Shalom: The Way to Hope
John 3:14-21
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
Shalom: The Way to Hope
I often find it curious how traditions begin – while John 3:16 has been a memory scripture in confirmation classes for eons, when did the craze take off in sporting events? Rock’n Rollen, Rollen Stewart also known as the Rainbow Man started wearing a rainbow-colored wig in the 70s and 80s, holding up signs reading John 3:16, and trying to sneak into the picture on televised sporting events wherever he could - to spread the word.
A ‘born again’ Christian, he was determined to spread the message starting with the NBA finals in 1977and the 1979 MLB all-star game (basketball and baseball for the non-sports fans) – he soon got all types of donated sports tickets from supportive Christians. He popped up by goals posts, at golf clubs, in Indianapolis race track pits, even near Olympic medal stands – strategically positioning himself for those key zoom in shots of action or player interviews. His fame led to a beer commercial and a parody sketch on Saturday Night Live. Needless to say, his fervor quickly got out of hand when he looked toward American Music Awards, planned stink bombs and kidnapping to spread the message. He is now serving three life sentences in prison. We aren’t planning stink bombs or kidnappings, but what do we do with this popular scripture, how are we sharing the Word?
It’s been one week – just one since I talked about Jesus flipping tables because we made his temple into a marketplace and made the rituals into rote actions without substance. Already, we are at it again using His very words pulled out of context as a commercial gimmick. We gloss right over where these words came from and happily ignore anything about snakes. We use John 3:16 to brag to the world – look God loved us so much that God gave Jesus for us. Slap that on a bumper sticker, recite it at football games, Hobby Lobby makes a killing on all the tchotchke with reference to this one verse. And, rather than holding this out as hope for the whole world, we wave it as an ominous threat of condemnation for those who do not believe like we do.
Yes, John 3:16 is a summation of the gospel rolled into one – it stands alongside two others:
the greatest commandment “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
and
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Three stalwart guides to our faith. Before you run this interim pastor out on a rail for daring to pull apart one of these three, these beloved words from John – lend me your ear, your heart, your passion for just a few minutes. God cannot and will not be reduced to or held within a bumper sticker – these words are good, but only as pointers to something holier, something bigger, something beyond full description – something… God who embodies hope for All creation.
How do we begin to put the abbreviations, the shorthand back into fullness with depth to connect, to deepen our understanding, to strengthen our love, to better share the hope with the world? Much like the confused merchants selling doves in the temple, our intentions are good – after all this is us taking Jesus into our everyday lives, right? The problem is if we do no more than cite words, they become background noise. Just words on a poster board, mere mumblings from our mouths. If we don’t give them life, the precious Word is missed by many and misunderstood by more.
Four words and missing context create the problem here – all rolled up with good-intentioned but general misuse. These words are:
· so
· gave
· believe
· and condemn.
The context is a question from Nicodemus. The misuse is looking to others rather than ourselves – an outward focus rather than inward reflection. Well if that is all?! Let’s dig in so we can begin to repair and revitalize these cherished words of Jesus.
Even when printing this scripture for bulletins, I had to back up and check who was speaking. We have lifted out words of Jesus from the middle of a discussion. He is answering a question from Nicodemus. Who is Nicodemus? Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a highly respected Jew, a member of the Sanhedrin (the highest legal judicial body of the Jews), a teacher of the scriptures. Yet, he heard something so compelling that he snuck out to speak to Jesus. Nicodemus was amazed at Jesus’ teachings saying surely God is with you. Jesus answered that to see the Kingdom of Heaven, you must be born anew. Nicodemus is truly baffled and asks how can an adult be born anew? We are in the middle of that answer to Nicodemus.
We start with a startling weird verse about snakes – how do snakes come in? A whole sermon on the book of Numbers belongs here, but suffice it to say that Jesus is alluding to an Old Testament story about the sin of the Israelites not appreciating manna provided in the wilderness. Jesus is saying we must look upon our own sin at the same time he is foretelling that he must be lifted up on a cross for us to see. The take away is a call to introspection, and looking within at our sinfulness is a key part of this answer – one we like to skip over.
