A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Lent Lent 4, year B – Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21 – “Deeds of Darkness” In 1936, from a podium at Chautauqua, New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said the following: “I have seen war on land and sea.  I have seen blood running from the wounded.  I have seen the dead in the mud.  I have seen cities destroyed…I have seen children starving.  I have seen the agony of mothers and wives.  I hate war.” You may believe this war is right and justified, that Saddam is a tyrant who murders his own people, who possesses chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction and is capable of using them and that he is an imminent threat to the people of the world.  You may believe that the United States has a duty and responsibility to respond with force to this madman, regardless of opposition from our traditional allies and the United Nations. On the other hand, you may believe that this war is wrong and unjustified, that the United Nations inspection process should have been allowed to continue, that the United States has an obligation to work within the world order of the UN,  that preemptive action was not called for and  that might does not make right.  Whatever you believe, and this is an issue upon which reasonable people, even reasonable Christian people can agree to disagree, whatever you believe, I do believe that all of us can agree with our former president Roosevelt and say “I hate war.” A week ago when I awoke and found that the bombing had begun I was filled with a terrible sadness.   Sadness that the peace process had not worked, sadness that Saddam had not relinquished his regime, sadness that the nations of the world could not come to agreement, sadness that our troops have traveled far from home, leaving spouses, parents and children, sadness that innocents are dying. And I wondered what was on God’s mind.  What must God be thinking of us?  Is God shaking the divine head in disappointment that we, the Creator’s children are once again turning to war and bloodshed, spoiling the creation that was intended for life and beauty, love and abundance?  What is the pain that God is feeling? So it is that these words have been repeating themselves in my mind: “Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways; reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise. Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease; take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.” I called my sister yesterday, my sister who is married to an Air Force officer.  She said that her husband, stationed in Virginia, has been working from midnight to noon this week.  He has guys on the ground in Iraq.  He is working not during the day but from midnight to noon so he can be in communication with his guys when it is daylight over there. So, in terms of Virginia time, he is working when it is dark.  Our bombing began in the dark.  And our Gospel for this day has a word to say about deeds done in the dark.  Darkness is associated with sin.  Sin is the breaking of relationships, with one another and with our God.  Sin is refusing to trust, to stop speaking, to seek war instead of peace. Ephesians puts it this way, “You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.  All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.” Harsh words.  Words of condemnation.  Words that are hard to hear.  So listen.  Listen to the next words, 2 words that are our salvation:  BUT GOD.  But God.   The text continues:  “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” But God, who knows us at our worst, but God loves us, forgives us, saves us.  The best summary of a religious outlook I have ever seen consists of 4 words on a bumper sticker God Loves You Anyway.  But God, who shakes the divine head in disappointment, but God who mourns when any child dies, but God loves us anyway.  Why?  Because, as that most famous of all verses in the Bible states, “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.”  The following verse says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  But God loves us anyway. Once there was a young man who had a terrible argument with his father.  The relationship was broken.  The son left home, and stayed away for years.  From time to time he was in communication with his mother, but never with dad.  His mom begged him to return.  He wouldn’t.   Finally, one year, as Christmas was approaching, mom asked again.  The son said he would like to, but he was afraid dad would reject him.  Mom assured him that he wouldn’t.  The son said, ok, he would come home, but that he wanted his mom to speak to his dad.   If dad wanted to forgive and forget, then would she tie a white ribbon to the tree out front.  The day arrives.  The son is traveling on the train home.  The train will pass his house.  The son is afraid to look, afraid of being rejected one more time.  So he tells his story to his seatmate, and asks him to look for him.  The train passes the house.  “Well, what do you see?  Do you see a ribbon?”  No, he says, “I don’t see one ribbon.  I see hundreds.   Every branch of the tree has a ribbon tied on.”  The son was welcomed home. So are you.  So am I.  Even if we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.   Even if we are part of a country that is part of a world where peace has failed.  Still.   Yet.  But.  But God loves us anyway. Still and yet, what are we to do?  How do we respond to God’s love, grace and forgiveness?  How do we live when there is a war on?  One of our members shared with me this week a feeling that many of us are having – that it just doesn’t seem right to just keep on keeping on – NCAA tournaments, Academy Awards and all the other drudge and dross of life seem irrelevant and less important.  If you are feeling that way, then don’t just keep on keeping on.  Do something different.  Pray more.  Be gentle with yourself.  Be gentle with others.  Go out of your way for a neighbor.  Be a shelter of calm during this current storm.  Following our Lenten leader’s suggestion from last Wednesday night and read a Psalm a day.  Or, you can write a big check and bring it to church next Sunday, which is when we will receive a special offering for the One Great Hour of Sharing, which supports The United Methodist Committee on Relief, that responds instantly to suffering and disaster wherever it occurs around the world.  Garrison Keillor, in an essay titled ”The Meaning of Life,” gives us a clue.  He writes, “To know and to serve God, of course, is why we're here, a clear truth, that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily discernible but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it hard. But a little faith will see you through. What else will do except faith in such a cynical, corrupt time?  When the country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect, walk on fences, sleep in trees, and have faith that all this woofing is not the last word. What is the last word, then? Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids - all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.” Grace shines through, we are made for the light, even though we do deeds in the dark.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.”  May it be so.  Amen. Rev. Linda K. Dolby Wesley United Methodist Church 2009 Dewey Avenue Rochester, NY  14615 lkdolby@frontiernet.net