For God So Loved the World

The words of John 3:16 are some of the most recognizable words of Scripture. They are splattered across billboards, Facebook information pages, and signs at sporting events. When we picture this piece of Scripture in our heads, we are often reminded of loud preachers yelling about salvation and the coming of the end of times. Many Christians have even developed an aversion to this passage.

Yet, this is still a very important piece of Scripture. What does a faithful interpretation of this passage look like? How do we approach a text like this, or any text which is very well known, in a new and fresh way?

When we allow ourselves the freedom to explore this passage and its roots more, we come to find a passage that is deeply informative. In John 3:16-21 Christians find a call to true faith which is three things: inclusive, holy, and active.

INCLUSIVE

One of the reasons that many Christians react so negatively to this passage is because they feel it promotes exclusion. Throughout these verses it seems like the world is being separated into two camps: those who believe in Christ, and those who do not.

This creates an awkward moment, especially as we read it from our position in history, when the world is becoming a smaller place. We find ourselves interacting with good, loving people who believe different things than we do but whom we value.

Scholars believe that John was written for a very unique community. Members of this community had publically professed Jesus as Lord. They were, therefore, kicked out of the synagogues. Because the Gospel of John was primarily written for these people, we will call them the John Christians. There was another group of Christians who refused to profess Christ publically who remained in the synagogues. We will call them the Synagogue Christians.

The John Christians received a lot of pressure from the outside. As so often happens in such scenarios, they bonded together and drew inward to themselves. This created a paranoid feeling within that community, that they were together and that the rest of the world was out to get them.

If we go back to the beginning of the chapter, we find that Jesus is talking with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who came to Jesus in the middle of the night to learn from him. At a crucial moment in their meeting, Jesus says, "no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus replies to this as we might, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"

As we can see, this is the piece of Scripture that is commonly turned to when we think about "born again" Christians who've had specific conversion experiences. The characteristic of being born again is not necessarily a dangerous one, but Christians who align themselves with this concept tend to begin their conversations with the often heard "when were you saved?" My favorite response as a truly Reformed Presbyterian is "about 2,000 years ago." While the question is an honest one, it has come to be used in a somewhat exclusive way, implying that if you haven't had a certain experience, you are not truly Christian.

However, it's important not to give up on this passage yet. In fact, inclusion is one reason that this passage is so crucial, not a reason it should be avoided.

Raymond Brown describes part of the history of these John Christians when their community was expanded. This expansion brought in many Samaritans and Gentiles, people who were previously considered "outsiders." This inclusion meant that some of the language that the John Christians used was altered, and this becomes apparent in verses 16-17: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...that the world might be saved through him." Jesus' message is an inclusive one because he was sent for the entire world. This passage opens up God's grace to the whole world, not just those who belong to a certain group.

What does this inclusion look like? It could be as small as welcoming someone who doesn't usually sit at the same table or hang out in the same groups. It could be as big as a town bringing in refugees from a foreign country and making them feel at home in a safe space. It means welcoming the outsider. Inclusion can be seen as a political word, but one of the reasons it's important in this passage is because it is something all of us are capable of doing.

HOLY

We must not forget, that, as important as inclusion is, there are still conflicts which exist. An important aspect of the community of John Christians which produced this gospel was its conflict with the outside world.

Through the course of the conversation with Nicodemus, we also experience the conversation that the John Christians had with the outside world. Jesus and Nicodemus essentially act as symbolic representatives: Jesus represents the John Christians and Nicodemus represents the Synagogue Christians.

The Synagogue Christians come across as cowards, unwilling to profess their faith. Yet, consider the situation they were facing. They were facing an empire that only allowed certain people to not worship their Gods. One of these groups of people were Jews. Yet, since the John Christians were being kicked out of the synagogues they were expected to worship Roman gods. It was almost as dangerous for them to profess their faith to the Romans as it was for Jews in the 1940s to profess their faith to the Nazis.

This is the background to the curious conversation about the second birth. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that true faith requires a different birth. This birth is usually described as being "born again", but if we settle on this translation we are likely to make the same mistake that Nicodemus makes. This word refers to two things: being "born anew" indicating a change in the worldly sense, and being "born from above" indicating heavenly involvement. By only focusing on the earthy birth, Nicodemus and others like him are focusing on the human side of things and forgetting how God is involved.

The Synagogue Christians that they are essentially paying too much attention to the things of this world. They were so concerned with membership in the synagogue, that they were not willing to fully accept this birth from above publically.

What does it look like for us to accept God's new birth? Many of us are baptized when we are young, and go through confirmation when we are old enough to claim what we believe. This is when we accept our birth from above.

Yet there are other moments when we can recognize holiness. You know those moments in your life when God's presence just can't seem to be missed? You have to say to yourself, "God was watching out for me!" While we don't have that experience constantly, God is with us all the time. It is when we accept this birth from above and God's power in our lives that we are able to see God's presence at all times.

ACTIVE

In order to understand and live out this passage as best we can, it is important to note the significance of the word "believe". Every time that this word appears in these verses, and throughout John, it appears only in the verb form as "believe" rather than the noun form - "faith". While this seems like a small thing to point out, it makes a big difference. John scholar Sandra Schneiders says that, "For the Gospel of John, faith is not a spiritual acquisition or a state of being but an activity, an ever-active relationship in the present."

The John Christians saw faith as something which was demonstrated through an action rather than a noun. Believing is not something that just happens. It is not something that we earn and then have for the rest of our lives. Believing is something that takes action and effort. It's like the familiar hymn goes, "They will know we are Christians by our love." Not, "they will know we are Christians just because we have a Jesus fish on our bumper." Or, "They will know we are Christians because we told them so and isn't that good enough anyway." They will know we are Christians by our love - a demonstration of the calling that Jesus gave us to love one another and care for one another.

This is a call to us, here today, to align our actions with our beliefs. It is a call to treat those around us with the love that we have been shown by God.

The early Christians were calling others into active faith in Christ, and this calling rings true for us today. It is through an active living-out of eternal life that we demonstrate Christ's saving grace. We must ask ourselves: "How do we live out an active faith?"

By seeing this piece of Scripture for what it is, coming from the community from which it came, we can find new meaning. Rather than thinking God's grace is only for some, we see that Jesus came to save the whole world. Rather than seeing ourselves as the ones who earn salvation, we see that it is a holy gift from above. Rather than sitting back and resting assured that we are saved, we see that this gift of grace motivates us into an active faith.

This is not just the sloganized Scripture of sporting events and billboards, it is a defining message for our lives. This is a piece of Scripture that calls us to recognize the grace we experience as a gift from God. To recognize that this gift is intended for the whole world and we are called to active discipleship. Amen.