We had been talking about a mutual friend. We had laughed a little at how rigid he was, how staid. We had commented that he didn’t like change; he could easily be "all shook up" when something didn’t go his way. I asked the other person in this conversation, "How long have you known John? Has he always been like this? Has he always been obstinate, unbending, unyielding? Was there never a time before when he was not scared of change and put off by new ideas? The reply was, "No, I think John was just born old."
"Born old". Had you ever heard that expression before? Had you ever heard somebody described as "born old"? What does it mean to say that somebody was "born old"?
Well, let me tell you, it is not meant as a compliment! To say that someone was born old means that even as a child he had attitudes that we normally ascribe to elderly people. That even as a young person he seemed to be living in the wrong time, doing things in a way that seems all out of character for young people, out of date. "Born old". It is not something you give out Oscars or Emmys for! "Born old"
But, you know, that expression says more about the person who uses it than it does about the person to whom it is applied. If you slam somebody by saying that he was "born old”, you tell me more about yourself than you do about that other person.
You tell me that you think old means inflexible, rigid, hard to persuade. You tell me that you believe that old people are in the "been there, done that" mode. You tell me that you have decided that seniors can’t change or grow. You tell me that you have a negative view of aging. And that, again, says volumes more about the person who is speaking than it does of the person spoken about.
"Born old". We do have a flawed attitude toward age. We do have among us misconceptions about what it is to be senior. And so can we work together this morning to change a definition? Can we work to rephrase that old saw about being "born old"? Can we make it say, "born while old?" "Born while old?"
Two men faced off late one night. It had all the trappings of a shoot-out. It ought to have been a serious conflict. So much separated these two.
One of the two was an innovator. He had new ideas, he did things in new ways. He did things that had never been done before, and was often heard to say, "You have heard in the old days ... but here’s what I say." He was an innovator.
But the other man was a keeper of tradition. He loved old ways, not new ones. The other man was a solid, established member of a very conservative group, a group that carried the flag for ancient tradition, that stood for old values, that carried the banner for what they knew to be right. He was not an innovator; he was a conserver, a keeper.
These two men had every reason to be in conflict.
One of the two was a peasant, untrained, probably not especially literate, never having read many books. He had been a woodworker in a back country village, and had seen almost nothing of the larger world. Yes, he was putting himself out there as a teacher and a prophet. But where were his credentials? To what schools had he gone? Who were his mentors? This man was a self-made upstart.
The other man, however, was a fine, upstanding, solid citizen. He was a leader of his people, with a reputation in the community. They sought out his advice. He had spent long hours poring over the legal documents that defined his people. When he spoke, he spoke from a background of knowledge and experience, wisdom and prudence. He was not a self-made upstart; he was a man who had been trained carefully to fit in.
These two men, it surely seems, were about to do battle.
And most especially because one of them, named Jesus, was only about thirty years old, a young man. Bursting with energy, filled with hope, fired by a call to do something, he had all the unpolished dynamic of youth, did Jesus. And the other man, Nicodemus – well, we do not know his age, but it is certain that young men did not reach his position in Jewish life. It is certain that he was among the elder statesmen of the community, his status had been earned by many years of apprenticeship. We do not know Nicodemus’ age, exactly, but it’s clear he was senior to Jesus by a good many years.
A conflict was surely inevitable. If not because one was an innovator and the other a conserver, then because one was young and one was old. Battle. If not because one was unlearned and the other experienced, then because one was thirty and the other was thirty plus thirty plus more. Because Nicodemus had all the characteristics we might figure would point to someone who was "born old". Someone who was rigid, unbending, unchanging, not ready for any new ideas.
But remember: our aim today is to change the definition. No longer "born old", meaning set and settled and inflexible. But now "born while old", experiencing new life, even as a senior adult.
I want to point you this morning to three simple statements that Nicodemus made. I want you to notice exactly how this senior adult expressed himself to Jesus, because in his statements are clues to how we can experience being "born while old."
I
Nicodemus opened the conversation with Jesus with a disarming statement. Where you might have expected conflict, he offered peace.
"Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."
The first step in being born while old is to use the knowledge that we
have accumulated as a basis for discovering new knowledge. If you would seek to be born even while old, then recognize that the knowledge you have and the experiences you have amassed are not the end of wisdom. They are its beginning. The things you already know are not the final word; they are just the basis for discovering more and more. Nicodemus might have said to Jesus, "What you teach does not agree with what I have been taught; therefore you are wrong." But he did not. Nicodemus saw that what he already knew was the basis for discovering even more.
"Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus, I’ve learned enough to know that you are on the right track, your heart is attuned with God’s heart. Jesus, I don’t grasp all that you are saying, and don’t even know if I like it. But this much I know; you’ve come from the right place, and so I want to learn. I want to know."
Nicodemus, you see, was not a born old person. He was on the way to being born while old.
