A film I really enjoy watching is “The Matrix”. In the film, humanity has been enslaved by machines who keep us in a dream like state in a computer-generated world. Because it is the only world we have experienced from birth, we simply accept that it is the world that we live in. However, some humans have managed to break free from the program and have escaped into the real world where they try and free other enslaved humans. In order to do so though, they have to convince the slaves that what they experience as reality is not in fact the case. They have to accept there is a new reality beyond what they have experienced before. Therefore, to escape, you have to choose what you believe, choose what world you want to live in, the real world or the computer fantasy.
In our readings today we are looking at the idea of choosing what world we will live in. In our gospel reading, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, has come under cover of darkness to speak to Jesus about what Jesus is doing in the world. Jesus warns him that everyone has to make a choice about how they will live. By coming into the world, Jesus has given everyone sight of how God wills the world to be. Now they can see there is an alternative, people must decide if they will they live for God or for the world? In our second reading, Paul reminds the Ephesians that before they heard of Jesus, they were simply living in the world with all it’s pain and brokenness. Now they have seen the alternative, they can choose to live in a different way, the way that God calls them to. Out of gratitude to what God has done, they should live in this new way.
As children, we are born into a world that is broken. Our world is full of selfish behaviour, is full of hurts and pain, and is full of disease and death. Until we know otherwise, we can believe that this is simply the way things are and will always be. Once we encounter Jesus, we see a different way. We see the Kingdom of God, a world where there is no more poverty or hunger, no more pain or death. Jesus calls us to follow Him and live in this new way to help create this new world around us. It’s a choice we have to make for ourselves. Do we choose to live the life Jesus modelled for us or do we choose to suit ourselves? And it’s a choice we have to make every day in every situation we face. It’s not enough for us to say we follow Jesus. We have to make the choice to follow Him, choosing the loving, compassionate, forgiving and grace filled course of action all of the time, not simply when it suits us.