The New Birth

Do not be amazed that I say to you, "You must be born from above....Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit...we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony...no one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven---the Son of Man...whoever believes in Him is not condemned...this is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil...whoever lives by the truth comes into the light (Jn. 3, various).

 

What does it mean to be a "Christian"?  Does it mean being baptized as an infant and attending church every Sunday?  I have seen people who were baptized, who have attended church all their lives, and who do, like Jesus, "grow in knowledge, wisdom, and stature before God and man."  I have seen them grow into disciples, followers of Jesus, those who study His words and "come into the light."  But I have seen others, who though baptized and attended church, and who call themselves "Christian," do not really believe the words of Jesus, if they even know what He says.  They are what Paul calls "carnal" Christians, or Christians according to the flesh.  But it seems that they have never really been "born again," or "born from the Spirit."  They follow the Law, but do not seem to follow Christ.  Everything is measured out according to the effort they put forth to be a "Christian."

 

This pattern does not really fit that of Jesus' ministry on earth.  He pulled out of darkness into His marvelous Light those who did not, could not, measure up to justice and holiness -- the tax-collectors, the sinner, the lame, the blind, the leper, the adulteress.... And once set free, they followed Him, proclaiming to all who would listen, "This is the One who set me free!"  They no longer walked in darkness, but in the Light of the World.  How many of us realize that the "Mary" out of whom Jesus cast 7 demons is the same "Mary" who sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him as a disciple, instead of helping her sister in the kitchen?  How many of us know that this is the same "Mary" whose brother was Lazarus?

 

Those who listen to Him are His disciples.  Those who "see the kingdom of God," as He promised Nicodemus, are His disciples.  They are the ones who have been born of the Spirit, who have experienced a "new birth."  My greatest desire is not to teach others about the kingdom of God, but rather to have those I love experience the new birth, the birth from above.  Then, I can simply watch the action of the Holy Spirit in them, as He leads them "from glory to glory" in the discipleship of Jesus. 

 

During the prayers of the faithful recently, one woman across the aisle from me prayed that we would all have purity of heart.  One sentence was enough for me to know that this woman had been born from above.  One who is born of the flesh only does not desire "purity of heart;" in fact, I would say that unless a person had been born again, she would not even know what "purity of heart" means.

 

Those who saw Jesus from the perspective of the flesh were scandalized by Him and looked for ways to kill Him.  Those who saw Him from the perspective of the new birth were drawn to Him, even though they did not always understand the things He said.  If we do not love Jesus Christ, if we do not seek His words, if we do not have a relationship with Him, we are still 'carnal' Christians.  We need to seek the new birth He promised us through the Holy Spirit.

Are Demons Still Active Today?

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons (Mark 16:9).

 

Mark's Gospel is the shortest, perhaps the first of the 4, because he reports everything matter-of-factly, without elaboration.  For example, John's Gospel devotes 8 verses to the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, painting a picture of the scene in the garden and of Mary's recognition of Jesus, while Mark simply states that "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons."  His bare statement of the 7 demons assumes that his readers are familiar with the reality of demons and the power the Jesus exerted over them.

 

One of the reasons I love Scripture so much is that it makes me think, stretching me beyond the confines of our accepted cultural realities.  And here is one of the places I am stretched.   At one time, when I was 20 and knew everything, I automatically dismissed the idea that demons existed and were active, except in rare cases like Rosemary's Baby (mostly fictional and for the sake of drama) and The Exorcist.  Now that I am in my 70's, I am not so sure that we in the 21st century are "smarter" and more knowledgeable than the Gospel writers and their readers of the 1st century.

 

The difference, I believe, is not one of more scientific knowledge, but rather the difference between those who know the realities of the spiritual world and those who do not, between those who accept the truth of the Gospel and the Word of God and those who do not.  When I read that Jesus cast 7 demons out of Mary Magdalene, I no longer dismiss the Gospel account as simplistic.  Now, I read with compassion about a tortured woman, who could not understand the agony of her life: fear, anxiety, sexual promiscuity, anger, hatred of others, constant fighting, lying, perhaps.  I don't know the names of her seven demons, but looking at the world around us today, I can take an educated guess. 

