Fourth Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 26, 2006

"Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon..." (II Chronicles 36). "By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion..." (Psalm 137). "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved..." (John 3:14-21).

In 697 BCE a Babylonian army swept in upon Israel, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and killed or carried off their brightest and best as hostages. There they remained for four generations until their persecutors were themselves overthrown by the Persian king, Cyrus. He allowed them to return home to begin the long process of rebuilding. His name ("Lord") became synonymous with liberation. They found the remnants of those left behind broken, confused and alienated from their sacred traditions. This exile became a defining moment in the cultural and spiritual memory of Jews and Christians. We would never be the same again, but perhaps something new and fresh could come of it.

We are more aware than ever that even our home planet exists "in exile", a microscopic obscure outpost in a cold and random universe. Earth will eventually be obliterated by the same cosmic processes which created it. Our national and cultural histories all have stories of past and present exiles, of mistreatment by powerful and malicious "foreigners". We sometimes hold on to these stories too tightly, becoming possessed by them and perpetrating similar evils on others, precluding all possibility of liberation. It is clearer with each new generation that our ancient tribal loyalties often ensure that humanity will remain a hostage in permanent exile. Every earthly kingdom imagines it will be the exception to the rule and not end in powerlessness and obscurity.

We all understand what it means to be in exile, deprived of all that is safe, sacred and familiar. Most of us know what it is like to be alienated from the fellowship and regard of others. This experience of exile from the human community seems also to follow from one generation to the next, passed along from parent to child. Even our cherished spiritual communities, churches, synagogues and mosques easily become agents of exclusion and alienation, perpetuating the cycle of exile.

In spite of all this apparent gloom and hopelessness, we have hope from an unexpected quarter, just as Cyrus delivered our Jewish ancestors from exile. The Lord of the universe has not left us alone in spite of all we may have done to each other to deserve it. We see our liberation already at hand whenever our human institutions and individuals follow the impulse to act on behalf of others instead of self-interest. We thus hasten the day when our divine liberator will be able to complete the process of redemption and resurrection.