FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2006 March 26, 2006

2 Chron 36: 14-23  Psalm 137 Ephesians 2:4 -10 John 3: 14-21

Theme: The Kingdom of Heaven is being established by God, are you ready to come on board.

As you get on to the “GO-Transit” you hear the usual announcement, “the train on platform 3 is now leaving for Pickering, stopping at all stations. The doors are now closing - all aboard.” The readings this Sunday seem to have the same style.

1. Our First reading from Chronicles paints a picture that is desolate. The Priest and People have proved to be unfaithful. A loving Yahweh send Prophets to guide the. These are mocked, scoffed at and despised. The results are predictable. The people are punished. 

•  the Temple is destroyed
• the city (Jerusalem) walls are pulled down
• the people are killed
• those who are spared, are taken into exile.

• The next stage should also be predictable. In the Roman Arena at the end of the fight, the Gladiators are given the “Thumbs down” sign which is a signal to execute the defeated. You would expect the same. But the God of Compassion is faithful to a faithless people. The Kingdom of Heaven is going to be established despite the “unfaithfulness” of God’s people. The Saviour will be a Pagan Ruler, Cyrus. He will not only free the people of God, but help them to rebuild their Temple, their City and become once more “God’s chosen People”. Are you ready to come on board.

2. This leads us to our Letter to the Ephesians. Scholars generally agree that this was not written by Paul, but one of Paul’s disciples who knew his theology and writing style. However, it is a later date when theology had to be developed to meet the current life and religious situation.

Paul (the real fellow) had written in the Letter to the Romans

a. We have died with Christ, in baptism

• b. We “WILL” rise again with Christ. This will be soon. Jesus himself had said that some of them would be still Alive when the Jesus came again in glory.
• c. Therefore they had to live in a moral way, in an ethical way.

By the time the Letter to the Colossians was written, People were becoming impatient. Are we there yet? When is this day coming. So the writer to the Colossians said our Baptism was both “Death and Resurrection” in Christ.

Now we read the letter to the Ephesians. We do not have only the Death and Resurrection, but we are taken up into Heaven. We are sitting with Jesus at the Right Hand of God. But, and that is a big BUT, it is not through our own efforts. It is a pure gift from God. This was to make sure that we did not become arrogant. The Kingdom of Heaven is being established by God, are we willing to come on board.

3. Both these readings prepare us for the Gospel. Here in the meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus, both the time and place of the meeting are significant. Nicodemus is seeking the same Salvation, the Same Kingdom of Heaven as the Unfaithful People of our First Reading and the Impatient People of Ephesians.

God is going to establish the Kingdom of Heaven, but it will be through Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the World. But Nicodemus comes to meet the Light in the middle of the night. He is still comfortable only in darkness. But as the God of the “Unfaithful Priests and People” will meet them even in their sin, their exile, their desolation, Jesus will meet anyone, Jesus will meet us in our own darkness, in our sin, even in our hopelessness.

Jesus invites us as he did Nicodemus to look up to himself on the Cross. On the Cross, because God so loved the world, Jesus will draw all people unto himself. It seems a bit arrogant to some people. Who is this one who will not only draw people but also be their Saviour? The Scribes and Pharisees did not accept the signs as John describes them in his Gospel. As a result they remained in their sin and continued to live in the darkness. But The Gospels give us patterns to imitate.

• Mary was open to the Messenger of God, unlike the people in our First Reading who scoffed, mocked and rejected the prophets. She said “Be it done unto me according to your Word.”
• Simeon and Anna waited eagerly in the Temple for the Sight of the Messiah. They waited a long time, and in patience. Simeon was an old man whose sight was dimmed. Anna had been a widow and was now in her 80s.
• The Rich Man went away empty, because he had many possessions.
• Peter and the Apostles would say, “We will stay. Where can we go, you have the message of Eternal Life.”

The choice is now yours and mine. The Kingdom of God is at hand - the Day of the Lord’s Favour is right here. The train is leaving, the doors are closing: All Aboard !