4th Sunday in Lent, March 15, 2015

Collect for the Day

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. 

Reflections: The phrase “evermore give us this bread”—like so much of the Book of Common Prayer—is taken from scriptures. It is found in John 6, in the discourse that follows the feeding of the five thousand.  The phrase also echoes the words of the Samaritan Woman who asks Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

          It is difficult to remain focused on the nourishment that truly nourishes and satisfies. We are buffeted about by continual and often conflicting desires, but ultimately we find that our yearning is satisfied only in Christ. 

First Lesson: Numbers 21:4-9

From Mount Horeb the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Reflection: First, I’d like to note the issue of dissatisfaction and grumbling. Like the Hebrew Bible, The Rule of St. Benedict comes down hard on murmuring. It cultivates the seeds of dissention and dissatisfaction in our hearts and undermines community life. Moreover, grumbling is a great way to avoid dealing directly with problems.

           But I’d really like to address the story itself. It can—and has been—interpreted in a variety of ways. We shouldn’t be surprised at that. It is, quite frankly, bizarre, and therefore begs for special attention.

One the one hand, we could read the plague of serpents as God’s punishment for the people’s complaints. Or similarly, the snakes can be seen as a symbol of the poisonous energy unleashed by murmuring. Either way, the message is clear: moaning dissatisfaction is unholy and destructive.

          On the other hand, this peculiar tale may also have roots in an equally bizarre history. According to the story, God is responsible for sending the poisonous snakes among the people (which should be difficult enough to accept). And if that’s not strange enough, God (who prohibits images) commands the people to make an image, raise it up, and gaze on it—which will bring healing (a divine function). Sound a bit like the golden calf in reverse?

Well, the Bible itself tells us that snake worship had been practiced among the Israelites, and that God disapproved. In fact, in II Kings 18:4 King Hezekiah follows the will of God in smashing that very same serpent image Moses had made. In one place God commands the people to bow to a bronze serpent, but later has it destroyed. In other words, the biblical accounts appear to conflict.

Consequently, the story disturbs us, and has disturbed the Jewish people before us, as well. One way the Jewish tradition has dealt with it is found in the Mishnah (the first written collection of oral teachings). It states that God didn’t actually order the people to venerate the image of the serpent, but to look up toward God’s dwelling in heaven. That is, the Mishnah spiritualizes the account—looks for a deeper meaning consistent with the character of God.

          We Christians also spiritualize it. But for us, the raising up of a salvific figure is an anticipation of Christ.  

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 Confitemini Domino

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,* and his mercy endures for ever.

Let all those whom the Lord has redeemed proclaim * that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
He gathered them out of the lands;* from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
.  .  .  .  .
Some were fools and took to rebellious ways;* they were afflicted because of their sins.
They abhorred all manner of food * and drew near to death’s door.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,* and he delivered them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them * and saved them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy * and the wonders he does for his children.
Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving * and tell of his acts with shouts of joy. 

Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Reflections: "We were by nature children of wrath” has always struck me as meaning “deserving God’s wrath,” and that may have been what St. Paul meant. However the first reading suggests something about us, our nature. We humans seem to be naturally frustrated; complainers, fault-finders, murmurers. In other words, full of anger, wrath.

          Even so, not because of our own deserving—but despite the fact that we are malcontent by default—God is merciful; God loves us and has loved us. Salvation comes not because we may be in a good mood, or may have learned to hold our tongues and keep our thoughts to ourselves. And salvation certainly doesn’t mean we get our way (betrayal and crucifixion weren’t Jesus’ choice).

No, it is despite us—our rotten attitudes, our impatient behavior, our grudging civility—despite these things, God draws us close in love.  

Gospel: John 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus, 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." 

Reflections: The context for Jesus’ discourse here is the Pharisee Nicodemus’ secret visit to Jesus under cover of night. (So, not all Pharisees were alike. Just imagine the courage it would have taken to act against the judgments and opinions of one’s peers, even in secret.)

          Is it a coincidence that Jesus speaks of doing things in the dark when Nicodemus has come to him at night? Is Jesus’ reference to “night” about external darkness only? How about the darkness within?

          To what extent is evil the product of deliberate choice? And how much is it due to the lack of illumination?