Reflection for the Fourth Sunday in Lent…March 10, 2024

by Judith Moe McCallum, ND Associate

Second Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Psalms 137: 1-6 “Let my tongue be silent if ever I should forget you.”
Ephesians 2:4-10 5:8-14
VBG: John 3:16
Gospel of John 3:14-21

The stories in the readings today paint man as he is, in darker tones, sinful tones, dead in his trespasses and sin. And then paints him as he may become, in brighter, richer colors, to live again in Christ.

Today’s readings speak of our transgressions, our temptations to live out our worse selves. Ephesians tells us that even when we are dead in sin, God hath quickened us together in Christ. By grace we our saved, not because we deserve this, but as a gift from God.

John reminds us that God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved by Him. The world today is filled with darkness and great suffering, just as it was in John’s time. There is unfathomable hopelessness, the treachery of war, confusion, the darkness of sin so evident in today’s readings, are still here with us now. Yet let us remember there is hope in Christ and HIs love that pours down upon us.

John tells us: “But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works be made manifest, because they are done in God.” Let us pray for God’s guiding light, that we may join with him in doing what we can, even if in little ways, to bring His love, mercy, and compassion to this troubled world, in any way that we are able, in God’s name.

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”

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