You must be born again…
John 3:7
Dear Friends in Christ,
When Jesus said those words above to Nicodemus, he started out by saying “Do not marvel that I say, you must be born again.” And for two thousand years they have been some of the most powerful, controversial, and meaningful words in our faith. So, even if you dismissed them from a street corner evangelist sometime between 1974 and 2024, take a moment to go a little deeper with the concept of a fresh start, supplied by God. Because here in 2025 this sounds like a wonderful idea.
First, the original hearer (Nicodemus) asked what Jesus meant? He got this. So he explained. We’re not the only ones with questions. Second, scholars say they mean quite a lot. They mean we are renewed, they mean we get something “from above,” they mean — according to Jesus — that there is water and Spirit and the things that make human life at the heart of what God is doing and the heart of what God will do. (For one thing, humans are over 60% water, and for another, it’s our spirit that builds our hope. Jesus says God is in the mix with us as we are “born again.)
So maybe we should marvel at this idea. And maybe we need it.
I write these words shortly after school children were shot and killed by a gunman during worship at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Gun violence is the number one killer of children under 18 in our country. They were singing “You have searched me and you know me, Lord” in the sanctuary when the violence began. I’d like a fresh start, renewal, and something born again after this.
This summer was (again) among the hottest on record. Hurricane season started early, and near my family home on the Maine coast fishermen are seeing their catch change — the waters are warming so much. I’d like a fresh start, and something born anew amidst this.
Sometimes people are hesitant to describe themselves as Christian. Now, with the rise of the term “Christian Nationalism” there is a whole new level of despair. Now racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and quite often cruelty get more coverage as “christian” than what we learn from the Bible, from prayer, and from the community of NHCC. I wish we were born again.
In a way our Re-Covenant Sunday, September 7, is a chance for us to restore our longing for God’s way. And if we listen carefully and faithfully, it is a chance for us to hear that God is restoring and renewing broken things around us, too. God is renewing the covenant, just as we do. Or, so it says in scripture. So do come on the seventh, for renewal.
So celebrate that we have a new Church Moderator this fall (Peter Boberg). Celebrate that we’ll have a new colleague in the office soon after you read this. We’ll have a new expression of hope for our mission partner in Haiti, Konbit Santé. And perhaps we can renew our hope, from above, with water and Spirit, with song and prayer, with coffee hour, blessed animals, Saints, and, if we are open, being born again. At least a little bit. Because — to differ somewhat from Jesus — we do marvel at second chances and fresh slates and new days. We do marvel, because we want safe schools, a safe creation, and a world where “love your neighbor” isn’t just a quote from a book, but a way to live anew. We do marvel, come what may, in what we learn from God together at NHCC. To paraphrase Louis Armstrong, it can be a marvelous world, in God’s way.
Peace,
O Lord, You have searched me and known me…
Psalm 139:1