Sermon - Rev. Judith Perry
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.
I think that we can make it bigger than that. How about: “God did not send the Son into the universe to condemn the universe but in order that the universe might be saved through him.
The other three gospels recount what they know of the life of Jesus. John is very different. It was probably written later.
It recounts about four of the accounts in the other gospels: Jesus’ baptism, clearing the merchants, out of the temple, feeding a few thousand people and the crucifixion/resurrection.
That’s almost about it.
John presents a very different Jesus. All through the narrative Jesus is divine. The essence of the mysterious divine reality in experienced through the person of this man.
The beloved stories of Jesus come from this narrative. The long discourses of Jesus come from here.
Now it you think about it and realize that it was written maybe sixty years later, and nothing was transcribed or taped, you might wonder or even be sceptical.
Think about today’s passage which came from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Here we have two men having a late night tete a tete, yet we have this word for word. How come?
John is a meditation on how a gentile community, probably in Asia Minor, experienced God, a mysterious single almighty entity, through the stories of Jesus, fully human, yet they realized that he was/is fully divine.
This gospel is how they perceived Jesus Christ. The reason that this may be our favourite narrative of the life of Christ is that this is how we also encounter him.
John speaks to our soul experience and not to our head thinking. So when you read or hear John let the words speak to your heart. John is love talk.
It is easy to read him because he really only uses about 400 words, about the same as Dr. Suess.
So let’s look at the last sentence again: 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.
There is no condemnation, just all-encompassing love. As Christianity grew in western thought, not in in the eastern church, but in the west, it became increasingly legalistic.
As that happened the divine Jesus, the Christ, became increasingly remote. He became a sacrifice and then the Judge.
Then access to the Divine Love receded into the background. The concept of a divine judge makes him inaccessible, and then comes judgement, heaven and hell and an intricate legal system presided over by a hierarchical church.
This did not improve with the reformation: fire and brimstone
John’s message of Divine Love for the whole world, maybe even the universe, is sidelined.
Well, you know, I have this thing about spending time in early churches. The early depictions show a Christ welcoming his people and his sheep.
There are always lots of sheep, and people coming towards him. He is not a judge and there are no depictions of his crucifixion, just an eternal union with Christ.
When you yourself experience the Divine, it is not as a judge, but as a lover. God so loved the world …
So according to John, and to our own experience, God saw the world in desperate trouble and sent the Son on a cosmic rescue mission.
We cannot have words for the Divine Ineffable Mystery, so we put it into sentences and concepts that we can understand, although we often fall short.
But we do understand that God is not interested in condemnation and destruction. God is intent on salvage and reconstruction.
Let me amplify what I already said: the Christian church started out aware of this wonderful, good news.
However, often on the journey through the centuries it has often lost the Gospel under the rubbish of legalism and judgement.
Wearisome laws and duties and penances (penances both priest imposed or self imposed!) have often supplanted liberty.
Anxiety and fear have ousted joy and confidence in the abundant grace of God to cover all our sins and bring us into the life which is abundant.
Perhaps you have encountered this legalistic ands judgmental religion. It is the version from which that people often walk away. It is a disaster, an abomination.
It is not being true to Christ or to the witness of the early church. It is a denial of their witness to Christ’s earthly mission. Of course, there are disciplines to learn as one follows Christ, just as maturity brings discipline.
There are situations where to be faithful and true involves suffering. Martyrdom was a very real possibility for those early Christians, but they knew they were following a loving God.
Naturally evil does matter. Our sins are not irrelevant.
Evil is a vast contamination of humanity; our sins alienate us from happiness and perpetuate much human misery.
Traditionally Lent has been used as a time for repentance and renewal.
It is reasonable and faithful to God when Lent has been so observed as a time for putting our bridle on our desires, a time for a radical spiritual check up.
Lent can be fruitful when it is grasped as an opportunity for aligning ourselves with the determined faith of Christ Jesus as he steadfastly made his way towards Jerusalem and the horrible cost he was to pay for his trust in God.
A flabby Christianity can be much more of a daily burden than the freely-welcomed disciplines of a well-honed faith.
Moreover, a flabby wishy-washy Christianity is a witness to those around you.
They can see it and quickly discard it because it does not witness to the all - consuming loving God that we read about today, and who has touched our hearts.
You see, when disciplines and penitence are prescribed, and become religious duties. When condemnation and punishment take an upper hand God’s grace and mercy are covered over.
When anxiety and fear are allowed to either sneak into our souls, or stomp like ICE Agents into our religion and dispossess us of peace and joy, then things have gone horribly wrong.
The Gospel is much better than that. Underwriting all else is the salvaging love of God, whose passion it is that not even one the children of earth should perish.
“For God did not send his Son into the world in order to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3: 17
Our trust is not in whether we have repented enough, or fulfilled our Christian obligations enough, but on the pure, unadulterated love of God.
God’s grace is always the foundation of faith. And when that foundation is in place, anxiety and fear of failure, lose their power over us. God is our secure place.
The Psalm I read when I snuffed out the candle says:
“My help comes from the Lord
who made heaven and earth.
God will not let you foot be moved.
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Now about that end of the sentence: that the world through him might be saved. The concept is the whole world and saved is like being both rescued and healed.
It as if you have fallen off a foundering boat into the cold sea and are holding on to some debris. You are floating, tossed by the waves in the dark.
Then out of the gloom you see a light approaching, when the coast guard life boat comes close by. They throw you a rope and drag you to the side, lift you in and wrap you in a blanket, give you water and the your wounds are attended to.
Salve has been put on your abrasions. You have been rescued and are being cared for and healed. That is salvation.
Jesus is the greatest salvage and salve expert,
He did not come to some people saying: “You a lot are a useless heap of trash. You are not worth saving.”
Nor did he say to others, “Maybe there is hope for you if you if pull your socks up, and do this list of moral and religious duties each day.” Jesus came with a free, liberating love for all.
That free graciousness is basic. As John tells us -
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
The whole world is the focus of God’s unlimited, inclusive love.