Being Born Again

 I’ve often wondered why we don’t celebrate moms on birthdays.

In reality, moms are the ones who do the work while

Babies just fly or plop into the world.

Not that being born isn’t important and shouldn’t be celebrated.

I just think we should celebrate moms, too,

Because without moms we wouldn’t be here.

Without the radical, traumatic, messy, and painful event of labor,

We wouldn’t be here.

 

Yesterday’s gospel passage was the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night.

In typical Jesus fashion, Jesus says something to Nicodemus that doesn’t make much sense:

“Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Confused, Nicodemus responds, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answers, “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 the flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

 

Jesus uses the imagery of being born.

He uses the imagery of a person having something done TO them—

Not the imagery of a person having to do something for themselves.

We cannot birth ourselves!

The roll of the birthed is to be birthed.

The roll of the birther is to do the work.

 

Jesus has done the work—

The radical, traumatic, messy, and painful work.

And the spirit continues to do the work,

As we walk through the radical, traumatic, messy, and painful thing we call life.

 

Don’t get me wrong.

We can’t sit back and let life happen to us.

We can’t be babies our whole lives.

We must work with the Spirit who is working in us

And create this life together,

But we must remember that there are some things we cannot do—

There are some things, like salvation, that can only be birthed by God.

 

Oh God, Giver of Life, thank you for doing the radical, traumatic, messy, and painful work of birth before, for, and alongside us. Help us to know when we need to do the work anew for ourselves and when we need to let You simply be our Mother. Help us, like Nicodemus, to wrestle with your words and truths and to come into life-changing relationship with you. Amen.