John 3:14-21
Lent 4 - Year B
Whoever is the world. GOD has so loved the "whoevers"....
The poison in the world must be lifted up for the world to see what it has brought upon itself. That way, what has been biting our heels below our consciousness can be seen for what it is.
The power of religion and the power of state are finally able to be seen as the Revelation 13 dragon they can be. The cross reveals the dragon of self-sustaining power.
Revelation by itself brings clarity. The next issue is that of whether such clarity brings in its wake healing. Or, does is bring blindness and a redoubling of self-serving so no one else will be courageous enough to be lifted up.
It sometimes feels as though the cross of long ago and the caduceus of longer ago need a new vehicle for their healing work. We have forgotten their purpose and now use them as brand marks. Where will this healing breakthrough in our time to reveal unconscious snakes and conscious dragons for what they are? - that the goodness of creation might be born again, from whichever direction.
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Lon (Reader)
I am thinking God's Grace is good stuff, and maybe considering the good we are called to do might reshape how we go about doing it. I am wondering if that would be like looking in the serpent's eye and being healed?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/march2003.html
"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." [The Message]
Addicted to denial and illusion? listen to the war reporting. Nearly every sentence has a qualifier in it. Illusion! as we strive to make meaning where there is not yet any.
Denial and illusion - isn't that an interesting definition of doing evil? The much more modest approach of simply stating here's what I'm doing and here's why I'm doing it doesn't get much play these days. Every administration does its best to match its rhetoric to the situation, but always seems to shade things so when the public gets more reliable information it is difficult for them to continue trusting. This seems to be true whether it is personal issues of the previous administration (I did not have sex with that woman) or policy issues of the present administration (the terrorists of 9/11 were Iraqi - increasing expenses while decreasing revenue is sound fiscal policy - etc.).
Let us not easily give in to denial and illusion. Listen carefully and tell only what you know without speculation. It is amazing how much quieter and saner the world would be without the noise of speculation regarding others or what one present moment means for eternity.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/march2003.html
The New Interpreter's Study Bible notes: "'Eternal life' does not speak of immortality or a future life in heaven, but is a metaphor for living now in the unending presence of God."
I have used this quote before and think it quite to the point at every point along the way. We tend to get so caught up in ultimates that we lose track of the importance of the temporal. It is not until we have dealt with such a small thing as the present presence of G*D that we will be entrusted with the larger thing of a future presence. In some systems this means there never will come a future because we are always where we are.
This is another way of getting at the presence of paradise instead of the distance of heaven.
Pray with me: For the gift of practicing the presence of G*D, thanks. For the perseverance to continue practicing, thanks.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/march2006.html
I am blanking on where I recently ran into information about what has been translated "believes in him". The point being made was that the Greek was not about propositional orientation, but active emulation. It might be said that those who are healed are those who get what Jesus is living about G*D and apply it to their lives. The understanding of what results from this process of living one's faith is revealed in the subsequent verses -- G*D's love of all creation.
When it comes to faith or belief, deeds expected by G*D, deeds done in G*D, become the proof of the pudding.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/march2006.html
The poisonous language of complaint usually ends up in a community that bites each other. Any way one turns there is complaint ready to strike. Everyone is a heel to be struck and a heel who strikes.
In a poisonous context, working from the inside is no longer an option for healing. It has to come from the outside. A discipline or methodology needs to be designed and followed for, left to one's own devices, the poison is too strong to fight against and poison breeds poison - that which we abhor, we do; that which we intend, we don't.
Look clearly at the result - complaint becomes a snake. Look clearly at this connection. Perhaps by turning it around and seeing the snake on its way (still on a pole, but ready to descend to bite again) we might yet change our complaining ways.
Wherein such clarity that can stop a consequence by seeing it? Here it is prayer. Prayer for a larger context. Prayer of thanks. Prayer for mercy. Prayer for deeds of light.
In this Lenten season prayer is not just duty, but a lens through which we might yet see more clearly. Or, as St. Richard of Chichester prayed in the 13th century and the Shrine of St. Jude modified for use as a midday prayer in the 21st:
Merciful Friend, Brother and Redeemer
May I know you more clearly
Love you more dearly
And follow you more nearly
Day by day.
