Two Birthdays Every Year

Dear Byron,

In my last post I wrote about your birthday and all the joy we felt when Jesus brought you into this world through your Mommy and Daddy. Today I'd like to talk about your second birth, also Jesus' doing. Maybe you're a little bit confused when I speak about your second birth. So let me tell you a story (John 3:1-21).

When Jesus began to teach people about His love for us all a man named Nicodemus came to him in the night to ask him a few questions. Nicodemus was a very important man in that land. He was a ruler and wise man who sat on the high council called the Sanhedrin. There were 71 in that body and they met in the Chamber of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem every week.

Nicodemus liked Jesus and what He taught and how He healed and fed people, but Nicodemus was afraid of the Sanhedrin. Bad things were said among those rulers about Jesus. Many claimed Jesus was a false teacher and a rebel. Some even said Jesus should be killed. That's why Nicodemus came to Jesus in secret to ask some questions. He said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."

The signs he talked about were the times when Jesus turned 120 gallons of water into wine at a wedding and several other times when he fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and some dried fish. He had also healed sick people. Those stories were being told all over the land. Nicodemus and some others on the Sanhedrin believed these were signs that Jesus was sent by God Himself.

Jesus replied to Nicodemus' question in a very strange way. He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus surely thought this a most strange answer. It didn't make sense. That's why he asked, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

That's a funny picture, isn't it? You and I both know that we can't crawl back into our Mommy's tummy and be born all over again. What in all the world was Jesus' talking about? Here's what He said, "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."

I won't go into great detail to explain everything about Jesus' answer, except to say that you, me and everyone of us needs to be made new, changed from the inside out when we are born from our mommies and daddies. Its really easy for us to disobey our parents, get in fights, cry, yell and even get angry with Jesus. All that's called sin and its part of us from the beginning, just like it was for your Mommy and Daddy—and me too. Its what Jesus calls the flesh. Its why Jesus says each one of us needs to be born again of the Spirit.

You were born again—on Good Shepherd Sunday, May 15, 2011 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in McAllen, Texas, not far from your home. I was there, along with your parents and grandparents. Mommy and Daddy invited me to be the pastor who spoke Jesus' own words to you and poured water over your head that morning. When I did that Jesus Himself did a strange and wonderful thing for you. We didn't see it with our eyes, but He still did it. Like the breath you take into your lungs, He breathed His gentle Spirit into your heart and life. From that moment on you entered His secret kingdom and became a part of His wonderful, worldwide family. You became one of Jesus' little lambs.

We will tell you more and more about your second birth as you grow up. That washing with water is called Baptism. Its an old word from the Greek language that many spoke back in those days when Jesus walked the paths and taught the people of Israel. You are baptized, Byron, and you will always want to remember it. That's why I invite you to make the sign of the cross of Jesus (+) over your heart as you begin each day. I made that sign over your head and heart on the day I baptized you in Jesus' holy name, the name He shares with the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.

On Good Shepherd Sunday, during the time when you were baptized, I gave to your parents a small lit candle and invited them to light it again each May 15 as you and they celebrate your second birthday. Kinda neat, right? You get to have a birthday party in March and another one in May every year. Hope you're having fun and remembering how very, very much Jesus loves you.