John 3:16-17 Series “For God So Loved the World” (Part Three)


a 9-minute podcast

In the second sermon of this series on John 3:16, we discovered that the focus of eternal life in the New Testament is not on how long it lasts (although it lasts forever)—the focus is on the quality of life. Eternal life is a life lived in the Kingdom of God—a life characterized by what we see in Jesus. As Brian McLaren says, “It is an extraordinary life lived to the full in a relationship with God.” It is a life full and overflowing as we join God in this radical eon of the Kingdom breaking into time and space where all things become transformed, whole, healed, and redeemed. Eternal life is a quality of life worthy of being everlasting because it is of, through, and with God.

In this third sermon in our series I want us to ask how we obtain this eternal life. And John tells us very plainly — “whosoever believes in God’s Son has eternal life.” From the time I could understand words, I was told this was the way to be saved and to have eternal life. I must “believe in Jesus.” But what exactly does that mean? Does it just mean I must intellectually believe in him—that he lived, died, and rose again? (And my mother would add that he died in my place for my sins and if I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, I could have eternal life.) Is this all it takes? Is that what eternal life is all about? Simply believing in Jesus?

Most Americans believe in Jesus. Archie Bunker (for those old enough to remember the TV series “All in the Family”) believed in Jesus. Members of the KKK who even use the cross, one of the most cherished symbols of Christianity, in a most despicable way claim to believe in Jesus. Those who led the Crusades, persecuted Jews, conducted witch hunts, and subjected people to horrific torture during the Inquisition believed in Jesus. The members of that hate-filled church in Kansas who march with signs reading “God Hates Fags” say they believe in Jesus. So my question is this: Do we see anything of the quality of God as revealed by Christ in those people? And if eternal life is sharing the quality of life belonging to God, then how can these people claim to have eternal life?

I’m afraid that even some members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)—my own denomination—have to a degree succumbed to this assumption that what we believe intellectually is what faith is all about. When someone comes before a Disciples congregation wanting to join, there is only one question the pastor is supposed to ask the perspective member according to Disciples tradition: “Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?” Now I understand why Disciples decided on that simple, inclusive, and tolerant question. But I have to admit that sometimes it does us a disservice.

Our problem is quickly solved when we realize that most of the time (in fact, with only one or two exceptions in the New Testament) the word we translate “believe” is better understood as “trust.” And there is a profound difference between believing and trusting. An amusing illustration might be helpful here. The story is told of a high-wire artist who was scheduled to walk across Niagara Falls. As a crowd gathered, the promotor of this feat asked the crowd if they believed this man could walk across Niagara Falls on the tightrope. Everyone assumed that the man knew what he was doing, and they enthusiastically shouted, “Yes!” The man then successfully crossed the falls. The promoter then asked the crowd if they believed the man could walk across the falls pushing a wheelbarrow. Again, the crowd shouted, “Yes. We believe!” And with amazing dexterity the man did so. The promoter then asked the crowd if they believed the man could push the wheelbarrow across the falls with a person sitting in it. And once again the crowd, already astonished at the man’s success, shouted, “Yes, we believe!” The promoter then asked who would volunteer to be that person sitting in the wheelbarrow. There was complete silence. That’s the difference between believing and trusting.

To trust you have to put yourself on the line. You have to make a commitment—an investment. You have to take a leap of faith and bet your very life. Think about this for a moment. What is required of you to trust another person? To trust someone, you must put yourself in their hands. You must surrender your own control over the situation and trust in someone’s intentions, motives, and will. That’s why it’s so hard for us to trust people at a deep level. That’s why we don’t give our trust to just anybody we meet. Trust comes out of a relationship—out of experiences that demonstrate that the person you are willing to trust is in fact trustworthy.

You will remember we said that eternal life is a quality of life flowing from a relationship with God through Christ. That’s why the Gospels are forever telling us that what we are called to do is to “follow Jesus.” (Jesus’ words, “Follow me,” occur 87 times in the Gospels!) The Gospel of Mark comes to its theological peak with these words from Jesus: “Take up your cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). “Taking up our cross” implies an investment and a radical commitment, doesn’t it? Taking up our cross means a willingness to pay the price of following Jesus and living a God-like life in a world of greed, violence, fear, hatred, ignorance, and death. To trust means to follow in the company of Jesus as we bet our lives that his way is God’s way and is the only way both worth living and capable of healing us and our world.

Most of us, including me, are content to stand on the sidelines of God’s Kingdom shouting, “Yes, I believe!” But that’s not what eternal life is all about. And that’s not what God’s Kingdom is all about. Eternal life is all about joining Jesus in living God’s life as together we love this world into its healing and salvation. As we said in our first sermon on this passage, the most important part of this verse is “for God so loved the world.” That is why God sent God’s son and that is why we are gifted with eternal life. Once we enter eternal life and share the life of God, we also share the passion of God for this world. And once we do that, we will truly know and experience firsthand who God really is.

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