Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Like many of you may be, I am a CVS rewards member. That means occasionally I get deals on toothpaste, deodorant, and cleaning supplies. It means I continue to get rewarded, and that I get money back, for my continual shopping at CVS.
And if you're not a CVS rewards member, chances are you're a reward member somewhere else. And you know how helpful such memberships can be.
While CVS reward membership can be extremely beneficial, it was not completely life changing to join. All I had to do was sign a form and receive a card. I think I got my membership at a CVS in Silver Spring, Maryland. But it easily could have been somewhere else. Anywhere else really.
My induction into City Year as an Americorps member was very different. For those of you unfamiliar, City Year is a program that puts young adults in struggling schools to mentor and tutor. So as you can imagine, it took a lot of work to prepare for, including a month of training for starters. I couldn't just walk into this role. I had to be fingerprinted and request a background check. I had to memorize both the City Year and Americorps oaths. And I had to engage in a ceremony ending Physical Training, or PT, in Freedom Plaza, just a little ways down from the White House in Washington, D.C. It was a big enough event that Mayor Grey and other city officials were there.
The circumstances of my City Year membership have stayed with me because that membership matters. And it was life changing. I learned to deal with people in a whole new way because I had a diverse group of teammates to work with. Because I had to navigate the often frustrating public school system of the DCPS. And because I was working with students who came from a much different world than I did.
And within the Corps, I was called on to do other things. Lead service projects and presentations. I even helped with a de-brief of our day at the National Mall. It all forced me to be a much more outgoing and assured person than I was before.
The memberships we are a part of that really matter are the ones that we remember. Often because they are life changing. And no membership is more life changing than the one we have as members of the church. As Christians.
In the Gospel today, what Jesus is primarily talking about is membership into Christ's body the church. It is about how we are transformed to be His followers. Into Christians.
But it's also about how we truly become children of God. Members of God's family. Because the two are one and the same.
As Jesus says, "no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." Or as He says earlier being "born from above." That is, being born of the Spirit. Being born into God's family.
As Jesus assures Nicodemus, there is not some sort of physical process we go through to become part of this family. But there is a Spiritual one. And it is one that we don't go through alone.
Because, as Jesus says, there is only one who has seen heaven. And that is Jesus Himself, the Son of Man who came down from heaven to be with us.
And while here, Jesus was lifted up, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the dessert. A symbol that when the Israelites looked on it, they were healed from their ailments. And so they knew God was watching over them. That He would be there to save them.
Which is exactly what Jesus' lifting up was meant to do. Except Jesus' lifting first meant His being lifted up on the cross. It meant He first had to die.
And in dying He rose again. He rose to life in the Resurrection and then He rose to be back with God the Father in Heaven through the Ascension.
And in our being born of water and the Spirit, we are born into the same birth as Jesus. And so we are also joined in His death. And as He is raised to the Father in Heaven, we too are raised.
Being born of water and the Spirit is Baptism. It's the way in which we join the church as members of the church. And just as I said, it is what joins us to Jesus to be a member of God's family. It is the way in which we become His children.
Something fundamental has changed for us in this process. Our life has changed. Our status has changed.
Because now, we are sons and daughters of God. We have been born not only of flesh, but we now have been born spiritually. We have been recreated. We have been made new.
We have been made worth to enter Heaven. And just as Moses' serpent healed the Israelites, so Jesus heals us of our sins.
And so in loving the world, and sending His Son, God has paved the way so that if we believe in Him, in His Son, we might not perish, but instead have everlasting life. The restored and renewed life we receive through Christ Jesus. The restored and renewed life we have waiting for us in the Kingdom of God.
Lent has historically been a time for those wishing to be baptized to prepare and await their becoming members of Christ's family in the coming of Easter.
As we prepare with our members who will be baptized and who will affirm the baptismal covenant made for them as infants, we too should reflect on what it means to be members of the body of Christ. This is a chance for us to prepare ourselves to renew our own Baptismal vows at the great feast of the Resurrection of our Lord. So pause during this season. Reflect on the change that becoming a member has made in your life. Think about how important being a Christian is to you. Because it's not just a card we receive in the checkout line. It's a fundamental change that God has made to our life and our very being.