Fourth Sunday in Lent Yr B March 14 2021

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 Fourth Sunday in Lent Yr B March 14 2021

Numbers 21:4-9, Ephesians 2:1-10, John 3:14-21, Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

 

Location, location, location, continues to be our theme. In order to understand this passage from John that we just heard we must put it in its context, so we need to consider the story that precedes it. The story of Nicodemus. Nico must have been curious about Jesus but because he is a Jewish leader, he could not be caught going to see Jesus, so he comes to Jesus by night. It’s pretty clear that Nico doesn’t fully understand what is going on or who Jesus is. That is true in most of John’s gospel. Nico hears Jesus speak these unfamiliar and foreign words about being born from above and wonders out loud about what that could even be about. Nico is astounded and asks Jesus how these things can be. And with that question, you and I hear these very familiar words we hear today. And, I am not even going to talk about those most familiar words, because really, there is so much more to hear in this reading.

 

Firstly, God gives Godself, God comes into humanity so that humanity may live. And secondly, that this is the time for discernment because the light of the world is shining bright. This is some really exciting news. 

 

In John’s gospel there is much language about ascending and descending. This illustration in John is depicted in artwork and in poetry. But what is it that John is trying so hard to get across to Nicodemus, to the disciples, to us? You have heard me say over and over again that incarnation, God in our midst, Jesus in flesh and blood, is all about God reaching into our lives and our hearts to bring us and call us into relationship. And how different this is from before Jesus, when God was literally in a box, in the ark of the covenant, God is now in flesh and blood. This is what John’s language is all about. God descends, God comes to humanity for the sake of love, to bring humanity back to Godself. God comes to humanity in flesh and blood to bring new life. This is Jesus. This is the Word; this is God’s language of love. 

 

But there is a price to pay even for God. All incarnation, Jesus, you and me, all flesh and blood dies. That is the story we embark upon each Holy Week. That is the scandal of incarnation. And this is what John means with eternal life. The arc of John’s story is all about incarnation and continues to resurrection and ascension. Jesus returns to God for the purpose of preparing our place with God. So, the story goes to and through the cross, but the story does not end there. The eternal life that God offers through the flesh and blood of Jesus is relationship and love. There is a place prepared for us. 

 

You see, God makes the first move, God reaches out to creation in love, God becomes flesh and blood so that humanity may not be alone in this human journey. God knows it’s hard enough alone, so God in flesh and blood accompanies us on this journey. But because God in Jesus is flesh and blood, Jesus dies. We are not left alone, God moves amoung us, Jesus accompanies us, the Spirit envelopes us. However, John makes it clear that this is not a transactional relationship. It is an unconditional relationship. This is the part that is so hard to wrap our minds and our hearts around. This isn’t a check off the boxes kinda deal. This is an all encompassing no matter what kinda deal. 

 

The hard part is that we live in a world in which we must run faster, work harder, make more money, be beautiful, have the most stuff in order to be valued, or loved, or feared, so that we can get the reward. That is not God’s love in Jesus, that is a lie. Eternal life is what God offers us here and now and in response we go out and love our neighbor, and our family, and those whose reality we cannot know. 

 

And that brings us to the second part of what John is trying to tell us here. My friends, the Light comes into the world, this is the time, there is no other. You see, the here and now of eternal life is a critical promise for us today, not just a future time or place. This is a moment of discernment. A closer translation of verse 19 rejects judgement in favor of discernment. So, it reads, “this is the time of discernment because the light of the world is shining bright; and we choose to ignore what’s being revealed.” Discernment, means deep listening to God’s call to us, deep listening to what God would have us be about, deep listening to the love that sustains us. The Light of the world is shining bright, and it is time to deeply listen to what God is revealing now. The light is shining bright, this is the time of revelation. Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark, Judas betrays Jesus in the dark, Peter denies Jesus in the dark. The problem is that they all saw the light, but were afraid. The light comes into the world, but people continue to hide in the dark. 

 

Let’s bathe in the warmth and the love of the light. You see, living in the light is about telling the truth. Many of you have heard me speak about the four marks of ministry. Hopefully you can say them with me, showing up, listening, telling the truth, letting go of the outcome. Do you recognize those in this passage of John? They are there, showing up is about being really present in your relationships and listening deeply to those who are present with you. 

 

That brings us to telling the truth, where we find ourselves today. Living in the light is about telling the truth and hearing the truth about all of our earnest goodness and all of our stupid mistakes. And telling the truth seems to be really hard these days. Telling the truth and hearing the truth in these days means that we must do some things differently. It means we must let go of our need to be right, and instead we must listen deeply to the lives of those we differ from; those who are immigrants, those whose skin color is different from our own, those whose gender and preference we just don’t get; those whose experience with sexual bias or even violence is outside of our particular box. 

 

We must listen deeply, we must love deeply, and in the beginning and the end, God’s light shines in the darkness, God’s love walks this earth, and God’s love wins.

Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016 Audio

It feels really dark these days. Not only is it really dark, we just passed the longest night, but it seems like so much of our cultural speech and actions are so dark, mean even. And Isaiah tells us, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned. I am reminded that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” That is really the thing. In a world of darkness, light shines; in a world of hate, love is born.

That is what we are doing right here, right now. We are making room in the darkness for the light. We are making room in our hearts for the love. We are making room in our church for all those who need this good news of light and love and inclusion. The light, the love, the space, is Jesus. Don’t be afraid, I bring good news, your savior is born today.

The Divine Love Story begins again. God so loves the world, that God is born into our world to be with us. Emmanuel, God with us. No matter how many times I come to this place, this celebration, each time I am awestruck at the Love that wins. 

God, who is the baby born in a barn, the King on a bed of straw, Jesus, enters our world, our lives, our hearts, because God, the creator of all that is seen and unseen, loves us. God, the creator of the universe, interrupts history, to show us the way to mercy and compassion and justice. In this night/morning, all of creation, the sheep and shepherds, the angels, Mary and Joseph, join together singing the love song of the ages, Holy, Holy, Holy. 

We prepare for this birth each year, we wait in the quiet, we are illuminated by the increasing light, and we come to this night/morning, so that we remember who we are. We remember we are God's beloved, we remember Emmanuel, God with us. We look ahead with hope, trusting that our brokenness will be healed. 

Love breaks through, love will not be contained, sometimes painfully, sometimes dangerously. This night/day changes things. This birth changes the world. Jesus, born in the muck and the mess of a stable walks with us, not to take away our humanity, but to fulfill our humanity. Jesus, born to ordinary people, Mary and Joseph, walks with us, not to take away the pain and suffering of this life, but to be with us in the midst of the messiness. Jesus, born in an obscure corner of the earth, walks with us so that the fragments of our lives may be made whole. Jesus is born to set us free.

Incarnation. Inconceivable, incarnation. Unreasonable, inconceivable, incarnation. 

This birth means no more business as usual, signified by the events of that night and the circumstances of this birth. They were waiting for a King and all those kingly things, and here was a child born in a barn with shepherds in attendance. They were looking for the Messiah, the one who would rescue them, and they received a boy, who brought his father's message, Love one another, as you have been loved first.

For us that means that even our lives, sometimes filled by regret and disappointment, sometimes colored by cynicism, sometimes fueled by revenge, are transformed by this birth. It means that God even comes into our deepest sadness and pain and bears it for us, so that we may begin again.

This birth calls us to change, to transformation. And change can be scary, but thrilling at the same time. This birth, this life that will not be contained, speaks to a place deep down inside each of us that wants something more, something more than a better job or higher income, something more than a more comfortable home or enjoyable retirement. These things may all be good, but they don't satisfy for long. We desperately want a sense of meaning and purpose, we desire to believe that there is more to this life than meets the eye, we need to hold onto the hope that despite all appearances we are worthy of love. This birth is about that love, this birth shows us that Love wins, every time. 

And so God comes into the muck and the mess that is this barn, and that is our lives, to speak quietly but firmly through the blood, sweat, and tears of the labor pains of a young mother and cry of her infant that God is absolutely for us, joined to our ups and down, our hopes and fears, and committed to giving us not just more of the same, but something more. Christ comes, that is, not just to give us more of the life we know, but new and abundant life altogether. For in Christ we have the promise that God will not stop until each and all of us have been embraced and caught up in God's tremendous love.

This incarnation, this unreasonable, inconceivable, incarnation, this birth, is about this God who creates us, who loves us so very much, this God comes be with us, delivered into our world 2000 years ago as a baby just like us, crashing into our world as the miracle of birth. This God comes to us as a still small voice that we may only be able to hear at the most desperate times in our lives, when we fall to our knees and give it all over. This God comes to us in the indescribable words of prayer. This God comes to us crying in the voice of those who continue to be hungry and thirsty. This God comes to us singing in the voice of the child. This God comes to us in the multitude of voices calling for reason in unreasonable time. This God comes to us in the unfamiliar voice of the immigrant, looking for a better way. This God comes to us in the howling voice of the wind and the rain, redrawing the landscape of our lives. This God comes to us in the voice of the one who cries, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.

This is the God who loves you so very much, unreasonably so, not because of what you've done or not done, not because of who you are or what you're worth. Not because of anything, other than you are a wonderfully and fearfully created child of God. And it is this love that wins, it is this love that transforms your heart, and your mind and your soul. It is this love that grows in you, that gives you reason to live fully and completely alive. It is this love that doesn't judge whether you have enough, are enough, or even give enough. Indeed, it is this love that makes dead people alive.

And this is the God who says to us, love one another, as I have first loved you. This is the God that gives us the spirit so that when we see fear and pain and need around us, we head toward it and enter into it freely, risking ourselves to bring hope and healing into the world.

So we were made for times such as these, these dark times, these times in which the truth of love is vital. So we were made for times such as these, these dark times, these times in which the truth of justice is necessary, these times in which our words do indeed matter. We were made for times such as these, these dark times, these times in which our love for one another, our community, will be our hope.

Unto us a child is born, come, let us adore him.