As we begin to discuss this morning’s gospel lesson I want to remind us about something. Often the Pharisees get a bad rap in the gospels. Jesus is hard on them, wants them to be true to their calling, and they always seem to come up short. Well, as we read about Nicodemus, it is important for us to remember he is a Pharisee. He is seeking fulfillment and information from Jesus. Something is obviously missing in his life and he thinks Jesus has the answer. But he is afraid. He is afraid to come in the daylight to talk with this man that the Pharisees call heretic, imposter, and blasphemer. So he comes by night, in the dark, seeking the light, the knowledge that will fill him and renew him. Nicodemus comes to renew his spirit, in the later years of his life, Nicodemus has not given up seeking and learning, desiring a renew relationship with God.

Someone has said that there are four stages of life: Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood and then "Gee you look good!"  People in this latter category may be the victims of the one ism that is so easy to ignore: ageism. It's not hard to detect the behaviors of racism and sexism, but ageism is a subtle bigotry with serious side effects.

Most of us would deny we're guilty of ageism. We do not discriminate in the work place against the old, and we're quite willing to help a gray-haired lady across the street - even if she doesn't need any help, thank you very much.

There you go. We're ageists. But there is good news. A new study suggests that real age is not the same as chronological age.

Men, if you suck down more than 10 servings of tomato paste per week, you may be younger than you think you are. Women, if you have been battered by a divorce, you may be older than you think you are. If we brush and floss faithfully, we may be as much as 6.4 years younger than we think we are!

How can this be? An age is an age is an age, isn't it? In the no-nonsense words of Nicodemus, "How can anyone be born after having grown old?" (John 3:4). As much as we may want to turn, twist and torque the hands of time, we can't do it, can we?

Perhaps we can. At least according to Michael F. Roizen, M.D., author of RealAge, a book published in 1999, has an age reduction program that promises to help us live and feel up to 26 years younger than we are (New York: HarperCollins, 1999).

The premise is really rather simple: There's a difference between our calendar age and our biologic age. Recall the surprise you felt when you learned that your coworker - whom you assumed was in his 50s - was really only 43. On the other hand, think of your neighbor who looks as if she's in her early 40s, but who's really 60. "Some people are young for their age," observes Dr. Roizen. "They are physiologically and mentally as active and vibrant as someone much younger." The youthful 65-year-old woman may have what Roizen calls a "RealAge" of 45. She has learned how to slow the pace of aging by making simple but critical decisions about her lifestyle and behavior. By taking care of her body, she slows the pace of biologic aging and capitalizes more fully on her potential. As I look around the sanctuary this morning there are many people here who have lived a life which has slowed the aging of their bodies. Don’t you think so?

Roizen's RealAge program, when first introduced, was splashed across a full-page ad in The New York Times, and now is available as a book, an audio CD, a computer program and a Web site. The program gives you a measurement system to calculate the biologic age of your body. Once you discover your RealAge, you can learn to evaluate health care decisions as diverse as putting tomato sauce on spaghetti or taking a jog, and then make informed decisions about each habit.

• Take vitamins C and E daily for their antioxidant and anti-aging power (6 years)
• Eat breakfast every day (1.1 years).
• Get a good night's sleep regularly (3 years).
• Maintain a constant desirable weight (6 years).
• Own a dog, and walk it (1 year)!
• Build social networks (2-30 years). Dr. Roizen has found that close friends and family members can help prevent aging from excessive stress.

On the other hand, if you want to age more quickly - and what fool among us does? - your best bet is to have unsafe sex, work at a job exposing you to pollutants and toxins, live beyond your financial means, smoke cigarettes, drink to excess, and abuse drugs (44-52). The key to looking and feeling older than your birth certificate usually comes down to self-abuse! And the self-abuse isn’t just physical; it’s emotional and spiritual as well.

Unfortunately, not everyone gets it. Not everyone seeks out what they need to be and feel younger than their chronological age, physically or spiritually. In John 3, Jesus gives a night visitor named Nicodemus some hints about Spiritual RealAge when he insists, "You must be born from above" (v. 7). Actually, what he really says is, "You must be born anothen" - a Greek word that sounds like a fancy dietary supplement. Anothen is a word with a dual meaning - it means both "from above" and "again." To be born anothen speaks both of a TIME of birth - "again" - and the PLACE from which the new birth is generated - "from above."

But Nicodemus' language and imagination do not stretch far enough to grasp Jesus' offer. Nicodemus wants to use his head to understand what Jesus is trying to explain. But it’s hard to wrap our heads around proving the difference that faith makes. How is righteousness proved? We think we know. We can watch someone’s behavior and know they are righteous. Or can we?  It’s the heart, the motives, the intentions which govern righteousness. Nicodemus already knew how to follow the letter of the law, but he was craving more, something else, something he felt Jesus knew and could teach him. And Jesus’ response doesn’t make any sense to Nicodemus. How can someone who is old be born again.

Sometimes when we speak of being "born again" we make the same mistake that Nicodemus did; we understand Jesus' words on only one level. We focus on being "born again" to the exclusion of being "born from above," and flatten the expression to only one meaning, roughly equivalent – for Nicodemus is was a physical equivalent. For many among us to be “born again” is about an individual's private moment of conversion. The "born again" metaphor speaks to the new context in which we function with others relationally. As a consequence, we speak, act and think differently toward those who are around us.  Or we should. How many among us have been born again or have met someone who claims to be “born again” whose spirit is anything by merciful, compassionate or loving?

Being born "from above" identifies the source of regeneration. The recognition that rebirth is a divine action in us removes from us any sense of Spiritual RealAge as something we can do ourselves apart from God's work in us. God and a relationship with God is required to be born from above. The Holy Spirit graces us with strength or encouragement might be required. Jesus leading us to follow might be required. Being born from above is a holy act – our response is righteous behaviors.

So what does a person who is spiritually young look like? He's open to surprises from God - unlike Nicodemus, who was full of preconceptions about what God could and couldn't accomplish. She's willing to let the Spirit of God blow where it chooses, not knowing where it comes from or where it goes, racing far beyond human knowledge and control. He believes that Jesus is the one who moves between heaven and earth and who brings the two together; he trusts that "God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (v. 17). She trusts that she has been born again and born from above so that she can live in the unending presence of God, in an eternal life that never really ages and never finally ends. And this doesn’t have to happen only once in our lives. One of the children I was speaking to last night, makes it into the revision of my sermon this morning. Connor Johnson spoke with wisdom beyond his years last night. When I asked him when we could be born again, his response was “Every morning.”  No truer words could be spoken. We have the opportunity to turn to God to seek the Holy Spirit, to renew our baptismal promises, each and every morning, each and every evening, even each and every minute if we need the reminder about how to be righteous and enter into the kingdom of God.

Spiritual youth and vitality is not measured chronologically. Righteous living is not measured by a check list of do’s and don’ts. Each of us struggles to be renewed and vital in our faith – it’s one of the reasons we come to worship on Sunday morning. We seek renewal. We want another chance to renew our promises to God and to feel brand new – born again and born from above.

It could be that a person with a young and vibrant Spiritual RealAge looks like - you! Like you when you attend worship and listen for God's Word ... when you pray every day ... when you build service to others into your regular routine ... when you participate in the activities and outreach of a caring Christian community.

Scientific, secular studies are unanimous: people of faith - those born again and born from above - always appear to be more alive, engaged and younger than their birth certificate says they are. Let us live into our faith, into our rebirth, and into righteousness today and always. Amen.