Tuesday, March 6, 2018

4 Lent B

Why might one hide from the light? Why would we choose darkness?


4 Lent B
Sermon given
March 18, 2012
By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart
At St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church
John 3:14-21


Imagine that twenty or forty years ago a group of tourists were being shown around a great cave. The guide had taken them all the way down to the lowest chamber where there was a river that went through and had shown them the fish that didn’t have any eyes that lived in it. The guide showed them another section where there were all kinds of resources stored. There were blankets, cans of food and dried meat. He said this used to be a hide out for people who didn’t want to be caught by the law, and they stored things here so they could live there for months and months, maybe even years at a time. And just when he finished telling them about that there was a great earthquake and in the earthquake a piece of granite fell down and covered up the entrance to the cave The people who were there were stuck in this lower chamber and they couldn’t get out. Now they had enough oxygen coming in to live, and they had water from the river, and they had food that was stored and they had fish in the stream but they couldn’t get back out into the world. Of course as time went by things got more difficult.
Meanwhile, outside, after the earthquake the people saw that they couldn’t get down to this group that they knew was down in the cave. They tried everything they could to get through but they didn’t have the technology to go through solid granite. There was no way to reach the people who were trapped down below. They worked for weeks to try and get through. After a few months had gone by people began giving up, but the man who ran the guide service knew that down at the bottom there was water and there was food and that they could survive. And he cared deeply for all his guides including the guide who had taken them down there, and the people that had come to see the cave. He never gave up hope for them.
Decades went by, and the people underneath learned to survive. Of course it wasn’t too long before the batteries in their flashlights burned out and the candles that were down there had been used up.  Then they were in total darkness.
Human beings are amazingly able to adapt. They had what they needed; food, water, air and community. And they did establish their own community. It wasn’t the life that any of us would choose, but it was a life. And in fact it was an existence they got used to, adapted to. There were even children born there. They had blankets. They didn’t have rain. The temperature was always moderate. And they had all agreed at the beginning that the way they were going to survive was that whatever someone found that was helpful would be shared with all of the group.
As time went by some of the people, the older people who were trapped originally, remembered being outside and would tell the children about what it was like to be in the light, although some of the children in their rebellious teenage years thought that was just a story made up by the parents.
Time passed. And the people on the outside forgot, except for the one man who knew there may be people there, and who told his son about his love for the people who were trapped in darkness. He made his son promises that as soon as it was technologically possible he would go in and see if anyone had survived. So the son grew up to be an engineer and he studied mining methods. Finally when they came out with lasers that could cut through solid granite safely, they made a hole big enough for one person to go through. The son took a bright flashlight and went down into the cave, searching for where he might find anyone who would be alive.
You can imagine what it was like down there for the people who were living out their lives in darkness. They had no real idea of how much time had passed and they had totally adapted to the darkness. They were used to being in the dark and suddenly they saw a light coming. Some of them thought it was an illusion. There couldn’t possibly be a light down here. Others who remembered what it had been like recognized it for what it was and went to greet the person who was coming. But there were some who pulled back. Who didn’t want to be seen by the light. They didn’t want the flashlight aimed at them. That didn’t want to have anything to do with this one who had come in to disturb their lives.
Why would anyone not want to go to the light and leave the darkness? You see there were a few people there who had been hoarding food and not sharing it. And even though most of the people were very thin and just getting by there were a few who were well fed. Also some had found things and put them aside for themselves, or had found some clothing and not told others so they were better dressed then everyone else. When it was dark, no one knew, but if the light were to shine on them then the truth of what they were doing would come out. So they preferred to stay in the darkness. Now the man who came down with the flashlight to lead them out had no desire to condemn anybody who tried to survive down there, certainly understanding that you do whatever you can to survive. He had no concern about what people had done down there, all he wanted was to show them another life, to show them the light - to give them some new hope, new life.
So most of the people followed the flashlight out, but some chose to stay because they had developed a comfortable, secure life in the darkness and they didn’t want to acknowledge how they had lived their lives. Now the person who came in to save them, the son, was not going to force anyone to leave. So he left a rope and he said if you ever decide to come out, just feel for the rope and follow it out. You are always welcome out in the light.
That’s what Jesus came for, because we live in darkness. There is a lot of darkness in our world. Like the darkness of lying, and doubt and selfishness. We know what the darkness is. And Jesus came to say that you don’t have to stay in darkness because I can show you the way to the light. A light that is full of life, and joy, and hope, and freedom. It says here in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
He came out of love for the world, or another way to translate this is the cosmos, or all of creation. God’s incredible love for all of creation, especially for human beings, for each person, sent Jesus to show us a new life. It says very clearly here that God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. It says later, “The light has come into world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” That’s one thing about light, when it shines it sees everything. When we have things that we don’t want others to know about, when there are parts of ourselves where we have guilt, or doubt or resentments, we don’t want others to see it. If we open ourselves to the light of Christ’s love then we know that that will be seen. If we open up to Christ, he sees it all. Sometimes people choose to not open themselves rather than to be truly seen.
We all have bits of darkness within us. We all have things we would rather not have shown on TV. I don’t understand the reality TV shows because there are things I would not want to put out there. We all have those little secrets, those things we are not proud of. That’s why we have confession. If you have darkness, if you have a secret, if the light shines on something, if you shine a light on a dark place it is no longer a dark place. It is seen. And if you have darkness inside of you and it is spoken out loud and it is offered into the world it is transformed. It is transformed from darkness into just what happened. That is the power of confession. That’s really what we do during lent, we try to look honestly at ourselves. We take those things about ourselves that we are not comfortable with and bringing them out into the light so they can be transformed by God’s love. That’s what confession is for.
Every Sunday we have a confession where we all speak together. Usually that is sufficient. Sometimes we still hold onto things inside of us. We have things that bother us and we can’t let go of. That is why we have the option in our church of what they call reconciliation of a penitent. Some might call it confession. We have the option of going to a priest and saying out loud what is on our hearts and being told by the priest that God has forgiven us. That can be a powerful healing of a burden that we might carry.
Richard Cranmer who was the person who put together the first Anglican Prayer Book said about the office of reconciliation of a penitent, “All may” (anyone who wants to do that can go to a priest any time and ask for it), “None must” (it was not required. No one has to go to confession). Then he added, “Some should.”
It is a wonderful and powerful tool, especially for times of transition in your life. There are some people who like to do it during lent or during holy week in preparation for Easter. It is an option that is available. Just call me or you can contact Jeremy, or some other priest.

Sometimes if you have something on your heart you are not able to let go of, shining the bright light of Christ’s love upon it transforms it, and we are invited to a new life, a life of freedom, and joy, and hope in the light of God’s love.

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