3 12 17 Born Again in a Political Age John 3:1-21

I went to the Leadership meeting of the Community Renewal Society

yesterday at New Landmark Church on the Near West Side. I carpooled with
members of the Unitarian Church of Evanston who I had met before on CRS
outings. I mentioned my sermon for today would be called Born Again in a
Political Age and that I was somewhat uneasy about having publicized the title
and using the word Political. My travel companions bust out laughing, saying,
we thought you meant you were nervous about using the term born again! we
talk about politics all the time.
Either understanding was a sign that we very easily compartmentalize the
spheres of our world, and what belongs in one church or another. Perhaps it
feels more appropriate that there are political discussions at the Unitarian
Church, and discussion about violence and homelessness at St. Sabina Catholic
Church, located in a neighborhood that is beset by guns and gangs, or more
appropriate to talk about being born again at the Vinyard Christian Center, where
Sunday service includes witnessing about Jesus impact on individual lives. What
is appropriate these days, however, is the overlapping of all our concerns into one
whole. A member of our Bible study likened our current societal climate to living
in a Mixmaster.
Thats actually a great image of God for us today: God as the head chef
intertwining all of creation in a food processor. It is an image that reminds us God
did not intend for us to live our lives in separation from each other, nor
separating out distinct aspects of our lives. That which affects one, affects all.
I asked Melia, our Church Administrator, when I got back from my trip to
Colombia how long eggs can keep in the refrigerator. She said they actually last a

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long time, but she recommended cracking them into a small dish before adding
them to a recipe, to have a chance to look at it and smell it before using it. Once
the egg goes in, it impacts everything else about the recipe, right? So make sure
each egg is okay. Similarly, when we consider what to add to our lives, whether it
is a new relationship or new spiritual practice, such as those described in the
Lenten pamphlet in your bulletin today, we need to examine it and try it first,
because once it is introduced into our lives, it will affect all of the spheres in
which we function.
We mentioned last week that the season of Lent can be a time of reflection
about what we take on in our lives, rather than what we give up. We are mindful
that whatever you and I take on will not be able to be relegated to only one part
of our being. If you take on a practice of daily prayer, it will affect your work life.
If you choose to give more money to social service organizations, it will affect how
you relate to your children. If you begin reading more in depth about political
events, it will impact your relationship with God. If you take on the challenge of
forgiving people who have wronged you, it will make an impression on your
physical well-being. Does that make sense?
Nicodemus the Pharisee was not ready to have his life impacted by the
teacher and healer, Jesus of Nazareth. Nicodemus tried to compartmentalize his
curiosity and his newfound interest in this man of God. He even started his
conversation with Jesus by saying, We know you are a teacher who has come
from God. Bam! (sorry, I couldnt resist another reference to cooking! My
apologies to Emeril.) You are a teacher who has come from God. A statement of
faith! So he believed, but he didnt. He had questions, but didnt want to ask
Jesus in the daytime with all the other pharisees around. He came at night, like a

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kid If its dark, no one will find out. He was even playful with Jesus, as though
trying to convince himself, this isnt really serious:
So how can someone be born again, and go back into the womb, huh? Jesus
bantered back, youre the biblical scholar, you tell me!
The rest of the conversation about Gods Chosen One coming to save all
people, and about people preferring the darkness to the light are not statements
of condemnation. The rest of the conversation is about Jesus encouraging
Nicodemus to come out of the darkness literally the dark of night in which they
stood that moment and into the light. Jesus heard and saw that Nicodemus was
on the verge of being changed completely, but he struggled to keep this
newfound faith in Gods messenger at an arms length. In that moment it was too
great a risk for him to speak and act publicly in support of Jesus teachings and the
revolutionary nature of living by the heart of the law rather than the letter of the
law.
We meet Nicodemus later in the gospel of John after the crucifixion. John
wrote that Nicodemus the one who came to Jesus by night joined with Joseph
of Arimathea the one who was a disciple in secret to provide the spices and
location for Jesus burial. Two clandestine disciples made a final offering so that
Jesus would have dignity even after an undignified (and undeserved) death. After
three years of Jesus ministry, these two men still kept their faith hidden. What
does it take for the impact of Jesus on someones life to be visible/identifiable? Is
it a matter of time? Openness? Accepting the invitation?
At what point do we know when a new practice that we have taken on
during Lent, or our willingness to be a follower of Jesus, has become integrated,

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or fully mixed, into the batter of our lives? When do we know when we have
been reawakened to faith, or born again?
We know we have been born again or reawakened when we can see, feel
and hear elements of faith spilling over into other areas of our lives. We know,
when we no longer make an effort to draw lines between the spheres of our lives.
We know when we find ourselves speaking words of witness and faith in the
rotunda of the state capitol, or at the soccer field, or on the Metra platform. We
are born again when Jesus is extraordinarily present in unexpected places of our
lives.
One way to understand being born again is to reflect on the political rebirth
of many U.S. citizens in the last few months. Youth, elders, children, students,
retirees, rich and poor, are newly awakened to the impact of the political sphere
on their lives. There is a new hunger for information about the political process,
about the constitution, the electoral college, the role of the attorney general, the
relationship between federal and state governance, and how laws come into
being. This rebirth, or transformation among people living in the U.S. is evidenced
by the way in which conversations have changed, and priorities are being
challenged. We see more clearly that if we want to make changes in local
homelessness, for example - an act of faith - we need to engage in the political
process. That has always been true, but is becoming clearer to more people now.
As one leader among many in this church, my role is to reflect on and call
attention to the way in which our spiritual rebirth can have this same ripple
effect. On some level, each of us has been impacted by the life of Jesus. Each of
us has experienced an otherness that is spiritual or divine or a higher power
that has made a difference in our lives. These experiences cannot be kept in the

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dark. The sacred in our lives is not contained; it must spill over into every other
part of our lives. The faith we hold dear in this building, in our hymns, our prayers
and our fellowship, in order for it to be fully mixed into the whole of our lives,
must impact these other aspects of ourselves.
This is why it is so important that we are commissioning each other to do
the work of faith in the community. People of faith in public life political life,
education, support, care, development, technology, service, etc. are the
evidence of Gods hand at the mixer, intentionally interweaving all of existence
into an entire creation that is truly Born Again.
Amen,

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John 3:1-21

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the

Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do
these signs that you do apart from the presence of God. Jesus
answered him, Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom
of God without being born from above. Nicodemus said to him,
How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a
second time into the mothers womb and be born? Jesus answered,
Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without
being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh,
and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I
said to you, You must be born from above. The wind blows where
it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where
it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of
the Spirit. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be?Jesus
answered him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not
understand these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what
we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive
our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do
not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly
things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who
descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.Indeed,
God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who
believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are
condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of
the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has
come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light
because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and
do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be
exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it
may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.