Lent 2- Are you born again?

 

John3: 1-17 

Most of us have had the experience of being somewhere in public, and you’ve had someone come up to you and ask if you’re a Christian. If you reply, “yes, I am a Christian.” The follow-up question will often be something like, “But, are you ‘born again’?”

The term “born again” describes a kind of Christian who can give a day (and sometimes a time) when they had a powerful personal spiritual conversion experience, that they sometimes describe as being “born of the Spirit”. This is a powerful inner experience of transformation.

More traditional Christians usually have two responses to being asked if they are “born again”. One is plain dismissal. They roll their eyes and say to themselves “oh, you’re one of those”. They label them as extremists, unsophisticated, overly emotional, religious nuts. They dismiss them and don’t take anything they say with much weight.

The other reaction from more traditional Christians is often self-doubt and anxiety. Am I “born again”? Is it not enough to be a Christian? What does it mean to be “born again”? They say things like “I grew up in the church. I’ve been a Christian all my life. How do I get to be born again?” … Maybe they echo Nicodemus’ confusion, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"

I have heard many people speak with a sense of guilt that they don’t think they have been born again. They don’t have a moment they can point to when they were “saved”- a time when they had an overwhelming experience with God that changed their life. And they are faced with this paradox that they can’t “make” it happen. It has to happen to them, but they need it in order to be saved.

I think both these reactions can have dangers. To dismiss the idea of needing to be “born again” means we are dismissing Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. However, we can also become caught up in a particular definition of what “born again” means and be crushed by the weight of it.

How should we think about this idea of being “born again”?

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. Darkness is very symbolic in the Gospel of John. Darkness is associated with the human ways of the world that ignore God and God’s ways. To be in the dark is to not see clearly- it is ignorance. Nicodemus is a leader of the Jewish people. He is a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling council and law court for the Jewish people. By outward appearance Nicodemus is doing everything right. He takes the commandments seriously. He teaches them. He is high up the hierarchy in his community. The equivalent for us might be someone who was born in the church and has always been involved and is now in a position with some authority. Maybe like a priest or a bishop.

It seems like something is missing for Nicodemus though. He seeks out Jesus, who doesn’t have any of the outward religious credentials that Nicodemus has. Jesus isn’t a Pharisee. He doesn’t sit on an important council. He has been wandering around with a motley crew of fishermen and tax-collectors, while preaching. He’s only been doing this for three years. Based on outward appearance, Jesus should be going to Nicodemus for spiritual advice. … But, Jesus’ ministry is filled with power. … Nicodemus is humble enough to recognize that Jesus has something he doesn’t.

Sometimes we can be in the church and we think we are doing everything right. We tick off the right boxes, we are dutiful in the things we think we should be doing, but we still have that sense that something is missing.

Jesus says to Nicodemus, 

"Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."

 “Born from above” can also be translated as “born again”. St. John constantly uses words that have at least two meanings, so it seems to be deliberate, which means he wants elements of both meanings. … Nicodemus came to Jesus from the darkness and that darkness is still blinding him. He tries to interpret what Jesus is saying in a literal way- he starts talking about crawling into his mother’s womb as an old man.

In Jesus’ first statement he speaks about seeing the kingdom. This time Jesus is speaking about entering the kingdom- 

"Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” 

The Church has traditionally interpreted being “born of water” as meaning baptism. And that would make sense considering what John the Baptist said earlier in the Gospel about Jesus Baptizing with the Holy Spirit. Jesus seems to be affirming water baptism and then adding baptism with the Holy Spirit.

The Church Fathers saw these as connected. Baptism was about regeneration (St. Justin Martyr), a restoration of the image of God that begins a process of growth not the likeness of God (St. Irenaeus). They related the Holy Spirit descending on the baptismal waters with the Spirit hovering over the water at the creation in Genesis (St. Cyril of Jerusalem). St. John Chrysostom says that “water and the Spirit” is about one birth at baptism, rather than is being two separate events.

Baptism changes something real in us, and it transfers our allegiance from the powers of death … to Christ, and it implants divine life into us. So if you are baptized, then the teaching of the Early Church says that you are “born again”.

But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have times of special empowerment and encounter. I think a prayerful life dedicated to God is often marked with experiences. Some of these experiences are more dramatic than others. But these experiences cannot be conjured up. We can make ourselves ready for them by leading lives filled with prayer and Bible Study, and times of silence and solitude. But we cannot force it. It is outside our control- like the blowing of the wind. It is a gift. All we can do is open our hands to receive it, but our hands being outstretched does not mean we will receive it right in that moment. But neither should we expect to receive it if we fill our lives with busyness and distraction. Sometimes we can’t help this, but should be aware that this kind of frenetic activity can get in the way of experiencing God. … Sometimes it is church stuff that is keeping us too busy!

This kind of encounter is not something God is trying to keep away from us. Sometimes we are too busy to receive it. Sometimes we receive it and we don’t realize it has happened. Some encounter the Spirit like a bolt of lightning. Some encounter the Spirit like a glowing fire that slowly burns away inside of them.

To those who dismiss the question “Are you born again?” I challenge you to consider it more seriously. Have you had experiences with God? Have you been open to those experiences? Could you be more open to experiencing God?

To those who are troubled that they don’t have a date and a time associated with when they were “saved”, I would say consider more your love for God. Do you pray? Do you yearn for a deeper relationship with God? That is more important than having a “moment” you can name.

I believe and hope that I have been saved, that I’m being saved, and I will be saved. I believe and hope that I have been saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. I believe and hope that I am being saved by the work of the Spirit in my life, transforming me into who God wants me to be. I believe and hope that I will be saved when I am face to face with Christ when my life ends. … So, in a sense we are not born again only once. We are born again all the time. The Spirit is constantly renewing us and drawing us into a deeper relationship with the God of deep sacrificial love. AMEN