The following sermon was delivered on March 26, 2006
“So Loved" John 3:14-21
INTRODUCTION
Every week we close with a charge to the congregation that begins with the words, “You go nowhere by accident.” We may have an accident as we go somewhere, but that sentence is an affirmation that God is with us even if we have an accident. When it comes to where we’re going, even accidents aren’t accidents. God can bring something good out of anything, or as the apostle Paul said, “In everything God works for good to those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
This morning’s gospel lesson is another testament to God’s love and Jesus’ love for us. It comes at the end of an encounter that Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus who was a Law school professor who was afraid to be seen in the daylight with Jesus. This morning’s verses come at the end of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. They include Jesus comparison of himself with something Moses did and then they conclude with John’s editorial statement about Jesus purpose in coming into the world that Martin Luther once called it the "Gospel within the Gospels." Hear the word of the Lord from John 3:14-21.
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One Saturday morning, years ago when Abbey was about 4 she was playing with her mommy’s lipstick. She put it on her tiny lips, way too big and planted a pint sized kiss on my cheek. It was cute and I thought nothing more about it.
Later that morning I made a run to the grocery store and as I was in the check out line and for some reason the young attractive cashier was smiling broadly at me. I knew it couldn’t possibly be because she was looking at the rumpled not yet shaven Saturday morning pastor with the Diet Dr. Pepper and Doritos. My curiosity was piqued when she continued to smile at me and then she asked me, “Are you loved?”
I looked at her somewhat confused, and then she pointed to my right cheek where the bright red lip print of a 4 year old’s kiss rested. Then I knew why she was smiling at me. I sighed and responded, “Yes, I am so loved.”
Jesus came into the world to let the world know that they are so loved--not only loved by their over exuberant children but also that they are so loved by God. He came into the world to put in us his kind of love so that people who do not yet know his love can come to know it. Unfortunately we don’t always have something as obvious as lipstick on our cheek to tip people off that we are loved. And, unfortunately we can’t always go around planting kisses on folks to that others can tell that they are loved. Sometimes it takes how we act, things we do, yes and even the things we say to communicate how loved the world is.
John 3:16, one of the best known and often-quoted verses in the entire Bible. If you watch any sporting events on television, you will almost always see a banner strategically placed so the camera will include it that simply reads: "John 3:16."
Before we look at verse 16 I want to take a look at verses 14 and 15.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
The reference of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness comes from Numbers 21:4-9. On their way out of Egypt to the Promised Land the people of Israel wearied of their journey and accused Moses of leading them to death in the wilderness. They said, “Have you brought us out in this desert where there is no food or water. Besides we hate this miserable food.” By miserable food they were of course referring to the manna that God provided each morning. To me miserable food is not “no food.”
In response, God sent fiery serpents among the people and many were bitten and died. The people then confessed their lack of trust in and obedience to God. Moses then prayed for the people and asked that God take away the serpents. God’s answer was not one that Moses expected. God told Moses to make one more. He told Moses to make a serpent out of bronze and put it on a pole and lift it up before the people. Those who lifted their eyes to the bronze serpent held high by Moses and believed were healed and able to live in spite of their bites. (incidentally, that image of a snake on a pole is now the symbol used to represent the medical profession)
Jesus compares his own being lifted above the earth, that is his death on the cross, to the lifting of the serpent. In the same way that those who lifted their eyes to the bronze serpent lived through the sting of death, likewise, those who lift their eyes to the cross of Jesus’ will live eternally even through the sting of death ends their physical life. God doesn’t take away the snakes of this life, but in Jesus, God provides the antidote for those who have been bitten by sin who would look on him and believe and live forever.
This is incredibly good news for the human race. How can it be so? It can be so because God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
The Greek word used for love here points to the kind of love that loves another with no thought of return or reward. Sometimes we call it “unconditional love,” but it’s also “undeserving” love and “unexpecting” love. That is God’s kind of love for us. God does not love us because we are able to meet certain conditions ot merit his love. God does not love us because we deserve to be loved. God does not love us because God expects to get a reward from loving us. God just loves us.
God SO loves us.
It’s the same way with me and my children. I just love them. I don’t love them because I expect to receive a return or reward for doing it. I just do. I can’t help it. That is all. No reason. No reward. And there is Nothing that they can do to make me stop loving them. I’m an imperfect snake-bit father. The only way that I can have that kind of love for my children is because that kind of love has been put in my by my heavenly Father who has that kind of love for me….and for you.
God loves you… No matter who you are. No matter how you have lived your life. No matter how horrible you think your sins are. God loves you…now, in this very instant. Believe it and it is yours. Believe it and eternal life is yours.
