You Must Be Born Again

Trinity Sunday Sermon June 11, 2006

John 3:1-17

“You Must Be Born Again”

Our Gospel passage for today may be one of the most well-known conversations Jesus ever had: A Jewish leader named Nicodemus comes to see Jesus at night. Now, some commentators think this off-hours visit makes Nicodemus look sneaky or cowardly. But, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt—maybe that was the only time he could find Jesus alone. At any rate, the two of them have a short and puzzling discussion, and in it, Jesus makes a statement to Nicodemus that echoes to this day: He says, “You must be born again.”

Now, as you may know, there are other ways of translating the phrase “born again.” It can also be translated “You must be born from above” or “You must be born anew.” It’s not a complicated phrase. But it wasn’t until I changed denominations that I realized how controversial that simple statement is. Here’s what I mean:

You know there are people who believe that being “born again” is all about making a personal decision. I know people, for example, who would tell you that if you haven’t responded to a specific call to conversion, gone to an altar rail, knelt down and said the “sinner’s prayer,” you can’t possibly be born again.

On the other hand, I’ve also met people really dislike the phrase “born again.” They associate it with televangelists and tent revivals that manufacture emotion and try to base religion on it. Because of that association, these people don’t even want to respond when you ask them if they’ve been born again. In fact, sometimes they don’t even take the question seriously.

So, which group is right? What was Jesus talking to Nicodemus about? In other words, what does it mean to be “born again”? And how can you know if you’ve done it?

Well, first of all—let’s get one thing straight—being “born again” or “born anew” or “born from above” is the work of God—all Three Persons of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” so that we might be “born of the Spirit.”

For example, if you were baptized as an adult, you might be tempted to think that the work of Baptism was all yours—you got tired of living your old life, you decided to turn to God, you decided to get baptized, you decided to repent of your sins, you decided to start “living right.” Let me say about that something that an obstetrician friend once said to me: “We know what happens when new life starts, but we can’t make it happen whenever we want.” We can’t just get excited about Jesus, shed a few tears of remorse, get caught up in the sentiment or rhythm of a song, and then assume we’re born again—anymore than we can say a certain number of “Hail Mary’s” and make it happen. Jesus said it very plainly to Nicodemus: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or were it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” In other words, the new birth is the work of God—not the work of man or woman, boy or girl.

When Jesus obeyed His Father’s will and died on the cross for your sins and mine, His suffering and death paid our debt of guilt. So, Jesus puts you into a good relationship with God and makes your new birth possible. Without Jesus, you could not be born again.

But because of Jesus, God the Father has made it possible for the Holy Spirit to conceive new life in you.

That’s really important, because, you see, when the born-again process begins in you, your old self dies. The Bible explains it this way (Romans 6:3-4): “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

We come to Jesus at times, thinking that what we need is to feel better about ourselves; we think we need some help with a difficult relationship; we need a new job, or we just want a little self-satisfaction knowing that we’re doing the right thing…and what does Jesus say in response? “You don’t need a little help; you don’t need a new perspective on life; you don’t need to upgrade the quality of your life! You need to die to your old self and be born anew in Christ!” You may say, then, I’m not sure where I am in the birth process. Maybe you’ve been baptized; maybe you haven’t. Maybe you were baptized a long time ago, but lots of stuff has gone on since then, and you’re not sure how to make it right. Well, here’s what you need to know:

In Baptism, we die to our sins. That’s why some Christians like the symbolism of going under the water and then coming back out of it. You go under in your old self and come back up in the new self. Being born again means that you are no longer the same as before. When we are born from our mothers, even with our first breath we are already tainted by the sin that began with the first human beings. But your re-birth in Christ ushers you into a new life, clean before God. And in that cleanness, God begins to re-create you in his image (Ephesians 4:24; James 1:18). As the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he[/she] is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Furthermore, the Bible tells us, at the same time you are reborn, you are also adopted as a child of God (Ephesians 1:5), and you become a brother or a sister of Jesus. The Bible calls Jesus “the firstborn of many brother [and sisters] (Romans 8:29). Today’s second reading went so far as to say, “the children of God” are “joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). And you join the millions of people who are also in the “family of God,” which is what the Church really is.

At some point in this re-birth process, the Holy Spirit comes to live in the newly-adopted child of God. I say the Holy Spirit comes to live “at some point” because, although everything Jesus says to Nicodemus isn’t entirely clear, one thing is: You and I do not control the process of rebirth, and we can’t honestly say that we understand it. In fact, we frequently get it all wrong.

For example, if you were baptized as an infant or small child, you might be tempted to think that God not only did all the work in your Baptism but that God also does all the work of your new life. You might be tempted to think that you don’t need to do anything. Well, about that idea let me repeat what Martin Luther said: Without faith, Baptism profits us nothing. In other words, all the water and good will in the world will not create new life in a person unless faith receives that new life. “Again, Luther said, “The sacraments … are not fulfilled when they are taking place, but when they are being believed” (Sermon on the Holy and Blessed Sacrament of Baptism, 1519).

And that’s where the Holy Spirit’s work becomes so important: Re-birth, or regeneration, as it’s sometimes called, is the work of God, but it doesn’t end there. Being born again is just like any other gift—it doesn’t do you a bit of good unless you receive it. And receiving new life isn’t just a matter of submitting to a few minutes of dampness or even a full dunking. Baptism and the new birth encompasses the entire life of the Christian. Being “born anew” is a lifelong work of God that the Christian receives by the way he or she lives in faith.

So, here’s the sermon in a nutshell:

God has promised you a new life, which you can received by trusting that He is telling you the truth and then making life choices based on that trust. If you have been reborn by the will of God and are living that baptism and new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit—Thank God! If you have been born again but are not living your new life, here are four simple ways that you can exercise your faith in God’s Word and receive the new birth He promises:

1. Confess your sins and then trust God’s promise that your sins are forgiven. God has promised that He doesn’t hold confessed sin against you anymore. And then tell the devil to quit bothering you with memories that make you feel guilty and ashamed.

2. Next, every day, ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom about every single thing in your life—as to whether or not it pleases God.

3. And then, through the power the Holy Spirit gives you, discipline yourself to do the will of God—even when you don’t like it.

4. And finally, relax, smile, and bask in the joy of your new life in Christ, knowing that you are

pleasing God and living guilt free!

And if you’ve never been born again, but you want to be, know this: God invites you to let Him do that work in you. So, see me after this service or call or email Pastor Powell or me about when you can plan your Baptism and receive God’s gifts of forgiveness, welcome, and new birth.

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirits wants to birth a new life in you! The creation of that new life is not finished until your physical death and resurrection, but if you’re receiving and living your new life, it will be as obvious as the wind in the trees. AMEN.