Shelli Latham Feb. 17, 2008 John 3:1-9 Born Again... and Again How can these things be? (v. 9)... Nicodemus is no dummy. He s a wise man. He s a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews. He s a guy who knows that talking to Jesus is risky so he seeks out the teacher when even the stars are asleep. Nicodemus is theologically trained, but at the end of today s scripture, we find him totally baffled. In my mind he s slumped against a doorway having not ever come entirely inside. The doorframe bears the weight of his uncertainty like a crutch, his spine curved into a slump of confusion. His hand is at his temple as if massaging it will somehow make the nonsensical jibber jabber that Jesus has said sort out into something he can get a handle on. Nicodemus feels his eyes move in their sockets tracing a path in his brain through Jesus incomprehensible statement. To see the Kingdom of God, you must be born from above. I m a big old guy now. And I ve got to get reborn? Reborn? How does this work? To enter the kingdom of God, you must be born of water and Spirit... Flesh is flesh, Spirit is spirit. Something about the wind blowing around. What? Jesus has stopped talking, and Nicodemus hasn t said anything for an awkwardly long time. He feels the muscles in his face stop doing their job, and his mouth droops into an O he never intended. His brow furrows with the creases above his nose forming a question mark, How can these things be? Here we are on this second Sunday in Lent, dress up in our preconceived notions and worldliness not too unlike Nicodemus except that the mighty danger of Jesus has lost it s glow a bit so we meet up in broad daylight, and the shocking, sing-songy loopdee loops that Jesus speaks in have been turned into everyday jargon and political rhetoric so our mouths don t form
slack-jawed O s except to let loose the sleepy Sunday morning yawn. And I don t know about you, but a part of me thinks, Nicodemus, you re so silly. How can you not get it? Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" (v. 4) Oh Nicodemus... You re so funny. Maybe some of you came to worship today like me, carrying some Bible belt baggage and general discomfort with terms like born again. I grew up in a small Georgia town and returned to work there in youth ministry before seminary. It is a beautiful, well-meaning type of place where youth returned from church trips and burned their CDs (or cassette tapes, back in my day), a town where one of my former youth was made to cry about once a week because she could point to the time of her salvation some 2000+ years ago but couldn t pinpoint on a calendar the day when her own words marked her as saved, a town where at the annual youth rally, in a rented high school gym, the same students would be born again year after year. So while Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the black of night with his questions, I read this story with the equivalent of sunglasses on cool, separated, aloof - because Jesus did say, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (v. 5). And I am afraid that if I really, really look at the scripture and hear Jesus mysterious words that I might recognize validity in a faith tradition that makes me uncomfortable. And so... I do what we Presbyterians do best, I trade in my shades for a pair of reading glasses and dive into the Word. And I really look at the words. "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above...very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit (vv. 3, 5). He says it twice. Actually for emphasis and noticing Nicodemus complete befuddlement, he says it again, Do not be astonished that I said
to you, 'You must be born from above.' (v. 7) And I can feel that Nicodemus-like brow question mark forming for me. Do I believe this stuff? Am I going to just discount what Jesus said because it makes me a smidge unfomfortable? What must I do to be born from above? What must I do? And there s the beauty it s not up to me. To see the kingdom of God... to be a part of the kingdom of God, we must be born from above. We must be born of water and the Spirit. But we cannot bear ourselves. I guess we can bear ourselves from here to lunch or the movie theatre, but we re not the agents of our own birth or the agents of our rebirth. We are born of something else. We are born by the Spirit from above. Jesus tells Nicodemus that to be born of the Spirit is like being propelled by the wind. You don t know how it works or where it comes from or even where it is going, but it moves you. And Jesus tells Nicodemus that we can t see the kingdom of God without being born... without being born from above. It s not a one time deal. There s a perpetual nature to this birth. We are constantly being recreated and given a fresh start by God. It s something that all those kids in the high school gymnasium, back in my home town the ones who walked down and got re-saved year after year - got that I didn t get. They understood that our lives are marked by new chances at new life in God. It s what happens every week when we dare to confess our sins and are assured of God s pardon. We are being born anew, washed clean by the Spirit and given new life. Do we even think about how crazy that is, how amazing and senseless? I think we forget. Maybe we ve heard it so much that it seems logical, because if we really let the reality of God s grace wash over us with those words, Hear and believe the Good News... Through Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven, we d pull a Nicodemus. The response of praise would be stunned silence and the passing of peace, stammerings of How can these things be?
