Sermon for Trinity Sunday and the Parish Picnic, by Susan Daughtry

Welcome to St. Thomas’ outdoor service and picnic. With this beautiful day, and the band, sitting out here under the trees, it feels like we’re at a revival! So it’s fitting to have a revival scripture from the Gospel: Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again."

‘Born again’—that phrase has profound significance in American Protestantism. Being born again means having a conversion experience—washed clean from sin, turned your life around, committed yourself to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. AND often there’s a whole set of attendant cultural and political expectations that go with that phrase, ‘born again.’ Stacks of doctoral dissertations have been written about the way American evangelical Christianity evolved into the Religious Right. ‘Born again’ carries cultural connotations that evoke strong feelings in most people. This Gospel is where that phrase ‘born again’ comes from.

But you will notice in your bulletin that in this translation, Jesus never actually says ‘born again.’ He says, ‘born from above.’ The greek word Jesus uses is ‘anothen.’ In ancient Greek it had two meanings—it could mean ‘from above’ or ‘again.’ So Jesus says, ‘"You can’t see the kingdom of God unless you  are born ANOTHEN." And hence the misunderstanding of Nicodemus, who thinks Jesus means  you have to experience birth again. No, Jesus says. You must be born FROM ABOVE. You must be made new by water and the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know what you make of what Jesus is saying here: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

The first Christians made this a direct reference to baptism. Religious bathing wasn’t something new to them—there were all kinds of purity rituals and bathing rites prescribed by the Jewish purity code. And the frustration with them was that you would always, always have to do them again. Anytime you got sick, touched the wrong thing, touched your wife at the wrong time of the month, there was more bathing to be done not just to be clean but to be right with God. They were continually falling into peril and having to wash themselves back to holiness. So there was nothing new about having to go repent of your sins in the water.

What was new about Christian baptism was the idea that you could do that once and for all. That you could turn toward God and that God would turn toward you and it would stick. Our prayer book says, “You have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.” If you have been baptized, our theology says that you have in fact been born again. It is done. You belong to God. And not that those who don’t undertake baptism are somehow out of God’s favor, but it’s a way of staking a claim in community. You are inherently valuable, you are inherently one of God’s children, you will not be lost. You’ve been born again as a member of God’s family.

It’s the born from above part that is actually harder. Undertaking the promises here in baptism means a life of continued conversion. It means continuing to take on Christian practices that, if you’re paying attention, will break your life open and turn it inside out. Renouncing evil, the breaking of bread and the prayers in community, seeking to serve the Christ in all people, striving for justice and peace—all of those things if you take them seriously will open your life up, open your heart up. You cannot do those things with integrity and not be changed somehow.
Perhaps that is what it means to be born from above—this continuous process of conversion that comes from a life that gets opened up in service and love.

Part of my goal in this sermon is to stake a claim on that language of being born again. It means something that I want to hold on to, and I want us to be able to use that language in ways that have integrity in this community. I want to not give up those words. And I want to be able to hear the phrase ‘born again’ with compassion and interest the next time I hear them come from the guy in the airline seat next to me, instead of running away.  I want us to reclaim that language of being born again.

But, truth be told, some of us are never ever going to call ourselves ‘born again Christians.’ And far more important than that issue is this one: whether we in this community can name ways in which we believe we’re being born from above. What is it in this place that we’re doing or experiencing that shows us the Kingdom of God? How is it that God longs to see this community made new, again, converted, from above? And to get more personal, What is it in your life that is opening you up to being made new?

If that question feels too ethereal/theoretical, you have right in front of you a cheat sheet. In just a moment we will baptize Lucas and Thomas. And in so doing we will again repeat the Baptismal Covenant, the same promises that you made at your baptism. This is the cheat sheet on Christian practice. If you are stuck, pick one of these five promises and live with it for a while. Marinade in it for a while. Here is the question: As you stand at the beginning of this summer, how is it that God longs to see you born again from above?