Lent 2

Lent 2 (John 3:1-17) You must be born again.

If you are born once you die twice. If you are born twice you die once.

Jesus came to Earth to give a species lost in separation, sin and death a new life. The new life starts with a new birth. The new birth can be described as being born again. The new life is a gift.

It is no coincidence that Jesus first chose to reveal this amazing gift to one of the preeminent religious teachers of the day. Nicodemus was a teacher of the Law. He was a member of a ruling authority called the Sanhedrin. He was an officially recognized and honored theologian. And, he was a legal authority with the power to judge whether or not other people kept the law.

As with all people who exercise power Nicodemus lived with fear. If he showed any weakness, any compromise, any hesitation in upholding the law and defending the religion then others on the Sanhedrin would turn against him, convict him and condemn him. In the worst case scenario he could be found guilty of blasphemy and be executed.

Law based religion is fear based religion. There is no fear in the person of Jesus Christ. There is only the perfect love of God. Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love transforms fear into faith.

Nicodemus built his life and his career within the structures of law based religion. He knew the rewards and the punishments. He lived with the fear. The deepest fear is that no matter how hard I try and how dedicated I am I can never be perfect. The Law is always subject to interpretation and enforcement by people as imperfect as I am.
Since I cannot be perfect I need to be clever. I need to cultivate alliances within the power structure. And, I need to inspire fear to make sure my allies keep their promises.

Law based religion is fear based religion.

Nicodemus could not just come to Jesus in broad daylight to ask his questions. They were very logical questions, very good questions. As a religious ruler Nicodemus could not afford to be seen as indecisive. He had to project confidence and certainty that he knew exactly what God wanted and how human beings could obligate God to give us what we want.

Law based religion does not invite questions. Law based religion rejects discussion. Law based religion dominates.

Nicodemus appears to have understood the weakness in his approach to religion. He seems to have come to that wonderful place where he asked himself: is that all there is? Is religion all about imposing rigid rules on myself and other people? Is religion about rewards and punishments? Is there fundamentally only condemnation in religion, in God?

Nicodemus recognized he had a problem. It was a beautiful problem because it led him to ask questions. It led him to Jesus Christ.

So, Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cover of darkness. He came with his questions. He came with his fear, and shame and guilt that he, a religious expert and judge, lacked something. He came with fear that Jesus would not have an answer. He came with hope that Jesus just might have an answer. He discovered that Jesus just doesn’t have an answer Nicodemus could weigh against other religious teachings and graft into his own system. Jesus is the answer.

Nicodemus introduces his question with a statement. He intends the statement to flatter Jesus. He acknowledges that “we”, the religious elite, consider you, Jesus, to be a teacher.

From Nicodemus’ position this was a major concession. After all, Jesus had no seal of approval from any school. He had no degree, no preaching license, no human authority.

Nicodemus he even explains why the religious elite have come to this conclusion. It is the miracles. The miracles are evidence that God is working out some purpose in Jesus.

Nicodemus is not quite ready to ask his question. Jesus perceives this. So, Jesus makes a statement designed specifically to provoke a response and a question from Nicodemus. This is important to ponder.

Jesus had never met Nicodemus but he knew him. He knew him better than Nicodemus knew himself. Jesus knew Nicodemus because God the Father had created Nicodemus by, through and for God the Son in the power of God the Holy Spirit. God the Father had created Nicodemus according to the plan, the pattern and the purpose of God the Son. Jesus saw his own image in Nicodemus. That image manifested in a unique personality filled with talents and gifts and potential.

Jesus also saw where Original Separation had distorted that image. Jesus perceived how sin had eroded and corrupted that image. And, Jesus observed how fear, self will and pride had led Nicodemus to create a false self that had nothing in common with the Image and Likeness of God imprinted on his soul. Nicodemus used his false self to defend against the demands of the Law, other people, and the false image of God Nicodemus had embraced. There is no law or religious ritual Jesus could give Nicodemus to restore what Nicodemus had lost.

There is in fact no solution to the problem Nicodemus had become and was experiencing short of a total transformation. That transformation is exactly what Jesus announced to Nicodemus.

You must be born again.

A soul lost in separation creates a personality grounded in fear. A soul lost in separation defends itself from self discovery through pride. A soul lost in separation is a soul already experiencing the consequence of separation: death.
Nicodemus just didn’t need some new ideas. He needed a new life. In modern slang Jesus might have said just that. Get a life, Nicodemus. What you have now is not life. As busy as you are, as rich and powerful as you are, you are dead in the inward recess of your soul.

You exist, Nicodemus, but you don’t live. Get a life. Here, take mine.
I have come from the Father in the fullness of life, eternal life. Take my life, Nicodemus. All you need to do is experience a new birth. You have been born of the flesh Nicodemus. Now you need to be born of the Spirit.

What Jesus told Nicodemus was beyond comprehension. It was outside the parameters of religion and culture and experience. It was in fact a solution to a problem Nicodemus did not want to accept, let alone understand.

And so, Nicodemus challenged Jesus. At least he did it with a question. A question is the first step into the new life of God’s Kingdom.

How can this be? Nicodemus asks. He is confused and frustrated. He had praised Jesus and expected some courtesy and some compliment in return. He wanted an interesting insight or a comment he could store away and repeat at dinner parties. Jesus read the deeper longing of his soul. Nicodemus wanted meaning and purpose.

That meaning and purpose is not Law or religion. It is not a clever comment or new teaching. It is a new life and a new way of living.

Nicodemus struggled with his own resistance. He was lost and did not want to be found. Yet, God the Father had created Nicodemus in the image and likeness of God the Son. The Son stood before him. The Son offered him the deepest desire of his soul. Jesus offered him a personal relationship with the Divine.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh. It is born into a species lost in separation and distorted by sin. That which is born of the flesh will die.
That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The Spirit of God is the co-eternal third person of the Holy Trinity who unites us to God the Father through a personal relationship with God the Son. That relationship is eternal, it is unconditional love, it is holiness and it is life. In Jesus Christ, there is eternal life because Jesus is the co-eternal Son of the Eternal Father.

If you are born once you are born of the flesh. You die physically as the body of flesh wears out. You die physically because you have already died spiritually as you participate in the choice our species made to separate from God.

If you are born twice you die once. Your body still experiences physical death. But your soul is now united to God in Christ and filled with the Holy Life Giving Spirit. Those who are born twice only die physically. They already have eternal life.

Eternal life is the new life in Christ and the new way of living in the Holy Spirit.
Have you been born again?

The gift of God in Christ is a new birth into the eternal life, love and holiness of the Blessed and eternal Trinity.

Do not marvel when Jesus says you must be born again. It is his gift to give. He offers the gift to all people everywhere. It is our choice to receive or reject the gift. It isn’t religion or law. It isn’t culture or power or pride or prestige. It is life. Abundant life. Eternal life. Amen.