Sermon: March 05, 2023
Reading John 3:1-17
"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." It’s a deceivingly simple phrase that carries a significant amount of theological meaning.
There is nothing we can humanly do to receive the spiritual rebirth that Jesus spoke of; the only way to receive salvation and perceive God’s kingdom is for us to believe. To Believe sounds simple enough. But it is far different than half-heartedly saying, “I believe.”
To believe requires us to trust in Jesus. It means giving him our ultimate loyalty, not trusting in ourselves or other things that demand our allegiance. To believe is to treasure Jesus Christ above all else and hold him as our beloved, giving our heart, mind, and soul to God without reservation. It means daring to make Christ the center of our lives. Believing in and trusting in Jesus dares us to let go of worldly desires and self-interest by examining our lives and removing those stumbling blocks that may prevent us from a closer relationship with God and the rest of humanity. Believing and trusting in Jesus dares us to break with self-indulgent desires.
The word believe is a verb, and it requires action. We cannot say we believe in Christ and then do nothing. Like Nicodemus, if we dare to believe, we must submit long-held beliefs, habits, and ways of life that differ from God’s love. Daring to believe means being willing to come out of the dark and shine the light of Jesus Christ into the world. A world that God loves so much he gave his only Son.
Think about that; God so loves the world. Not just certain parts of the world, or bits and pieces, not just the world that agrees with people’s nationalistic views, but God loves the whole world. God doesn’t love homeless veterans more than refugees seeking asylum from extreme poverty and violence. God doesn’t love someone who is straight more than someone who is LGBTQ or any more someone who expresses themselves by performing on a stage as a drag queen. God doesn’t love one skin color or ethnicity more than another. It’s rather apparent from looking around at God’s entire creation that God loves diversity.
The God Jesus spoke of cannot be defined by human points of view and placed in a box to be whipped out whenever it’s convenient for us. By daring to believe, we are shaped and transformed by God’s love, emptying ourselves and submitting fully and completely to God. Daring to believe in Jesus means we allow ourselves to be open and vulnerable, totally dependent upon God, much like a newborn experiencing a rebirth into God’s loving kingdom.
As we step out of the darkness into the light with Christ, may we dare to be a beacon of hope of God’s compassion and mercy, demonstrating God’s love to the whole world. May we dare to trust and have faith perceiving the kingdom of God that is all around us. May we dare to believe.
