I’ve pondered at some point of my
life going to a pro or college football game, standing in the end zone, and
holding a sign that says, “John 3:14” or “John 3:17” or something along those
lines, but since this would require going to a football game that’s probably
not going to happen.
If
you stop and think about it, John 3:16 is probably only one of a handful of verses that can be considered widely known in the general public. I can think of only the 23rd
Psalm and maybe the first verse of Genesis as other examples of this. “For God
so loved the word that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but have eternal life.” That’s great and true and very
worthy of sharing, but it is kind of arbitrary that this is the verse held so
highly in public esteem. Why not John 3:14 and 15? “Just 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.” It’s very, very similar. Or then
there’s John 3:17, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn
the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Again, very similar.
Or,
going a step further, why don’t we make a big deal of the light and darkness
imagery, or the condemnation and salvation language that is everywhere in John? What is it that John 3:16
does that really works for us?
This
week when I read John 3 again for the first time in awhile I wrote down the
first thing that came to my mind: “Oy, John’s Gospel… oy, oy, oy.” This is not
a good sign for a pastor when that is
the right at the top of your notes. Seriously, if you think preaching is hard when
the scripture doesn’t seem to say anything important try preaching when the
scripture says so much that I am going to need you to free up your schedules for
the rest of the week to get to it
all.
It
seems to me that the ubiquity of John 3:16 should remind us that we all need
something simple to latch on to, and that can be many things but for many people
it is this verse. It’s straightforward and to the point—the kind of thing you
can put on a poster-board and hold up at a football game—and we all need those
things. The question is whether John 3:16 does that for you or not, and if not,
then what simple truth do you need to help you through your life?
I
think that really gets at the heart of the matter.
The
Jesus that we find in John’s Gospel gives us these brilliant little snippets of
wisdom and then immediately switches tack into talk about light and darkness,
the Son of Man, the concept of truth, and this whole idea of being born anew,
or from above, or again. On the one hand, Jesus is very succinct; on the other,
he just won’t come out and say anything straight. So many phrases from the
Gospel of John are familiar: “I am the light of the world… I am the bread of
life… I am the Son of Man.”
Familiar? Yes. But straightforward? Not at all.
So,
we grasp for something we can get; something
that sums up our faith. We need something that can ground us in our complicated
lives where we face all sorts of challenging questions. I don’t know what questions
bother you or keep you awake at night, but some of these questions you have
will attempt to overwhelm whatever it is that is the bedrock for your faith. These questions might be about
losing somebody close to you, or it might be a matter of politics, or something
to do with justice, or any number of things. I’m talking about questions like
what we posed to the junior high youth at our lock-in on Friday: “Why do one in
ten people in our world have no access to clean water?” That’s a great
question, and it’s a question we are obligated as the human race to address.
You can even dedicate your life to that question and work to change the world
for the better. But that question is not the bedrock of your faith (or at least
it shouldn’t be).
The
reason why John 3:16 works is not because it’s a magical verse to which we must
ascribe to be Christian; rather, it works because it captures the two most central
aspects of the Christian faith: the cross and the resurrection. For all the
things we talk about here, the only things that really matter at the end of
the day are death and resurrection—cross and empty tomb. Everything else we do
as a church for a world that is very much in need rests of those simple things:
cross and empty tomb. The reason we can talk about hunger and be so passionate
about it is because we have a God who is in the business of feeding, just as we
have a God who is in the business of changing water into wine, healing the
sick, and raising the dead. On the one hand, none of those are necessary to
being a Christian, but on the other hand they are natural responses to the part that
really does matter; the part that John 3:16 so succinctly captures.
Don’t
get me wrong: this can still be a confusing verse, because, even though it
might be the perfect verse to ground our faith, we are very capable of turning
in on ourselves and making John 3:16 about us. We do this by over-emphasizing
the part about eternal life; by emphasizing the promise and not the
promise-giver. Jesus came, died and rose again, so that we might have eternal
life. The important part is Jesus and what God has done for us. What we get out
of this arrangement is secondary.
There
is a temptation—no matter what we believe—to minimize the parts that really
matter. The appropriate question is never “What do we get out of this?” The
appropriate question is always “What has God done?” And then, “How should we
respond?”
John
3:16 is great. You need to know the promise of eternal life and you need to
know it’s for you. We need to hear
this verse again and again for that very reason. It is your promise and you are
given it freely. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This is a
verse for doubters and skeptics and worriers and those who cannot believe that
they would ever amount to anything in God’s eyes. In short, this is a verse for
the humble and the meek and everybody else who Jesus so consistently lifts up.
This
is not, however, a passage for the selfish or the proud, because the part of us
that is selfish will always value the reward more than the one who gave it to
us. So, hold up John 3:16 or 3:14, 3:15 or 3:17. Whatever it is that speaks to
you is just fine. But do this humbly, because in the end that is the only thing
really matters. God doesn’t really care what verse you lift up as
Christians. I suppose any number of things can summarize your faith—many of
which don’t even come from the Bible. What’s far more important than holding
the sign is the attitude you bring to it. Is this about God, or is this really
just about you?
Oy,
John’s Gospel, oy, oy, oy. It always turns things around on us. It always has
us second-guessing. Because in John’s Gospel the only thing that is certain is
Jesus. The rest of us are just Nicodemus, trying to wrap our heads around being
born a second time.
Amen.
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