Crossed Wires John 3: 14-21; Ephesians 2: 1-10 March 11, 2012 (Third Sunday in Lent; using readings for

fourth Sunday) Rev. Deborah Dail Denbigh Presbyterian Church

John 3: 14-21 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "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. 17 "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. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." Ephesians 2: 1-10 1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the

immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 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. You show up for the doctors appointment and go to the check-in window. You say your name and the time of your appointment. The receptionist is puzzled. Finally, after looking through the computer schedule and her paper print-out, she gives you the news: Im sorry your appointment isnt today, its really tomorrow. Embarrassed and perplexed you leave the office and obediently return the next day. You sheepishly walk up to the window and announce that youre back for your appointment. Once again, there is the search for your name in the computer schedule and the print-out. After some time, the receptionist says: Im sorry, youre appointment was yesterday. You missed it. And, weve already charged you a missed appointment fee. You explain that you showed up yesterday and were told your appointment was today. The receptionist says: Apparently, weve gotten our wires crossed. At which point, it takes all the selfcontrol you can muster not to throw what we in the South call a hissy fit. Experiences in which we somehow get our wires crossed are actually quite common. This expression comes from the days of the earliest telephones. If a telephone was not wired properly if wires touched or were crossed your conversation might be rerouted; you would end up talking to a different person than the one you called. Things got mixed up and confused. There was misunderstanding. So, today, when we say we got our wires crossed we mean we had a miscommunication; somehow things in our planning got confused and tangled up. When we get our wires crossed some measure of chaos ensues. We sometimes end up places we didnt mean to end up. (Wictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.) This year during this season of Lent, we are exploring the question Why the Cross? through a series of sermons on cross-related words or phrases. So far weve looked at Crossed Arms, Cross Purposes, and Crossroads. We need the cross because we are people who cross our arms in defiance against God. We need the cross because we are prone to live our lives at cross

purposes with Gods purposes. We need the cross because at the crossroads at the decision points of life we are prone to choose self over others; death over life; hatred or apathy over love. We also need the cross because we have our wires crossed with God and one another. One of the teaching tools that have long been used by churches to teach the Christian faith is a catechism. A catechism includes a series of questions and answers (which were often memorized) designed to teach the basics of the faith. In the Presbyterian Church we have several catechisms, among them a newer version designed for children called: Belonging to God: A First Catechism. Parts of our worship service today have included some of the questions from this catechism. Question 11 asks: What is sin? Answer 11: Sin is closing our hearts to God and disobeying Gods law. Question 12: What are the results of sin? Answer 12: Our relationship with God is broken. All our relations with others are confused. When we close our hearts to God and disobey Gods law, our wires are crossed with God and others. There is brokenness and confusion in all our relationships. Adam and Eve were created for perfect relationship with God, one another and all of creation. There was no confusion or brokenness. No crossed wires. Perfect relationships. A perfect world. Imagine Adam and Eve having a one-to-one connection with God. No static on the line. No youre breaking up I cant quite understand what youre saying. No chance of finding themselves thinking they were hearing God and later finding out they were really hearing the voice of someone else. Can you imagine what that must have been like? Can you imagine that kind of clear connection with Gods voice and Gods will? I long for that. Dont you? Imagine Adam and Eve as a couple never saying I could have sworn you told me you would take out the garbage. No, you said youd do it. Can you imagine their kids Cain and Abel never having to call from the soccer field and say whos picking us up today? and Adam and Eve never having the ensuing argument: You said youd be there. I was. No you werent. I was at the field at Grafton Bethel and no one was there. You idiot, I told you the practice was at the Wolf Trap field. Dont you ever listen? Imagine that never happening in a relationship.

