John 3:1-17 (New International Version)
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a
member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus
at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher
who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous
signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus
asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into
his mother's womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can
enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives
birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You
must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it
pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where
it comes from
or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the
Spirit.”
9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10“You are Israel's teacher,” said Jesus, “and
do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth,
we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have
seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I
have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;
how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came
from heaven–the Son of Man.
14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the
Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes
in him may have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him.
___________________________________________________________________
In a column for The Christian Ministry magazine (September/October
1995), Victoria A. Rebeck told about the time she stood by
a friend in a criminal court room. Her friend was accused
of hitting and killing two people with his car while driving
under the influence of alcohol.
After the proceedings, in which her friend pled guilty, a woman approached
the defendant's mother and offered these words:
" Excuse me, I'm the mother of one of the people who died. I just want you
to know that I know you must be in great pain, and that I feel for you. I know
he didn't mean to do it. I just wanted you to know that."
Rebeck concluded her column with these words: "Amid the violence and sorrow
came a courageous, gentle word of grace, empathy and hope… People like
this grieving mother are building the realm of God in the urban rubble."
This mother’s gracious actions and words are reminiscent
of what the family of Dan Snyder have done in regards to
Danny Heatley.
If you’ll recall, Heatley, a star in the NHL, was
driving his car recklessly over a year ago and, in the
ensuing crash, his friend and teamate, Dan Snyder, was killed.
From the outset the Snyder family, who are strong Christians,
showed their support of Heatley in very active ways. They
publicly forgave Heatley, saying that their son would not
want to condemn him so neither would they.
A few weeks ago the courts decided that Heatley would not
serve any time in jail. He was convicted, but the terms of
his sentencing allow him to continue his hockey career. In
coming to the sentence the court acknowledged the weight
given to the grace and forgiveness that had already been
offered to Heatley by the Snyder family.
I don’t know how many times I heard news and sports
commentators show absolute amazement that the Snyders
could act as they have. The Snyder family garnered a great
deal
of admiration. They were seen as very, very special to
be able to handle this incredible tragedy with such compassion
and grace, when most others would have condemned Heatley
to all the harshness the law could muster and then some.
Both these examples of grace are incredibly powerful and
impressive. They truly are examples of “building
the realm of God”.
The world doesn’t quite know what to make of this
kind of compassion. But while the world is left aghast
at such behaviour we, in the Church, should be able to understand
it.
Somewhere along the line, though, the Church has lost, in
many ways, its deep understanding of compassion, grace
and forgiveness. Instead we have developed a spirit of condemnation
against those whom we disagree with theologically, morally,
politically, socially—anyone who doesn’t see
things the way we see things—anyone who doesn’t
do things the way we do.
Sadly I suspect that many of us, in the Church, are just
as surprised as those outside the Church at how the Snyders
have reacted to the death of their son.
We have lost track of an important lesson that comes from
a verse we have also lost track of.
Our Scripture lesson is the famous story of Nicodemus, the
Jewish leader who was sympathetic to Jesus but also concerned
about what others might think. In his conversation with Jesus
we find Nicodemus to be like many Pharisees. He was both
legalistic and literalistic.
By way of summing up for Nicodemus, Jesus offered the famous
verse John 3:16:
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.”
A couple of weeks ago, when we were talking about Micah
6:8 and how it summarized what discipleship was all about,
we noted that John 3:16 does the same thing in explaining
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One verse powerfully makes it
clear.
But I think the power of this important verse and the emphasis
we place on it has allowed us to lose track of the very next
thing Jesus said found in verse 17:
17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn
the world, but to save the world through him.
The two verses really go together. They are meant to be
connected.
One says what Jesus has done and the other clarifies why
Jesus has done it.
One offers the Gospel and the other offers the motivation
behind the Gospel.
Let’s look at verse 17 more closely.
Jesus came to the world—not to condemn the world.
Given what the world had done in terms of disobedience,
rebellion and hostility toward God it’s absolutely
amazing that Jesus didn’t come to put the world in
its place once and for all.
The people of Israel had turned their backs on their God
time and time again. They had ignored or persecuted the Prophets
God had sent to bring them back to obedience. They had worshipped
other gods. They had focused on themselves and their needs
and their desires for hundreds of years. They ignored God
unless it suited them. They forgot all God had done for them.
