ARE YOU STILL IN THE DARK?

HOMILY FOR THE 4^TH SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR B

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

In a typical African village setting, there lived a little boy and his mother. This little boy was the only child of the mother whom she always sent out to run errands for her. On one faithful day, the mother knowing well that darkness was almost near sent his son on an errand to a friend, but without forgetting to hand him over a lamp (locally made lamp called mpanaka). Darkness covered the skies as this boy was returning from the errand. Suddenly, he heard some quire noise in the bush and sensed danger. He thought some spirits were blowing whistles(where as it was the tree called whistling pine), and this made him more fearful. He remembered the advice of the mother that he must light up the mpanaka immediately it gets dark as this would enhance visibility and reduce some fears. But against this, he had thought to himself, if I light up this lamp, I will anger these spirits the more; he then threw the lamp away and took to his heels, running and shouting for help. The mum heard his voice from a distance, and ran with her own lamp to meet the son in trouble. The little boy was comforted by the presence of the mother who had her lamp lit. The very first question that came out from the mouth of the mother was: my dear son, why be in the dark when I gave you a lamp? To be in the dark is to be outside Christ. To be in the light is to be with Christ. We all have been given the light. We are to embrace it and live in it.

The Gospel (John 3:14-21) pericope is generally a call on all to embrace Christ wholeheartedly. It can actually be divided into three major parts which brings out three major salvific significance of the son of man. The first part (vv.14-15) brings to the awareness of the Christian that Christ’s upliftment imposes on us the obligation to look unto him as a necessary channel for our salvation. The lifting of the son of man is a call on the believer to trust that our faith in Jesus is not in vain. Jesus is raised on high that we may gain salvation. The case of the Christ surely would be theologically different, although somewhat similar at first look from the case of the serpent which Moses lifted up in the desert for the Israelites. The bronze serpent was built as an antidote against the poisonous fiery serpents which bit the people as a result of their sins. Like the Israelites, we too sinned and are in need of healing. But the healing we desire is not merely a physical healing and refrains from death as the Israelites. We needed also a spiritual healing that can not only heal the wounds in our souls but can render the serpent (the devil) powerless and without poison.

Surely, the serpent continues to struggle, and does bite us; however, an encounter with Christ serves as a neutralizer to the poisonous venom of the serpent. The serpent has venom but no longer poisonous to the believer. It was not the serpent that gave life. It was the God who commanded Moses to raise the serpent. And thus, it was God who healed them. The encounter with the bronze serpent was momentary and timely, but our encounter with Christ is eternal and timeless. The people just looked on the serpent when they are bit. We look on Jesus in and out of season. The people most probably forgot and did away with the bronze serpent when its use elapsed, but we do not forget or do away with Christ. Christ is useful yesterday, today and forever. The serpent was man-made. Christ is God himself. These theological significance opens our minds that ‘something greater then Solomon is here.’ Unlike the Israelites who lost the need of the serpent, we can never grow needless of God. Eternal life which is the very life of God himself is the goal. And so, here on earth and hereafter in heaven, we are with God.

The Second part (v.16) which is one of the early-to-memorize Bible verses takes our mind to the love of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him has eternal life. This is a reminder to us that at the very back of everything is God. The initiative in salvation lies in God. And we must realize that it is the world that God loves, not a nation, not a family, and not even a singular person. Sometimes, we parade ourselves as the most beloved of God. We intimidate people with the name of God. We impose on people some fear to see us as more loved by God than others. God loves the world. It is true that sin draws the sinner away from God, but it is even truer that sin does not draw the sinner away from the love of God. Love can be practiced from a distance. What sin does is to create some chasm and extend the distance between us and God. However, from that distance, God keeps us loving. We are called to come closer and delete this chasm created by sin in our relationship with God. God loves each one of us as He loves every one of us.

The third part (vv.17-21) lays bare the paradox of love and judgment. As verse 16 tends to flame our minds on the limitless love of God, we are immediately being confronted in these exceeding verses the judgment of God. This links us to the First Reading (2 Chronicles 36:14-16.19-23) that exposed how the priests and the people were so sinful and annoyed God deeply. Yet, God showed compassion, and continually sent his messengers to convert them until the anger of God rose against them till there was no remedy. They were sent on exile and had to suffer greatly in the hands of their enemies. If we embrace God, we are in the light. If we embrace sin, we are in the dark. While in the dark, we suffer poor or no vision, and are prone to attacks, as the Israelites were prone to attacks, and actually got attacked.

This is the message of this verse: If we believe in Christ, we are not condemned; but if we do not believe in Christ, we stand to be condemned. We are not condemned for living in the dark; rather we are condemned for remaining in the dark even when we have seen the light. Our vision of the light must draw us to the light. It is pitiable that as many people who live in the dark rejoice when they see the wonderful light (cf. Isaiah 9:2-3), some others remain gloomy and comfortable with the dark. In this case, the light which is meant to be their salvation becomes their damnation, the light which is meant to lit now sets ablaze, the light which is meant to direct becomes a mere fancy. Embrace the light when you see it, and come out of the dark.

Are you still in the dark? Have you not seen the light yet? If your vision of the light has been impaired by sin, go and put on the spectacle of faith and follow the light. Your followership of the light will bring you healing from the impaired vision caused by sin, and would set you on the pathway of salvation. What is it that is still keeping you in the dark? What is that habit that has failed to leave you? What is that material thing that has imprisoned your soul? Who is that person that has lured you away from God? The time has come for you to make this discovery. The knowledge of darkness and an eagerness to come out of it is a sure step towards the appreciation of the light, but an ignorance of darkness is a killer. Let us shine our torch lights. The shining of these torches expels the darkness that has enshrouded our lives. We must not act like the little boy in our lead story who threw away the lamp on perceiving difficulties. Making the lamp lit assures calmness. If he had lit the lamp, most probably, he would have discovered that the whistling was coming from a mere tree and not the spirits. Being in the light is consoling, encouraging and calming. Never let yourself to live in darkness (sin) when we have now got the light (Christ).

The race of the mother who ran to save her son in danger can be likened to the race of God who runs to meet and save us. Even when the boy had thrown away the lamp he was given, the mother still ran with her own lamp to save him. This is what God does. The Second Reading (Eph. 2:4-10) made an emphasis on this. Even when we suffer out of our recklessness and sin, God does not abandon us. He gives us another life in Christ and makes us to be with Him eternally. It is by grace that we are saved. May this grace be ever abundant for us now and always. Amen. Happy new week. God bless you.