Genesis 12: 1-4a                                                                                           Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

John 3: 1-17                                                                                                                               March 1, 2026

“Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

Prayer: As you broaden our minds, Holy Spirit, may we be open to your Spirit being born and growing in us. Amen.

How many of you have ever witnessed something being born? [show of hands]. Some women I know wanted to watch their children being born either from a mirror or on the screen. For some, a birth Animal Planet is the only thing that came close.

I remember when I was about 8 years old one Sunday morning, pre-dawn, our cat decided to give birth on the bed with me! I’ve never forgotten that moment. As a young boy, it was weird and beautiful and interesting and gross, all at the same time.

But now that I’m older, I look back on the experience and marvel. Because it’s the miracle of life that touches my soul. And it’s amazing to me!

And everyone of us understands the physicality of birth, right? It happens. It’s a part of life. And the reality is, I think, that the physical birth always involves a death of some sort. I mean the baby in a mother’s womb has grown there, lived there, was nourished there for the whole gestation period. All needs were met there. It is warm and safe inside.

And then comes the moment, when all that must change. And the comfort of the womb dies. And oxygenated water is gone. The food supply is cut off. And the cold air of the world hits that baby. Is it any wonder the baby cries? Because that other stuff dies. But the baby’s born. New life. New growth.

Nicodemus, the Pharisee, knows the physicality of life. He gets what birth is, and I assume, what death is, too. His perspective is what he’s experienced. That was his reality.

So when he gets in touch with Jesus under the cover of darkness, which is a metaphor all by itself—and I’ll come back to that in a minute, he remarks to Jesus, the Rabbi, which means “Teacher,” about the authority that must be established in him considering all the physical signs of Jesus’ works which indicate that he must have come from God.

Jesus responds by saying that you can’t see God’s realm unless you’ve been born from above. This blows Nick’s mind. He challenges Jesus’ teaching and focuses on the physical birth and growth process of the human being.

But Jesus broadened Nicodemus’ perspective by saying that “No one can enter the realm of God without being born of water and Spirit.” In other words, you need both.

        Without physical birth from water and physical growth, you can’t experience life in this world. The same is true of the Spirit. Without a spiritual birth and spiritual growth, you can’t experience God’s life in this world, either.

So I’ve been turning over in my mind this week the idea of being born of water and being born of the Spirit. And the difference between the two, and why both are needed. And why both are important for us to live spiritually.

And the first thing I noticed is that being born of water seems to be mostly about our external lives. Our bodies. Our physical growth. This also applies to ideas that are external to our lives. Political persuasions, logical arguments, decisions to go to war, church-related dogmas and doctrines. All these are external. They impact us but they are external to us.

Not much faith is required or very useful here. Because you have facts and figures and knowledge. Who needs faith?

And sometimes I get in a defensive mode with this perspective. Because it’s what I know firsthand. And I trust that. And will defend that at times. Nicodemus was in the defensive mode, arguing against Jesus’ teaching. “How can this be?” he asked Jesus.

So, when your perspective is strongly situated on this physical side, the side represented being born of water, it’s all about ‘seeing is believing.’

But, let’s look at the flipside. Being born of the Spirit seems to represent all that is, well, spiritual in our lives. The stuff that is on the inside. The internal. It’s about being aware of our inner conscience, about being external and moral, about having imagination and creativity, about feeling and emotions, about mental and spiritual growth and wellness.

Faith is required and very useful here. Because for stuff on the inside, often you can’t see results, or the next step, or the blessings of relationship.

And sometimes I find myself in a discovery mode with this perspective. Because you’re not bogged down by the way things are. Instead you discover the possibilities of the way things can be. The Spirit blows where it chooses, says Jesus, right beyond our political persuasions, logical arguments, decisions to go to war, and church dogma and doctrine. Jesus invited Nicodemus to venture forth into the discovery mode.

So, when your perspective is strongly situated on this spiritual side, the side represented by being born of the Spirit, it’s all about ‘believing is seeing.’

Living spiritually means, I think, to be born of water and the Spirit. Because we need both to experience the beauty, energy of God’s realm all around us. Being born of water means we grow in and celebrate what we can see, but we always trust that we need to be born of the Spirit and grow in what we cannot see. We have to be in defense mode on some things, but be loose and flexible enough to be in discovery mode on some other things.

Which takes me back to Nicodemus coming to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Who knows why he decided to approach Jesus at night. Maybe he doesn’t want to be seen. Maybe he’s fearful of getting questioned by his friends and colleagues as to whose side he’s on. Their side or Jesus’ side.

Or maybe the metaphor is about Nicodemus being in the dark. I think Jesus is calling into question whether Nicodemus actually does want to see, as in become enlightened by God’s new realm, or if he really prefers to stay in the dark. Stuck with the way things have been forever. Good or bad. Not wanting to grow. Not wanting the adventure of discovering something new on his faith journey. Keep things status quo.

I know some of you subscribe to our Stillspeaking writers daily devotional email. So, this will sound familiar to you. On February 24th, Molly Baskette wrote a devotional entitled “Shallows” in which she referred to the Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper song from the movie “A Star is Born.” The lyrics from the first line of “Shallow” are “Tell me something, girl. Are you happy in this modern world? Or do you need more? Is there something else you’re searching for?” Molly Baskette’s message was that being in the shallows is easy. Stay safe and sunny. To be born of water, trust what you know. It’s safe and God is there.

But do we need more? Going out into the deep is being born of the Spirit, sometimes it’s not as easy. It’s dark and murky. Dangerous, unpopular. And God is there, too. To be in the shallows is to “know only half of God,” she wrote. To go out into the deep is where profound things happen. “Where good art comes from, where the guttural cry of birth and death occur” (“Shallows,” Molly Baskette, Stillspeaking Daily Devotional, February 24, 2026, personal email).

Jesus calls Nicodemus and us to trust him in the shallow water on earthly things AND to go out in the deep water and trust him on heavenly things. To be born of water AND to be born of the Spirit. To defend the need to live in the shallow water sometimes AND to discover the joy and new life of the deep waster in the Spirit sometimes.

So, for us to live spiritually, I invite us to be born of water by knowing God’s love extends to us and our peeps like us. All who think like us, who live near us, who have political persuasions and religious beliefs like us. We can defend that all the time.

But, I also invite us to be born of the Spirit by knowing that God loves others very much who are not like us at all. To discover with surprise and intrigue that “others” are part of the world that God sent Jesus to save. Because, you know, God so loved “the world,” not just our little corner of it. Amen.