 

Normally, I don't watch Dr. Phil, but yesterday, in a state of exhaustion, I sat down a half-hour early before the five-o'clock news and turned on the tv.  There was a couple who had been scammed by a woman who had for seven months been promising them her baby.  The motive, surprisingly enough, was not money, but a desire for attention and "friendship."  The woman herself did not understand what was driving her to this evil deed.  She had enjoyed talking to the couple for 7 months every day and sharing this event with them.  She was happy to be giving them their heart's desire, fake though it be.  She was angry at herself for hurting others, and claimed that she had tried to stop it -- and she had, by inventing even more lies:  one of the twins she claimed she was having was damaged (she hoped the couple would call off the whole thing).  She invented one difficulty after another, trying to discourage the couple and get them to quit the fight.  This woman was sorry for what she had done, but did not know what caused her to do it.  Dr. Phil promised to get her help, as he did also for the couple that was desperate for a baby.

 

When I read that Jesus cast 7 demons out of Mary M., I have to think about that:  either He did exactly what Mark reports, or the early Christians just thought He cast 7 demons out of this woman.  I am inclined to accept the Gospel account, especially when I look around me today.  I think demons are still active today, dividing families and nations, promoting and encouraging what Paul calls the "works of the sinful nature" in Galatians 5:19-20: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

 

If Jesus were still walking the earth today, what would we ask Him to do for us?  Would He accept our philosophy that demons no longer exist?  Would we call Him "old-fashioned," out-of-date, out-of-touch with reality?  Would He accept our modern "knowledge" that science is more powerful than the spiritual world, than His power to cast out demons? 

 

The good news is that Jesus is still alive and still present with us.  We can still ask Him if demons are still active today, if He is still exerting His power over them.  We can still come to Him as did Mary Magdalene, not understanding the forces at work within us, asking for His power to cast out the things that are disturbing our peace and destroying our lives.  As long as we put more faith in our intellect to understand our world than we do in Jesus as Lord and Ruler, we will not believe in either the existence of demons or in His power to destroy them.

 



The Gift of the Divine Presence

Imagine if we could every single day walk with God, speak face-to-face with Him, ask Him what we wanted to know, allow Him to teach us and to reveal to us the secrets of His own heart?  To the Jews of the Old Testament, the very question would have sounded like blasphemy, accustomed as they were to approaching YHWH through the intermediary of priests, sacrifices, and temple ritual.  They had told Moses from the beginning, at Mt. Sinai, "You speak to God and tell us what He says, lest we die!"

To many Christians today, it is still about "doing it right," following the rules, lest God be angry with them.  And at least this approach is better than the "devil take all" approach, a lackadaisical, indifferent approach to communion with the Divine Presence.  But the "following the rules" approach is just a preparation for a much greater Gift -- the Gift of God Himself to us.  Jesus came, veiling His Divinity in order to walk beside us on our daily journey, speak with us from the depths of His heart, and answer our deepest questions.  Only gradually did He reveal His identity, after we were no longer fearful of "GOD" in our midst.  He laughed, He cried, He hungered and thirsted with us; He bore our burdens, all the while reaching out with His comfort, His joy, His healing energy.

Jesus did not "go away" from among us when He ascended into heaven; rather, He sent His very Spirit, a living Presence, to continue His work in us and among us.  When we celebrate the Resurrection, we celebrate His Living Presence that continues today -- His joy, His truth, His healing Presence.  In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus says, "My Father is always at work to this very day, and I, too, am working."  He said this in answer to those who accused Him of "working" on the Sabbath by healing the paralytic.  Interestingly, the Pharisees were not rejoicing with the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, and who was now walking and carrying his mat, but they were scowling at both the former paralytic and at Jesus for breaking the Sabbath.

Because Jesus answered them by referring to His Father, Who is always "at work, even now," the Jews found even more reason to try to kill him, "...for not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God" (5:18).  Neither Jesus at the moment, nor John, later reporting the incident, make any attempt to correct the notion that Jesus was "making Himself equal to God."  If the Jews were offended by His words, imagine the thoughts of His disciples who heard what the Jews were thinking, as well as what Jesus had said to them.

