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The 4th Sunday in Lent Numbers 21:4-9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Gospel according to John 3:14-21 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF OUR CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX HAS ASKED US TO LEAVE OUR PORCH LIGHTS ON ALL NIGHT. THIS IS BECAUSE RECENTLY SOMEONE’S CAR HAS BEEN BROKEN INTO, AND THE ASSUMPTION IS THAT LIGHT WILL DETER FURTHER PROBLEMS.I HATE TO KEEP MY PORCH LIGHT ON ALL NIGHT BECAUSE IT ATTRACTS BUGS. THE GLASS SURROUNDING THE LIGHT GETS MESSY , AND IT’S A PAIN TO CLEAN. I USED A YELLOW BULB AT ONE POINT WHICH HELPED DETER THE BUGS, BUT DIDN’T OFFER MUCH LIGHT, SO I SWITCHED BACK. SINCE THEN I HAVE WONDERED WHY IT IS THAT BUGS FLOCK TO LIGHTS WHEN IT IS A DEATH WARRANT FOR THEM. WHAT INSTINCT IS IT THAT CALLS THEM TO DIE IN THE LIGHT INSTEAD OF LIVING IN THE DARKNESS? I REALIZE, AS I THINK OF IT, THAT DARKNESS HOLDS BOTH FASCINATION AND TERROR.THESE PAST TEN DAYS, I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO KEEP MY TELEVISION TIME WITH THE WAR IN IRAQ TO A MINIMUM. IT BOTH PULLS ME, CAPTURED BY THE DETAILS OF MODERN WARFARE, CAMERA LIGHTS THAT CAN SEE THROUGH DARKNESS, AND THE WONDERS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, AND REPULSES ME AS I SEE THE DEVASTATION, ABUSE TO HUMANITY AND NATURE. I DO READ THE PAPER, AND I TRY TO KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS GOING ON. MODERN TECHNOLOGY IS SUCH THAT WE CAN HARDLY HELP IT, WITH DIRECT CONTACT LINKING IRAQ WITH OUR LIVES INSTANTANEOUSLY. IT SEEMS THAT THE WORLD TODAY IS A SMALL PLACE, WHERE DARKNESS PREVAILS.IN OUR GOSPEL TODAY, JESUS IS CONTINUING A CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS, AND PERHAPS OTHERS. IF YOU RECALL, THAT PHARISEE, NICODEMUS, HAS COME TO JESUS UNDER THE COVER OF NIGHT’S DARKNESS TO ASK HIM A QUESTION. "HOW CAN ANYONE BE BORN AFTER HAVING GROWN OLD?" HE SAYS. JESUS ANSWERS WITH A DECLARATION ABOUT THE SON OF MAN WHO WILL BE LIFTED UP, AS MOSES LIFTED UP THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS. (REMEMBER, IN TODAY’S LESSON FROM NUMBERS, WHEN THE SNAKES WERE BITING THE ISRAELITES, MOSES RAISED A POISONOUS SERPENT ON A POLE TO HEAL THEM FROM THE POISONOUS VENOM.) LIKEWISE THE SON OF MAN, WHEN HE IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, WILL GIVE EVERLASTING LIFE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE SON, HE SAYS. JESUS GOES ON TO GIVE THEM THE VERY HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE; THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD’S SAVING ACT IN CHRIST. JOHN 3:16 IS FOUND ON BILL BOARDS AND IN BASEBALL STADIUMS EVERYWHERE, AND HUNDREDS OF SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE MEMORIZED IT OVER THE YEARS. OUR RESPONSE IS OUR BELIEF IN OUR SALVATION, GIVEN BY THE CRUCIFIED AND RISEN SON. OFTEN WE DON’T HEAR THE COMFORTING WORDS THAT FOLLOW. "INDEED, GOD DID NOT SEND THE SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD, BUT IN ORDER THAT THE WORLD MIGHT BE SAVED THROUGH HIM." IT IS AT THIS POINT THAT LIGHT AND DARKNESS COME INTO FOCUS AND ISSUES OF JUDGMENT ARE INTRODUCED. THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, ARE CONDEMNED BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS ARE EVIL. "THEY HATE THE LIGHT AND DO NOT COME TO THE LIGHT, SO THEIR EVIL DEEDS MAY NOT BE EXPOSED. BUT THOSE WHO DO WHAT IS TRUE COME TO THE LIGHT, SO THAT IT MAY CLEARLY BE SEEN THAT THEIR DEEDS HAVE BEEN DONE IN GOD."MY REACTION TO THIS LAST IDEA IS DISCOMFORTING, DISTRESSING. AND I WONDER IF I FEAR JUDGMENT. I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS ALL WEEK AS I HAVE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS MORNING, AND WILL SHARE SOME OF MY CONCERNS. IN THE COURSE OF MY LIFE, I HAVE COME FROM A POSITION OF NONBELIEF TO BELIEF OVER A RATHER LONG PERIOD OF TIME. I