Being a pastor definitely has its ups and downs. There are great defeats and moments of humiliation that can cause one to second-guess such a career. I have had those times when I sit at home wondering what I am even doing here. But there is also incredible joy in this vocation and a real sense of purpose that can fill you with excitement at even the opportunity to serve the people of God this way. And I feel blessed to have more of the joys than the defeats. Now, without a doubt, one of the greatest times of joy is when I hold a child of some faithful members in my arms over the baptismal font and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

You tend to forget, as your children grow older, how small and light a newborn is. This little creature cannot do anything for itself. You have to carefully cradle her head because she cannot lift it on her own. You have to be the source of comfort and control as you make your way through the ritual. The church watches, the sponsors make their replies, the parents stand there all proud and in awe and then comes the moment of the baptism. In that moment, one thing stands out above all others: This child, this little creature made in the image of God, this object of love and adoration, is completely passive. She simply receives. She receives the Word, she receives the gift, she receives the promises of God, without contributing anything. In this way, she is you, and she is me. She is a beautiful picture of what it is to be a child of God.

What is so redeeming about this action is that it turns our world upside down, our world of power and prestige, of strength and independence. For it is not through wisdom or ethical living that one becomes a child of God. It is not through hard work or great deeds of kindness that a person enters the gates of Paradise. No, it is received as a gift. This is the essence of the Gospel message.

Now, Nicodemus was anything but a weak, small, and completely passive child. He was a Pharisee, a man who took his faith very seriously, a student of the scriptures, and an expert in the commands and decrees of God. He had shaped his life to obtain the blessing of God. Not only was he a Pharisee, but he was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body that would judge the people of God. He took on the leadership role of guiding others to the truth and preventing them from straying off the path. So, he, along with other Pharisees, had not been ignorant about the work of our Lord. They had heard the report coming in about this man who turned water into wine, who taught with authority and healed those brought to Him. Though most of his colleagues were ready to write off Jesus as some false prophet seeking to lead the people into some perversion of the faith, Nicodemus could not shake the haunting possibility that God must be with this man. Therefore, under the cover of darkness, he seeks Jesus out. He had to know what was going on.

“Rabbi,” he says, “we know you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” And our Lord’s response is surprising to this learned man. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God cannot even be viewed without a new birth. It is not your wisdom or your actions that gain you the Kingdom. It is to be born again. This does not make any sense to Nicodemus. A man cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time. What is this strange riddle Jesus puts before him? So, our Lord continues, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The new birth is of water and the Spirit. The new birth is the washing of Holy Baptism.

This is a gift received, a working of God outside the works of man. It is like the wind blowing where it will. It cannot be controlled by our desires and preconceived notions of when and where it ought to work. This challenges everything Nicodemus has built his life on. There is no room for the glory of mankind in being born again. There is no accounting for all the work, all the effort, all the study and understanding he has gained. This does not make sense. It is offensive to the workings of our world. Nicodemus is floored by these words, and murmurs to himself, “How can these things be?” How can this be the way to the Kingdom of God?

With great compassion, Jesus directs Nicodemus to what he does know, the Word of God, which he has studied and discussed all throughout his life. He recalls the story from the wilderness wanderings of the people of God, when they began to distrust God’s promises and complained against Him. And God sent venomous serpents into the camp that began to bite them, and they began to die. The people repent and plead with Moses to intercede on their behalf, so God may take the serpents away. But that is not what God does. No, He has Moses make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, promising that if anyone is bitten and looks up at the serpent, they will live. In the midst of their death, they look upon a symbol of their death to find life, because there is the promise of God.

So, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” The lifting up of the Son of Man is the cross of Calvary. We look to the God who dies so we may live. We look to the pure gift of God, the sacrifice freely given for your sins, and find hope there and assurance. Saint Paul will say that all who have been baptized are baptized into the death of Christ. We are, in fact, crucified with Christ so we may live in Him. The new birth that you are given, the birth of water and the Spirit, is the gift which enables you to believe in the one lifted up. There is no room for your works, no room for your quest for glory. There is only Christ, Christ for you, for your salvation, for your assurance of life eternal.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”