God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn the world. Neither should I condemn the world. That is not God’s message. That is not the Bible’s message. That is not to be my message. Judgment there shall be, but judgment is not to be my message or the Church’s message. Listen to the way John puts it. "... the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he or she has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18). We do not have to judge people. People judge themselves. People judge themselves by not believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The only way to not be forgiven is to run away from forgiveness. The only sins that can’t be forgiven are the ones of which people refuse to repent.
Verse 19 gives us a glimpse as to how judgment plays out.
“And this is how judgment works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up. But those who do what its true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.”
Jesus is the light of the world. Evil people, however, hate the light. They know that the light will expose their evil deeds. God’s light shines in the darkness and evil people run from the light like roaches run when the kitchen light comes on. They run deeper into the darkness. That is how evil people pronounce judgment upon themselves. They run from the light. They run from Jesus Christ.
Believers in Jesus Christ, however, freely come to the light. They come to the light because they have experienced the light, they have experienced Jesus Christ as the light of their lives. They have come to know that they are so loved.
I want to close with a true story told by Dr. Edward Bauman of Washington, D.C. It is a story of how Dr. Bauman came to know that he was so loved.
About 30 years ago a boy named Tony was born into a family in a Midwestern state. He was blind at birth. He suffered from an extremely rare eye problem for which there was no known cure. When the little fellow was about seven years old, his doctor read in the New England Journal of Medicine of a new surgical procedure that showed some promise for correcting this particular problem. A young surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston had developed it. The local doctor and the surgeon began communicating. The boy's full medical record was sent. A decision was made to try surgery. Since Tony's family could not afford the expenses involved, local churches and civic clubs helped out.
Tony had a favorite teddy bear which he kept with him almost all the time. This teddy bear had begun to show signs of wear. One eye was missing; one ear was chewed off; and through several holes the stuffing was oozing out. Tony's mother told him that she was going to buy him a new teddy bear to take to Boston. Tony rejected that offer in no uncertain terms. What good is a new teddy bear when you have an old, familiar, friendly one already broken in? So, the old teddy bear went to Boston and remained close to Tony through all the medical procedures leading up to surgery: the x-rays, tests, and consultations. In fact, the boy and his teddy bear were not separated until the anesthesia was applied.
Throughout this whole period the boy and the young surgeon were becoming great friends. In fact, the surgeon was almost as excited as the family about the possibilities of this surgery. Somehow there was a good chemistry of friendship and trust between physician and Tony. When the surgery was completed, Tony was heavily bandaged and had to remain quite still for a number of days. That is very hard for a 7 year old. But each day the surgeon was in an out of the room encouraging him.
Finally came the day for removing the bandages. For the first time in seven years of life, a little boy could see. Though the vision was blurred at first, it gradually clarified. For the first time Tony looked into the faces of his parents, saw a tree, and a sunset. The young surgeon was almost literally jumping up and down for joy.
Before long it was time for Tony to be discharged and to go home. The surgeon had been dreading this day because the two of them had become such good friends. On that final morning, the surgeon signed the necessary discharge papers. He gave Tony a big hug and said, "'Listen, I own stock in you. I expect to get letters from you regularly. Do you understand?"
Then Tony did something totally unexpected. He said to his surgeon friend, "I want you to have this," and handed him his teddy bear. The surgeon’s first impulse was to say, "Oh no, I can’t separate such good friends." But something stopped him. With a flash of sensitive genius, the surgeon understood what Tony was trying to do. He wanted to give his dear surgeon-friend the most precious gift at his disposal, so full was his heart with love. The wise surgeon accepted the teddy bear with a hug and a thank- you, assuring Tony that he would take mighty good care of his friend.
For over ten years that teddy bear sat in a glass case on the tenth floor of Massachusetts General Hospital---one eye missing, one ear chewed half off, and stuffing oozing out of holes. In front of the teddy bear was the surgeon’s card. Just beneath his name he had written this caption: "This is the highest fee I have ever received for professional services rendered." A little boy had given the most precious item he had, out of a love-filled heart.
Over 2000 years ago our gracious God, with a heart filled with love, looked out upon a sin-marred, snake-bit world that needed to know that they were loved. God’s great heart was so full of love that God gave us the most precious gift at his disposal; he gave his only Son.
In Jesus Christ, God planted a kiss on every cheek in the world. Our job as his church is to ask people we meet, whether we can see the lipstick or not, “Are you loved?” and to help them understand that no matter how they have been treated by others, when it comes to God they are “so loved.”
Let’s pray. Almighty God, you so loved the world you sent your son, who loved the world enough to die. Set before us the image of the crucified Christ: that, moved by his compassion, we may find within us the kind of faith that brings health and life, not only to ourselves, but also to our sin-sick, snake-bit world. In his holy name we pray. Amen
