The 5 Stages of Transformation

A Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Lent (RCL A) 3-20-2011, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5,13-17; John 3:1-17

“How can anyone be born after having grown old?” How can anyone be born from above?

Our youngest child, Fiona, is now 8 years old. She is what we call a “cuddle bug.” She is her mama’s girl. Ever since she has had the ability to speak, Fiona has asked if she can crawl back into her mama’s belly. Even at age 8, she still tries. She’ll pull up Erin’s shirt and try to squeeze in as close to that belly as she can get. I think Fiona likes Nicodemus’ idea of “entering a second time into the mother’s womb”.

Unfortunately, it is likely that she is just as confused about our Lord’s words in this story as Nicodemus was. These words of Jesus when he responded to Nicodemus have puzzled more people than just that learned Israelite! In addition to Nicodemus, Christians throughout the centuries have wondered over the meaning of this text.

The truth is that it seems clear that the one who wrote this text in John’s Gospel intended for it to be puzzling. In our text today, Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” But in most people’s Bibles, Jesus says “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.” Why the difference? Which one is it? Born from above or born again?

The word used in the original Greek manuscripts in anothen, and this is a word that has a double meaning. Anothen means either “from above” or “again”. Both are consistent with the original text, and both offer directions for faithful interpretations of the text.

To be born again has meant, to many Christians, the need for each believer to have a dramatic, one-time conversion experience that changes the direction of life from then onwards.

How many of you have “born-again” Christians in your family? In your circle of friends?

It’s not quite so common here, but if you travel down in the Bible belt region, you’re almost certain to be asked the question: “Have you been born again?” Christians who emphasize the need for this kind of conversion are mostly the ones who practice believers baptism. Their teaching is that those who are born again in this way, those whose hearts are suddenly touched and changed by the grace of God, are then baptized as a sign of their new faith and their new identity as a member of the body of Christ.

On the other hand, to be born from above has meant to many Christians the steady, on-going progress of spiritual transformation that occurs throughout the life of a believer. This of course is the primary meaning that we use in the catholic tradition, and this is one of the reasons why we baptize children.

Let’s be clear: baptizing babies has nothing at all to do with protecting them from an uncertain fate in the tragic event that they die as infants. Rather, it has everything to do with immersing them in a community where they are given the tools for this kind of life-long spiritual rejuvenation.

The name for this entire topic within Christian theology is regeneration: the process by which someone is re-generated, re-created, made young in heart and soul once again after becoming physically mature.

And the question before us today is this: is regeneration a sudden conversion experience, a born-again experience; or else is it a life-long process of conversion and transformation?

The answer, of course, isYES! Both are true. Both are legitimate, faithful ways of interpreting this text and of understanding how God works in our lives.

The truth is that many people experience sudden touches of grace that change them radically, but many others do not. And, in fact, many others who were baptized as infants most likely need to be born again – they often need to experience a profound fresh start in their lives.

Both of these emphases are true and faithful. God has as many unique ways of dealing with human beings as there are people. This is because the process of growth and change in life is so very difficult.

A story is told of a homeless man who was standing on a street corner just off of Wall Street up in Manhattan. He stood there holding out hands, begging for money, pleading with all the corporate people passing by, saying, “Change? Change?”

One corporate executive who passed right in front of the homeless man responded frankly by saying, “I’m trying! I’m trying!”

Isn’t that right? Aren’t we all trying? All of us who are in Christ are trying to be faithful, but many of us simply do not know how, and we do not have a plan for how to embrace fully this eternal life that Jesus brings.

So how do we do it? How can we be born after having grown old?

In his masterpiece book called The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard lays out a way of understanding the progressive growth of the Christian life. Willard describes five developing dimensions of the eternal life that we share with Christ. Each dimension builds upon the previous ones, like the building of a house in stages.

The first dimension, the foundation of this eternal life, is “confidence in and reliance upon Jesus”. To begin this journey into an eternal kind of life, we need to come to a point where we recognize our need for Jesus to guide us into this new realm. This confidence often comes suddenly; many people describe it like falling in love.

Once we have become enraptured by Christ’s vision of this new life, once our hearts have been taken hostage by his grace and love, next comes the “desire to be his apprentice in living in and from the kingdom of God.” Whenever we come to respect someone as an important person, we naturally want to learn from them, to listen to their stories and to pay attention to their habits and behaviors. This is true even more so of Jesus, who offers us access into a new kind of life. This listening and paying attention is what an apprentice does, along with putting these things into practice for personal experience.

Next, after serving as apprentices for some time, we begin to learn a life of obedience. Just as Jesus was obedient to the One he called Abba, we begin to lead a life where we regularly practice the kind of life that we have seen in Christ and in those who are close to him, not out of fear, but out of love and desire. The obedience that counts is the obedience of love.

This on-going practice of obedience leads to a “pervasive inner transformation of the heart and soul.” Old habits are broken; new habits are created. The new practices become a complete way of life that is characterized by the same spirit that was seen in Jesus.

And finally, once this transformation has taken place, we are endowed with “power to work the works of the kingdom.” The friends of God are those who are close to God, those who have proven themselves trustworthy of the power of the Spirit, which blows where it will. These are the ones entrusted with more and more of God’s grace and power as life progresses, because they share more and more of their lives with God.

(The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, p. 367-369).

Confidence, apprenticeship, obedience, transformation, power: these are the typical stages of regeneration in a human soul.

My friends: you and I are somewhere along this journey of regeneration. Perhaps we need a fresh start, a new birth. Perhaps we need strength to carry on with our learning and practice. Wherever we may find ourselves, let us not be content to stay where we are. There is more life available. With God’s help, may we have the strength and courage to persevere on this path of eternal life which we share with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.