Bible Text:

It is my guess that at some point in your life you have been asked the question, “Are you born again?” It may have been a casual or a deeply probing question. It might be a question asked out of curiosity, or in utter seriousness. The question might have come from a friend, a family member, or even a stranger out of nowhere. Sometimes the question is asked when we least expect it. I was once asked it about three years into my ministry by a leading layperson in my first church. He said something like this, “Brian, you will never really be a good pastor until you can identify whether or not and when you have been born again.” 

If you hesitate or hedge on such a question, you are probably in for a long conversation! Your safest bet may be to say, “Why, yes.” Or “Of course I am. Thank you for asking.” To be quick with your response usually saves some awkward moments. 

Are you born again? What does the question mean? 

The reference comes from the third chapter of John in a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a respected Jewish leader, and also a seeker. Nicodemus came to Jesus late one night. He may have been a very timid or a very shy man by nature. I read somewhere this week that scientists have finally discovered the timid gene in human beings. They found the gene hiding behind two others. 

Nicodemus comes to Jesus for a private nighttime extended dialogue. It’s worth noting that one who was in the dark walked through the dark to find the one who is the true Light that outshines all darkness. Nicodemus is seeking something. He’s not sure what. He’s running on empty. The late Lewis Grizzard once wrote a book entitled If Love Were Oil, I’d be a Few Quarts Low. Nicodemus is a few quarts low in his spiritual life. 

He may have been timid or secretive, but not with Jesus. He says something like this, “Rabbi, we know that you are someone come from God. No one could do the things you do unless God is a part of it.” 

Jesus responds, “Nicodemus, you are exactly right. No one can see God or what God is doing, unless he or she is born again.” 

There are several things we should know about this statement.  

First, it is only said one time in Jesus’ teaching ministry. As far as we know, Jesus never said this to the disciples. As far as we can tell, he never spoke it to the crowds—only to Nicodemus.  

It was not unusual for Jesus to make a unique statement to an individual. He said to a rich young man one time, “Go and sell everything that you have and give it to the poor, then come and follow me.” That statement was not necessarily meant for everybody, but it was meant for that young man. His wealth was in the way of his discipleship. He told a parable of the Good Samaritan one time to a lawyer who was asking about eternal life. After telling the man the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus simply said to this individual, “You need to go and do this. You need to go and do likewise.” Jesus said to a Samaritan woman one time, “You need to take a drink of the living water that I offer. 

Only to Nicodemus does Jesus say, “You must be born again.” It is not necessarily a statement to everyone, but it was something that Nicodemus needed to hear. 

The phrase is also variously translated. It can mean born again, or born anew, or born from above. Which is correct? Actually, they are all correct. Jesus could have meant both born anew and born from above, because the word he uses means both. This may explain why different translations of your Bibles may read differently in this particular text. Jesus may have deliberately used a double meaning word here. 

“Born anew” means to have new timing, a new start, a new situation, new changes in your life. “Born from above,” means to be born by the power of God working in you. Remember Jesus said, “No one can see what God is doing unless he or she is born from above. 

But Nicodemus doesn’t get it. I read about a woman who called her bank to cash in a $5000 bond. The man at the bank said, “Are you asking about conversion or redemption?” There was a long pause, and then the woman finally said, “Is this the bank, or is this the church?” 

Nicodemus takes the statement of Jesus literally. He asks, “Can I enter my mother’s womb as an old man and come out again? Can I really start over? How can I do that? 

We don’t get it either. We flatten the expression of Jesus to give it only one meaning. For many of us it means, “You must have a private moment of personal conversion.” 

Jesus says to Nicodemus, and to us, “You are not listening to me.” Have you ever heard that phrase? Elaine will say that to me from time to time. “Brian, you’re not listening to me.” Jesus says, “This is not about being physically born again.” Nor is this about the day and time of your conversion.” This is not some mile marker. 

Recovering alcoholics can tell you the day and time they stopped drinking. Such information is appropriate, healthy and helpful. But that is not the case here. This is not about the day or the hour of your dramatic conversion. If that happens to you, it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that is not the exclusive standard by which your faith is measured. Jesus says, “You are not listening, Nicodemus. You are not listening, Brian. You are not listening, Tommy. You are not listening, Susan.” 

WAY OF SEEING 

Being born again is about a new way of seeing. Ask yourself this question. When did you first begin to see God as real in your life? When did you first begin to take faith more seriously? We have heard personal testimonies here in this worship service from people who have told you how and when they began to take their faith more seriously. When was your first real “aha” before God? When did you begin to see life through God’s eyes? 