And this was just the people God had made His own!
Imagine the rest of the world!
But Jesus came, not just to Israel—not just to God’s
Chosen People—but to the world.
And Jesus didn’t come to condemn a people and a world
sorely deserving of punishment.
Not to condemn but to save!
Not to condemn but to show love!
Not to condemn but to offer grace!
Not to condemn but to sacrifice!
The words are clear.
They are easy to say.
But can we ever really understand the depth of what it means
for God not to condemn but to save—not to punish but
to sacrifice Himself for those who don’t come even
close to deserving it?
And, we are reminded that salvation comes—not through
our piety or morality or good works or attendance at
Church or being better than others or being theologically
more correct
or socially better off.
Salvation comes through Jesus Christ.
Not through what we have done or can do or will do, but through what Jesus
has done.
Our salvation isn’t earned—it’s a gift
of monumental cost and unthinkable sacrifice and amazing
grace.
God is not in the business of condemning.
God is in the business of saving—of offering grace.
Too often the Church uses John 3:16 as a divider.
First, we divide it from verse 17.
Then we divide people into those who accept the Gospel
and those who don’t.
We divide people into those who live the Gospel the way
we want and those who don’t.
We divide people into those who understand the Gospel
the way we do and those who don’t. We divide people into
those we condemn and those we don’t.
We do the dividing while others, of unlike mind, do their
own dividing.
Something has gone terribly amiss.
Philip Yancey tells of speaking with a street worker in
Chicago. The street worker was trying to help a 22 year old
prostitute. This girl had fallen to the bottom of the barrel.
There were things she had done that stunned the experienced
street worker who thought he had heard and seen it all.
As a suggestion he wondered why she hadn’t gone to
Church to see if she could get help.
He said he’d never forget the response from this
girl.
“Church”, she cried. “Why would I ever go there? I’m
already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse!”
Something has gone terribly amiss.
When Jesus walked this earth, he kept company with a bunch
of dull-minded disciples made up of simple fishermen, a hated
tax collector and hotheaded political zealots.
When Jesus walked this earth, he mixed with prostitutes
and lepers—the dregs of society—the unclean—the
outcasts.
When Jesus walked this earth, he healed the servant of a
Roman soldier—a hated foreign oppressor.
When Jesus walked this earth, people like that 22 year old
prostitute in Chicago were drawn to Jesus.
When Jesus walked this earth He welcomed them.
He came, not to condemn but to save.
Indeed, Jesus’ harshest words were for those who already
thought they had their faith sorted out. Those who closed
themselves to the incredible things Jesus was doing because
His teachings didn’t fit their theology or piety
or morality.
Jesus didn’t come to condone behaviour and attitudes that were unacceptable
to God. His love and grace and forgiveness aren’t a blank cheque
for people to do as they please.
But Jesus truly did come to love the sinner.
He loved the sinner all the way to the Cross.
That’s grace!
And we, the Church, are to be the Body of Christ, representing
our Lord on this earth until He returns. We are to be people
of grace—people who bring the message—not of
condemnation but of salvation to our community and our
world.
At her golden anniversary celebration, a grandmother told
guests the secret of her happy marriage: "On my wedding
day, I decided to make a list of ten of my husband's faults
that, for the sake of our marriage, I would overlook."
As the guests were leaving, a young woman whose marriage
had recently been in turmoil asked the grandmother what some
of the faults were that she had seen fit to overlook.
The grandmother said, "To tell you the truth, my dear,
I never did get around to listing them. But whenever my
husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would
say to myself,
'Lucky for him that's one of the ten!'"
It’s “lucky” for the person who receives
the grace and it’s “lucky” for the one
who offers it because living our lives with grace and love
is far more enjoyable than living our lives with judgement
and condemnation.
If there is love—if there is grace—faults can
be overlooked and relationships developed and strengthened
in amazing ways.
So like the mother in the courtroom and the Snyder family,
we can find ourselves building the realm of God.
What a wonderful way to live!
What a wonderful witness to the One who came, not to condemn but to save the
world!
(1726)
©
The Rev. Dennis Cook, St. Timothy’s Presbyterian Church, Ajax, ON,
Canada