Now that we know we are in the middle of an answer to Nicodemus about how to be born anew and have the hint that the snakes call on us to acknowledge our sinful nature, let’s look at the four words: So, gave, believe and condemn
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We like to take that first word ‘so’ and think that it is a word of measuring – look how much God loves us, and while it is true that God’s unconditional love is without measure – that’s just it. There can be no measuring of God’s love – we are in dangerous territory of quantifying God’s love when we say look – this is how much. I think in our heads we understand it this way for the comfort of how big that love is, but it is a quirky grammar error. ‘So’ here is more in the manner of how God loved not how much. The word serves as a contraction tying the love of God in the wilderness providing Manna to the sending of Jesus. A better translation is the New English Translation:
“For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
That brings us to the next word – ‘gave’. To get to the gist of this, I think we should think of this in the manner of God loved us this way – by sending Jesus to earth, incarnate. This shifts the focus to God desiring to be in relationship with us, finding it so important that God sent his only son to us – to be the light of the world. To show us the way. We focus so much on the cross – and oh it is that important, But in doing so, we forget or reduce the emphasis of travelling in the footsteps, parables, and lessons of how to live that Jesus packed into his time on earth. We short-change the lessons Jesus taught here, rubbing elbows with us in our messiness, taking on the weakness and vulnerability of human flesh.
This example of Jesus among us, his life in addition to his death, creates a dependence and demands a response from us. It asks us to make ourselves vulnerable at the same time. It is part of picking up our crosses and following. This requires something of us – ‘Believe’. Believe is an action word that we reduce to safe interpretations – a mind thing of something we accept in our heads. The opposite of belief in John is not unbelief but disobedience. Believing is something you do.
How you may ask? Keep the questions coming. Take the example of Nicodemus. He thought he was doing everything right and genuinely wanted to know how he would be born anew. Jesus answers with patience and love – not with easy answers that would sell us short. Not with the answers that make us comfortable – always with answers that truly make us engage with all we have and all we are. Answers that force us to bring to the light what we prefer to hide from ourselves, the world and even God.
I think that is why we jump to the fourth word too quickly. Condemn. We spend far too much time pointing fingers and figuring out who might be left out rather that doing the tough work of looking within. Why do we do that – why are we looking for who doesn’t believe to see who is condemned? God’s got this one. A better word here – a more accurate translation is judge. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but to save the world through him. The judgment language continues – and the interesting thing is the forms are all past tense. If we were to be judged on our merit alone - We Would All Fail! But those believing were not judged and are already living the eternal life. This eternal life is not an immortality of some fantasy version but rather a quality of life, an abundance of life in the presence of God, in the Kingdom of God that has already begun in our midst here and now.
Believe – live this word, do this. Step forward in vulnerability admitting our sins before one another, ourselves and God. This first step requires trust. Have you heard it said, “Trust is letting go of needing to know all the details before opening your heart” If we can do that, trust in God – believe, then hope will break forth into our lives.
This trust and believing is trickier than the cliché or poster boards make it seem. Why is Nicodemus approaching Jesus in dark – what do we see of ourselves in the light? I think at the beginning of pandemic how I really, really disliked my screen presence. Zoom or video conference calls have brought us into a new kind of light together! It has literally and figuratively shown our dirty laundry to the world. Stepping toward Jesus is a bit like that. The light shines on all we prefer to keep hidden, we see each other and ourselves in our realness, weakness, anxiety laid bare.
As Reverend Sue Lodge writes, “Being orientated to the light of Christ is not simply some vague hope of better times and a little more sunshine in our life it is a moment by moment choosing of life, love and hope even in the most appalling and difficult of circumstances….”
She continues, “To turn to the light is to turn toward our true home: God. At its simplest this is what the Easter journey is – a turning toward our true home, a journeying deeper into the God who created and fully inhabits the real world we live in, only to find that we are travelling to where we began – into the loving embrace of the creator who has always loved us and loves us still.”
We can’t hide under a wig or behind a poster. Cliches in the end zone will never measure up. The scriptures we hold dear need flesh. They demand our flesh to act them out – an action of believing enough to step into the light, to journey together. To not condemn one another but to trust in God’s wholeness, in God’s desire to not leave behind even one.
God doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker – the logo, one scripture, a saying a statue of snakes can point to God but nothing we say or do can measure the love God holds for us. Our formulas and catechisms point toward God but can’t capture the full awesome mystery that is God. The challenge of John calls us to a deeper level. Remember today’s scripture is an answer to a person who spent his life studying faith, and Nicodemus was baffled. As David Dark says, “A generalization might serve as an entry point, but the imperishable life to which Jesus calls is an immersion in nuance and specificity, a deepening engagement with reality, rather than a flight from it.”
Our shortcuts and abbreviations bring comfort, but they must point the way to fuller, richer believing. God cannot and will not be reduced. We now need to trust enough to open the Words on a deeper level – look at what just four little words had for us. We need to dare together with all laid bare in the light. Trust and believe. We must embrace the hope of Jesus on our journey to shalom. Amen.
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