Rebirth

Wednesday night was something special. El Camino has recently begun hosting services during the middle of the week- a simple, less formal event targeted towards anyone and everyone- a way to reach out into the community with the gospel.
We kicked off with an extended time of prayer, coming before God in honesty and in unity- in our personal weakness, but also crying out for the lost, the suffering and the rejected in Maria Auxiliadora. The beautiful thing about our God is that he is a God of justice; one who dwells on high, but also with him who is lowly in spirit. When he came to earth, he was utterly unique- even outrageous- in his inclusiveness of the outcasts and the broken.

But of equal importance, he made these awesome claims of power and authority that go beyond anything anyone has ever said. Jesus was not just one more human concerned with social justice, he was the source of all redeeming power, coming down with a mission to heal broken hearts and save lost souls. We have an Almighty God who is passionate about restoring and reconciling all of creation- a God who lifts the poor and the needy from the ash heap and seats them with princes.
For those who came in feeling burdened, troubled or afraid- they were embraced by the arms of a loving Father who did not even spare his own son, but offered him as an atoning sacrifice, giving them the power to overcome death- to become more than conquerors. Without a doubt, this was a freeing experience for those who came, a liberating night in which God’s Spirit moved and impacted us all.

We went on to discuss the topic of new birth, found in John 3. Bau highlighted how taken aback Nicodemus must have felt at Jesus’ response to his compliments. At first it seems like Jesus’ reply has little or no connection to the question. Bau likened it to approaching one of the Padres (men who, in La Vega, are religious experts and possess a considerable amount of control) and saying: ‘you need to be born again.’ It would be quite a controversial and offensive statement to make, especially to a man who has trained and worked his whole life to rise to such a position.

Fe added some extra insight, noting that Nicodemus was talking about the physical manifestations that seemed to announce God’s Kingdom, while Jesus’ response underlined the fact that the Kingdom is of a spiritual nature, and that Nicodemus would not even be able to comprehend it or ‘see’ it until the Spirit enabled him to do so. Bau rejoiced in agreement, adding that human wisdom cannot grasp how a man can rescue mankind through his death. It makes no sense to us. Only by having our mind renewed by a Spiritual rebirth, will we come to see the truth and wonder of what Christ did on the cross.

I walked home slowly, contemplating all that had occurred that night. Perhaps, on a physical level, it would appear that little had changed. But I entered my room with the assurance that- within the hearts of many of my close friends- much had changed. I praised God for the transformation he is bringing through El Camino to the barrio, drawing people and guiding them to know him more fully, to embark on a relational journey and to begin a new life- an eternal kind of life.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Missionary's View. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.