Imagine if one of your friends, with whom you had been eating, laughing, telling stories, asking questions, and resting in the shade for years suddenly began to claim equality with God.  Not wanting to deny the close companionship, not wanting to walk away from the friendship, you would begin to ponder in your heart what these words could possible mean:  delusion? madness? "losing it"? arrogance?  But if your friend began to walk on water, heal the sick, multiply loaves and fishes, and calm the storm that threatened to drown you at sea, you might begin to believe his words.  Jesus said, "If you will not believe the words I say, believe then the deeds I do."

But surely, if He were God, He would not allow Himself to be crucified by evil men; surely He would call His legions of angels to strike the earth with a sword, or with plagues and pestilence, rather than to allow Himself to be ridiculed, scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns?  How could He be the God of the Old Testament and not strike the blasphemers dead on the spot?

Only the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth, could reveal to men after the Resurrection and the Ascension, the Truth that reconciled all men to the Father: God is here with us, among us, allowing us to be ourselves with Him, and still loving us to the end.  And when we have done all that we can to drive Him away from us, He returns in the Spirit, once more to teach, to heal, to calm and comfort, and to walk with us all the way Home.

In Spirit and in Truth

Believe me, woman...a time is coming and now has come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth...God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4).

 

What does it mean to "worship in spirit and in truth?"  It seems to me that anyone who truly wants to worship God, to know God as he is, will pursue this question.  Jesus told the woman at the well that the Jews worshipped what they knew, while the Samaritans did not know what or who they worshipped.  The Samaritans, because of their history, had combined the worship of Yahweh with the worship of idols, so they could hardly distinguish between one and the other.  They did not worship "in truth," but in the imaginations and the 'doctrines' they had conjured for themselves.

 

So how, given our personal histories, do we know whether we also worship the imagination of men or whether we worship "in truth"?  There is only One Guide to the spiritual life, only One Shepherd of our souls -- and that is Jesus Christ.  Only He can lead us to the Father through the Gift of the Holy Spirit, the One He promised to send to lead us into all truth. 

 

The disciples were well-versed in Jewish doctrine and practice when they met Jesus, and yet He constantly surprised them with His revelations:  "Lord, where else should we go?  You alone have the words of eternal life," said Peter.  Even if we are well-studied in Catholic or Protestant doctrine and practice, it is not enough to worship the Father in spirit and in truth.  This kind of worship comes only through prayer, through asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and through the humility to be taught from within. 

 

If we ask for the Spirit of true worship, we cannot be deceived for two reasons:  (1) Jesus said that if we asked, we would receive; if we knocked, the door would be opened; and if we sought, we would find.  Either we believe his words, or we make him out to be a liar.  (2)  We can "test the spirits" and the revelations we receive by the words of Scripture, for it is the same Spirit who wrote the words on the page and who writes the command of God in our hearts.  The two must agree, or else we are deceived by our own voice, or that of another. 

 

Anyone --- anyone --- who comes to Jesus for instruction, for guidance, for revelation will receive what he/she is seeking.  Jesus said the hour had now come when true worshippers would worship in spirit and in truth.  Why had the hour come, if not because He was the Way to the Father?  Anyone who does not enter by Him is a thief and a robber.  He did not promise us that our churches would not include thieves and robbers, but only that those who sought to worship in spirit and in truth would not be misled. 

 

If the Samaritan woman, raised in part-truth and part paganism, could meet Jesus and through Him come to the truth, any one of us, regardless of tradition or background, can do the same thing.  He promised "living water" to those who believed in Him, so that they  would never thirst again.  Can we, like the woman at the well, beg for this water, which is the bubbling-up, ever-refreshing Holy Spirit?



What Do You Want?

The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples.  When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"  When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.  Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"

 

"What do you want?"  -- a question worth asking ourselves, and waiting for the answer at the deepest level of our existence.  The answer to that question will determine everything else -- how we live, what satisfies us, how we relate to others, etc.  We will become that which we seek, for weal or for woe.  If we want approval, we become approval-seekers, and we will not be satisfied with non-approval.  The sad thing, however, is that even the approval we seek will not be enough; we will need more approval from other people.

 

If we want union with God, it is accessible to us.  The two disciples in the Gospel of John answered that they wanted to know where Jesus was staying.  "Come and See," he replied.  And they never left Him after that.  If our souls cry out to know the dwelling place of God, He invites us into His home -- and experiencing His "homeliness," (hospitality) in the words of Julian of Norwich, we never want to go anyplace else.  He fills the hungry heart with the finest wheat; He satisfies the thirsty soul with the best wine; He leads us beside still waters, into green pastures, and refreshes our souls.

