4th Sunday of Lent- God’s Boundless Love

“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.”

Near Mobile, Alabama, there was a railroad bridge that spanned a big bayou. The date was September 22, 1993. It was a foggy morning just before daybreak when a tugboat accidentally pushed a barge into the bayou. The drifting barge slammed into the river bridge. In the darkness no one could see the   extent of the damage, but someone on the tugboat radioed the Coast Guard. Minutes later, an Amtrak train, the Sunset Limited, reached the bridge as it traveled from Los Angeles to Miami. Unaware of the damage, the train crossed the bridge at 70 mph. There were 220 passengers on board. As the weight of the train broke the support, the bridge gave away. Three locomotive units and the first four of the train’s eight passenger cars fell into the alligator infested bayou. In the darkness, the fog was thickened by fire and smoke. Six miles from land, the victims were potential food for the aroused alligators. Helicopters were called in to help rescue the victims. They were able to save 163 people, but one rescue stands out. Gery and Mary Chancey were waiting in the railcar with their  eleven-year-old daughter. When the car went into the bayou and began to fill rapidly with water, there was only one thing they could do. They pushed their young daughter through the window into the hands of a rescuer, and then    succumbed to their watery death. Their sacrificial love stands out especially because their daughter was imperfect by the world’s standards. She was born with cerebral palsy and needed help with even the most routine things, but she was precious to her parents. We too are imperfect. Our lives filled with mistakes, sin and helplessness, but we are still precious to God. So precious that He sacrificed his Son Jesus to save us. Today’s gospel tells us how a perfect God sent his perfect Son to save an imperfect world.

The central theme of today’s readings is that our salvation is the free gift of a merciful God given to us through Jesus His Son. The readings stress God’s mercy and compassion, the great love, kindness and grace extended to us in Christ. In the first reading from the Second Book of Chronicles, we learn the compassion and patience of God.   In the second reading Paul tells us that God is so rich in mercy that He has granted us eternal salvation and eternal life as a free gift through Christ Jesus.  Today’s gospel has a parallel theme but on a much higher level. Jesus, the Son of God, became the agent of God’s salvation, not just for one sinful nation but for the sinfulness of the whole world. Today’s gospel teaches us that God expressed His love, mercy and compassion for us by giving His only Son for our salvation.

St. John refers to an Old Testament story given in the book of Numbers, Ch. 21:4-9. On their journey through the  wilderness the people of Israel murmured and complained against God. To punish them God sent a plague of deadly serpents. When the people repented and cried for mercy, God instructed Moses to make an image of a serpent in brass and to hold it up in the midst of the camp so that those who looked upon the serpent might be healed through the power of God. In today’s gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus that, like Moses’ bronze serpent, He, too, must be “lifted up” and the act of His being “lifted up” will similarly bring about salvation. Specifically, it foreshadowed Jesus’ crucifixion,  bearing the burden of the sins of the world. When humans turn their thoughts to their crucified savior and believe in him, they too will find eternal life. Just as the cross was the way to glory for Jesus, so it is for us.  It is an unalterable law of life, however, that if there is no cross, there is no crown.

“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.” This is the summary of the Gospel message of salvation through Christ Jesus. It tells us that the initiative in all salvation is God’s love of man. As St. Augustine puts it: “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.” It also explains to us the universality of the love of God.

In today’s text we are told that Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  There are so many dark corners in our world. Addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, gossiping,  pornography, sexual immorality, and environmental irresponsibility are a few of these dark corners. God knows all about the dark corners in our lives. He wants us to stop hiding our sin in the dark and demands that we expose every dark corner to His Light of life. He is giving to us the Light that not only shows up the dirt in our lives but cleans it away. He died so that we could be made new and clean. Freely the light of his forgiveness shines into our lives, brightening up every corner, forgiving every sin, restoring our relationship with God, and renewing our lives.

God’s love is unconditional, universal, forgiving and merciful. Let us try to make an earnest attempt to include these qualities in sharing our love with others during Lent. Let us be bearers of Jesus’ light and carry it to other people. When we allow the light of God’s forgiveness to shine in our lives, it brightens up every corner, forgives every sin, restores our relationship with God and renews our lives. Whoever follows Jesus will not walk in darkness.    Jesus is the light of the world. We are to let this light of Christ shine through us into the lives of people around us. The light we give to others can dispel the darkness of their lives and bring them to a completely new outlook. Jesus said: “You are the light of the world…. your light must shine before people so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16).

May God bless you.

-Fr Johnson