Somewhere in my library there is a book of prayers by a Roman Catholic priest. One of the prayers begins something like this: “I would like to rise very high, Lord. I would like to see the world through your eyes.” 

The New Birth begins when you begin to see life through God’s eyes—when you begin to see beyond yourself—when you begin to see beyond all selfishness and self-interest. 

The New Birth begins when you begin to feel the pain and fear of the Gulf coast residents this past week who could not escape Hurricane Ivan because they had no car and no family to whom to flee. The New Birth begins when you begin to feel the frustration of Palestinian youth, who stand and throw rocks at the huge Israeli tanks. You begin to be reborn when you become aware that even in an economic downturn we are still the most privileged people in the history of the world. You begin to be reborn when you begin to modify your life in an age of excess, and teach your children the same thing. You become reborn when you begin to see that every human being is precious to God. No one is ever excluded in the eyes of Jesus. Paul implies that you begin to be reborn when you are “rich” in helping others, when you are extravagantly generous. The new birth begins when you see that love toward God and neighbor is really at the heart of life. 

The new birth begins when you see the world through God’s eyes. A little boy was over heard praying this prayer, “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.” 

The new birth begins when you see life afresh through God’s eyes. It begins when you pray, “God, let me see all things in a new light. Mold me by that light into a new shape, a new direction.” 

WAY OF LIVING 

Then the New Birth means a new way of living, a new direction for your life. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus not about a literal new birth, but about a new direction for his life. 

There’s a story about a battleship that was coming into the harbor through the fog. The captain of the ship saw another light approaching. He radioed out to the front; “We’re coming into harbor. Change your course.” The message came back, “You change your course.” The captain shot back, “This is the captain of the ship. Change your course 10 degrees to the west.” The message came back, “This is Seaman Jones. Change your course 10 degrees to the east.” 

Now the captain was furious. He fired back, “This is a battleship. Change your course.” Quickly the message came back, “This is a lighthouse. Change your course.” 

The New Birth is about changing the course of your life in the light of Jesus. 

I ponder this somewhat in the light of the current election campaign. I have truly not decided for whom to cast my vote. There’s been a lot of talk about religion. There’s been a lot of discussion about how faith informs the decisions you make as president of the United States. 

There is little doubt that George Bush had a conversion experience. There is little doubt that he has been born again. But he’s a United Methodist. And there is both a piety side and a social justice side to the United Methodist tradition. I have little doubt about the piety side in George Bush’s life. I have some concerns about the social justice side. 

What about John Kerry? I know very little about how his faith informs either side. What about Dick Cheney or John Edwards, both of whom are United Methodists? I have little information about them as well. So I am waiting for the debates. I am going to listen very closely for these issues through the debates. 

The New Birth means a new way of seeing life and a new way of seeing the world. It may be a sharp turn. It may even be a radical about-face. This may be true for some of you. I know it has been for some people that I know. 

But the New Birth is also more. Peter Gomes writes: “The one who is born again doesn’t all of a sudden get turned into a super-Christian. To be born again is to enter afresh into the process of spiritual growth. It is to wipe the slate clean. It is to cancel your old mortgage and start again.[i] 

The New Birth is a maturing process. Surely it has been that for me. I grew up in a Christian home. I went to Sunday school. I attended all the youth groups. I sang in the choirs. But I also took a lot of my faith for grant. For me, a lot of faith was “Don’t do this, don’t do that, and stay away from that.” Gradually I became aware that the Christian life is much more. The Christian life is more than the Ten Commandments. The Christian life means more than “Show up in church, give money, and be good.” 

I began to see Jesus as the plumb line against which everything is measured. I also began to see Jesus as the plumb line against which all Scripture is measured—a fairly radical statement. 

I am still learning. I am still maturing in my faith. I am still being born anew. I am still being born from above. I am still learning to see life through God’s eyes in new ways. I see Jesus as the demonstrator model of what God had in mind when he created us in the first place. 

Listen to this bold statement: “Scientific, secular studies are unanimous: people of faith, those born from above, always appear to be more alive, engaged, and younger than their birth certificates say they are.”[ii]

Maybe this is Jesus’ final word to Nicodemus. And maybe it’s Jesus’ final word to us. When you are born from above, you are more alive and more engaged in life. When you are born from above, you are more alive and engaged in Kingdom issues. 

Is this not what Jesus came to teach? Is this not what he came to show us? Is this not what he came to give to us? I think so! Thanks be to God.