“A New Birth” a Sermon Delivered by Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell at Myers

“A New Birth” A sermon delivered by Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell at Myers Park Baptist Church on March 12, 2017 Lent 2 from John 3:1-17 In the late 1600’s, a fire started in Germany among a fervent group of Lutheran Pietists. Its flames were fanned by John Wesley and other English Methodists whose hearts were strangely warmed. It inspired the preaching of Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards and sparked movements, like the First and Second Great Awakenings, with emotional worship, camp meetings, tent revivals, and fiery preaching that baptized the frontier—it created the Bible Belt, and fashioned the soul of early America. Later, it captured the imagination of a young student named Billy Graham who started a radio broadcast and then took the show on the road preaching to 2.2 billion people at “Crusades” filled with gospel music, altar-calls, and conversion experiences for 3.2 million souls around the world. It has had a strong impact on economics and politics in the United States since the Civil War and influenced the outcome of every presidential election since 1976. It is known as Evangelicalism and its chief doctrine is the belief that every person must be “born again” in order to be saved. After serving seven months in prison, the Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson published a bestselling book entitled Born Again describing his path to faith. That book played a significant role in establishing and solidifying the born again identity as a cultural construct in American life. That same year, Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, publically declared that he was born again” and, since that time, every person who has been President of the United States has proclaimed that they are a “born again” Christian. Today, about 40% of Americans identify themselves as “born again”. One of the jokes about born again Christians is that they are just as big a pain the second time around . I include myself in that. On this first Sunday in the sacred season of Lent during this time of deep self-examination as we are confronted by this story from the gospel of John where the phrase “born again” was born, we might want to start by asking ourselves some questions about this movement: What has 40% of Americans being “born again” brought in the world? Has it made any difference? Has it born any goodness? Has it brought light into the world as its founder bore or, has it brought the world more darkness? We must not forget, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, under the cover of darkness. He was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, a religiously orthodox scribe, a leader and ruler of the Jewish people, a member of the Sanhedrin—the Jewish council—they were affiliated with the nationalist party that was colluding with the Roman power occupying Jerusalem. Nicodemus was a powerful leader © 7 who was a part of the very group that was most opposed to Jesus, and yet for some reason he went out and journeyed to find Jesus in the dark of night. Why did he go at night? Perhaps he was afraid that someone might see him. Perhaps he went at night for fear of losing his position and power by associating with this radical unruly prophet. Perhaps he was a secret follower, a private believer, a crypto-Christian, a “fly by night” disciple of Jesus who could not risk or jeopardize his worldly respect, authority, prestige, and influence and all he had worked so hard to secure and achieve by talking with Jesus during the daylight. Or, perhaps the darkness is a metaphor for Nicodemus’ inability to see. Theologian Sam Wells says, Nicodemus represents the gospels’ ambivalence about whether discipleship can coexist with wealth, privilege, and power. Such people make important contributions to the gospel story, becoming visible at just the point when the regular disciples are invisible. But it seems they appear only at the evening hour, once their “work,” their public role, is done. They may have a personal faith, but it is not clear how that personal faith makes a public difference. The question remains: can someone be a follower of Jesus if they have no public witness, if their faith makes no difference, and if only follow Jesus in the shadows at night? What kind of disciple is Nicodemus? The old gospel hymn “Ye Must Be Born Again” that was popularized at Billy Graham revivals by the deep baritone of George Beverly Shea said “A ruler once came to Jesus by night to ask him the way of salvation and light; the Master made answer in words true and plain, ‘Ye must be born again.” The only problem is that Nicodemus did not come to Jesus asking about salvation and light. He respectfully called Jesus “Rabbi” and claimed, “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.” Nicodemus wasn’t asking Jesus how to get saved. In fact, he didn’t ask a question at all. It is as if this secret follower of Jesus was trying to justify himself to Jesus saying, “I can see it with my own eyes. The things you are doing must be signs from God. Aren’t you proud of me Jesus? I believe in you!” Poor Nicodemus must have been very disappointed when Jesus replied, “Seeing and believing in the signs is not enough, Nicodemus. Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above!” Jesus didn’t make things any clearer for Nicodemus when he came to him by night; instead, he made them darker. Nicodemus was a well-trained, highly educated, powerful religious leader. “The Rev. Dr. Nicodemus” is how we should think of him—approaching Jesus fully assured of himself, believing that he understood the signs and what they were pointing to. And, if he could see the signs and believe, then he must be in good shape and on the right track. But Jesus challenged Nicodemus’ ability to see with an incredibly confusing statement—that is even more befuddling in the original language. The Greek word “anothen”—has a double or even triple meaning. It can mean “from the first”, “from the beginning”, “for a second time”, “again”, or “anew”, and it can also mean “from above, from the top, from on high, and from heaven”. But as brilliant as the Rev. Dr. Nicodemus was, with all his knowledge, intelligence and credentials, Jesus words sounded absolutely absurd, which is why he said, “How can anyone be born after growing old? Can one enter into a mother’s womb a second time and be born all over again?” © 7 As a minister, pastor, and religious leader like Nicodemus, I have to say, that it gives me great confidence to know that Jesus confused other people just like me. Even the sharpest minds don’t understand what Jesus is talking about. In their encounter at night and throughout this conversation in the dark, Nicodemus and Jesus were speaking on entirely different levels. Jesus was speaking metaphorically on a mystical plane about a revolution of heart, mind, body, and soul—a holistic transformation that was needed for the kingdom, but the metaphor was completely lost on Nicodemus who could only hear what Jesus was saying literally, materially, and biologically. He could not escape the darkness of his own dualistic thinking—a closed black and white theological system that separated the spiritual from the material world. Nicodemus thought that, if he saw the signs and believed in Jesus, that would be enough—but Jesus did not come to usher in a surface level change. He did not come to impress Nicodemus with signs or transform his sight. He came to completely transform Nicodemus’ entire life. He came to transform the entire world as well. Like Nicodemus, regardless of how many degrees we have, how many years we have been in church, how many leadership positions we have held, how many ordinations and certifications we’ve been given, we are all inheritors of a closed theological system. The “born again” theology we have inherited, that has dominated our nation’s cultural landscape for over 250 years would have us believe that being “born again” is about asking Jesus into our hearts, securing our eternal destiny, and punching our ticket into the pearly gates of heaven. That makes “born again” a fixed theological term that flattens Jesus powerful claim into an overly spiritualized, one-dimensional promise of other worldly salvation. It makes following Jesus seem as easy, as clean, and as cheap as saying a few words. And I fear that those who cling to this way of thinking have more in common with the Rev. Dr. Nicodemus than they do with Rabbi Jesus. There is one similarity though. Jesus did want transformation, but just not our eyes, our minds, our worldviews, or our beliefs . or even our spirit. Jesus wanted a complete transformation of everything. The traditional evangelical idea of being “born again” simply does not go deep enough. Before he died, the Christian music artist Rich Mullins often said that when he was in high school he got born again once a year on the last day of summer church youth camp. He said he needed that and, when he got to college, he realized he was so messed up that he needed to get born again every couple of months. Close to the end of his life Rich said, “The more I live the more I believe that I need to be born again every single day.” Interestingly, Mullins’ philosophy sounds a lot like the great spiritual teacher Gandhi who said, “Every night, when I go to sleep, I die.

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