Old Dog, New Tricks

John 3:1-15
March 1, 2025
Lent 2

William G. Carter

 

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 unless God is with that person.” 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 mother’s 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 the 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.

 

The committee meeting was over. The church had calmed down after a busy night. It was a Thursday. Since I try to take Fridays off, Thursday begins my weekend. My desk was still covered with papers. As I began to put everything away, I heard the side door open and close. I stood instinctively to look out into the parking lot. Didn’t see any vehicle except my own, so I sat back down, then called out, “Hello?” 

A cheerful face appeared at my door. I’ll call her “Emily.” Hey Emily, what’s going on?

“I saw the light, and realized I had food to drop off in the narthex. I’ll be right back.”

Emily hadn’t been part of the church family for very long. A few months, maybe. She had appeared quietly in a worship service, came back a few times. She disappeared for a bit, and then had returned pretty regularly. I didn’t know her very well. I don’t know if anybody did. She kept her identity close to the chest.

“Glad you were still here,” she said when she reappeared. “I hope I’m not keeping you.” Oh, glad to see you. I’m clearing off my desk before I went home.

“Thanks, Rev. I won’t keep you.” It’s no problem at all. It’s good to see you.

She said, “Well, it’s taken a while for me to connect around here. But I like it very much. Worship gives me something to think about. The music is great.” She paused, then added, “Never thought I’d find myself back in a church.” Oh?

“Do you mind if I sit for a minute?” Not at all. Have a seat.

“Well, it’s all kind of awkward. You’ve probably never heard a story like mine.” I looked at the papers still on my desk, then sat down and said, “What kind of story do you have?”

“It’s long,” she said, glancing toward the window, “and it’s getting late.” Oh, I’m not in a hurry.

“Well, I got involved in a church sometime back. The church where my mom took me as a child closed down, so we didn’t go anywhere else. Years went by, and then some friends at work invited me to another church with them. One of them was kind of cute, so there was that, too. Turns out, he had his eye on somebody else and that didn’t go anywhere. But I kept going. It was interesting, lot of energy, people were nice. And it never quite clicked.”

The church?

“Yes. Looking back on it, the preacher and the people kept saying the same thing over and over again. It was like a drum beat: you must be born again, you must be born again. Over and over. The same message. The church where my mom took me never talked like that.”

She paused. Then she said, “I kind of know what they were getting at. They kept talking about how Jesus will give you joy. That sounded appealing, but they weren’t really very joyful as a church. In fact, they weren’t as nice as they first appeared.” Oh?

“No. In fact, they could be pretty rude. One lady asked what I did. I told her I’m a counselor. Then she said, ‘It must be a privilege to teach Bible verses to the people who see you.’ I said, ‘Why would I do that? I’m there to listen, not to teach.’ She spun around and walked away, like I said something wrong. When I saw her again and tried to explain myself, she ignored me and walked away. It left a bad taste in my mouth.”

“After that, I began to see a lot of these people weren’t very happy at all. They had a lot of rules, a lot of expectations. Some of them were happy to tell others how to live. One man stood at the door one Sunday and handed out flyers telling people how to vote. It was like they were scared of the world. And so cautious about doing something that others would judge as wrong. I felt like I was suffocating.”

“One Sunday morning, I decided to take a break. Sleep in, like a lot of people do. The next week, I decided to do it again. It felt good. So that’s why I stopped going to that church. It was too much.”

Do you have any regrets? “No, not at all. In fact, one day at the grocery story I saw the lady who had given me a hard time about the Bible verses. Know what she said? “I haven’t seen you at church.” Not “Hello,” or “how are you,” or even “What is your name?” I just looked at her, sadly. Then she said, “Maybe you’ll be back when you’re born again.” Rev. Bill, I don’t even know what that means.”

Well, Emily, I suddenly feel like I’m inside a Bible story. Let me offer just a couple of things. First, that phrase “born again” comes from the story of Nicodemus, third chapter of John. Some might not tell you this, but the phrase “born again” is a very slippery phrase. Which is why Nicodemus didn’t understand it. In fact, in the Gospel of John, a lot of people don’t understand Jesus, much less understand what he says.

She looked at me, curious. “What do you mean by ‘slippery’?”

For one thing, the Greek word translated as “again” has more than one meaning. It can also be translated as “from above,” born from above.

“OK,” she said slowly, “but what does that mean?”

It’s slippery, but what I think Jesus is talking about those occasions – and they happen more than once – when God wakes up our faith. When the Holy Spirit stirs our spirits. When Jesus becomes real and the whole thing makes sense – and then it slips away again.

“I’ve had moments like that,” she said. “Last month when I was here for communion, you said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body,’ I had this moment when I sensed Jesus was in my hands, and I took him in. Time seemed to stop. Then the organ started to play and the moment went away.”

Yep, that’s how it is sometimes. Faith comes, then it goes. It’s like the wind. You know it when it blows against your face, but you never see it. You can see what the wind does or has done, even if it’s not happening to you. There’s no telling when this is going to happen. It comes from above.

Emily looked intent. She said, “I remember some of the Bible story. Wasn’t Nicodemus born again? I mean, born from above?”

There’s no evidence, really. He was curious. He came to Jesus after dark. That might signal he was still in the dark. He had loads of religious training. Every Pharisee did. Yet there was something missing at the center of it all.

“Didn’t it help that he went to see Jesus?”

Actually, we don’t know. The Gospel of John is full of unfinished stories. They start and we don’t know what happens what’s next. Like the story of Nicodemus. It begins with this conversation, then it starts to sound like the Gospel of John is giving a speech. Or Jesus was. Can’t really tell. There are no quotation marks in the Greek text. Nicodemus kind of disappears, back into the shadows.

And then, he comes back, not once but twice more. In chapter seven, he shows up to defend Jesus against false charges (7:50). Just out of the blue! Then at the end of the book, Nicodemus returns again, after Jesus has been crucified. He shows up with a hundred pounds of embalming spice for the body of Jesus (19:39). That’s a whole lot more embalming spice than anybody would have needed.

Emily started laughing. What’s so funny? “And Jesus didn’t stay embalmed for very long, did he!”

No, I’m glad you catch the comedy of that. It’s an unfinished story of a man with an unfinished faith. Just like the rest of us. But we have these moments, sometimes even seasons, when everything locks into view. And they are always about Jesus: who he is, the kind of God that he reveals, the power of his Spirit when it comes to us. One moment after another leads to growth. We learn to trust the Unseen God that Jesus comes to reveal. That’s the ticket you know: trusting who we cannot see. This is what John calls “faith.”

We sat in the quiet for a moment. Then Emily said, “I’ve had more of those moments than I realized. That’s why I keep coming here. I want to be part of that, whatever it is. That’s why I come to worship whenever I can. That’s why I brought groceries to drop off.”

There’s a word for it, you know.

“A word for what?”

For the thing you want to be part of. The whatever it is. The word is “basileia,” which means “kingdom” or “dominion.” As in the “kingdom of God.” It’s wherever or whenever God is ruling over us. We can’t manage it or control it…”

“You mean, control it, like that born again church I went to?”

Well, I can’t say that. But I can say is that faith is a gift from God. It’s not a human achievement. It comes from above. It can feel like a birth. Mostly, though, it feels like a life. A whole lot of life. And Jesus is at the center of it all. Always at the center.

We sat in more silence. Then Emily said, “You know, if I keep at this, I might end up believing in God. Thanks, Bill. Have a good night.”

With that, out she went. And it didn’t seem like night at all. 

(c) William G. Carter. All rights reserved.