EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 3 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on March 10, 2021. This was the 42nd digital service we performed after our church was shuttered because of the COVID pandemic.
This week's preaching text: 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.”
Message:
OK, let's pretend that we are back in elementary school for just a brief second. ... Here is a quick pop quiz: recite John 3:16 with me. ... I know you know it!
"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."
Man, we love John 3:16, don't we! ... It's one of the earliest bible verses we learn to recite in Sunday school. And if you Google it, it's probably the most Googled Bible scripture that can be found. ... We we see it in sports stadiums; for years the spectators hold up signs with John 3:16 written on them. ... We see it on T-shirts, and for crying out loud we see it on bumper stickers.
We absolutely love John 3:16. ... And I think we love John 3:16 because it is such an incomprehensible act to our small human understanding. ... I mean can you imagine that our God, because he loved us so much, made himself incarnated in a mortal body -- in his only Son's body, as a matter of fact -- and he came to earth to live among us. This Mighty Being, this Mighty God, lowered himself to earth to walk in the dust in the dirt in the mud with us. ... It's kind of mind-blowing, isn't it? ... Think of how large that love must be for his sacrifice!
Think of what it means that God offered up his only Son, knowing that his Son had to die. And I think it's in that imagination you begin to get a sense of the magnitude of this Lenten period that we are in. ... The magnitude of this march to the cross and Christ's sacrifice. ... And also eventually the magnitude of Easter morning.
Faith Family, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
But there is a second half to that verse, isn't there? ... And you might be looking back at me, saying, "Well sure, there is! ... Everybody knows that! ... 'so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.'" ... And that half of John 3:16 is what I would like us to focus on tonight.
That second half that, I think, often gets lost in the excitement of talking about God's only Son. ... See, I think we get far too excited about the first half of this this verse, when our imaginations are lit on fire by our God, who loves us so much that he gives us his son, that he comes to earth and walks in human feet. ... Wow! ... You see him, Jesus standing over there? ... Yeah that's God's son, standing among us! And He loves us so much that he sent his Son to sacrifice for our sins!
But I think often in that excitement that we lose track of the fact that Jesus coming to earth to live with us isn't the end of the story. ... In fact, the complete end of this story, as we march and progress towards Holy Week, involves Good Friday and the cross. ... In fact, the complete end of this story also involves Easter morning and Christ rising from the tomb. ... And, finally, the complete end of this story involves Jesus's ascension into heaven where he sits at the right hand of our Father. ... Remember: So that whoever believes in him may not perish but they also may have eternal life ... just like Jesus.
You see, Faith Family, it's not only important that God gave us his only Son. ... We know and love John 3:16 for that fact. But while that in itself is an act that our human brains have trouble processing, what is really important about John 3:16, is that we as faithful believers are promised by our loving God that if we believe, we also will be saved by Jesus's ascension into heaven. ... Essentially, he paves the way for us, and it is that ascension that becomes so very essential to us as believers.
So, while it's certainly OK to be excited about Jesus showing up here on earth to walk among us, and to cherish that love that God has for us, we also have to remember on this night, that it is Jesus's ascension into heaven that is what grants us our eternal salvation ... and that is what in John 3:16 is our Good News for this Wednesday, March 10, and Sunday morning, March 14, the fourth Sunday in Lent ... Amen.
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