4th Sunday in Lent
2 Chr 36: 14-16, 19-23; Eph2: 4-10; Luke 16: 19-31
Deacon Larry Brockman
“God gave His only son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.” That is all of us because we believe! What great cause for rejoicing! And those words by Jesus to Nicodemus are echoed as well by Paul: “God brought us to life in Christ- by grace you have been saved.” More cause for rejoicing!
But you know what. That isn’t all that Jesus and Paul said. There’s more. But before getting to that, recall some of the history lesson in the first reading.
Notice that the whole story of the Israelites is summarized there. First, we know that the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They had been brought out of slavery and given the promised land by God. Yet despite being “saved” by their God, in the generations that followed, priest after priest, and all the people were guilty of ignoring the word of the Lord that was given to Moses and spread by the messengers of God and the prophets. The Israelites are described as having done abominable deeds, even polluting the sacred temple of the Lord. And so what happened to them? After a period of many “second chances”, the Lord loses patience, and they are overrun and scattered by the pagans in exile. And then, after the appointed time of purification had past, some 70 years in all, the pagan King Cyrus issues a decree enabling the faithful remnant to return to their promised land.
This story should sound familiar. It is the precursor of our own story. We, too, have all been saved; but we were not saved for this life. Rather we were saved by the Lord for eternal life. God sent His only son to suffer on the cross, die, and then be resurrected from the dead to eternal life. And God promised all of us who believe the same eternal life that His son has achieved in rising.
But you know what? We all have to go through our exile; to be purified of our past sins. Listen again to Jesus and what he says to Nicodemus: “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.” Now Paul argues that: “But 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” So, God loves us despite our sins, and has saved us despite our sins!
We must obtain forgiveness for our sins through Confession. But they are still not the kind of deeds that we would want exposed to the light of God. That’s where our purification comes in. Catholics call it Purgatory.
We cannot save ourselves- God did that for us through His son. But if we believe, really believe in all that Christ taught and promised; we confess our sins, and repent of them. Then what flows from us is good deeds, deeds that are done by us in Christ, that is, in his name; deeds that are done by “living the truth” of our faith; and deeds that we have no hesitation in showing in the light.
Christians whose deeds shine forth in the light are ready for the Last Judgment and the Kingdom of God where they will remain forever in the Light of Christ.