On Moving from Darkness into Light
March 1, 2026
Rev. Traceymay Kalvaitis
Genesis 12:1-4
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.
John 3:1-8
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “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 answered him, “Very truly, I
tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
***
Today’s sermon is titled On Moving from Darkness into Light
As I was preparing for the sermon this past week, my thoughts were centered around the following question: What does it mean to be “born of the Spirit?” Jesus uses the word born six times in this short passage, so I could not fairly propose that what he really means is “guided by the Spirit” or “aligned with the Spirit.” To me, to be born is to begin again under new circumstances. In the literal sense, to be born is to begin again with different parents, probably in a different place and with a different body. I believe Jesus is talking figuratively here, but that does not dilute his meaning, not one bit. Jesus uses the metaphor of the wind to try to explain to Nicodemus what he means. We can hear the wind and we can see how the wind obviously has a definite effect in the world around us. “So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit,” Jesus says.
Who could I lift up as an example of someone who is born of the Spirit, or “born from above,” as Jesus describes? What would be the marks in the life of someone who experienced such a major shift in their life? I began to open my mind to what, in my opinion, are some of the most beneficial initiatives that have been started during our lifetimes. This process led me to the following story about Millard and Linda Fuller. Millard and Linda are both from Alabama; they met in college and married in 1959. Within ten years, Millard had accumulated a net worth of over a million dollars through successful business projects and his work as a lawyer, but he was not in good health, neither physically nor emotionally. His marriage was strained to the point of breaking and it was at this low point that Millard was inspired to make a major change in his life. In 1968, Millard rededicated his life in service to God. Millard and Linda repaired their marriage, sold their possessions, liquidated their assets and gave it all away. The Fullers moved with their children to the famous Christian community in Americus, Georgia, called Koinonia.
It was in collaboration with other residents at the interracial Koinonia community that Millard and Linda discovered an interest in what they called Partnership Housing. Now we know it by the name Habitat for Humanity. Using volunteer labor and donations, and requiring repayment only of the cost of the materials used, no interest was charged, and no profit was made in the construction of housing for the underhoused. “Beau and Emma were the owners of the first home built by Koinonia’s Partnership Housing Program. They and their five children moved into a concrete-block home with a modern kitchen, indoor bathroom and heating system, replacing the unpainted, uninsulated shack with no plumbing where they had previously lived.” For nearly thirty years, the Fullers devoted their lives to this effort that has now provided housing for 29 million people thus far. On the occasion of Millard Fuller’s death, former president Jimmy Carter described him as “one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known.”
In my opinion, the events in the life of Millard Fuller fit the profile of what Jesus is describing as being “born of the Spirit.” Millard Fuller gave up everything and was then able to find true meaning in his life. Can you imagine how his friends and family and colleagues must have reacted to his decision? This was not logical; this was not rational. Who would make such a life decision? The answer is: someone who had experienced a change so profound that it was as if they had been born anew; their former life did not hold them any longer. They would begin again, they would find a new family and new circumstances in which to recreate a new life with different values and different goals. As a result, tens of millions of people would be profoundly affected.
There is another story. It is a much older story from thousands of years ago. This story is about another couple who gave up everything. We know this couple by the names Abraham and Sarah, but their given names, their Hebrew names are Abram and Sarai. Abram and Sarai had great material wealth but they longed for children of their own and God came to them with an offer. “‘Go from your country and your kindred to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great… in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.” Now, some would say that Abram
had great faith in leaving everything behind to follow the will of God. I would say that Abram knew a good deal when he heard it. Abram and Sarai left everything and they went. With Sarai’s maid, Hagar, Abram fathered a son, Ishmael, and from Ishamel came twelve sons, the Arab tribes, and the Muslim religion. With Sarai he had a son, Issac and from Issac came the tribes of Israel and the Hebrew religion. Abram and Sarai gave up all they knew to become all that they could be and the world as we know it is different because of the choice they made even though they did not live to see it.
The choices we make may have similar implications; who can say for sure? But how do we know if we are, as Jesus says, “born again from on high” or “born anew”? How do we know if we are being led in our decisions? My Friends, each time we take a step beyond our own
self-interests and consider the welfare of others we are living in the Spirit. Each time we make a decision that may seem irrational or illogical by the world’s standards and yet it brings about goodness to others and deep joy to our hearts, we are living in the Spirit. Each time we seek to align ourselves with the source of love that is God before we act or speak, we are living in the Spirit. Each time we overcome our inclination to take sides, and instead seek to make amends, we are living in the Spirit. If we know that the influence of God through Christ has changed us, that we can not go back to the way we lived before, but can only move ahead, irresistibly drawn to the light and love in the world then we are living in the Spirit; we have been born anew.
In closing, it seems to me that we can never know the future implications of the choices we make. Like Millard and Linda Fuller, like Abram and Sarai, all we can do is to look to the goodness-that-is-God to be our guiding light. So be it. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer
God of morning and God of night, draw us closer to the place within us where your love is all there is. Remove the illusion that we are separate from one another and remind us that as we nurture and heal ourselves, we, in some small and magnificent way, are serving the greater whole of humanity. As we remember our brothers and sisters in despair, help us to bear the weight of empathy and compassion as we share their burdens. Strengthen us to live in this world we love and to remain centered within you, where all goodness, compassion and love find their source. In Jesus’s name I pray for peace, for healing, and for a resurgence of lovingkindness. Amen.
https://www.habitat.org/about/history/habitat-for-humanity-co-founder-millard-fuller
Pastoral Prayer
God of morning and God of night, draw us closer to the place within us where Your love is all there is. Remove the illusion that we are separate from one another and remind us that as we nurture and heal ourselves, we, in some small and magnificent way, are serving the greater whole of humanity. As we remember our brothers and sisters in despair, help us to bear the weight of empathy and compassion as we share their burdens. Strengthen us to live in this world we love and to remain centered within you, where all goodness, compassion and love find their source.
So be it. Amen.
Benediction
I leave you with these words from the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31:
“Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread, for it is the Lord, your God who walks with you.”