Fourth Sunday of Lent
For Lent 2021, members of CTA’s Anti-Racism Team are sharing weekly reflections. As they are published, their pieces will be posted here.
When I opened the readings for this Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent, I laughed to myself. Sitting there looking back up at me was the verse that filled my childhood through song, constant recitation, t-shirts, mugs, signs, everything as a Southern Baptist in Memphis, Tennessee: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” I can still spout it out mindlessly. For me, this verse, which Jesus gave to Nicodemus, one despised man, stirs up memory of hatred, being cast out, and oppression for being queer. Choosing to live in sin as a gay man meant for many “Christians” around me that I was not a follower of Christ.
What is ignored by many who are able to rattle off John 3:16 on command are the words that follow: John 3:17, “For God did not send God’s son into the world to condemn.” It is in living out verse seventeen that I truly find God, not in oppression and condemnation, but, as the verse ends, “that the world might be saved through him.” It is in living my truth as a gay man, a queer human, that I am saved through God. This is the light of the true message, salvation is available for ALL through Jesus, not just those who fit the mold of the oppressors.
The fourth Sunday in Lent is traditionally called “Laetare”, or “rejoice”, Sunday. Today I rejoice that I am able to live my life beyond the memories and trauma-filled past of verse 16, and can move into the truth of verse 17. The Psalm’s response this Sunday reads, “let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!” This Laetare Sunday, my hope is that we remember Christ’s anti-oppression message, can rise up, and spread that Good news!
Prayer
Oh God, help strengthen us in your truth by living our lives unashamed, knowing that we walk in your guiding spirit and love. Make us instruments of truth, spreading your true message that every human is created in your image and should be respected and loved.
