God So Loved the World

Lent B March 14, 2021

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

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The appointed Bible readings for today present quite a contrast in how God's people understood God and God's intervention in response to human behaviors.

Imagine yourself as a parent with children who complained about the food you served or about what they got to drink.  What kind of parent would you be if you said, "Alright, kids, I'm tired of your complaining.  Tonight, you're going to be locked in your room with a nest of poisonous snakes."

If you did this, you might get reported to Child Protective Services.

But what about God, the heavenly Parent and the children of Israel who complained about food and water to Moses?  God sent as punishment for the complaining people,  poisonous snakes to bite and kill many of them.  Moses interceded and was instructed to put a bronze serpent on a pole for the disobedient children to look at and be healed.  All they had to do was just glance at the serpent.  Not a hard task.  Accept the healing just by looking at the snake image.

In crueler times, this story seems to be a story that an older brother would tell to a younger sibling as what would happen if they didn't clean their plate and drink their milk.  You better eat your food or you know what happened to those complaining children of Israel, a long time ago.

Now fast forward to our New Testament readings we see find a contrast in how God is presented in the New Testament writings?  God so loved the world and gave us Jesus as a way to know the gift of everlasting life, in this life by the Spirit, and in the age to come.  And we are saved by grace through faith and further, according to St. Paul,  we are lifted up to be seated in heavenly places with Christ.

I would suggest that the Bible readings present quite an evolution in how people have understood God and God's interaction with us.

I think that we can be thankful that the best presentation has been saved for the last.

We don't have to face poisonous snakes for our sins, for our short comings, our ignorance and our under-developed moral and spiritual lives.

But what do the words of Jesus retain from the bronze serpent on the pole story?  It was only the glance of faith which healed.  And that is how the cross functioned for St. Paul and the Gospel writers.  If sin is the poisonous snakes which robs us of good living, then just look at the cross of Jesus where he is lifted up.  

Well, that's easy you say.  And isn't that the point of grace?  It's as difficult of simply taking it.  People who are prideful are in the habit of turning down or more often not recognizing the gifts they've been given.  Persons of sinful pride think: 'I don't need gifts.  I am a self made, go it alone person.  I don't need you.  I don't need God's grace.  I am an island of independence."

This is the illusion of the state of sin, being born within all of the provisions of the world and with the image of God upon our lives, and falsely believing we are the ones who made this happen.

The purpose of the life of Jesus is to convince us of grace and the total gift of God that has been toward us in creation itself.

And what are we to do?  We are to learn how to revel in God's goodness and abundant gifts all around us.  And we are to learn that abundant goodness can be inside of us too, in grace, love, peace and joy;  all these delicious wonderful free gifts.  But we need to learn to get the ego out of the way to merely learn how to take the glance of faith and receive and access the gifts.

Another thing, we need to learn about grace and condemnation.  Saving grace or condemnation is inherent in how we act or behave.  We don't have to wait for future punishments or for God to release poisonous snakes.  When we do what is wrong it is the manifestation of condemnation itself.  That we do wrong is its own punishment.  Conversely, grace and salvation are immediately inherent and self reinforcing.  The reward of grace and salvation, when we act in faith to do what is right, is that we get to be good, loving, kind, and just.

The reward of grace is immediate: Wow, we get to be nice and kind and that is salvation and grace.

What you and I can learn from John 3:16 is that God loves the world.  And God has hidden that love in each of us and all we have to do is let it out.  And as we give the gift of love, we receive more of the supply of love because it is all about the flow of the love of God through us.

And that is the secret of poetically being seated to Christ in heavenly place.  When we can love with the gift of God's love through us, that is what heaven on earth means.  Amen.