The Upload
Posted on Mar 13, 2015 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week!
Earlier this week, I was reviewing my schedule and I realized that we are halfway through Lent already. That means we are only a couple of weeks away from Holy week and Easter. I pray that this has been a joyous and spirit-filled season of Lent for you.
This Sunday, our Gospel text is John 3:14-21, which contains everybody’s favorite memory verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved Son” (3:16). Yes, even Lutherans can say it by heart! It’s a message of love and forgiveness. But as we read the entire text, we see that this message Jesus offers is also a message of judgment and wrath: “Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already…” (3:18), and then Jesus goes on to talk more about condemnation and how people really do prefer darkness and being evil. I don’t’ like this part of this text. It seems to me to be an oxymoron. That is, on one hand, Jesus said God loves this world so much, that is, ALL of this world, that gave he us his son, but on the other hand, God is more than a loving God, he is a god of judgment, too. No wonder we only like to memorize Verse 16 and not the rest of this text.
If truth be told, though, throughout the Bible, that is the story of God and his relationship with his people, God is very clear that he is not only a loving God filled with mercy, grace, forgiveness, and steadfast love, but he is also a God of expectations and judgment. Now, we don’t always like to hear about this side of God, but I actually have come to find it very comforting. I know my God loves me so much that he is willing to correct me when I am wrong. God is willing to point out my sinfulness and hold me accountable for my actions, just like my parents did when I was a child. When I messed up as a kid, they scolded me and I received a punishment, but in the end, I also knew they loved me.
Our Lenten journey to the cross and resurrection is that reminder that not only will God hold us responsible for our actions and sinfulness, but in the end, our God will love us, too. Yes, our God is a God of judgment, but that judgment is a loving judgment. That judgment comes out of love and mercy and nothing, not even death, will separate us from God’s love. That is the story of Jesus and his life, death and resurrection, the story of a God who loves his creation so much that he sent his only Son, but also a story of a God, a loving Father, who is willing to judge his children with righteousness and love.
I pray this brings you the same comfort it brings me.
Have a blessed week.
Shalom,
Pastor Dave