the answers to human existence - or his own. But as he leaves the presence of Jesus, the dawn is breaking, the dawn and not his heart. And the words are dancing in his mind. Not like a tune you can't get out of your head, but rather like a melody you want to play over and over and over: "For God so loved the world."

Now even though the answers are not all in place, even though questions remain (as they do for every one of us), still I sense that finally Nicodemus, this afterthought saint, is able to get a good night's sleep. The melody of "God so loved the world," has become the lullaby for which he so desperately yearns.