 

Many people are afraid to ask for union with God; they think they are not worthy, that they have sinned too much, or that they are too weak for the demands of the spiritual life.  But the whole story of salvation is toward the sick, not the healthy; the weak, not the strong and sleek.   All we need is the desire for God; that in itself is a sign that His Spirit is already within us, begging to be released.

 

When everything we thought we wanted turns to dust, most of us will cry out to God:  "God help me!"  At that moment, when we seek Him with all our hearts, He makes Himself known to us:  "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity" (Jer. 29:13-14).

 

"What do you want?" asks the Lord, waiting for our reply.  I wonder how many of us even know the answer to that question ourselves.



Entering into the Mystery That is Jesus Christ

My words are not my own; they belong to the One Who sent Me...and I do always the things that please Him.

 

The Father and I are one...

 

Amen, Amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.

 

When we read the Gospel of John, especially, because it is so mystical, we are invited not to analyze or argue, but simply to enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ.  It is clear that He is here to invite us into relationship with Himself, to become friends with us -- in the same way that He is one with the Father, and seeks always to please the Father.  We use masculine terms for God because He is the Source and Ground of our being, the Originator of Life, the Bestower of the Seed, so to speak.  But of course that does not mean that God is male.  We must use human language, inadequate as it is.  If we want to call God "Mother," it makes no difference -- all of our descriptions and terms are metaphors for spiritual realities.  In our natural experience, the woman is the one who receives and protects and nurtures the seed, bringing it to birth and nourishing it.  So the image of woman is better for us, in my opinion, but some may differ.  The point is that to be in the image and likeness of God is to be in relationship both with God Himself, the Source of Life, and with one another.

 

The reality is relationship -- a dynamic, flowing stream of living water that gives life and being to all that is.  To the extent that we cannot, for whatever reason, enter into relationship with God, we fail to find ZOE-- eternal life.  The door to that life and loving relationship is Jesus Christ, whose mission was to unite God and man as One, just as He and the Father are One.  In His own body, He united both humanity and divinity---which is our destiny and mission also.  If we fail in that primary relationship, there can be no hope for the outflowing of that life to others around us, either.

 

I look with so much sadness on places where there is no chance of such relationship -- places like the prison camps in North Korea, for example.  I can hardly stand to hear about the brutality and cruelty that inhabits such places.  A grandfather who tries to escape from the country condemns the next three generations of his family to unspeakable horror in "re-education" camps.  Those born into these camps have almost no chance to hear about or to experience relationship of any kind; all they know is that "some people carry guns, and some don't."  That is reality for them.

 

It is hard for me to believe those who preach the inherent goodness of human nature.  From the beginning, there have always been 'two races:' the race of Cain and the race of Abel/Seth -- the 'sons of God,' and the 'sons of Adam.'  And Cain is still trying to eliminate Abel from the face of the earth, by any means he can.

 

To enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ simply means to allow God to enter one's soul, to transform human nature (Adam) into the image and likeness of God Himself.  It is not so much a question of morality, because it does not matter where we start; in God's eyes, there is "not even one" who is without sin.  God even spoke to Cain before and after he murdered his brother.  It just matters that we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to God and to others.  He will do everything that is needed to transform our mortal bodies into His resurrected Body.  He is the Alpha and the Omega who begins the process and who brings it to completion, which is oneness with God and with one another.  

A Time of Quiet

I just watched a video on Jacob Barnett, a 13-year-old-genius who will graduate from Princeton at the age of 14 and then begin his doctoral work building on Einstein's theories.  At 3, Jacob was diagnosed with autism, and his parents were told that he would never learn to talk or even to tie his shoes.  He was put in Special Ed., where, as he says, "I couldn't learn anything."  But according to a wonderful talk he gave on TED, that worked in his favor, because when Isaac Newton and Einstein both had to stop learning, they used the time to begin thinking and creating. 

Newton was at the University when the plague swept Europe and closed all public works, including schools, for two years.  As a Jew in pre-war Germany, Einstein was not allowed to attend University, and went to work at the patent office.  But for both men, the stopping of learning introduced a time of quiet, when they could think from their own perspectives.

