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Lenten devotions 2008

FEB. 15 - TO BE BORN AGAIN
By Ann Hostetler, professor of English

SCRIPTURE: John 3:1-17 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete Scripture.

DEVOTIONAL:
What does it mean to be born again? In one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last speeches, "Where Do We Go From Here?" the great nonviolent leader retold the story of Nicodemus's night visit to Jesus. King interprets Jesus's instructions to the young Jewish ruler -- "you must be born again" -- to mean that "your whole structure must be changed." In this speech, King was attempting to convince the Southern Christian Leadership Commission to support him in calling for an end to the Vietnam War. King knew that nothing less than a radical change of heart -- reflected in structural change -- would motivate Americans to end the war. This was obvious to King because he himself could "see" from a perspective of rebirth, but many of his supporters did not share this vision.

I've always assumed that the phrase in John 3:3, "no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above," meant that we will not go to heaven if we are not born again. But in light of King's speech, I began to understand this passage in a new way: that without a rebirth -- a structural change within our hearts and minds -- we cannot see -- or even be aware of -- the extent to which the kingdom of God is present in our lives at this very moment.

Birth is not an instant process, even though the ways in which the phrase "born again" is bandied about in our culture might suggest otherwise. Birth is a journey, a crossing from one state into another, fraught with pain, uncertainty and danger, as well as joy. When we trust God to truly change our hearts, we embark on a journey which utterly changes us -- from the inside out.

SCRIPTURE: John 3:1-17 (NRSV)
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 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 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.

Posted at 13:48 #