Readings
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Matthew 3:1-17
“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.”
Although I wonder whether it has any real impact, thanks to countless individuals at sporting events, this is probably the most cited passage of scripture ever. Who hasn’t seen someone hold up a sign that says “John 3:16?” Unfortunately, most people, including many Christians, do not necessarily recognize the citation and the message is lost.
Even so, for many Christians the sentences that ends our Gospel passage this morning are a source of great comfort. We are reminded that God loves us and God good purpose is not to condemn us but to save us. All we need do is believe in him.
But I want to ask what might seem like an obvious question. What does it mean to “believe” in Jesus? The answer may seem obvious, but perhaps it is not.
The question of belief comes up in the story of Nicodemus we just heard. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and leader within the Jewish community, comes to Jesus secretly at night to engage him about his teaching. He immediately affirms Jesus as being from God and affirms the deeds Jesus does and teaching that he proclaims. What follows is a discussion about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and the benefits of such following. Jesus says that those who follow him are born from above. He foreshadows the role of baptism in the Christian life and in light of Nicodemus apparent confusion around what it means to be born from above, he commends him to not be so literal. In the end Jesus affirms his identity and foreshadows his own crucifixion. He relates his being lifted up to a story about the children of Israel in the wilderness who were saved from deadly serpents by the lifting up of a bronze serpent on a pole. In other words, Jesus is saying that his death will be for the salvation of others and not just the sacrifice of his life. He concludes with the passage we already quoted.
But, again, the question of belief is present. What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
Is belief in Jesus simply mentally acquiescing to the idea that he is God? Is that sufficient?
Well it wasn’t for Nicodemus. In the story we just recalled he did that. He was quick to affirm who and what Jesus is. But for Jesus that was not enough. In fact, that alone did not allow Nicodemus to fully participate in Jesus’ life and ministry. No, for Jesus, there is more. He speaks of being born from “water and the Spirit.” He reiterates that one must be “born from above.”
Clearly for Jesus this means that simply mentally holding the truths of Jesus is insufficient. No, even in this brief passage it is clear that we must be willing to act. We must be prepared to public claim our faith and participate in Jesus’ ministry. We must be participants in the kingdom of God. In other words, belief in Jesus isn’t so much about what we think as it about what we do.
Jesus is inviting Nicodemus to come out of the shadows and claim his faith. He is inviting him to make his faith active and alive. And he is promising Nicodemus nothing less than the kingdom of God if he is willing to do so.
This is what Jesus is getting at when he says that God sent his son so that all that believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.
The promise of God is not simply in an afterlife, although we hold that as true. Rather the promise of God is to be able to participate in eternity now. To know that our material existence is not all that defines us. To, as I said on Ash Wednesday, recognize that we are not human beings who have spiritual experiences from time to time, but spiritual beings who are having a human experience.
Jesus came to be the embodiment of this truth and to invite us into it. And we enter into that truth by living out the shape and pattern of his life in our own. We do so by becoming agents of peace and justice. We do so by engaging in acts of care and compassion. We do so by working for the restoration of our ecological environment and seeking for and affirming the fundamental goodness of humanity.
When we do that we make manifest the love of God. We offer an alternative vision to the one which dominates our discourse and our vision in the world today. And we step away from the temptation to judge that selfsame world, instead embracing the saving grace of God.
The incarnation of God in Jesus was a fundamental act of love on the part of God. It flies in the face of the medieval assumptions that dominate our theology to this day. As Jesus says in today’s scripture, God does not seek our condemnation but our salvation. God seeks nothing less than healing and restoration. And we are not simply recipients of such a gift, but co-creators with God.
As we move deeper into our Lenten journey let us reflect on such a thing. Let us commit ourselves to being a people of belief. Not simply intellectual assent, but action directed towards the salvation of the world. Let us know that God in Jesus is afoot in us and through us. Let us take comfort in that knowledge and let us heal and comfort a broken and fractured world.