Imagine Adam and Eve never having an argument, never speaking words they wish they hadnt spoken. Imagine harmony, imagine a perfect connection no static, no breaking up, no thinking I must have the wrong number. I have no idea who Im talking to anymore. This person is nothing like the person I married and Im nothing like the person I was when we got married. Imagine Adam and Eve never saying Why did you give me this man? Why did you give me this woman? Imagine Adam and Eve going to work and there being no conflict with coworkers. Imagine ideas flowing. Imagine things working the first time. Imagine no petty jealousies or competition. Imagine no gossip at the water cooler. Imagine everyone hearing each other clearly, understanding each other, working in harmony. No static, no lost connections, no crossed wires. That was Eden. No crossed wires. No brokenness with God. No confusion in relations with others. Then Adam and Eve closed their hearts to God and disobeyed Gods law. They sinned. Brokenness and confusion resulted. Life was forever changed. They started screening their calls from God, hiding from his voice and presence. Sometimes they got confused was God talking or was that someone else on the other end of the line giving those mixed messages? Chaos, pain, death and crossed wires became a way of life for Adam and Eve and everyone since. Keith Curran, pastor of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Suffolk, Virginia says it well: Because we live in a world marred by sin, things get confused. People-to-people encounters are laden with harmful baggage of painful childhood memories, bruised egos, faltering self-esteem, failed career moves, debilitating memories of abuse, un-forgiven sin, thoughtless prejudices, and personal chauvinism (Meditations on Belonging to God: A First Catechism by Keith Curran, p. 42). The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2 says: It wasnt so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesnt know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. Its a wonder God

didnt lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. (The Message, Eugene Peterson) But the Good News is that God didnt do away with the whole lot of us. God didnt cut off communication with us. God didnt hang up or change his number. He didnt screen our calls. He didnt cut the phone wires. God didnt un-friend us or block our number. Instead, God sent His Son Jesus into this world to restore the broken connection, to un-cross the wires. Once again, Paul in Ephesians 2 says: 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 and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (NRSV) Instead of cutting communication with us, God came to us in the person of Jesus. No long-distance call. No skyping. No texting. He made a face-to-face visit. Instead of letting us remain dead, unconnected, confused and broken, God came to us in the person of Jesus. Instead of allowing crossed wires to determine our lives for eternity, Jesus went to the cross and died on the cross. Connection was restored. Through the cross the wires were un-crossed. But you might be saying, I still have crossed wires with people in my life. In fact, my relationships are often a mess. You might be saying, I still struggle to feel connected to God sometimes. Im not sure if Im really getting through to God or if God is really getting through to me. Theres still some question in my mind whose voice Im hearing on the other end of the line sometimes. Sometimes there is still static on the line. While Christs death and resurrection accomplished once and for all the healing of our broken relationship with God and restored our connection, sin still affects us. We continue to live in a broken, crossed wire world. We continue to sin even though we have been set free from the bondage and the eternal punishment for sin. We have been redeemed and we are being redeemed. We will not know the fullness of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ until we meet him face to face. There is a beautiful expression in Revelation about the new heaven and new earth. It says: And the sea will be no more. The sea was a

symbol of chaos, of confusion. The promise we have in Christ is that the confusion will be no more. There will be no more crossed wires. Until that day when we meet Christ, we journey forward. We open our hearts, our minds, our souls, our eyes and our ears to Gods voice and Gods love. The connection is restored. The wires are un-crossed. Until that day when we meet Christ in heaven, we have a calling while on earth to make connections with others; indeed to strive to make all our connections with others in loving ways. We are called to love even when it is confusing, even when wires have gotten crossed, even when weve ended up places we hadnt planned on ending up. I like how Keith Curran puts it: As followers of Christ Jesus, we find that when our heart connects with God our lives begin to connect with others in Godinspired ways. One follows the other. Invite Christ into your heart and Christ will guide your relationships. In the catechism we are asked: What is the main point of the Ten Commandments? The answer is You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, when our heart connects with God, our life begins to connect with others. Love God and let God into your heart, your mind, and your strength. And then youll find the ability and capacity to love your neighbor and love yourself. (Meditations on Belonging to God: A First Catechism by Keith Curran, p. 42). Be connected to God in faith. Be connected to each other in love. Sin no longer dictates your life. The wires were uncrossed by Jesus on the cross. To God be the glory, great things he has done.