Born old people have a knee-jerk reaction to new ideas and new ways. Born old people tell you I can’t learn, I won’t learn, not "gonna" do it. Leave me alone. But born while old people respond, I know some things, and I will use them to learn even more things.
One night, several years ago, this church’s Administrative Committee was in session, and I was pleading for a few dollars to buy a used electric typewriter. My antique had broken down, and my idea was just to replace it with another antique. But Charles Gray said, Oh no, we don’t want to stay with typewriting. That’s the old way. You need to go to word processing. Word processing? Well, that was a term I had heard, but I didn’t really have any feel for it. All I knew was that it had to do with computers, that I knew absolutely nothing about computing, and didn’t particularly want to know. And that’s about the way I responded to Charles’ suggestion, acting like a born old person. But Charles knew better. He knew that I did know something, that I did know how to type. And so his encouraging word was, "But pastor, with your typing skills, you can learn word processing in no time." Well, we bought a portable word processor, and then we bought another, and I used them so much they both wore out, and then we got a full-fledged computer, and today you could not pay me to go back to a simple typewriter. Thank you, Charles! By using what I already knew, although I was perfectly comfortable with it, born old, you pushed me to go on and acquire a new skill, gain some new knowledge, born while old.
If you want to be born while old, if you want to be renewed, then know that you don’t have to throw away everything you know. You can use it as the basis for discovering new things. You don’t have to discard everything you are. What you are now can be the foundation for what you will become.
But is that all there is to it? Just being willing to learn! Is that all that is involved in being born again? Jesus seems to answer that there is more. "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." But Jesus replied, "No one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above." Born from above. What is He saying? What does He mean? It sounds as though a simple willingness to learn isn’t enough. "Born from above". Born while old. What is Jesus getting at?
II
Nicodemus makes a second, and revealing, statement, this time a question. He begins to probe a little deeper into this thing of being renewed. "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?"
Now one of our limitations in interpreting the Bible is that we cannot hear from the printed page what the speaker’s tone of voice was. We cannot hear the inflections he used. And so if you are a "born old" kind of person, if you are inclined to be skeptical about personal renewal, you might read Nicodemus’ question this way: "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?" You might hear Nicodemus’ question as sarcastic, caustic, and cynical. You might hear his question as the scoffing cry of a wounded soul, who doesn’t believe it’s possible to change or to be born while old.
But it’s equally possible to hear Nicodemus’ question as genuine curiosity. It’s possible to hear Nicodemus truly hoping to hear something new. That’s the way I hear him. I hear this leader of Israel, this man steeped in his tradition, I hear him longing with his heart to know and to believe that there is something more than what he already knows. I hear him hoping, with all his heart, for new life. I hear him deciding not to be too proud to raise questions. I hear him discarding all his false pride, just to find out new truth. "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?"
You see, it is pride that keeps us from being born while old. It is pride, always pride, that keeps us from having what God wants us to have. It is pride that keeps us from just going ahead to ask questions of life, and not hold back. How many times have you been in a situation where you didn’t understand, you didn’t really grasp what was going on, but you didn’t ask any questions because you didn’t want to look foolish? You didn’t want to look stupid, so you just masked the fact that you didn’t understand? You said something brilliant like, "Uh huh, uh huh, well, isn’t that something?" But you didn’t have the slightest clue as to what was going on! Still, you didn’t want to ask questions for fear of revealing your ignorance.
I heard the other day about an article someone submitted to a scholarly journal. The article was deliberately written as complete gibberish. High-sounding gibberish. The author used the biggest words he could find, and strung them together so that they appeared, sort of, to make sense, but the whole thing was just an elaborate trick. Guess what?! The journal published the article! Some editor was afraid to say, "I don’t know what this is all about." and so published the thing. Talk about revealing your ignorance, wow!
Well, if you follow Brother Nicodemus here, you will realize that there are no stupid· questions. There are no stupid questions, because asking questions is the only way to new truth. And not asking questions, not exploring new ways, is the prelude to human tragedy. Nicodemus is on the way to being born again, because he let go of his pride and asked his questions.
Let me comment here on two recent public and yet very personal tragedies. Let me speak for a moment about the suicide of Admiral Boorda and the renewal retreat of Marion Barry. Two men, prominent, accomplished, at the peak of success. But also two men deeply troubled by aspects of their personal lives. Two men who had gained so much, and had so much to lose if they could not gain control over their personal demons. Two men, approaching their senior years, and, whether they knew it or not, pride ... pride ... is their enemy.
One of them, apparently, was about to be exposed as a fraud. A minor fraud by some standards, that he wore some military decorations to which he was not entitled, and a news magazine was probably going to expose him to public ridicule. Probably we will never know fully what made him do it, but Admiral Boorda decided to end his life. He decided that he could not be redeemed, could not be forgiven, could not be born while old. So far as we can see, having violated the tradition of pride in our military services, he could not go on. Pride killed the admiral.
