Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent

A mechanic was removing the cylinder head from the motor of a motorcycle when one of his customers, a renowned heart surgeon, came into the shop. Mike, the mechanic, greeted the doctor and told him that he would be right with him.

The doctor, an avid biker, stood and watched with fascination as Mike finished what he was doing. When he was done, Mike stood up and said, “Doc, let me ask you a question. Look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix them up, put them back in, and the whole thing works like new when I’m finished. It’s quite similar to what you do. So why don’t I make anywhere near the money you make when we both do pretty much the same thing?”

The heart surgeon paused, smiled, and leaned over and whispered to Mike, “Try doing it with the engine running.”

Jesus reveals to us a God who is not the universe’s principal mechanic or technician; God does not manipulate his creation as if it were an intricate piece of machinery with parts that can be changed at will, rebuilt totally, or thrown away entirely. God is not detached from us nor the creation He brought into being. Nor is God about death or destruction – God is about life and restoration.

The living God – as revealed by Jesus – is the Father of Creation who constantly seeks to maintain and restore life, to heal the broken and the brokenhearted, to raise up those who have fallen down and those who are pushed aside.

We meet God – God the loving Parent, the compassionate Physician, the good and wise Friend – in the person of Jesus, in whom we discover our identity as the children of God and participants with God in the work of re-creation.+