4th Sunday of Lent March 15, 2015
2 Chr 36:14-16,19-23 Ps 137 Eph
2:4-10 Jn 3:14-21
“In those days they added infidelity to
infidelity, practicing all the abominations…”
These are the first
words of the first reading from 2 Chronicle -a declaration of the moral state
of the people. This ancient prophetic
warning could be applied easily to the situation of the world today. Historically, this text was a description of
the people of Israel just before the Babylonian invasion and the sack of
Jerusalem. The utter destruction of the
country and the Babylonian captivity was the prophetic judgment against the
people for their infidelity to God.
History tends to
repeat itself. The basic same ole
problem rears its head time and time again.
Each generation practices its own version of infidelity to God. Thus, St. Paul has ample evidence when he
says that “we were dead in our
transgressions.”
From the original sin in
the Garden of Eden until today, we human beings struggle with our sin, our lack
of love. In that struggle we discover
that we are dead in our transgressions.
Spiritually dead, that is to say.
For we human beings commit all kinds of sins, acts of unfaithfulness,
expressions of violence, abuses, backbiting, gossiping, divisions, factions, and
the like. Who of us has not been touched
by sin? This is the terrible inheritance
we have received from our forebears.
This spiritual death of alienation, separation, and the darkening of our
minds.
Biblical history
demonstrates this human problem over and over. Remember the story of Noah? God was going to wipe out sin from the earth
through a flood while saving one righteous family in order to start over. But
Noah’s family wasn’t immune from sin after the flood. Genesis tells a story about Noah’s family
that demonstrates family violence and abuse.
Remember the stories
of the prophets? They came time and time
again to warn the people against the dangers of sin. But consequence followed consequence because
of the people’s unfaithfulness. They continued
to forget God and to remain in their sin.
Lest we think that
modern day people are somehow better, just remember that the 20th
century was the most violent and bloody century in all the history of
mankind. The 21st Century
doesn’t seem to be any better. Terrorism,
the threat of global war, and every manner of corruption marks this present
generation. We seek peace, but it eludes
us. We seek enlightenment, but so many
live in darkness. The moral order seems
to be going upside down.
It is painful to think
about the direction of the world today.
But, we are people of hope, not despair.
Remember the words of Jesus to Nicodemus? He said those words which are probably the
most quoted words in the Bible, from John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that
he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but
might have eternal life.”
Amazing words,
really. These words reveal two important
things to us.
1.
These
words reveal God’s feelings about us. God loves the world. That means you and me as well. And God knows fully well the evil that people
sometimes do. But God has loved us even
while we were sinners. Even in the midst
of our darkest time, when we do the worst - God loves the world.
2.
These
words reveal God’s plan for us. God wants to save the world, not
condemn it. God wants to save us through
the gift of faith. Listen to these
words. “he gave us his only son, so that everyone who believes in him
might not perish but might have eternal life.”
There it is - brief and
simple. God’s feelings about us and
God’s plan for us are revealed to us by Jesus.
So how do we respond?
1.
Remember
the message of Ash Wednesday? Repent and
believe. That’s our first response – our
first step. Believe in God’s love and
God’s plan. How do we do that?
2.
Next
step. Be in a saving and sacramental
relationship with Jesus. God is as
interested in us as individuals as God is interested in the whole of
creation. Love is always keenly
interested in the beloved. So be in a saving
and sacramental relationship with our loving Father in Heaven through faith in
Jesus. Jesus showed us the way, after
all. He showed us that this relationship
of love is so powerful, that it overcomes death. Physical death and spiritual death. That is why Jesus was raised from the
dead.
3.
That
brings us to step three. Receive
God’s promise of eternal life. We often think of eternal life as that thing
that happens after we die. But that is
too limited. God promises us eternal
life right here and right now. When we believe
in Jesus and have a sacramental relationship with God our Almighty Father, then
we are invited to participate in heaven right here and now. Jesus revealed that truth to us through his
ministry here on earth. He showed us
that we can have mystical union with God.
He taught us to pray for it - “Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.” The saints
throughout history show us that we have a divine inheritance. The Eucharist is God’s visible sign to us of
eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from
heaven. Whoever eats this bread will
live forever.” This is the inheritance
that transforms us into God’s saints.
4.
And that
bring us to step four. Become a
saint. But many people object
here. They say, “I’m just an ordinary
person. I can’t be a saint.” Just remember. Saints are ordinary people like you and me
chosen by God (as we all are) to be in a saving and sacramental relationship
with him. The closer we get to our heavenly
Father through Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, the more we become God’s
saints. We get closer to our heavenly
father through believing in Jesus, through prayer, and through receiving the
promises Jesus gave us through the sacraments.
It’s that simple. It is the way
of love, the way of the saints. The saints are the ones who lived the words of
Jesus – like what he said at the end of today’s gospel: “whoever
lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as
done in God.”
All of this reveals
God’s heart towards us and God’s plan for us.
This is summed up so well in Jesus’ famous words to Nicodemus. Words to memorize. Words to contemplate. Words to live.
“God loved the world so much, that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have
eternal life.”
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