But Marion Barry, also a proud man, also a man who had already been exposed and imprisoned and humiliated ... Marion Barry found himself stressed and wandering and under duress again. And yes, I know that with him, too, we may never know all that was involved. Yes, I know that with him, too, as with Nicodemus, we can take the skeptical approach, and we can cry out with the press, "Been there, done that." But I choose to see in the mayor a Nicodemus willing to admit his limitations, willing to ask the critical questions, willing to humble himself. Willing to be born again, even while old. And if the piranha press doesn’t understand that, and isn’t willing to permit the mayor to let the Spirit work with him ... well, that says a whole lot more about the press than it does about the mayor. We just don’t get it, do we? We just don’t get it that the essence of being born anew is to go ahead, drop the pride, and ask the right questions.
"How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?" To be born anew is to drop all the façades, leave behind all the pride, and just ask the questions. Just be open to learn.
But now, you know, Jesus replies to Nicodemus in much the same way as before. Jesus’ reply focuses on the same thing as before. About being born into the Kingdom. "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. .... Born of the spirit." Again, you have to ask, what is He saying? What does He mean? It sounds as though a simple willingness to learn isn’t enough, nor is a willingness to drop our pride and face life’s questions enough to get you born again. There seems to be more. "Born from above". "Born of the Spirit." Born while old. What is Jesus getting at?
III
This brings us to Nicodemus’ final question, his last heart cry. Nicodemus has seen that his previous knowledge and his years of experience count for something, and that He has discovered that in this Jesus there is something He needs to go on and learn. And Nicodemus has dropped his pride and stopped playing the all-wise, all-knowing, been there-done that leader.
But Jesus has spoken to him twice now about being born again, born to the Kingdom, born of the Spirit. So now Nicodemus comes to a new place. Now Nicodemus arrives at a new readiness to be born while old.
"How can these things be?" That’s all. That’s it? That simple? Yes. That simple. "How can these things be?" Nicodemus has come to a place of total openness before Christ. He has come to a place of childlike wonder before the mystery of new life. "How can these things be?" I hear it as the deepest cry of the open heart, "Lord, teach me. I want to know. I want to experience it. I want to have this great gift of new life." How can these things be? How can I receive it, how can I be born again?
Nicodemus is now totally open to what God wants to do in his life. Despite all his years, he is childlike before Christ, he is fully open to all that Christ would give him. He is ready for the gift of being born while old.
And this time Jesus gives him the answer, full and complete. This time Jesus does not speak in cryptic terms. This time Jesus speaks boldly and directly about the greatest gift any person can receive, any person, of whatever age or status, of whatever education or background. This time Jesus speaks of the gift of being born, even while old, into eternal life. This time, the matchless word, the incomparable truth, that comes to those willing to be totally open to it
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." The gift, the gift.
To be born while you are old means entering into a new relationship. A new relationship. Some of you know how fulfilling and joyful it is to develop a new relationship when you are older. Some of you have been blessed with second marriages in your senior years; it’s felt like springtime all over again. But imagine an ever-renewing springtime, with continuing refreshment. That’s what it’s like to be in Christ.
Some of you know what it is like to have new people to care for. You have had grandchildren, great-grandchildren. Wonderful to have a new relationship. But imagine a life you can care for through eternity! That’s what it’s like to be in Christ.
Some of you have learned new skills in your senior years; I know a man who set the goal of learning one new language every year! He wanted to expand his own horizons. But imagine learning the language of the spirit, learning the heart’s tongue, new every morning. That’s what it’s like to be in Christ.
Some of you are facing the end of life here on this earth. You know there cannot be many more years, and, to tell the truth, none of us is guaranteed even tomorrow. But you don’t have to face that with dread. You don’t have to face the end of life as the end of everything. You can be born, even while old, and can face not death alone, but death in Christ, death as the gateway to eternal life. I caught just a few minutes on television the other day … Scott Peck, the author of The Road Less Traveled, has written a new book on the after-life, and he says he’s looking forward to discovering what God has prepared. He’s excited about eternal life! It can be that way, born while old!
"God so loved ... that everyone who believes might not perish but may have eternal life."
I urge you, whatever your age, whatever your circumstance, set aside all the excuses. Drop the trappings of pride. Respond to the Lord’s gracious offer of eternal life. Answer his invitation to be born anew, to be born even while you are old. Don’t worry about what others may say; they may not understand, but that’s their problem, not yours. I can tell you that some of the finest moments we’ve had in this church came when people in their 70’s came forward to be baptized and receive the gift of new life. Don’t worry about what others will say; leave off the pride. Ask the questions.
And finally, bow in childlike wonder, at the feet of Christ. "How can these things be?" Lord, I am ready. I am ready.
"For God so loved the world -- God so loves senior adults-that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever who believes on him might not perish but have eternal life." Be born again, born even while old.
