New 5

John 3:1-5

There is a clever challenge we have used before in church to show how God can make the impossible happen. We challenge people to cut an opening into an 8x11 piece of paper, leaving the paper in one piece. The hole must be big enough to allow your whole body to pass through without tearing the paper.

At first it seems like it can’t be done, but if you fold the paper down the middle and then make about a dozen cuts from the fold toward the edges and back again the paper can open up like a string of paper dolls – remaining in one piece – but with a hole large enough for an adult to pass through.

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was presented with what appeared to be an impossible task. What did Jesus tell him about seeing the kingdom of God? What was Nicodemus’ interpretation? What did Jesus say?

Like so many, Nicodemus was trying to comprehend the ways of faith by looking at things from a human perspective. But Jesus clarified the situation by explaining that Jesus was talking about spiritual things.

To be part of the kingdom of God, to be immersed in our faith and a vibrant believer in Christ we must be born again. But this rebirth is not a physical matter. It is a spiritual matter. We are called on to be reborn in our spirits, to take on a new faith life, to give our spiritual attitudes a revival.

This lesson from Jesus was not for a new convert, someone unfamiliar with faith, but to a man who was a leader in spiritual matters. Like Nicodemus we are also called to have a new spirit put in us. We are called to ask God for a new heart, a revived and steadfast spirit, so that our faith life – our beliefs and our actions – might gain a new energy.

By being reborn by the Spirit, even when we are quite familiar with God and faith, we can have a new heart and new attitude toward our holy living.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you allow yourself to be reborn?

New 1

Matthew 3:13-15

Our oldest child is now a senior in high school but I remember well his first day of school. It was a big production – giving him his first backpack, making certain he had nice clothes, getting up early, having a good breakfast, and of course the photos. What was the big deal? He was still our son and little had changed from that last day of summer to the first day of school. What was important was that he was beginning a very important part of his life, a new stage in his experience.

There are many interpretations of baptism. Some see the sacrament as a symbolic washing away of sins. Yet, in Matthew we have Jesus being baptized by John. What was John’s response? What did Jesus say?

It is obvious that Jesus did not need to have any sins removed through baptism. Jesus was and is the perfect Son of God, sinless and pure. Yet he was baptized.

At first John tries not to baptize Jesus because John obviously saw the rite as a cleansing and knew it was not necessary. But Jesus insists and it is done.

So, what was the purpose of this baptism? The ritual in this case was an anointing, a marking, a commemorating of a change in what is. Jesus was no different after the baptism than he was before, but the act marked the beginning of his ministry. He was stepping out into a new way, a different part of his life.

The baptism of Jesus was marking a time when things would be new for Jesus. He was no longer just the carpenter’s son. He was stepping into his role of Messiah.

We may not need to be baptized anew, physically and outwardly, but we may need to re-awaken our spirits and re-commit ourselves to the service of God. As the season of the year changes and we are faced with the dying of summer, let us allow our old ways to die and bring on a new way of obeying God. Let God create a new spirit and new attitude in you.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What old thinking our attitude do you need to wash away?