Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be
born again. To be born again is an
impossibility in the mind of Nicodemus . . . how can a full-grown man enter
climb back into his mother’s womb and be born again . . . and, what woman would
ever agree to such silliness. But, Jesus
said, “You must be born again.” Being a
“literalist” sure makes life interesting and difficult . . . ask Nicodemus as
he is contemplating how in the world he is going to be born again.
Of course most of us know that Jesus
is not talking literally here, he is talking metaphorically. There is no second physical birth to be had .
. . no, Jesus is speaking a spiritual birth.
A second physical birth is impossible, but a second spiritual birth is
quite possible . . . in fact, I would venture out and say that it can happen
again and again and again.
Nicodemus was not your ordinary
Pharisee . . . he had a sense of wonderment and curiosity . . . he had an
inquiring mind that was open to possibilities.
When Jesus began making waves across the countryside with his miracles
and teaching . . . gaining bigger and bigger crowds of followers, Nicodemus did
not jump in step with the other Pharisees declaring Jesus a threat. No, Nicodemus wondered . . . he wondered what
this Jesus guy was all about . . . wondered whether or not there might be
something holy happening . . . wondering whether or not, just maybe, this Jesus
was the Messiah the prophets had talked about.
He wanted to know, but not enough to put himself in jeopardy with the
other Pharisees; so he comes to Jesus directly during the darkness of
night. He wants the scoop straight from
Jesus . . . and, Jesus tells him, “You have to be born again.”
For literalists and concrete thinkers
such statements are crazy . . . but, Jesus is right . . . especially when it
comes to the spiritual life . . . you must be born again. As a young person, I never thought I would
ever change . . . I thought I would always stay the same in my actions,
thoughts, faith . . . in everything that made me . . . well, me. Now, getting on up there in age, looking back
with perfect 20/20 vision, I am amazed at how much I have changed in the course
of my lifetime. I have been born again
and again and again.
For example, let me explain about
preaching. Like a lot of preachers I use
the lectionary to do my sermons. The
lectionary is a three-year cycle of scripture readings that cover each Sunday
during that time span. Every three years
it repeats itself. Thus in the length of
my time of being a preacher I have gone through this lectionary cycle
approximately eleven times. That means
that I have preached on most of these scripture readings at least eleven
times. Being a person who saves things .
. . including sermons . . . I can safely tell you that the sermon you are
hearing this morning has never been preached before . . . and, that it is a far
different approach to this passage than it was ten, twenty, or even thirty
years ago. Why? Because I am not the person I was then . . .
I have grown . . . I have changed . . . I have been born again and again and
again.
We all have.
In speaking with many of you over the
years, I have been told repeatedly that none of you are where you were on the
day that you made your confession of faith, were baptized, and accepted Jesus
to be your Lord and Savior. And, I have
heard many of you also say, “Thank God!”
None of us might have thought of our spiritual growth as being a new
birth . . . or being born again; yet, isn’t that exactly what has taken
place? We are a new creation.
This is what Jesus is wanting
Nicodemus to understand. Faith is not a
stagnant concrete thing that never changes . . . faith is a living, breathing,
constantly changing thing . . . constantly being born as a new creation over
and over again. Central to this change
is the Spirit . . . the Spirit that moves us, challenges us, prods us,
encourages us, and changes us. God wants
us to grow in our faith and in our relationships with God and one another . . .
it is the Spirit that helps us do this.
And, Jesus wants this for Nicodemus . . . wants it for everyone.
From the individual grows the
community. Individuals drive the
community to be what it is . . . and, if the individual changes, grows, and is
born again . . . shouldn’t the community also?
This is the underlying factor that Jesus doesn’t speak directly to, but
he alludes to when he speaks of being born again. As much as the individual needs to change, so
does the community of faith. Nicodemus,
though an individual in this story, also represents the community of faith as a
Pharisee. Not only does Nicodemus need
to be born again, but so does the body of believers—the church—that he
represents.
I truly believe that this is so. The church that I was ordained as a minister
to serve in is not the church that exists now despite how hard it fights
against being born again. The church is
changing and I am not talking about the gimmicky stuff like contemporary
worship services and coffee in the pews.
The church is changing from an inward sanctuary for the faithful to a
presence in the lives of the community in which it exists. Instead of waiting for the people to come to
the door, the church is going out into the world, standing among the people
where they are, and sharing the Good News of Jesus . . . letting people know
that they are not alone in their struggles . . . that God is with them where
they are. The church is being born again
. . . whether we like it or not.
We should not kid ourselves into
thinking that this is the first time that the church has been born again. Was the church not born again with those who
followed Jesus in his life time and in the ensuing years? Was the church not born again when ol’ Martin
Luther nailed his demands upon the church’s door? Even in our own history as a denomination,
the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has been born again and again and
again. We should not be surprised that
the church is in major labor pains today . . . the Spirit is moving, a new
birth is coming.
As it is with us as individuals, so it
is with our churches. When the Spirit
moves us to grow and be born again as individuals, it is also prodding the
church to do likewise. During the
journey through the season of Lent, we need to consider this birthing process
as individual followers of Jesus and as a church . . . what does it mean to be
born again? And, again? And, again?
Jesus calls us to life . . . ever-changing life with God. Every day is a new day . . . may we grow with
each gift of new life. Amen.
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