John 3:14-21"For God so loved theworld that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may notperish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NRSV) If you watch Americanfootball on TV, you will no doubt see the cameras panning the fans seatedthroughout the stadium. There are some strangefans out there. Some of these folks havetheir hair, faces, or bare chests painted in the colors of their favoriteteams. It is quite a spectacle Iguess. There is always one fan in thestands that often is overlooked, but always seem to get the attention of thecamera. This participant is notnecessarily rooting for a particular sports star I guess, unless you considerfor whom it is they are cheering, to be of a divine origin.
No matter if it is football, baseball, or basketball,there always seems to be that one person who is holding up the sign that reads,“John 3:16.” When I was a kid in asmall, private Christian school, we had to memorize this verse ofscripture. I know it by heart, I can sayit without thinking, and I have in the past, overlooked what this verse ofscripture really means. We really needto dive into this text and break it a part a little bit to discover what thesignificance of the words really offers.
“For God so loved the world.” How many of us have had the image of God asthe vengeful, angry, “ready to strike you down from on high,” kind of Divinebeing? That seems to be a distortedimage of God. When we consider JesusChrist, his life, ministry, death and resurrection, the notion of anger,revenge, and destruction, comes in direct conflict with the life of healing,restoration, mercy, grace, reconciliation, and self-giving. For God so loved the world is a proclamationthat God adores God’s creation. This isnot mere warm and fuzzy feelings toward us creatures. This is a love that is centered in the givingof oneself for the other. Jesus calls usFriends and it is that kind of love for which, God is willing to risk it allfor us.
“Hegave his only Begotten Son.” The mysteryof the Trinity has befuddled theologians for centuries. The church made some “definitive” statementsabout this mystery many centuries ago, trying to refute what was then known asheretical teachings. What we learnedfrom all this dialogue and debate was that “we believe in one Lord, JesusChrist, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God fromtrue God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.” Through the words of the Nicene Creed, weascent to God’s gift of his only Begotten Son, was in reality, the giving ofhimself to us. God was in Christ andgave himself to us for the sake of love. A young man had been dating a young woman for a year. Their love grew and finally, he decided torisk it all and reveal to her the love he had in his heart. He told her one night that he lovedhere. What a great risk to offer oneselfto another. The risk of rejection is sohigh when it comes to love. The youngwoman could have rebuffed his love. Godgave himself to us. God came to walkamong us, to reveal love, to fully, once and for all, completely reveal thelove for God’s creation. God took a riskon us.
“Sothat everyone who believes in him.” As Iwas struggling with one of my classes in seminary, after receiving a less thanwhat I expected grade, I cried on Terri’s shoulder and need herencouragement. She looked at me andsaid, “I believe in you.” That was apivotal moment in our relationship. Idon’t think she was saying that she believed I had all the answers, that I wasgoing to make an “A” in the class, she was saying, I trust you Eric. I trust that you are doing the best you cando and I am with you on this. Isbelieving in Jesus an ascent to a particular doctrine, or is believing really atrust that our lives can be filled with ultimate joy, peace, love, and theknowledge of who we really are? When webelieve in something, we trust our lives with and to something. Believing in Jesus may not be merely saying aparticular prayer at a specific time. Itvery well may be trusting in the life of the One offered to us. When we trust our lives by following Jesus,we will love neighbor, caring for others, self-giving, externally focused, and willingto take up the cross. I believe isreally I trust.
“Maynot perish but may have eternal life.” Thereis a lot of talk these days about life after death. The media speculates a great deal about therealm of life beyond death. WeChristians rest our hope on the promise of resurrection, which began in andthrough Jesus Christ Our Lord. Thenotion of life everlasting sometimes is a little mixed up in all this talk andspeculation. In this context, the Gospelwriter may well be speaking of eternal life in the realm beyond the grave, buthe is also speaking about life, which is without beginning or end, neverceasing, never ending. Perishing thus,is not knowing this depth of love, never experiencing the joy of a love that isso beyond our imagine. Life everlastingis about our ultimate destiny and it is also about here and now. It is this depth of love experienced here andnow and in the life to come that we come to know and find ourselves inChrist. It is in losing ourselves, wefind ourselves in Christ. When we loveso deeply that we face rejection, as Christ did, we open ourselves and becomevulnerable. That is where love resides …in our vulnerability. When we standbefore God’s throne of grace, and offer ourselves naked and bare, with our lifejunk before us, we can with peace say, “here I am Lord.” It’s when we come to know life abundantly,when come to know that our junk is taken away, never remembered, forevercovered, abounding grace.
Livinglife abundantly is knowing that God gives us a second chance, a third chance, amillionth chance. He gives us thebenefit of the doubt. He waits on theporch like the prodigal’s father. Thisis not a license to live, however we might choose, simply because it’s allcovered by grace. We live in lovebecause we have the gift of knowing that if and when we do mess up, God waitswith love to welcome us back. In Christ,we can live life to its most abundant. We can know peace and love to a depth unknown before. "For God so loved the world that he gavehis only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may haveeternal life.” Said another way, “ForGod’s deep passion and beloved of God’s creation was so great, God riskedrejection to demonstrate that love face-to-face. Whomever trusts this great promise so muchthat it pervades everything in their life, will not die without knowing thatlove, and they will have a life that is abundant with love, joy, peace,reconciliation, mercy and grace. Grace,it is a free gift, grace. We cannot earnit and we don’t deserve it. We merelyhold our hands open and drink deeply from God’s grace the fount that never runsdry.
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