Fourth Sunday in Lent: The Greatest Challenge of Christian Relationships

 
Today's Scripture Readings

Numbers 21:4-9 (NRSV)

From Mount Hor 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.

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 (BCP., p.746)


Ephesians 2:1-10 (NRSV)

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.

John 3:14-21 (NRSV)

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."

Blog Reflection

This Sunday, we are brought face to face with the greatest challenge in Christian relationships.  How are we to be a good reflection of those relationships in a world where the very word Christian brings a whole array of meanings?  Some are conclusive while others are elusive.

If you say the word Christian to a person who is of a particular group of people who have experienced that word as being hurtful, their response could be very negative.  It could also be very neutral.  One might hear similar to what Mahatma Gandhi said.  "I like your Jesus, but I do not like your Christians."  I remember a woman once sing out loud over a microphone, "Jesus, save us from your followers."  What in the world is wrong with the word Christian?  Why does it bring such responses?  I am not the only one asking these questions this weekend.  The Rev. Barbara Mraz the Writer in Residence at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in St. Paul, MN is also asking this question.  You can read her blog post here. 

I have been writing a lot this Lent about words such as The Holy Essence of God, and facing the best and worst of ourselves and others.  These words are a special part of my own personal journey with God, because the more I have studied about the word Christian and asked the question of what is wrong with that word; I have realized that there are so many things in my own life that are a contradiction to that word.  One of the things a Benedictine Novice such as myself learns very quickly is that I am not the nicest guy on earth.  I think way too much about myself as opposed to my neighbor.  I struggle every day with my own ego and brush up against my false-sense of self that gets all wrapped up in words and labels.  In as much as I write about the issues of injustice and prejudice, I know that I too hold attitudes within myself that are part of the problem, not the solution.

As I read through the readings for this Sunday's Liturgy, I am drawn to the stark reality that Jesus is telling us that the word Christian is not a word of privilege.  It is not a term that means that I get to impose what I think or believe on anyone else.  I can share it, write about it and do it.  I can also if I am not careful enough, determine that the word Christian stops with myself and has no bearing on my relationship with God and others around me.  It can be so easy for me to think that I am someone really special, just because I use that word Christian to define myself in word only, and excuse myself from acting on what the word means.

The message of these Scripture readings is that God did not stop at loving the world just because we were lost in our sins.  God loved the world so much, that Jesus came as God's perfect revelation in the human form to save the world and not just Christians.  God sent the Son into the world to save it without condemnation, so that we could live into a relationship with God within the context of our relationships.  Such is the work of our faith, and the faith that makes our work worthwhile.  The world in which God sent Jesus includes those who disagree with each other, those who even dislike one another and those who wonder why in the world God still puts up with us.  When we look at the violence expressed in human suffering all over the world over things like religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression/identity, the powerful vs the weak, the sick, the lonely, the dying etc., what is it about all of us that keeps God's loving graciousness fixed on us as the apple of God's eyes?

The answer for the Christian (as difficult of a word as it is), is a cross on a hill, far away on which Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34 NRSV).   God loves each of us so extravagantly that "God did not withhold his own son, but gave him up for all of us." (Romans 8:32).  In Jesus' sacrifice, He willingly handed over His relationship to His Father, only saving His faith that God would raise Him up.   Jesus made Himself as vulnerable as any man alive, and paid the ultimate price of His life out of love, humility and obedience to God's will.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of Christian relationships is that to live them means to set aside even the pride of that name to make ourselves as vulnerable as Jesus made Himself.  It is much too risky say for a lesbian and/or gay person who has experienced rejection, violence and oppression in the Name of Jesus, because she/he will have to risk the possibility of healing to the point of forgiving and reconciling her/himself with those who continue to harm her/him just because.  It is much too risky for an evangelical pastor who has always preached against homosexuality and/or abortion to admit she/he has misinterpreted the scriptures all these years and to change her/his position.  It could not only mean the loss of her/his pastoral ministry in her/his church, but also the esteem of her/his colleagues and friends.  A Christian who stands up against racism or for greater gun control, could face a lot more than her/his reputation going down the drain.  All because the word Christian means certain things for some, and different things to others.

The name Christian often means many other things, but please don't tell us that it means that we have to love others who are different than ourselves beyond our church doors, or outside of our beliefs.  That requires way too much.  Such is too much of a slippery slope that could mean that the Jesus who is an abstract idea held captive in the name of Christian actually becomes a real, breathing and life-giving Savior.  It would mean that Jesus means so much more than watching The Passion of Christ or Jesus of Nazareth.  The name Christian would be who we are because our relationships as challenging as they are, are no longer an acceptable excuse for us to avoid.  Including if it means that I must sacrifice even myself for the benefit of the other person.

O God, make speed to save us.  O Lord, make haste to help us.  May our journey of Lent bring us closer to being what the word Christian is about in the great challenges of our relationships.

Amen.


Prayers

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, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 219).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday.  The Book of Common Prayer. p.217).
 
Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us
grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace
with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom,
help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our
communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for Social Justice.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 260).