(Another sermon I didn't get to preach, because I was sick. However, my lay leaders at each church preached it for me.)
4th Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2015
Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21
A college friend who reads my sermons online asked me
this past week why my sermons have been so heavy on sin lately. I explained that it was a focus for the
season of Lent, which is an appropriate time for us to consider our sins, ask
forgiveness for them, and change our ways.
We’ve been using the model that the author and priest, Henri Nouwen,
explained in his book, Life of the Beloved, which is also the same process when
we celebrate communion: being taken, blessed, broken, and shared, and we’ve
been exploring different areas of brokenness.
The past two weeks have been about places of brokenness that are
directly our own fault, places where we are directly responsible for being
unhealthy. This week and next will be about
brokenness that’s a result of sin, because all brokenness is a result of sin,
but not necessarily our own sin. Does
that make sense? We’re talking about
things like disease and situations in which we find ourselves that are broken
situations, but not messes we made ourselves.
Today’s theme, however, can go both ways. I’m sure many of you can quote John 3:16,
“For God so…”; how many of you can quote a couple verses later, John 3:19? In the same conversation where Jesus tells
Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world…”, he says, “This is
the judgment, the light has come into the world, and people love darkness
rather than the light, because their deeds are evil.” Ouch! Jesus
says we love darkness because we do bad things, because we sin. What’s really ironic about this statement, though,
is that you have Jesus, the light of the
world, saying this to Nicodemus, who’s a Pharisee, one of the Jewish
leaders, in the dark! Nicodemus snuck out at night to go see Jesus and this morning’s Gospel is the end of
their conversation. This isn’t a
conversation that happened in the light of day; it’s one that happened by
candlelight, with lots of shadows and darkness all around them. Nicodemus went out to see Jesus in the dark,
because he didn’t want anyone to see him, because he knew they’d judge his
action as evil. Isn’t that
interesting? Jesus isn’t telling
Nicodemus anything new. He knows that
people who do bad things don’t want light revealing them and he doesn’t want
his meeting with Jesus to be widely known (which is a little extra ironic,
since now it’s in the Bible!). Darkness
is not sin, but it sure makes it easier to sin.
“The light has come into the world, but people love
the darkness rather than the light…” Sometimes the darkness in our lives is one
of our own doing. Sometimes when
given the choice between light and dark, we choose dark. This may be when we don’t reach out for help
when we need it. Or pushing people away
over and over again until you find yourself perpetually alone. Or sometimes darkness is just the consequence
of our own bad decisions. Sometimes we
choose to be in darkness. Why? It may be because we already think that’s
where we belong. We already think we’re
bad, we’re no good, we’re unlovable, we’re broken, and therefore, don’t deserve
to be in the light. We may prefer the
darkness in order to hide all these ugly things we believe about ourselves and
all the things we’ve done wrong that we don’t want others to find out about. We may believe we’re not worthy of love, or
living in the light. It may be that we
use the darkness to confirm our self-rejection.
We may choose darkness because we think we deserve it. It’s our own fault, anyway.
Other times,
however, we find ourselves in darkness by a situation beyond our control.
Perhaps it’s a diagnosis of a disease that at worst, is fatal, and at
best, is life-altering. Anyone been
there? Or maybe it’s the loss of a loved
one, whether a spouse or parent or, God forbid, child. Anyone been there? Perhaps it’s a darkness caused by a different
kind of death, like divorce or losing a job.
There are many situations which can plunge perfectly normal healthy
people into darkness and it’s not your
fault. It’s life. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Sometimes the darkness is a direct result of
our own sins; sometimes it’s a result of the fact that there is sin in the
world.
A great example of both choosing darkness and finding
one’s self in darkness is the award-winning movie, “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s
Nest.” Jack Nicholson plays Randle
Patrick McMurphy, a criminal who’s sentenced to a fairly short prison
term. However, he doesn’t want to do
prison labor, so to avoid having to work, he pleads insanity and is placed in a
mental institution. McMurphy is not
actually mentally ill, but does such a good job of faking it, that the medical
professionals believe he is and treat him accordingly. He chose darkness in order to get out of
having to serve his prison sentence, and by the end of the movie, finds himself
in a different darkness, one that he did not choose.
At the right time and the right place, three simple words
can have an incredibly life-altering impact.
You’re “just a girl.”
“You have cancer.” “I plead
insanity.” “You are nothing.”
However, Paul
brings good news. When we are in
darkness, whether it’s one of our own making or not, we are “like a dead
person,” to quote our Epistle lesson this morning.[1]
God is rich in mercy, and loves us with such a great love, that while we
were dead, he made us alive together with Christ; God saved us.[2]
It’s just another way of saying, “for God so loved the world…” that he
saved us! And this salvation is God’s
gift, it is by his grace. We do not have
to stay in the darkness. Whether we chose
it or created it or not, we do not have to stay there. This is why Isaiah says, “The people who
walked in darkness have seen a great light.”[3]
And why Peter writes that “Christ calls us out of darkness and into his
marvelous light.”[4]
We are invited out of the darkness, out of whatever dark, dank alleyway
or basement or wherever it is we are hiding.
It is time to come into the light, and not just any light, but
Jesus. He is the true light of the
world, the light that the darkness cannot overcome.
It’s amazing how three simple words can have such
life-altering consequences. “Let me
help.” “It’s in remission.” “You’re not alone.” “I love you.”
“God saved us.”
To quote our final hymn, there is no shadow of turning
with him. No shadows. No darkness.
No hiding. No deception. It’s time to come into his marvelous
light. Olly, olly, oxen-free!
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