For God So Loved the World...

[Our lessons were Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; and John 3:14-21.]

“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 everlasting life.”

These are some of the most famous words in the New Testament. In fact, I remember a few years ago it would seem that no sporting event on TV was complete without a shot of a man in the stands with a rainbow Afro haircut holding up a sign which said, “John 3:16”, the verse number of this sentence.

The familiarity of these words should not lead us to conclude that everyone interprets them exactly the same way. Some people would say that they proclaim that “God so loved the world that he sent his Son in order that those who don’t have faith in him will perish.” When we read the Gospel in this way, seeking to draw lines where none might otherwise be seen, we try to put God in a small box of our own making.

Our worst misreading of Scripture come when we try to pull one sentence out of its context. When we place this familiar sentence back into the context of the sentences which surround it and the rest of John’s Gospel, we learn that Jesus was lifted up so that all might see him and that Jesus was not sent to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved.

It’s apparently human nature to say that the particular way we believe and worship is the “right” way and that we can define who “has faith in Jesus” and are thus saved. Of course, our definition includes us and excludes everyone who doesn’t agree with us! Those “other people” who have differences in their beliefs, or have misplaced their belief, or are different from us in some way, clearly they must be going to hell, because we have the magic ticket and they don’t.

We love to judge other people. But, when we do, we do well to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel: “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” In fact, Jesus tells us later in John’s Gospel that “I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”

It is wrong when we say that we are “saved” and others are not; that we are “holy” and others are not. Whenever we seek to exclude others from God’s presence, we had better take care that we aren’t the ones excluded.

Just as Jesus came into the world to save it, not condemn or judge it, the Church is called to express God’s love to all the world, of every race, gender, color or creed. As we examine ourselves this Lent, how do we as a church, we as a parish, and we as individuals express that love to the world? De we act out that love? Do we truly welcome all when we say on our signs, “The Episcopal Church welcomes you”? Do we give the appearance of a Jesus who judges and condemns or the Jesus who seeks to make all one?

The Fourth Sunday in Lent has often been called Laetare Sunday. This comes from the Latin word meaning “rejoice”, because in older days, parts of the liturgy set for this Sunday began with the single word “Rejoice!” This was a reminder that we are more than halfway through our Lenten journey and well on our way to the glory of the Resurrection on Easter Day.

When we are on a journey, it can be all too easy to focus completely on our immediate situation and lose sight of where we have been and where we are going. Our reading from Numbers was an example of that. The Israelites have become anxious and impatient in their long journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Although their needs have been provided for by God, they still grumble about “this miserable food”. Apparently the wilderness lacked a McDonald’s. The Israelites had lost sight of their purpose, their perspective, and their hope.

Every week for us this year, we hear new examples of people losing the jobs or homes or both. Banks are failing, with another Georgia bank being closed Friday. We are anxious and impatient. Many are losing hope in a future that they believe is now out of reach.

As the bishops of the Episcopal Church wrote this week:

As we go through our own wilderness, these spiritual ancestors also point the way to a deep and abiding hope. We can rediscover our uniqueness–which emerges from the conviction that our wealth is determined by what we give rather than what we own. We can re-discover manna–God’s extraordinary expression of abundance. Week by week, in congregations and communities around the world, our common manna is placed before us in the Eucharist. Ordinary gifts of bread and wine are placed on the altar, and become for us the Body and Blood of Christ, which, when we receive them, draw us ever more deeply into the Paschal mystery of Christ's death and resurrection.

As our risen Lord broke through the isolation of the disciples huddled in fear for their lives following his suffering and death, so too are we, the Body of Christ, called to break through the loneliness and anxiety of this time, drawing people from their fears and isolation into the comforting embrace of God’s gathered community of hope. As disciples of the risen Christ we are given gifts for showing forth God's gracious generosity and for finding blessing and abundance in what is hard and difficult. In this time the Holy Spirit is moving among us, sharing with us the vision of what is real and valued in God's world. In a time such as this, Christ draws us deeper into our faith revealing to us that generosity breaks through distrust, paralysis and misinformation. Like our risen Lord, we, as his disciples are called to listen to the world's pain and offer comfort and peace.

As we continue our Lenten journey together we place our hearts in the power of the Trinity. The God who created us is creating still and will not abandon us. The Incarnate Word, our Savior Jesus Christ, who in suffering, dying and rising for our sake, stands in solidarity with us, has promised to be with us to the end of the age. God the Holy Spirit, the very breath of God for us and in us, is our comforter, companion, inspiration and guide. In this is our hope, our joy and our peace.

[Note: you can read the entire pastoral letter here.]

Do we have a reason to rejoice this Laetare Sunday? Of course we do. We have God’s promise of salvation: “For God so loved the world…”