Sermon: March 10, 2024
Readings: Numbers 21:4-9 / Ephesians 2:1-10 / John 3:14-21
"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." No matter how you look at it, scripture is a love story that God has for his entire creation. A love so deep that he sends his only begotten Son into the world as a light to guide us out of the darkness of sin, away from the darkness of hate and anger. Jesus leads us from the trappings of human pride and judgment and into the warmth of his loving light as the way to experience not only life but eternal life.
Unlike the Hebrew people with the serpent, it is not enough to look at the Son of Man; we must believe in him. To "believe" is always an action verb; it requires a response and action from us. Believing is much different than saying, “I believe I'll have a burger for lunch.” Believing in Christ is something you do, and it must not be reduced to mere cliché or giving lip service and saying I believe in Christ but then not living according to his all-inclusive love. That isn’t belief and can take us on a route we don't really want to go down.
Believing in Christ and following in his love means that we are not in charge. We cannot draw limits, set boundaries, or determine who deserves God's love more than another. God's love includes all people, regardless of age, race, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation. Believing in Christ and demonstrating his love means we face the darkness so that all of humanity can walk in the light of God's love.
God does not condemn the world but gives the world the light of Christ, which brightly shines his love, giving hope and grace even in the darkest of times.
We have a choice to follow and accept God's divine love or to live in darkness. And the only way to heal the darkness is to look to the risen Lord and shine the light of Christ into the world by accepting the love and grace God extends to us and believing in the light of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
