+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let's begin this morning with our reading from Numbers [21:4-9]:
"From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.' Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died."
Anyone want to complain against God this morning?! {{Congregational Response}} So what do you think about God's response to the people's complaints? {{Congregational Response}} What are some words you might use to describe God? {{Congregational Response}}
Well, you know the rest of the story: The people come to Moses, and Moses intercedes for the people, and God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and lift it into the sky, and if people look at it, then they'll live.
Now let's turn to this morning Gospel reading from John [3:14-21]:
"Jesus said, 'Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.'"
Who is "the Son of Man?" {{Congregational Response}} [Jesus; Jewish expression which literally means "human being." It's the only title Jesus himself uses about himself]
What does it mean when Jesus says he must be "lifted up?" {{Congregational Response}} [that he must be lifted up on the cross and crucified]
In the story from numbers, when the people look at the serpent lifted up, they live; in the Gospel, when the people look at Jesus lifted up, the people live eternally.
And, in the story from Numbers, the people sin and they suffer the consequences. But in the Gospel, the people sin and Jesus suffers the consequences. And the reason Jesus suffers the consequences for our sins is right here in this morning's Gospel: "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"― notice the present tense: as soon as we believe in Jesus we have eternal life; eternal life is not just something that begins after we die― 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."
I have just finished reading a wonderful book called The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander [© 2000; Harvard Business School Press]. Benjamin Zander conducts the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and his wife Rosamund is a renowned family therapist. Together they do presentations and workshops centered around what they call the 12 practices of the Art of Possibility. One of the practices is called "Giving an A." The idea began as Benjamin Zander was preparing to teach a graduate class at the New England Conservatory. He writes:
"Yet, after twenty-five years of teaching, I still came up against the same obstacle. Class after class, the students would be in such a chronic state of anxiety over the measurement of their performance that they would be reluctant to take risks with their playing. One evening I settled down with Roz to see if we could think of something that would dispel their anticipation of failure. . . .
"So we came up with the idea of giving them the only grade that would put them all at ease, not as a measurement tool, but as an instrument to open them up to possibility.
"'Each student in this class will get an A for the course,' I announce. 'However, there is one requirement. . . . Sometime during the next two weeks, you must write me a letter dated next May. . . , and in this letter you are to tell, in as much detail as you can, the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade.
". . . 'But,' I tell them, 'I am especially interested in the person you have become by next May. I am interested in the attitude, feelings, and worldview of that person who will have done all she wished to do or become everything he wanted to be'" [pp. 27-28].
Later on, Benjamin Zander gives three more reasons for Giving an A:
"We give the A to finesse the stranglehold of judgment that grades have over our consciousness from our earliest days. The A is an invention that creates possibility for both mentor and student, manager and employee, or for any human interaction" [p. 33].
"The freely granted A expresses a vision of partnership, teamwork, and relationship" [p. 36].
"The freely granted A lifts you off the success/failure ladder and spirits you away from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility. It is a framework that allows you to see all of who you are and be all of who you are. . ." [p. 46].
What does the practice of Giving an A have to do with this morning's Gospel? {{Congregational Response}} [Because by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross God has given us all an A!]
Now please turn to the reading from Ephesians, which is all about God's giving us an A:
"You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived. . . . But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us [echoing John's Gospel: "for God so loved the world"] even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ —by grace you have been saved— [by grace you have been given an A!] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus [already! just as eternal life is already ours now, so we are already raised up and seated in heaven], so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing [you didn't earn the A!]; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 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" [2:1-10].
My brothers and sisters, God has given us an A to free us from the world of judgment and measurement and to send us out into a universe of possibility. God has given us an A so we can be God's partners in transforming wilderness territory into kingdom territory. God has given us an A so we won't be anxious about our performance but ready to take risks for the sake of the kingdom of God. God has given us an A so we can see all that we are, and so we can be all that we are. In short, God has given us an A not as an expectation to live up to, but as a possibility to live into!
Thanks be to God!
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