WATCHWORD:
1-2 After dark one night a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a member of the sect of the Pharisees, came for an interview with Jesus. “Sir,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.” 3 Jesus replied, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.” 4 “Born again!” exclaimed Nicodemus. “What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 6 Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven; 7 so don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again! John 6:1-7
Meditation:
Born-Again, Again
In a recent Watchword, I revealed that it’s been 45 years since my own born-again experience, a singular event in my faith walk. It has given me a sense of spiritual freedom that, even today, is still fresh in my mind and memory.
In that recent Watchword, I referenced Nicodemus and his conversation with Jesus and observed that Jesus was not very patient with this Pharisee, this scholar, this teacher of the law. He had been curious enough to come to Jesus at night, and to tell him “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.” What Jesus had told him was puzzling…”Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.”
What is going through the mind of the Pharisee, as he walked away from that encounter with Jesus. He was a scholar, a thinker, a teacher, so he must have been thinking about that last comment of Jesus. He had heard multiple stories of Jesus’ ministry, the healings, teachings that were said to violate Jewish law, and now he was face-to-face with this “radial rabbi”. Where do you suppose his mind was? What could he have been thinking? He already told Jesus that what he was teaching was too simplistic and while it was attracting popularity now, it would soon wear off. He had acknowledged that God had sent Jesus to “teach us”, so, in his mind, what is the meaning of born again?
We know that Nicodemus is mentioned again, this time as being present on Calvary Hill. Why was he there? Was it coincidental that he was present at the death of Christ? We know that he teamed up with Joseph of Arimathea in claiming the body of Jesus. Again, Nicodemus was a scholar and a thinker and a teacher of the law. In all probability, after his encounter with Jesus, he had returned to the holy writ to see if he had missed anything in his own understanding of God’s Word. So, now, more than a year later, he is there to respectfully bury Jesus.
Being born-again is an encounter with Christ. We see that throughout the New Testament, and if we read with discerning eyes certain passages of the Old Testament, meeting Jesus was a life changer. So, why would that meeting not have eventually changed Nicodemus? A Pharisee being born again? Radical!
So, what? Well, the question that had inspired these last two Watchwords was: What does it mean that you must die, if you want to be alive? In conversation, another friend had responded, “When you accept the Lord, your Old Self dies and a new person comes forth,” a good partial answer. In baptism, you become a child of God. When you confess Christ as Lord and Savior, you become a new being. The baggage of sin is lifted, you have a new slate, and a new life in Christ.
I am reading an interesting book entitled The Language of Heaven, by Pat Gano. The book starts with a dialogue between a sinner with a lot of baggage, and God, who is inviting her to come to him as His child. Part two has the sinner, now the child, carrying on conversations with God as Father, expressing wonder and awe in her new life. Later in the book, the author has written wonderful and creative prayers to God, reflecting new life in Christ, and has scattered Scripture, suggestions and spiritual plans to draw the reader closer to God.
As a Christian and a psychologist, reading this book has been like a spiritual case study, engrossing, and inspiring. One can imagine the unfolding of a life after the experience of being born again. Gano credits God’s inspiration throughout the book, a fact that I can relate. I am forever grateful for that experience, 45 years ago. Without God’s inspiration, these Watchwords and my books would never get written. Amen.
Turn to Page 11:
Anyone who has experienced an encounter with Christ on a Cursillo weekend, would not only know what that meant, but would probably recite the content of that page. It is an invitation for the Holy Spirit to come. Today’s prayer is the content of Page 11.
Page 11 Prayer:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your spirit and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Oh God, who, by the light of the Holy Spirit, instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant, that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolations through Christ our Lord.
I believe, Lord, that You are here present. Although my eyes do not see You my faith senses You. Take any stray thoughts from my mind. Make me understand the truths which You wish to teach me. Help me make up my mind to put them into practice. Your servant is listening, speak Lord, to my soul. Amen.
