You Must Be Born Again

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟒:𝟐𝟑-𝟑𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟐:𝟏-𝟗 “𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋:  𝐉𝐍 𝟑:𝟏-𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.” (𝒗.7) 

          This Gospel today reminds me of the time I wasted when I was ensconced with the world and the joy of what I am doing now. It makes me feel bad that I didn’t realize at that time that the talent I had was in fact a God-given gift that I am to use to honor the God who created me.

         I remember one time when I was facilitating the second session of the Discipling Program in one of the BLD districts in Mindanao, I realized that I am now reaping the fruit of being born again in the Holy Spirit for I could not imagine myself preaching about how good God is if I turned down God’s invitation for me to join the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Catholic Charismatic Community and being born again in his love.

         At 79 I know that I am not getting any younger and there are times when it’s becoming harder for me to stand for five to six hours to facilitate a teaching series. But you know what? It’s not only joy that I feel when I am sent to facilitate a teaching but a deeper sense of gratitude for serving the God who has given me everything in life.

         When God found me while I was wallowing in the world and brought me to the BLD in 1989 I never asked nor probed what I was getting into which was unlike me given the media orientation that I was in at the time. But the moment I stepped into my first prayer meeting after completing our Marriage Encounter Weekend, I knew then that this was what I had been searching for all my life.

         And as I grew in the BLD community I learned to obey our pastoral authorities and never even for once did I looked at the legalese of what I was doing or what I was being told to do. What was drummed in my head and heart was the need for me to dirty my hands in serving in the vineyard of the Lord.

       There are many ways of serving and worshiping God and what we should not forget is that worship in essence is “𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩” because the object of our worship is someone who is worth worshipping. It presupposes that if the object of worship is someone worthy of praise and worship then the source of worship or the one who is engaged in the act of worship should also be a worthy vessel if we are to worship God in Spirit and in truth.

         And to be a worthy vessel of worship that will rise like incense to the altar of Grace, we “𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒘” (𝒗.7) and this state of being was at the heart of the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus a respected teacher of the law in those days who told Jesus: “𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆?” (𝒗.9)

         And Jesus laid down the principle that would be at the heart of Christianity beginning at the Upper Room up to today where Christian revival is present through the different charismatic movements throughout the world when he said: “𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, `𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒘.' 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔; 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗𝒗.7-8)        

         What Jesus told Nicodemus was indeed true for we cannot control how the Holy Spirit works as he works in ways we cannot predict and understand. Just as we were not in control of our physical birth, so it is also with our spiritual birth (𝐯.𝟖) which is a gift from God who acts through his Holy Spirit and this spiritual action is what makes us children of God (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟖:𝟏𝟔).

        It is also this Spirit of God that gives us the power to understand those things that come from God (𝟏 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟐:𝟏𝟐) and it is by this same Spirit that we have received that empowers us to accept our spiritual rebirth in spite of the sufferings we face as imitators of Jesus Christ (𝟏 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝟏:𝟔). But when our actions in the church or community are already headed towards a direction other than to foist unity, harmony, peace and communion, then it is about time to check and discern if are still motivated by the Holy Spirit and not by other spirits.

         Jesus in this Gospel passage emphasizes that spiritual rebirth or being born again is a prerequisite to admission to the heavenly Kingdom because knowledge alone like what the teachers of the law such as Nicodemus had will not lead to salvation. While it is important for us to know what the Bible says, it is equally imperative that we must understand and know in a very personal way the God who offered his life for us that we may also have life.

         Just as when he spoke in parables before, Jesus also compared his crucifixion as an atonement for sins with the bronze serpent that Moses lifted in the desert that brought healing and deliverance to the Jews who looked up at the serpent. What he was telling Nicodemus at that time and what Jesus is telling us now is that anyone who will believe in his death and resurrection will bring upon himself the new birth in the Spirit that will fill us with his own divine life by the power of His Spirit.

         And let us not make any mistake about it. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us that provides us the courage, confidence and the boldness to share the Good News and to defend our faith by our words and action and never to be ashamed of the Cross of Christ.

        As with the Israelites who looked up at the bronze serpent with the belief that God will heal them if they did, so must we also look up to the Cross of Jesus to remind us of our salvation and by believing we are healed of the deadly bite of sin. Nicodemus knew from experience that anyone who wants to be changed, can't change himself and this was what Jesus explained to him that this change could only come about through the work and action of the Holy Spirit. And we who have experienced this rebirth in the Spirit know this is not only experiential but very real like the wind that we can feel and hear yet we cannot see.

       This new life in the Holy Spirit prequalifies us into admission in God's kingdom which is a society of men and women who acknowledge God as their Lord and who live according to his will on earth as it is in heaven (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟔:𝟏𝟎). To be reborn is to enter that society where God is honored and obeyed and where we live as His sons and daughters.

       To be born again is to gain possession of that life which comes from God himself, a life of never-ending love, peace, joy, and freedom from sin and the fear of death. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 28, 2025)