The original Greek word used for both born from above and born of water and Spirit does not easily translate into English. And John's choice of using this word makes its meaning purposefully ambiguous. This ambiguous word (anothen) means three things: being born completely and radically new, being born for a second time, being born from above. John intends the hearers to understand all three of these, not just one of them. This is where being "born again" in some Christian circles gets its narrow definition, as Jesus is not talking about a private moment of conversion here. It is so easy to lose the complex and deep Christological implications of this Greek word. If this being born anew, being born again, is simply a personal conversion, then Jesus on the cross, Jesus on Easter Sunday, are lost. This rebirth is not only being born a second time, but also being changed completely and radically ....and....completely and fundamentally being born from above, from Christ's actions. All three things, being born completely and radically new, being born for a second time and being born from above are all intertwined in what John is talking about.  

And this is not a limiting invitation. Jesus makes that abundantly clear at the end of today's passage for he says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes...may have eternal life." This mirrors what we heard in Genesis when God sends Abram forth and says that through Abram "all families of the earth will be blessed". Jesus tells us everyone can and shall be part of his love and God tells Abram all families will be blessed. Do we hear a limitation in either of these pronouncements from God?

Perhaps Lent is something more then giving up cigars and opera: perhaps Lent is digging deep into ourselves and trying to see the world in a new way, in an anothen way. Giving something up in Lent is a good thing, whether it be something tangible or some way of acting/thinking....because giving something up can show us how much power those things can have over us, and how important taking back that power from those things is to our spiritual life, our relationship with each other and our relationship with God.  

Nicodemus is used as foil so Jesus can make this rebirth as ambiguously clear as he can, yet we shouldn't think poorly of Nicodemus. Here was a man of wealth and standing and power and prestige, part of the ruling culture, and yet he knew something was missing from his life, and he went to inquire, he went to see, to ask...What is this? That kind of inquiry, that kind of an open mind, a questioning mind, allows for a discussion, a conversation to happen. If we say there is only one definition of anothen (born anew), the discussion ends and we no longer hear God's voice. But if we embrace the ambiguity and talk about those differences, we are putting God in the center of our lives and in the center of that conversation....and we can and we will be: born completely and radically new, born for a second time, born from above. For to be born from above is to be born again through the lifting up of Jesus on the cross, which is available to everyone, to all, not a select few defined by others than God.