By Water and Spirit

A Sermon About Baptism and a Christian Life

Preached on February 20, 2005

By the Rev. Thomas C. Davis, Ph.D.

Texts:

Genesis 12: 1-4a

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.

John 3: 1-17

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 is 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."

Sermon Text

In the student group I supervised as a campus pastor there was a student whose family name was the same as the main character's in today's gospel story:  Nicodemus.  I mention that because that student reminds me a lot of the Biblical Nicodemus.  He was earnest and sincere.  He was more naive than others his age.  He had a lot to learn, but knew that; and he wasn't afraid to ask questions.

You may have noticed that in many New Testament stories when learned Jews sought an audience with Jesus it was only to trip him up, make him look bad, weaken his influence with the masses; or else, get him to say something that would put him in trouble with the Romans.  But that's not the way I read Nicodemus in today's story.  When he asks Jesus whether a person can enter his mother's womb a second time to be born again, I don't hear a mocking tone in that question, do you?  I don't think the Biblical Nicodemus had a devious bone in his body.  Seems to me he was honestly puzzled by what Jesus was trying to tell him with all his Kingdom stories.  When Nicodemus mentioned to Jesus that he considered him a teacher come from God, I don't think he was bating a hook with a compliment.  I think he really meant it.  The student Nicodemus I knew was a straight shooter.  He didn't play games with people.  He really wanted to know how to get closer to God.  That's how I read the Nicodemus in our Bible story.  I have sympathy for him, don't you?  He was so earnest, and so clueless.  Why, he could stand for any one of us.  We could put ourselves right into his shoes:  "Jesus, tell us, how do we get to this wonderful Kingdom of God that you're always talking about?  It's obvious you're so very close to God.  But how do we get closer?"

"You have to be born from above," says Jesus.  The Greek can be translated two ways:  "from above," or "again."  We're used to the phrase, "born-again Christian."  It carries a lot of cultural and political freight these days; and so it's hard to read this morning's story without current connotations of the phrase imposing themselves on our understanding.  This is always a pitfall in reading the Bible with understanding.  We have to be careful not to let our modern notions mislead us.  Actually, when Jesus replied to Nicodemus he said, "You can't see the Kingdom of God without being born from above."  It was Nicodemus who shifted the conversation to being born again.  That was because he didn't understand that Jesus was speaking metaphorically, and that there is more than one way to be born.  Jesus was trying to explain to Nicodemus that in order to see God's Kingdom, which is right here before our eyes all the time, we have to behold life with a totally new perspective.  When we do that, the effect is like being born again.

Nicodemus--may God bless him--didn't get it.  "How can anyone who is old be born again?" he asked.  Jesus had every reason to get exasperated with him then:  "From above, from above, from above, Nicodemus!  What's so hard about this?  It happens by the power of God's Spirit!  It's not so difficult!" 

But it was difficult for Nicodemus, you see, just as it is for us, often.  For we can't manage to domesticate this Spirit, which is so free and blows where it wills.  We would like some control at least.  What can we do, Jesus?  Tell us what to do, to enter the Kingdom!

I think it was the church that answered, not Jesus, but the church:  "No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."  That mention of water is baptism lingo.  Baptism signifies dying and being born again, like the Rehoboth toddler who gets bowled over by a wave, over and over and over, like tumbling in a washing machine, roaring and whooshing all about; and the world is coming to an end, surely; but then, you stumble, sputtering, breathless, reaching out to mama, who lifts you into the sunshine! 

Baptism can be the beginning of salvation, which Jesus expresses through his Kingdom stories.  Can be, I say, but there is no guarantee.  Baptism is no magical fix.  It's just a way of marking a turning point, that's all.  One decides to say good-bye to the old and familiar, to die to one's old ways and surrender to the Spirit's wild ride, with no more control than a flailing babe fresh from the womb.  If you really dig what it's about, baptism takes courage, because, whether you're the one making the promises for yourself, or whether you're the one making the promises for another, you're saying: I surrender.  Jesus, I'm yours.  I will cling to you for dear life while your Spirit whirls me where it wills!

We have just baptized little Rose.  Some people speak of christening babies, but Christening is too tame a word.  It smacks of tea and crumpets.  To baptize or be baptized is a daring thing.  It signifies dieing and rising to a new way of life that we cannot control, for Spirit blows us where it wills.  Such a daring sacrament can only be the beginning of a bold adventure under the awesome mercy of God.  So, may God give Rose and her family and our church the courage to trust the Holy Spirit to which we have just dedicated her life with a blessing of water, a blessing that affirms that we have surrendered ourselves and her too.  Jesus, we are yours.  Amen.