Fourth Sunday in Lent 2024

Our Gospel lesson begins in the middle of a conversation between the  Pharisee Nicodemus and Jesus.  Now why we are reading a story starting in the middle is beyond me, but there you go.

Recall that Nicodemus has come to Jesus under the cover of night.   

“Rabbi,” Nicodemus said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

 Jesus and Nicodemus then go on to speak about being born again, being born of water and of spirit. And, poor Nicodemus is quite confused.  And then Jesus throws out this doozy of a line:

“And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

Jesus is referencing our first lesson, a bizarre story about snakes.

The children of Israel have been wandering for years, and they are growing tired and frustrated.  They miss the stone houses, the streets and shops, the civilization they once knew. Water is scarce and their breakfast, lunch and dinner are the same day after day: manna and quail.

And so they began to complain.

“Why did you drag us out of Egypt to die in this godforsaken country? No decent food; no water—we can’t stomach this stuff any longer.”

If it were us, we too would be irritable and frustrated by the constant moving of camp, the walking in circles, and listening to the Moses talk about the Promised Land.

And then the complainers begin to be bitten by snakes. 

The ancient Jewish scholars taught that some people left the camp in search of food and then stumbled into a snake pit.  But in the eyes of the people, this is no accident. They are being punished for their complaining.

But God who is merciful and just; who hears the cries of his people goes to Moses:   “Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live.”   So Moses made a snake of fiery copper and put it on top of a flagpole. Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived.

The people are healed when they confront that which has made them ill, when they look the snake on the pole in the eyes. They are made well by facing that which has poisoned them.  The people must confront, face, and name their malady.

The message for us here today is that in order to fix a problem, to be healed from our illnesses, we need to confront them.

There is power in naming.

Which brings me to the Rev. Franklin Nathaniel Daniel Buchman. The name probably doesn’t mean much to you. He died over sixty years ago, but his contribution to society has changed millions of lives.

Pastor Frank Buchman was the Pastor behind The Oxford Group. The Oxford Group was a small group ministry that spread across the world quickly; guiding thousands of people into stronger relationships with Jesus.

The spiritual discipline and practices used by the Oxford group were later incorporated in AA and other twelve step programs.

And Pastor Frank Buchman was a Lutheran: Born north of Philadelphia, educated at Muhlenberg, one of our fine Lutheran Universities, studied theology at the Philadelphia seminary.

This means that AA, Alanon, Ala-teen, and all of the other twelve step programs such as narcotics anonymous, and overeaters’ anonymous are rooted in Lutheran theology.

His work to bring people into a new relationship with Jesus led directly to the creation of one the most successful recovery programs in existence.  

 

And it is pretty easy for me to make the connection between our theology and the twelve step program. 

In the Formula of Concord, one of the foundational documents of the Lutheran church, dating back to the late 1500s, explores several uses of the law.

The first use of the law is to restrain evil in the world. This is sometimes called the civil use of the law or the curb.

The second use of the law is to show us our true selves; that the commands we find in the Bible act as a mirror to show us our imperfections and our need for Jesus.

The second use of the law is sounds a lot like the first step. When exploring God’s commands to us in the Bible, we become self consciously aware of the reality that we can not measure up to God’s expectations.

Most merciful God, we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.

In the same way, AA or any of the twelve step programs, the first step for someone is recover is to admit that that alcohol or whatever the recovery group is for has made them powerless, and as a result their lives have become unmanageable.  They are in bondage to alcohol or food, or what have you.

The founders of AA discovered truth in our Lutheran theology: In order to be healed, we have to name the illness, we have to confront it and deal with it.

Like the Israelites looking upon the image of the snake in order to be healed. They had to face the very thing which made them ill to begin with.

And when Jesus draws on this ancient story in his conversation with Nicodemus,  Jesus is telling Nicodemus and those gathered around him that he who knew no sin, will become sin for us on the cross.

In the crucifixion, we are confronted with human sin in all its ugliness. 

We see ourselves in the Pharisees, smug and self righteous.

We see ourselves in the disciples, denying Jesus in public, or running away when God needs us most.

We see ourselves in the crowds, getting caught up in the mob mentality, demanding “crucify him.”

We are the thief mocking Jesus and we are the thief asking to be saved.

The cross becomes a mirror for us to see the true ugliness of humanity.

And we are humbled, we are ashamed, and we are repentant.

By becoming sin for us, Jesus calls on us to confront the poison of sin.

Sin is a venom that hardens our hearts and chokes the love out of our souls. It complicates our lives, destroying friendships and families.

But God, who is merciful and just, refused to let his people die from the venom of sin.

As in our first lesson, God sent a cure.  

Our Gospel continues:

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

By gazing on the cross, we are confronted by our sin. 

And when we recognize that same sin in ourselves, we can’t help but see our desperate need for Jesus.

And so we cry out, “Have mercy on us”.

And we are saved, like the ancient Israelites long ago.

Look upon the image our Lord.

Believe and live.