According to Jacob, the reason he could not function in the "REAL" world was that he was in the "fourth dimension," thinking so deeply about the interconnectivity of things (math and science) that the other three dimensions lost reality for him.  After behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, occupational therapy, etc., he was finally left alone to do the things he could do instead of those he could not do --- interact with other people, tie his shoes, etc.  Because he wanted to sit in on a college calculus course at the age of 8, he taught himself all of high-school math in two weeks, and the entire academic curriculum from 5th grade to 12th grade in 6 months. 

Jacob's advice to all of us is to "stop thinking," and for 24 hours, "Just Be" the subject about which we have the most passion.  His words resonated so strongly with me because for the past week I have been reading The Cloud of Unknowing, which gives the same advice in the spiritual realm.  Our knowledge, our meditations, our prayers, according to the anonymous author, are all objects between us and God.  If we have a 'naked intent' to be united with God, we need to leave behind all the thoughts, no matter how "holy," that cannot connect us to Him.  He does not say, "Do not pray," but only that if we want to practice contemplation, we must abandon our own thoughts and perspectives about who God is and who we are, and just approach Him without knowing.  Just being aware of ourselves and of Him is enough -- as Jacob says:  "Just Be" the subject you are interested in. 

Jacob claims to be able to explain the 4th dimension to the rest of us, given 30 minutes and a white board.  I wish Sixty Minutes had allowed him to do that when they interviewed him.  Still, even without understanding the 4th dimension, I think it is possible for us to enter it spiritually, if we embrace the words of Jesus:  "Anyone who wants to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."  Denying ourselves means rejecting all the foolish, entrapping, thoughts that run through our minds, taking up the cross that is "ourselves," just as we are, and entering into the realm in which He lived while on earth and continues to live now in heaven.

Who is God?

On the Mount of the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John experienced Jesus as the Radiance of God, the "exact Image of the Invisible God," the fullness of Truth, the hope fulfilled of all the law and the prophets. "Lord," said Peter, "it is good for us to be here.  Let us build three tents [i.e., to maintain the Presence, as in the wilderness of Judea, when God 'tented,' or tabernacled, with His people].

Wouldn't it be glorious to have a "Tent of Meeting," where we could go into the Presence of God whenever we wanted -- to seek counsel, or for rest and refreshment, or for reassurance that He was still with us?  For us, Jesus Himself has become the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the Glory of God resides, the "Tabernacle" or "Tent of Meeting" between ourselves and the Holy One.

And yet, even now, as when He was among us in the flesh, His Glory is veiled, so that we would not be afraid to approach Him as Friend, Spouse, Lover.  Peter was not afraid to reproach Jesus, to argue with Him, or even to deny Him -- because He saw only "Jesus," not "Divinity," except at very rare moments, moments when he was afraid.  When Jesus arose from His sleep and calmed the storm at sea, when Peter walked on the water, at those moments, he was afraid:  Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.

God veils His Glory from us so that we can be free to run to His arms.  He wants to embrace us first, only later revealing to us Who He is.  By that time, we are no longer afraid; we have recognized our sinfulness and His mercy and love for us, just as we are.  We know that Jesus' death has crucified our sin and that we are now "a new creation" in the image and likeness of God Himself.  Knowing that we are the very children of God, we have confidence rather than fear.  Sealed with the Holy Spirit, we know that our sins will gradually be burned away from us, and that we will draw ever closer to Him. 

God is love, Truth, holiness, goodness, kindness, justice, mercy, forgiveness, Light, understanding, knowledge, Strength, "Father" and "Mother," and Wisdom.  All of Scripture and of creation sing His praise and His attributes.   And we, sinful as we are, are growing ever closer to being 'like' Him.  The anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing tells us that God looks not on who we are, or on what we have been, but rather on what we want to be.  If our desire is to be more like God, if our desire is to draw closer to His Presence and His company, then all the rest is forgotten.  He will give us the desires of our hearts (Ps. 37).  

If we forget all our thoughts about who God is, and simply reach out to touch Him with the simplicity of the woman in the Gospel, we will see Him as He is.  Our thoughts and preconceptions are literally "between" us and God; they keep us from knowing Him and from touching Him.  But a "naked intent" to touch Him will reveal to us His glory, and then we, like Peter, will want to construct a tent so that we can remain in the Divine Presence.