Lent is a time when the Church calls us to consider what it means to live a new and redeemed life in Christ. This year, I think I’m experiencing the season in a much more visceral way than usual after a closer brush with mortality than I would have desired. For me, the past month has been an uncomfortably literal experience of Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” (Sorry, I had to make this joke at least once, and I have now done so.)
More seriously, this season truly is about changes of heart and how they happen. In our gospel this Sunday, we will hear the story of Nicodemus who famously comes to Jesus at night, and who is invited to a life beyond his imaginings – a new life. In this passage, Jesus tells Nicodemus about a new birth coming from above, and we hear the promise that God makes to us in Jesus Christ: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We hear of being born from above, born again, and just like Nicodemus we may find ourselves becoming a little disconcerted by the whole thing. Change is hard, and all-encompassing, life-upending change is even harder.
Nicodemus discovers that you can’t be a disciple in secret. Sooner or later, the way God changes us will show. As Andrew MacGowan writes, what Jesus means is that “your life must change in a way so radical that it can be spoken of as rebirth,” and “the changed character of your life will reveal that your true identity belongs to a reality other than this world.” The two meanings support one another, showing that the change Jesus calls for and offers is not just incremental or partial (even though it may not be instantaneous), nor is it driven by our own initiative. We’re not in control of birth, after all, and we’re not in control of how we are given a new birth in Jesus Christ.
Recall the famous prologue to John that we read at Christmas: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.” Our faith is a gift. We can no more propel ourselves into faith than we can give birth to ourselves. We are not self-generated believers. But as we are given this gift of faith, as we are given these possibilities of something new, we may find that we end up being changed in ways we never would have expected.
Yours in Christ,
Kara+
PS From now through Easter, I am on a partial short-term leave and working reduced hours while I am in cardiac rehab. Part of this involves not working in the evenings, which is why you won’t see me at Pub Theology or the Wednesday night Lent programs. I’m incredibly grateful to Fr. Paul and especially to our intrepid interns Rachel, Rob, and Emma for stepping up in the meantime. If you would like to make an appointment during Lent, my hours look like this:
Mondays 9am - 12pm
Tuesdays 1pm - 4 pm
Wednesdays 12pm - 4pm
Thursdays Variable appointments
Sundays 7am - 12pm, 4pm - 6pm