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Homily for March18, 2012 (4th Sunday of Lent)
2 Chron. 36:14-16, 19-23; Ps. 137 (v.v.); Eph. 2:4-10; John 3:14-21
One of the more famous sermons of the Colonial Era of the United
States is Jonathon Edwards’ Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God
(1739). The Puritan minister used the image of spider dangling over an
open flame to illustrate the precarious state of his listeners’ souls before
the Almighty. Like a hair-thin but powerful strand of silky web,
Edwards warned, God’s grace was the only thing keeping them from
perdition and death:
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: 'tis a great
furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of
wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose
wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as
against many of the damned in hell; you hang by a slender
thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and
ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder….
Edwards’ sermon is considered a classic because of its powerful
imagery, its masterful use of the English language, and how it
exemplified the strong influence of Calvinism on the colonial mind and
the role of the church in the society. It’s also notable for another reason:
it worked. By all accounts it gave people pretty strong motivation to be
part of the sober, industrious, orderly, and righteous community that
Edwards and others were trying to create in 18th century New England.
Fear—especially when it’s fear of eternal damnation and suffering—can
do that to you.
We see the power of fear in our Old Testament reading from 1
Chronicles. The author recounts the sins of the people of Israel who
“added infidelity to infidelity,” particularly in the form of idolatry. Even
when God sent prophets who called them to turn from their sins, they
treated the prophets with contempt and despised God’s warnings. When
the balm of compassion didn’t work, God decided that the only remedy
left was amputation and purgation: the people were cut off from their
land and Temple and sent into exile in until Cyrus the Persian king
allowed them to return.
The message of this final chapter of 2 Chronicles was unmistakable:
“Bad things happen to people who aren’t obedient to God and his laws.
If you don’t want what happened to the Israelites to happen to you, then
don’t do as they did.” Fear can lead to fidelity. However, Jesus invited
his disciples to move beyond fear to faith, beyond the loathing of
punishment to love. In short, he asked them to walk in the light, to live
in his grace, and to be instruments of that grace for others.
Today’s gospel passage is the completion of Jesus’ response to
Nicodemus’ questions about being born again. Although he doesn’t shy
away from issues of judgment and accountability, the overwhelming
focus is on God’s love, particularly as it was made flesh in Jesus and his
life, death and resurrection. “God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world,” Jesus assured Nicodemus, “but that the world
might be saved through him.” In his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul
puts it another way: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great
love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ.”
Fear is powerful; but love is even stronger. Fear can get you to do
something or avoid it; but love will get you to embrace something with
passion, even in the face of fear. When Nicodemus came to see Jesus he
did so under cover of darkness, out of fear of his fellow Pharisees. Yet it
was also Nicodemus who brought the spices to anoint Jesus’ body after
he died (John 19:38-42). The love that enabled Jesus to be lifted up for
the whole world empowered Nicodemus to step out of the darkness and
into the light and extend the balm of compassion to Christ, who was
seen by most at the time as little more than another executed criminal.
It is that same love and that same balm of compassion that Christ calls
us to share with others. +