Sunday, March 15, 2015

Light and Darkness


4th Sunday of Lent
Cycle B

I think one of the main reasons people reject Christianity is because they think that we’re all about condemnation. That we sit up on our high horse and judge people’s behavior against some sort of unreasonable, out-of-date standard. A standard that we ourselves cannot even uphold. We don’t change with the world, we try to change the world, and that can be painful. Painful not because we have the power to condemn or force people to behave as we’d like them to, but because deep down most folks realize that they’re not living as they should, and they may need to change their thinking and their behavior.
It is the struggle of the ages, isn’t it? We read today the story of the Jewish people’s exile to Babylon and subsequent return to Jerusalem 70 years later. The people and their leaders had turned away from God and rejected Him. They practiced all sorts of immorality and didn’t think the God of their fathers was good enough or applicable for them anymore. They stopped listening to the prophets and the word of God. Sound familiar?

In the Old Testament God works his will through people, often through the actions of the leaders. The scripture writers interpreted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple as just punishment for the sins of the people. They were just getting what they deserved. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzer was doing God’s will when he carried the Jews off into slavery, and the Emperor Cyrus was doing the same when he allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. I don’t know if those kings actually saw it that way, but the Jews did, and that’s what counts.

There is a definite cause and effect relationship throughout the scriptures. If you do God’s will you will be rewarded; if you don’t you will be punished. God will show you mercy after you have paid for your sins. He will allow you to come back to him. That’s an incomplete and unsatisfying understanding. Jesus doesn’t see things that way, does he? Jesus is not about judgment, he’s all about mercy and forgiveness. Mercy before you have paid. He says so today in his conversation with Nicodemus.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned.






The way Jesus sees it, God is not the one who condemns; we condemn ourselves. God does not choose pain and separation for us, we choose it for ourselves. Jesus does not say there is no condemnation, only that it is not God who will condemn us. God is all about mercy, and He will do everything possible to call us back to Him and welcome us home into his presence. He will show us the way, even going so far as to send His only Son to us to show us the way, to be our light and guide.

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.
Light and darkness are such strong images for us. We equate darkness with evil. We call Satan the Prince of Darkness, and we fear the dark. We feel uncomfortable in the dark. We fear the unknown, we fear what we cannot control. We’re afraid we’ll stumble and fall in the dark. Darkness is frightening for us only because we know the difference between light and darkness. We fear the darkness because that’s where bad things can happen. But sometimes we prefer the darkness because that’s where we can hide.

The light came into the world, 
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light, 
so that his works might not be exposed.

The ironic thing about Nicodemus is that he was attracted to Jesus, but he only wanted to meet him at night. He didn’t want his friends and neighbors to know that he was a disciple of Jesus, because he was a high ranking Pharisee. He should have known better. And so he wanted to hide it. Jesus didn’t mind. He met him where he was in his faith and came to him. It wasn’t about who Nicodemus was now. It was about who he could become. Jesus knew that eventually Nicodemus would come out into the light.
The saddest thing about living in the darkness is that we feel less about ourselves and alienate ourselves from God and his community. We can beat ourselves up so much that we actually stay away from God. How wretched you must feel to keep yourself from God. Have you ever not come to Mass because you felt unworthy? Or stayed away because you were not in the “right frame of mind” to receive the Eucharist; that you just didn’t think you could come to Mass with all those people there and try to pretend that everything was ok? Why just go through the motions?

Do you think that you shouldn’t come to Mass if you haven’t exactly been living a perfect Christian life lately? I mean, why add one more hypocrite to the mix? Do you think that you have to have it all together in order to worship the Lord? I’m not perfect, so I’ll stay away. Does Jesus really only call the righteous? If that were the case there’d be no one here. It’s sort of like saying that I’m starving, so I really shouldn’t come to the banquet. The very thing you think you should avoid is the thing you really need. Sometimes we blind ourselves to what we’re really doing here.

It’s ironic that the best way to become worthy of the Eucharist is to experience the Eucharist. None of us can ever make ourselves worthy of being here. Only God can make us worthy, just by willing it so. So we have a choice, to beat ourselves up for not being worthy or to accept the grace of God that allows us to see. To exclude ourselves from the banquet or to humbly accept the invitation.

You see, it’s not cause and effect. It’s all mercy. It’s not darkness. It’s light. No matter how long we have stumbled around in the dark, we can change and come into the light. As long as we sincerely seek the truth we will never remain in the darkness. It is our choice.

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, 
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.