"A NEW LOOK AT BEING BORN AGAIN"
A sermon given by The Rev. Frank A. Johnson
based on
John 3:1-21
I. Some of you may not have known me long enough to know that I was a marriage and family therapist prior to becoming pastor of the Church of the Oaks seven years ago. In the last few years of this work it seemed that almost every person I saw had been a victim of some kind of abuse in childhood. I'm not sure whether this was because victims of abuse began to talk more in public in those days, or whether we as therapists began to be more aware of this as a possibility, or some combination of the two. Even today, outside of the context of therapy, if we listen sensitively and share our feelings we are likely to discover - or reveal - abuse that has happened in childhood.
Today I tell you the story of Amy, and it could be the story of many people. Amy was an abused child. And she said nothing about it. As a matter of fact, she forgot about it, traumatic as it was. Think about it: the two people upon whom we depend most completely for life, nurture, security and love - our parents - betray us. One of them is doing the actual molesting. The other 'knows' and is silently in collusion. How does a child deal with this? It is too much at a young age to assume that her parents would treat her that way without just cause; that would be too devastating. So she concludes that it must be her fault. And there is no where to go with this horrible knowledge; it would be disloyal to her family system to speak of it. I know another 'Amy' who was ostracized from her family because she spoke of her childhood abuse to her twin sister who had also been abused - and this when they were in their forties! The most common response is to forget. And when the memory does return, years later, there is still the feeling that it is my fault, and I must forgive my parents. The Amy whose story I tell today cannot imagine that she can possibly be loved after what she has done.
II. Amy's story provides the backdrop for our consideration of the story of Jesus and Nicodemus and the verses that follow in John 3. When I was growing up we all learned John 3:16, "For God so loved the world...." by heart. Today, when we watch sports on TV, we are likely to see someone holding a placard with "3:16" printed on it. This is such a well known passage and it is considered by many to summarize the Christian message that nothing more is needed. Rita Brock, about whom we will hear later, tells of a World Series broadcast where the 3:16 cardholder was right behind the plate and could be seen by the centerfield camera before each pitch. Sportscaster Tim McCarver took it in stride and casually remarked that they were displaying Tom Glavine's earned run average!
In the conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus suggests the need to be born again or born from above (the Greek word means both of these). This is the proof text for the common commodity that we know as "born-again Christian." The reference is usually to one specific time and place where the second birth happens, rather than a process that happens to us all of the time.
It also implies that there was something wrong with the first birth. There is the tendency in reading the Bible to think in dualistic terms (opposite pairs): good-evil, spiritual-physical, light-dark, saved-damned, clean (woman) - menstruating, men-women, higher birth-organic birth.
This type of thinking is what Matthew Fox calls fall/redemption theology, or the doctrine of original sin. The belief is that we are fundamentally bad, corrupt, rotten, right from birth (in our very being), we can do nothing about it on our own, and we need to be saved from this condition. We have to have a spiritual birth. This is classic Christian theology.
Now think of Amy. I am a terrible person. It's all my fault. Some people may wonder why God would let this happen, but I know why God let it happen; it's because I do not deserve to be loved. I am told that I should forgive, but I cannot forgive myself. Some say that I should express my anger, but I don't feel any anger except to myself. People say that Jesus died for my sins but why would he do that? Why would God punish Jesus for something that I did? Is God an abuser too? People lift up self-sacrifice as the highest form of love, but it doesn't feel like love to me.
III. I mentioned Rita Nakashima Brock, who wrote the book Journeys by Heart from which For Our Reflection was quoted, and who was one of the presenters at the UCC Convocation which I attended in Orlando in January. She is also chair of the joint overseas mission board of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
In her lectures she points out that Christianity in its development is always indigenized and particular and not universal. By that she means that such a statement as the Apostles Creed, for instance was written to deal with a particular problem at a particular time, and was not intended to determine the shape of Christianity for all time and in all places. Since she is in a position to relate to Christians around the world, she brings a perspective that is helpful to us. In China, for instance, she learned that the doctrine of original sin is not relevant to their experience and culture. It is an honor to be born a human being, a responsibility to be created a human being. That someone else needs to die for us doesn't wash; it doesn't make any sense to their values. They see Jesus as one who stands in solidarity with the brokenhearted and the poor, the abused, the HIV+, the rejected, the unloved. They see Jesus as a healer. Did you notice the verses about the serpent being lifted up and the comparison to Jesus being lifted up? The classic interpretation of that has been the cross. Almeda looked at that on Wednesday, and said, I don't see the cross, I see Jesus as a healer, and recalled for us the medical symbol of the snake around the pole.
In challenging the classical doctrine of original sin, Brock is not dismissing the reality of evil in the world and in our lives. She even suggests that the classical doctrine does not do justice to the the nature of evil. She goes on to say that sin grows out of our historical and social existence, out of the relational nature of our existence, which is to say out of the reality that we are constituted by our relationships with each other and with the rest of creation. In other words, we are not born inherently flawed (original sin), but we are damaged in the living out of our relational existence. This requires us to take responsibility, and it enables us to take responsibility for our lives. Sin, therefore, is brokenheartedness. It is how damaged we are, not how evil we are; it is not to be punished but it is to be healed.
IV. Let's return to Amy. Abused. Violated. Damaged. Brokenhearted. Inherently flawed so that what happened to her is her fault? No! The doctrine of original sin does damage in itself. Both in assigning to Amy a status less than that of being one of God's beautiful creations, and also in that it misplaces the incarnation of God and redemption of Amy outside of her and in someone else's perfection and human action. God is here; God is within us; God is among us; God is in Amy. She is a manifestation of God. In her damaged state she may not know that; it is her spiritual journey to discover that and to relate to others from that perspective.
God's incarnation is not limited to one person. It is most powerfully present in community. Our call as a church is to be that community where love/justice is made real in the relationships of our lives.
Amy means love in Latin and in the romance languages. Amy is here to remind us that we are created in love. We are damaged in life, and thus brokenhearted. We are given love in this community to heal our broken hearts. Margaret reminded us of this truth on Wednesday: when we show love in our lives the Spirit is present. Come Holy Spirit. Amen.