How can these things be? Maybe that s what those babies are crying at the baptismal font as the water drips into the form of a question mark on their brows. Before they are even capable of comprehending sin, God is promising new life. How can these things be? What an unexpected Lenten surprise. Here we are on this second Sunday in Lent, dressed up in our preconceived notions. We expect to be shrouded in sack cloth with the black dust of Ash Wednesday in the air, but we find a snippet of Christmas. We find life, new life born of the Spirit. And we catch a glimpse of Easter peeking out from behind the cross. God has been at work; like the womb that has born new life, the tomb is empty and the world is filled with possibility. Lent isn t just a trudge to the cross a time for swearing off swear words and forgoing Haagen Daz. Lent is a chance to explore this new life we ve been given, a time for those born from above to take baby steps as we grow in our new selves. It s a time to realize that we re different than we were before. Our flesh is born of flesh, and it may look the same, but our spirit has been reborn of Spirit. Unlike an infant in the maternity ward, we remember who we were before this new birth and our world looks just the same. And so like Nicodemus, we risk not getting it. We risk having this new life we ve been given look just like the old one. Birth is scary and new and disorienting. And I m not sure we believe new birth is real. If we did, the assurance of pardon would turn the world on its head. Like a writhing newborn, we d need a smack on the bum just to get us breathing in the reality of all the possibilities of being God s child with a whole new life ahead of us. If we were really brave enough to embrace the mystery of God s powerful baptismal covenant, we d wail at the sight of the font s deceivingly calm waters, because we d know the power of water and Spirit. Maybe that s what those babies are shrieking in delivery rooms, How can these things be?
Or maybe their fearful and exhilarated sobs are more like What am I going to do now? I m born, born again, born of the Spirit what am I going to do now? What would our lives look like if we heard the assurance of pardon or benediction today like a birth announcement and headed out into the world really grasping our new life in the Spirit? Like Nicodemus, we come to God thinking that we know who God is and who we are in God s eyes, and we try to shape God s reality to our own. But as those trusting our new life in the Spirit, can we turn ourselves over to God to carry us? Like the newborn that implicitly believes in the one who bore her, can we trust God s sustaining presence and movement in our lives? Can we allow ourselves to be propelled by the Spirit s mighty, holy wind into places of uncertainty? Can we risk to kneel in confession once more, knowing we have been there before and trusting that rebirth in God is not a one-time deal? Knowing the freedom of a new start and exhilaration of new life can we whisper the promises of God s forgiveness and extend forgiveness of our own? Can we see in our neighbor the image of God, the one who gave us birth, and live accordingly? New life comes with growing pains. Like toddlers, we fall down not understanding the miracle and challenge we are born into. Maybe this Lent we can take some baby steps, testing out our new lives in Christ and trusting the sustaining presence of the one who bore us to guide us and hold our hands. And maybe we will find that in our toddling to the cross and then to the empty tomb that we have grown as God s children. When Nicodemus stopped knowing the answers and allowed himself to start over, he was changed. This man who once came to Jesus under the cover of darkness, in secret, later defended him, publicly challenging those in authority who would judge Jesus. Then after Jesus death on the cross, with no other disciples in sight, Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus claimed Jesus body and prepared it for burial. Nicodemus had learned that he was born from above, and his new life took shape in love and boldness.
May this Lent be a new opportunity for us all to celebrate and contemplate the crazy mysteries of God who leave us stuttering, How can these things be? And may this Lent be a time to embrace our new lives and grow as children of God into the ever renewing promises of the Spirit who gives us birth. Amen. Will you please pray with me? Creating and re-creating God, we give you thanks that you are not through with us. We thank you for the new life won for us by Jesus Christ and born by your Spirit. We thank you that you love us enough to constantly work in our lives for redemption and renewal. Every day, but especially in this Lenten season, help us to be mindful of your work in us and our being reborn in your Spirit. We pray these things in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.