[may this prayer be more, this day, than a pious covering of crusade preaching (complaint) against another faith - Richard did have his limits and blind-spots, as do we all]
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a serpent is raised as a question mark
"is this what you want to become"
that question twines itself around our lives
a messiah is raised an exclamation mark
"come on in life is fine"
that call echoes within and through our lives
a singular you is raised to take them both
and demonstrate that steadfast love endures
that good works are - our way of life
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
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From Destroyer to Protector – go Kali Serpent Christ!
"In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And, because of her terrible form she is also often seen as a great protector." [good ol' Wikipedia]
Kali is sometimes described as darkness, as Ultimate Mother. Christ moving over the face of the dark deep is also known as Ultimate Word. Playing here could take up the rest of the day.
Moving on, the new Wesley Study Bible notes, "'So loved' does not mean 'loved so much' but 'loved in this way'; that is, God's love is giving and purposeful – to rescue and give life."
A question for this week is how we understand our having been loved enough to be lifted up as a sign of that love available to others. Though rescuing and giving life are modes open to fatigue, may you travel into your countryside with a gift of baptism – identifying beautiful, beloved people and helping them see that about themselves.
In the destruction of sin a newly birthed saint emerges.
Here is a "Wesleyan Core Term" from the new study Bible: "New Birth: When John Wesley listed the four most important doctrines found in Scripture, new birth was included. The others are original sin, justification by faith, and inward and outward holiness (see Notes, Preface to the OT, ¶18). The inclusion of new birth reveals a very important theme in Wesley's theology, and in all theology that calls itself Wesleyan. Martin Luther, Of course, proclaimed that we are saved by faith alone and his theology of justification became the heartbeat of all Protestantism. But there is a key difference between justification and new birth in Wesley's theology. Not only does Christ forgive us for past sins when we accept him as our savior, he also gives us a new life – a new life to live differently. Not only does Christ deal with the guilt of our sins, he also deals with the root problem that causes us to sin. In Wesley's scheme, new birth is the beginning of the holy life, the beginning of sanctification."
In what way have you been loved; in what way will you love? Will this be a new birth for you or a new birth reaffirmed?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
Again an issue of what can be trusted raises its fanged head. When the danger seems great enough, that deemed evil or death is nipping at our heels, we are liable to pursue the improbable, if not impossible. How might gazing upon a bronze snake care for the poison a live snake has injected?
This then is the context of famous John 3:16 line about believing to receive a conditioned gift of a positive eternity - something not intrinsic to persons, but given to or withheld from them.
If your greatest fear is a wrath to come, then what became substitutionary atonement theology is the only way to go. Faith becomes a zero-sum game that needs dividing line between up and down.
If we focus more on a scene with Nicodemus and the allusions there, we might hear this retrojected into the conversation. As is as though the whole business of being lifted fills two functions. First, it builds on an assertion that Nicodemus did not understand his own tradition about where belief can come from - fear - and how it needs to be understood as sign and mystery rather than doctrine based on one experience [go get intentionally snake-bit so you can look on a bronze snake and prove G*D]. Second, since you are not ready to receive my experience, I can make the most outrageous claim and it will not add or detract a whit to your willingness to see things differently.
Rather than get caught with the problems of a conditionally loving G*D, it may be more helpful to look at verses 20-21 and the potential of using embarrassment of having one’s hypocrisy (often a great evil in the Christian Scriptures) revealed to others. Here is the antidote to secrets and night-meetings - by your deeds will you be measured, not by what you say and then don’t do. Religious leaders still need to learn this every generation. In our day this shows up around GLBT, immigration, and economic issues. In each case there are scapegoats expelled instead of community broadened and deepened. Some churches have done well to know it isn’t just a matter of looking to a past sign, but paying attention to a present choice to both proclaim love and express it in deed. This is light that illumines all the other born again and bloody atonement excuses to avoid deeds done in G*D’s freedom.
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Fun equivalency: Pinocchio = animated puppet and Jesus = begotten bronze snake.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/03/john-314-21.html