The Fourth Sunday in Lent --- 15 March 2015

John 3:14-21

14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "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 eternal life. 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. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

"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 eternal life. "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.

• Years ago, when I was in seminary, I had a professor named Augustine Donnigan. He told us stories of how he and one of the seminarians would go to the International House of Pancakes at the turnpike interchange in Bedford, PA, to have pancakes and sausage with the Queen of the Netherlands every so often.
• That story and a few others aside, he was an excellent teacher and was very passionate for the Gospel and for living it out. One day in class, he told us this: “Jesus doesn't save souls; he saves people!”
• This may be obvious to everyone else here, but it impressed me... and it made sense. It still does.
• This passage from John's Gospel, a favourite of so many people, gives the same message and takes it further. Jesus not only saves people, but he saves all the world, every bit of it, from the greatest minds and the holiest people to the smallest dirt crawler and even the grasses and herbs. There is nothing that is beyond God's concern or exempt from salvation in Jesus.
• If we believe that Jesus' salvation is only spiritual, that he only saves souls, we're missing a big chunk of the story. John does not say that Jesus came to save the holy, the honourable, and the deserving. Jesus came that the entire world – all of God's creation and all that makes it up – would be saved, simply because his Father (and he) loves the world and all that makes it up. Salvation in Jesus is very unspiritual and quite earthly. In effect, all that God has made is saved in Jesus.
• There is an odd paradox here. Jesus make reference to the bronze serpent Moses raised up in the desert wanderings of the Hebrews in order to heal those bitten by the snakes sent as a punishment. He says he will be lifted up as the bronze serpent was lifted up. The paradox is that the Hebrews were heal of the snake bites by looking upon a snake. We are healed of our sins by looking upon one who was made sin for us, lifted up before our eyes on the cross.
• This salvation is given to us apart from our worthiness, apart from our earning it, apart from our readiness for it. That's why it's called “grace.” The grace of God is based on nothing less than the fact that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. This love is not a generalized love as when someone says “I love soup” or “I love the Spring.” This love is quite personal, as in “I love you.”
• In this love, the entire person -body and soul- is given salvation. It is for the entire person, not just a part.
• This saving love goes even further because for our salvation and the salvation of the entire world, God didn't send a committee or a legion of angels or puzzle to be figured out. God gave his only Son. John continues: 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.
• Jesus came among us as one of us; he didn't come as a super-man or a king among kings or a huge loud voice demanding obedience. He came as a human being and went even beyond that to the ultimate mystery of human life – death. He even endured a humiliating death, one he never deserved, because God so loved the world.
• This passage from John's Gospel has become a slogan for some, a simple, easy statement. The truth is the statement is far from simple and it carries more power than we could ever imagine.
• You may have heard the story about the man who is walking down the street and suddenly falls into a deep hole he did not see. The hole is deep, the walls are steep.
• A psychiatrist happens by and the man calls out, “Hey, Doc, can you help me here?” The doctor writes a prescription for a powerful antidepressant and throws it into the hole.
• A minister comes by and the man calls out, “Hey, Pastor, can you help me out here?” The minister writes out a prayer and tosses it down into the hole.
• Then the man’s best friend comes by, sees his friend down in the hole, and immediately jumps in. “What did you do that for?” the man says, “Now we’re both stuck!” “Not really.”, the friend says, “I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.”
• In this world as we know it, there are so many pits we might fall into – pits of bad health, of despair, of sadness, and even pits of sin. There is also the final hole of death. The difference here is that Jesus has been in each and every hole we might find ourselves in, even the final one that is death. He's been there and he knows the way out.
• In this world of sin and evil, there are so many dark and deep pits into which we fall. And for each of us there is finally a six-foot deep hole in the ground waiting for us at some cemetery somewhere. Thanks be to God that Jesus has been down in that hole himself and he knows the way out. That way out is called Easter.
• It may seem strange to hear me say that the Resurrection is for all creation. Just like God's salvation, because God doesn't save souls; he saves people... and all else that touches them.

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.