Atom“Whoever BELIEVES…”
John 3:14-21 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
“For God so loved the world that He sent his only Son, that…whoever believes…” On Wednesday we looked closely at the first part of this crucial phrase in John 3:16: Jesus says, “Whoever – anyone…from any walk of life…whatever your past, whatever your present…whatever you perceive your future to be…whatever your race or background – “whoever.” And today, the second part: Whoever “believes” will not perish. What an astounding promise! Only believe…it sounds so simple, yet…believing – or trusting – is not as simple as we would like it to be.
Max Lucado has a great story of trust in his book, “3:16”:
(The first part of the video clip tells of his attempt at “rappelling” down a rock face with the help of a “trained” (“Been working here two months now!”), slightly built, college-aged young person who invites him to “trust her” to land him safely at the bottom of the cliff.”)
We probably all have a story where we have been asked to trust that someone will not let us fall. I remember being at Bible camp many years ago with my 8th grade confirmation class. We spent some time reading the Bible and learning about Jesus each day and we also spent some time building relationships. One such relationship building experience was doing “trust falls.” You usually start simple, pairing up with someone, standing behind them, hands up, and then stepping back a pace and inviting them to cross their arms in front of their chests, close their eyes, remain rigid and simply fall backwards into your hands, trusting that you will catch them.
Eventually you progress to having someone stand on a table or stump and the whole group locks arms behind them to form a kind of cradle, and again you call upon them to cross their arms, close their eyes, remain rigid and fall backwards, trusting. We had gotten this far and the whole group of eighth graders had climbed up on the stump and fallen backwards, from little 4’6” Stacey to big 6’, but skinny as a pole, Chad. The camp counselor looked at me, “Ok, Pastor, it’s your turn.” The whole group, including me went, “Huh?” and the four smallest girls suddenly looked very frightened. I’m 6’3” and at the time weighed just over 200 lbs. I tried to refuse, but they wouldn’t let me. I have never done anything like Max Lucado describes in his story, but even that little fall – to close ones eyes and fall back into the waiting arms of a not too confident group of eighth graders was enough to make me less than confident. Could I trust them to catch me?
Of course this is all small potatoes next to the question that John 3:16 also asks. Can I trust Jesus to catch me? “Whoever believes – whoever trusts – will not perish, but have eternal life.” This is not about protecting us from broken bones, but about assuring our hope and eternity. It is about purpose and meaning and wholeness and a future without ending! Can I trust to catch me? Or is there some other way?
Again and again the call of God is to trust. The lead in to 3:16 is the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus and asking, “What must I do? How will I see the Kingdom?” And Jesus answers, “You must be born from above.” To be born is to have help. You can’t birth yourself. Someone else makes it happen. Your mother births your body. Your God births your faith. God does the work.
Nicodemus says, “Huh?” And Jesus says, “Look, it’s like that time in the wilderness when Moses lifted up a snake.” Nicodemus nods, and we go, “Huh?” Nicodemus knew what Jesus was talking about. Every Israelite would have known; it was a part of their history. But you might not have remembered it until we read it here a few minutes ago. It is the story of that same old problem that God’s people bring upon themselves again and again. They grumble against God. They stop trusting. They start looking for other ways, other gods, to meet their needs. And the result is pain and hurt and death. In this case poisonous snakes, life-taking snakes are the consequence of their rebellion. The snakes are an image, of course, of all the painful life-taking consequences of sin – broken relationships, broken addicted lives, pre-mature death, hopelessness. And the people of Israel cry out to Moses to pray to God to help them, to forgive them, to heal them. And God tells Moses, “Make a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. Put this image of the consequences of sin before them and tell them that all they need do to be healed and restored is to look upon it as I have asked them – to again trust my promise.” So Moses does and they do and God does the work and they who look and trust were healed and lived.”
“So,” Jesus says, “This is how it works: In the same way, God is going to lift up the Son – the Only One and Only, me, Jesus – before the world so that all who look upon Me will be healed, made whole, will live.” Of course Jesus is referring here to his own lifting up on the cross, this image of the consequences of sin, this death that gives life.” Look to Jesus. Believe, trust, let go. It’s that simple…and that hard.
Because letting go is not easy. Trusting your life to a trained, but still very young and not so strong-looking camp counselor is not so easy. Trusting your health to a newly out of medical school doctor forty years younger than you is not easy. Trusting your eternal future to the simple act of belief is not so simple.
I mean, there must be more that I can do…some test I can take, something I can study and perfect, some obstacle course I can master (like the 10 commandments), some service I can do, so I can be sure.
You know, as much as I appreciate our Lutheran church’s tradition of doing confirmation and engaging in teaching ministries, there is always the temptation to think that these acts of faithfulness on our part are what guarantee good standing with our God. When getting ready for confirmation, I sometimes say to my students, “Much as I don’t like to talk about it in a gloomy kind of way, this life is not all there is. God has also prepared a heaven for when we leave this earth. Are you ready for that? Are you confident that you will end up there?” “Well, Pastor, I am confirmed. I did that. I came to class, memorized the books of the Bible, got 85% on all the quizzes. I did all that. So I guess I’m pretty sure.” Or if you are a bit older, you might add to the confirmation stuff, “Sure, I was confirmed – long time ago! And now I read my Bible and usher and give 10% - well, maybe 6% - of my income and I volunteer over at the nursing home.”
“But do you believe in Jesus, that he is your hope for forgiveness and eternal life?”
“Huh? I just told you that I did.”
Okay. You did. Learning and service and giving are all about faith, but they are always about the faith the follows, the living of faith that comes because of the trust. They are the result of believing that Jesus is God’s Son, the Only One and Only who rescues me. “Whoever believes…whoever looks to Jesus…that one receives life as a gift – always a gift!”
When I think of this story and of Nicodemus trying to figure out the gift, I sometimes think of Lizzie, ever so faithful in worship. 95 years old, she had trouble hearing, and couldn’t read the bulletin, but she told me that she came every week to worship anyway – walked the half block from her little house – so “Others will know what side I’m voting on!” Well, one Sunday we celebrated communion and I noticed that Lizzie didn’t come to the altar to receive. So later in the week when I saw her, I asked her. “Weren’t you feeling well? Would it be better if I brought it to you.” “No,” she said. “I couldn’t come because I forgot to bring my offering on Sunday.” And I thought, “O Lizzie, how like the rest of us you are. How hard it is to believe, to trust, that God’s free gift is really free.” Trust…belief…it is so simple, but so hard. Listen again to our brother, Max Lucado…
Show second clip from Lucado DVD – “Believe and Receive” – Trusting the “rappelling guide is like trusting Jesus.”
I love that reminder from Max:
“You regularly trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish. Jesus invites you to do the same.”
“Whoever believes…shall not perish, but have eternal life.” I’ll catch you, says Jesus. Let go of your doubt, your fear, your sin, your need to do your own work. Trust me. I’ll catch you. It’s why I came. Amen.
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