St. Paul’s United Church Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Promise of Rescue – Rev. David Mundy

Numbers 21:4-9 John 3:14-21

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The tourists at Niagara Falls, two weeks ago, watched in horror as a man, in his late thirties or early forties, climbed the rail, and threw himself into the raging river. Even as they punched in 911 on their cell phones, they saw him get caught in the current, then plunge to death more than fifty metres below.

Except that he didn’t die. When his body bobbed to the surface a few minutes later, he was still very much alive, even though the force of the water had torn off all his clothing. Even though it was obvious that this had been an attempt by the man to take his own life, he became only the third person on record to survive being swept over the Horseshoe Falls. Poor guy! He was probably thinking “I can’t even get this right!’

The drama wasn’t over though. As he floated in the icy waters of the lower river rescuers tried to reach him but he resisted help, apparently unaware that this may have been a fairly strong sign from God that his time on this Earth wasn’t quite over. A call to a local helicopter service brought a chopper in a matter of minutes but what could the pilot do when the man didn’t want help? Thinking quickly, he angled the blades of the helicopter to push the man toward shore, even though it was against his will. When he was close enough, rescuers at the rivers’ edge pulled him to safety.

This story captures our imaginations because of the sheer drama: The unlikely survival of the plunge, the resourcefulness and courage of the rescue team. When there are so many sad endings in this life, it is important to hear of the occasions when people are saved.

We heard two rescue stories this morning as we continue to consider the promises or covenants of God during the season of Lent. This is surely the most curious promise of them all, as least in the way it is presented in the Older Testament book of Numbers. And yet it may be the most important promise of all.

You may not have known that there is a book called Numbers in the bible, and the title is a little confusing because it is not really about accounting, except for two long lists of men compiled for military purposes. It is mostly about the long journey from Egypt to Canaan which is also recounted in the book of Exodus and not surprisingly the Hebrew word for this book means wilderness.

Numbers contains some of the most entertaining and downright weird stories of the bible. God provides manna and quail for the people of Israel to eat and Moses strikes a rock which spews forth water. These are the entertaining ones. On the strange side are a talking donkey, and the one we heard this morning about snakes sent by God to bite the Israelites for complaining. After all those years in the wilderness, you might expect a little carping. The snake attacks end when Moses lifts up a rod on which the image of a bronze snake has been affixed. We all know the image of Adam reaching out a finger to God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo also included this story of Moses.

We move from the crowd scene of Numbers to an intimate conversation in the gospel of John.

Jesus uses this seemingly obscure image when he has a late night conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. A deeply religious man, he comes to Jesus, whose name means “God saves,” to talk theology. Unlike some of his religious colleagues, Nicodemus recognizes Jesus as a true teacher rather than an adversary. As is so often the case in John’s gospel, Jesus seems to speak in riddles, talking first of all about being “born again,” a metaphor that baffles Nicodemus. How do you go back into your mother’s womb?

Jesus makes things even more confusing in that portion of the chapter which we heard today, when he speaks of the snake on a pole and how the Son of Man will be lifted up. Jesus wants Nicodemus to know that he is on a rescue mission for the world as a whole, but also for every individual who is open to receive him. Out of these confusing images we get to the verses we have all heard and seen on signs and may have even committed to memory:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved.

Why does this promise seem less than appealing to so many Christians, when it holds out a great deal of hope? There are some churches where this chapter of John is arguably the most important in the bible. Of course that is also why other churches shy away from these words which have been used and abused by many.

We have seen the TV preachers who quote John 3:16 as they begin speaking about the love of Christ but manage to make it a message about the fear of hell. Or maybe it’s the country music star sitting across the desk from Larry King on CNN who recounts his oft-told story of waking up on the kitchen floor after another binge and realizing that he needs Jesus.

These instances might make us uncomfortable or even angry because we figure they are simplistic, or manipulative. Or we don’t want to be associated with a brand of faith that has tunnel vision, always focusing on personal salvation to the exclusion of others.

But here is the simple reality. There are people who have found renewed hope and meaning for life in the churches that share this message, and often their lives have been profoundly changed. Then there are people who would never darken the door of a church where the sign said “Jesus saves” or go to a place called “the Rescue Mission” who will go on international television in front of millions of people to have someone tell them how to straighten out their lives. Got a problem with your marriage? Doctor Phil will fix you up, within the hour! Even though he points fingers, and criticizes, and uses sarcasm, people love it!

Why O why? The truth is, we want to be rescued by somebody, somewhere, when our lives become complicated or out of control. We might not be in physical danger, but there are times when we are barely keeping our heads above water, or we have tried everything in our power to keep others afloat and when the question is asked “is it workin’ for ya” the answer is a resounding “no.”

So what is the promise of God for us today? Surely there has to be some sense that God, in Christ, reaches out a strong hand to grasp us in those times we are struggling to keep our heads above water. And the message of rescue or salvation or whatever we want to call it is that even when we aren’t so sure that we really need God’s help, Christ wades out to meet us and brings us to shelter.

I wonder sometimes if the reason many of our adult children have drifted away from the church of their upbringing is that they figure that this is their parent’s club, not a place where lives can be changed through the saving love of Christ. Have we inadvertently taught them that there is nothing in the community of faith which will make a difference in their lives?

You might be here because you appreciate the fact that in the United Church we don’t dole out easy answers, and because we don’t have limited vision when it comes to social issues. There is a danger, though, of ending up with a doughnut faith with lots of stuff around the outside and nothing in the middle.

A few years ago I shared a story with you which I’m going to repeat because it reminds me that we come to Jesus like Nicodemus, needing to hear a promise that will lift us up. The then moderator of the church Bill Phipps, an activist in the United Church for years, came to visit our presbytery, the monthly gathering of congregational representatives. You may recall that Phipps got in hot water for saying things about the divinity of Jesus that upset people both inside and outside the United Church. I didn’t agree with him and I wondered what he would talk about at our meeting.

Lo and behold, he began by asking us all to consider what it means to be saved by Jesus in the late twentieth century, which was when he was visiting us. We were sitting at round tables in groups of six and eight and at my table everyone just stared at the others for a minute or so. Then one woman said “I don’t feel that I need Jesus to save me!” But she went on and spoke of how her faith and her congregation had given her the strength to find her way through a difficult divorce. When she was finished others offered their examples of the importance of the Christian community and of Christ in their lives. I noticed that the same animated conversations were happening at other tables. The radical moderator showed up and a revival meeting broke out! It was really quite inspirational.

The question that Bill Phipps asked us is still worth asking today, even as it is updated: “what does it mean to be saved by Christ as we move steadily into this new millennium?” Perhaps we can word it a little differently “what does it mean to me to be saved by Christ as I move forward, day by day?”The promise of rescue is the promise of the grace of Christ, and it is the promise of the love of Christ which can lift us up. Whatever image we have of Jesus, we can draw on God’s strength to give us hope.

The epistle reading for this day is from Ephesians, the same New Testament letter we heard from last Sunday. It was the “last word” then and will be again today.

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 with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God . . . For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life . . .

Amen!