"Nicodemus Wears A White Hat”

In Jesus Holy Name Lent IV March 14, 2021

Text: John 3:17,18a

“Nicodemus Wears a White Hat”

Who wears white hats? In the old silent movie days you always knew who the good cowboys were. They wore white hats. The bad cowboys wore back hats. That way you always knew who the good cowboys were.

On October 12, 1940, the newspapers reported that Tom Mix, the movie cowboy who had starred in 370 films, had been killed while he was driving to Phoenix, Arizona. Mix was behind the wheel of his custom-built Cord Phaeton, a flashy roadster with longhorns mounted on the radiator. He was almost flying when he came over a hill and saw a road crew directly in front of him. Mix literally stood upon the brakes so he might avoid killing the crew which was working on a broken bridge.

His car swung into a gully where his heavy aluminum suitcase flew forward and hit him in the back of his head, and broke his neck. Mix got out of his car, walked a few steps and fell over dead. Amazingly, the newspapers, who reported the story, also felt it their duty to add, and I quote: “Mix was wearing his trademark ten-gallon white, Stetson hat.” (This Day in History October 12, 1940)

Why did they bother to report that? Of course Mix was wearing a white hat. He was a movie cowboy. He was one of the good guys. Everybody knows movie cowboys live by certain rules.

“A man’s got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job” John Wayne

1. Never steal another man’s horse, A horse thief pays with his life.

2. Defend yourself when ever necessary. Always be honest.

3. Remove your guns before sitting at the table.

4. No matter how weary and hungry you are after a long day in the saddle, always tend to your horse’s needs before your own.

5. Cuss all you want, but only around men and horses.

6. Never order anything weaker than whiskey.

Just a few rules to live by….

Nicodemus was a white hat guy. Nicodemus was an incredibly good man. He was honest to the core. He was a Pharisee. Pharisees made it their stock in trade to keep the rules and be very, very, very good. Now understand I’m not talking about just keeping the Ten Commandments. No, the Pharisee didn’t hardly worry about them. Over the years they also added another 633 rules from the O.T. You see, the Pharisees were serious about their goodness. Nicodemus was doing his level best to be the best “white hat” Pharisee. He was depending on his goodness, his Jewish genetics to earn God’s favor.

He was doing a pretty good job. Good enough to be a card carrying

member of the Jewish ruling council He was one of the 70 special elders of the Jewish nation. Further more, he was a Teacher of Israel. He had the credentials to interpret and teach others what the Holy Scriptures were saying. He was a #1 good guy. If anyone was qualified to wear a white hat, it had to be Nicodemus.

Last week I noted that John has a theological message about replacing Jewish rules with Himself., His life and message. That’s why John began his Gospel with the miracle of changing water into wine at the Wedding at Cana. John follows that miracle with this conversation Nicodemus had with Jesus. It is about Nicodemus trusting in his white hat.

At the wedding of Cana when the family ran out of wine Jesus took Jewish jars of water that were meant for the right of purification and filled them with wine. The pure water, now turned to new wine made them utterly worthless for the Jewish right of purification. Jesus becomes the replacement for all things the Jewish religion was using in order to have God accept their “goodness”. They wanted the rules to keep. It allowed them to judge themselves better than others. They believed that their own goodness would open the doors to heaven.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night…because he wasn’t sure his “white hat” rules were enough. Nicodemus had been taught all his life that his “Jewish blood”, his special connection to Abraham, was enough to earn God’s blessings, favor and entrance into heaven.

He came at night because he did not want others to know his anxiety, his insecurity. He was thinking that his “white hat” had become a tarnished dull gray or solid black. Nicodemus knew his broken rules could not be forgotten. In his heart he felt like Martin Luther, who centuries later, wrote these words:

“Death brooded darkly o'er me, Sin was my torment night and day, ...

Left naught but death to be my share; The pangs of hell I suffered.”