October 18th

Nicodemus

            Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

            Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

            “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

            Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:1-8

             

                Nicodemus has spent his life studying.  He has excelled at school and excelled at politics and excelled at religion and is now seated in one of the highest positions of power in his country.  He approaches Jesus at night because he is deeply curious about the new teacher, but he cannot be seen admitting that he does not know something.  Jesus has some bad news for him.

                No one can enter the Kingdom of God, no one can even see the Kingdom of God unless they become like a baby again.  Babies are cute….they are adorable…they are filled with promise and potential and are the fulfillment of God’s promise…and they are useless.  Babies can do nothing other than poop and cry and eat.  Babies know nothing except, maybe, the sound and feel of their parents.  Babies are not experts, they cannot give advice.  No one looks at them as wise.  To become a part of the Kingdom of God, we must give up our authority and expertise and become like an infant who is completely dependent upon their parent to love and protect them.  The thing that is keeping Nicodemus from salvation is his belief that he already knows everything and has mastered everything that he needs.  He needs to be able to start over again.

                Becoming a parent is an invitation to start all over again.  The child may be the one who needs to be fed and changed, but the parents are the ones who have to re-learn everything that they thought that they knew.  I thought that I knew how to drive.  I had to relearn how to drive with a crying infant onboard.  It involves a certain type of music and a certain temperature and a certain amount of speed that will eventually put them to sleep.  I thought that I knew how to cook.  I had to learn how to make sandwiches that had no crusts.  I had to learn how to make bread without gluten in it.  I had to learn how to make scrambled eggs that were not too runny and not too firm. 

                I thought that I knew how to sleep.  I learned how to sleep while listening for unusual breathing.  I learned how to instantly wake up when I heard the sound of small feet and how to fall asleep while a little person watched Sesame Street on my lap.  I thought I knew how to sing “Happy Birthday,” but it turns out that if we wanted a birthday party without tears, it had to be whispered when we sang.  I had to re-learn everything in my life and I did it joyfully for one simple reason:  I thought I knew how to love until that baby boy came along and I discovered that there was nothing that I knew that was not worth re-learning in order to love him.

                Parenting is willingly entering into a place of ignorance.  Faith is willingly entering into a place of ignorance.  Nicodemus had to get over his love of knowing the answer before he could enter into the Kingdom.  The same invitation awaits us, but we have one advantage:  as parents, we’ve gone through it before.

A moment to reflect:

What have you had to re-learn through your relationship with your child and your relationship with God?