HAD NO "DAMASCUS ROAD" EXPERIENCE, NO TIME WHEN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST WAS SUDDENLY TURNED ON IN MY LIFE. IT HAS BEEN RATHER A JOURNEY INTO THE LIGHT, A JOURNEY THAT STARTED AS A CHILD WHEN MY GRANDPARENTS TOOK ME TO CHURCH. AT AGE TWELVE I ASKED THEM IF I COULD BE BAPTIZED AND THAT WAS DONE ONE SUNDAY AFTER CHURCH, WITH MY GRANDPARENTS AND AN AUNT AND UNCLE PRESENT. IT’S HARD FOR ME TO RECALL WHAT I BELIEVED BAPTISM TO MEAN AT THAT POINT, EXCEPT THAT IT WAS A GENERAL SENSE OF BECOMING A MEMBER IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD. OVER THE YEARS, AS I GREW UP, I FLITTED IN AND OUT OF THE LIGHT, AND FINALLY WAS CONFIRMED IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT THE AGE OF 34 WHEN I MADE AN ADULT, PUBLIC, AFFIRMATION OF MY FAITH. THAT EXPERIENCE FELT AS THOUGH I HAD KIND OF DUSTED OFF THAT PART OF MYSELF THAT HUNGERED TO BE BROUGHT INTO THE LIGHT BUT HADN’T GOTTEN THERE. THOSE WORDS I SAID AT CONFIRMATION WERE FROM MY HEART. AT THE SAME TIME, I WAS CONCERNED, AS I AM NOW, ABOUT THOSE FOLK WHO HAVEN’T HEARD OF THE SON OF GOD, OR THOSE FOR WHOM THE DUST STILL CLOUDS THEIR VISION OF THE LIGHT OF CHRIST? THIS, INCIDENTALLY, INCLUDES MOST OF MY FAMILY. ARE THEY EVIL, OR ARE THEY SIMPLY WEARING DARK GLASSES TO AVOID THE LIGHT? JOHN IS VERY CLEAR ABOUT THE FACT THAT JESUS SAYS THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE ARE EVIL. AS I HAVE HAMMERED THIS OUT, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT SOMETHING TO CONSIDER IS THE DIRECTION THAT A PERSON’S SPIRIT IS TAKING, NOT THEIR FINAL DESTINATION. IS A PERSON MOVING TOWARD THE LIGHT OR DOES DARKNESS INSTINCTIVELY ATTRACT? I REALIZE THAT THE CALL ISN’T MINE. WHAT I CAN DO IS TO PRAY KNOWING THAT THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT BLOWS WHERE IT WILL, AND LIVE MY LIFE IN THE LIGHT, SUSTAINED BY OUR LORD. AT THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT SUPPER A WEEK OR SO AGO A WOMAN WAS DESCRIBING HER RELIGIOUS GROWTH EXPERIENCE. SHE SAID IT HADN’T BEEN HARD FOR HER TO GET TO KNOW GOD, BUT JESUS WAS SOMETHING ELSE AGAIN. HER DREAMS HAD HELPED HER TO KNOW GOD. AND I THOUGHT, IT’S A BIG STEP TO ACCEPT JESUS AS ONE’S SAVIOR, TO COME TO THE LIGHT. RECENTLY I HAVE EXPERIENCED TIMES WHEN IT SEEMS THAT DARKNESS IS PREDOMINATING IN THE WORLD. THE NEWS CERTAINLY SEEMS TO FOCUS ON ALL THE EVILS AROUND US, ESPECIALLY IN THIS AGE OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND MESSAGES. IN THE WORLD OF POSTURING SUPERPOWERS AND BRISTLING ARMAMENTS, IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYBODY SEEMS TO BE LOOKING OUT FOR THEMSELVES, IT IS HARD TO SEE THE LIGHT. DARKNESS GETS INTO OUR PERSONAL LIVES AS WELL. NOT EVERYTHING WE DO OR SAY IS GOING TO BE GOOD, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO WRAP OUR THOUGHTS AROUND THE FACT THAT WE ARE LIVING IN THE LIGHT ALL THE TIME. IN THE PROLOGUE TO JOHN’S GOSPEL, JOHN SAYS OF CHRIST THAT "HE WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD; THAT ALL THINGS CAME INTO BEING THROUGH HIM, AND WITHOUT HIM NOT ONE THING CAME INTO BEING. WHAT HAS COME INTO BEING IN HIM WAS LIFE, AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF ALL PEOPLE. THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS DID NOT OVERCOME IT." ALL OF US AT TIMES FALL UNDER SHADOWS OF DARKNESS THAT DIM THE LIGHT, THAT KEEP US FROM FULLY LIVING IN THE LIGHT. IT SEEMS THAT TO CHANGE, WE MUST REACH INTO THE DARKNESS TO BRING WHAT IS THERE INTO THE LIGHT WHERE IT CAN BE HEALED. NOT EASY. BUT GOD’S GRACE AND TRUTH ARE THERE TO HELP IF WE ASK. MAY THE LIGHT OF SUCH A GOD BURN BRIGHTLY IN OUR EYES THIS DAY AND ALWAYS. MAY IT DRAW AND HOLD US, CLAIM AND CAPTURE US, SO THAT WE WILL BE READY TO DIE IN THE LIGHT RATHER THAN LIVE IN DARKNESS. The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate
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