If someone gave you 10 seconds to explain Christianity- our faith, our hope, our God- memorize this verse. This is perhaps the most clear cut explanation for everything. It is the answer to all of our greatest questions. Where am I? Why am I? What’s wrong? What’s the solution? We are in God’s world. This exists, and we exist, because of love. Death is the problem. Jesus is the solution.
Jesus tells us this about himself early in his ministry. He hit the scene with a bang, preaching, performing miracles, drawing crowds and stirring up controversy. Almost immediately he rubbed up and against the religious establishment. He taught that God was love, that he desired a relationship with people, and that he, Jesus, was himself the son of God. The people loved him. He hung out with the hookers and street people, shepherds and bums. Most of the religious folks immediately dismissed Jesus, and wanted to quickly dispose of him.
But in the third chapter of John an amazing story unfolds. The story of a man named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, one of the religious elite. He was someone who had it together. At least, it appeared that he did. He had been born into the right people group, born to the right parents, but something was not right in his life. But cracks in his well-put together façade were starting to show. Jesus got under his skin and in his mind. He heard the stories and probably heard Jesus for himself. He saw what was happening, and something happened in him. He decided that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t know everything. Maybe, just maybe, he missed something, and that there was something more to be found. He had taken advantage of every opportunity presented to him, but he still hadn’t arrived. He had studies the right books, and mastered the right religion, but it didn’t give him the understanding he desired. He achieved the right status and success in the eyes of the world, but he wondered if it mattered in the eyes of God.
It says he came to Jesus at night. TD Jakes, my personal hero, has reflected in several of his messages, about the night time passages in the bible. During the day we pull ourselves together. We primp and preen and paint our faces. During the day we run the race, we put on the show, we do what we have to do, whatever it is we have to do. During the day we make sure we play the game and look OK. But at night things change. You see, it’s at night, ironically, that we sometimes begin to see ourselves more clearly. It’s at night that our real colors start to show. It’ sat night when you away from everyone and everything else in the world, but then that you realize that you cant hide from yourself, or God. The fears begin to weigh in on us. The questions begin to stir in our mind. We hide in the shadows, but somehow we feel even more exposed and vulnerable. We are afraid of the night not because of what might come at us, but because of what might come from us. We are afraid of the night because when there is no one left to perform for, no one left to impress, not more work to be done or busy-ness to distract us, we have to come to grips with ourselves. And for many of us, there is nothing more frightening than this darkness, that this quiet, than this look deep inside.
I recently had to wrestle with this. Robin took the kids away for a weekend, and I was going to be left home, alone. I know that my wife would love nothing more than to have a moment of quiet in her own home alone, I know some of you would crave that, that sounds like the greatest gift you can imagine right now! And I’m sure it was supposed to be a gift to me.
But that’s not how I received it. I didn’t even think this through at the time, but what I did is truly telling about who I am. I went about my work for the day, and after all the scheduled meetings and things to do, instead of say great, I’m done, I looked for more. I called up someone and managed to get them out for dinner. After dinner I went to the gym and worked out. Afterwards I went for coffee with another friend, and then they finally had to say goodnight. By now it was nearly 11pm and I was on my way home, but I was driving by Mike’s house, and I thought, hey, I bet Mike and his new bride of several weeks would love to have me stop by at this hour, so I pulled un unannounced and came in for a visit. We talked and laughed and shared about our day. Meghan tried so hard to be polite and tried to engage in conversation, but she as so ready for bed. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore and excused herself and retired for the night. So Mike and I were left sitting at the kitchen table.
Now in case you are wondering, I am COMPLETELY aware of social dynamics. I’m not that guy who has no idea his company is no longer welcomed. I’m not that guy who is totally ignorant of human dynamics and relationships. I was well aware that I had worn out my welcome. He, I was never welcomed in the first place, there was not grace to even wear out!
But it was the nighttime. And I was alone. And I didn’t want to go to an empty house. And it’s at night when we are sometimes forced to face ourselves. But in this night Nicodemus decides to do something with his questions, and so he goes to Jesus. He tries to butter him up first, Jesus we know that you are sent from God, blah blah blah! Even in the dark Jesus sees right through this man, and into his heart.
After some conversation, confusion, and explanation, Jesus shares the promise, that God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son (him, Jesus) that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus is telling him, Nic, it’s not because of your religious practice, it’s because of God’s love. It’s not about who you are, but who God is. It’s not about what you do, it’s about what God has done. It’s about love. It’s about belief. It’s about eternal life.
Toward the end of his life the man, John, who wrote down this story for us, wrote several letters to the early church. In these letters we find this re-occurring theme- God is love. God loves the world. God offers us his love. God’s love will save us. God love will redeem us. God love is our life. He writes this: 1 John 4:7-10.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only son in the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God is just that into us. He gave his life for us. Sometimes I think this must be hard for people outside the church to accept or believe, that God had to die to save us. That we have messed up, so something had to happen to fix us. Somehow, some one had to right the right and fix the relationship.
But then I just look out in the world, and I see them crying out for this God. I see them telling this story all the time, everywhere. This is the great theme of all literature and film. This is the ultimate longing of the human heart- To have someone love us more than life itself. To have someone so into us, they would give their live for us. To have someone lay down their life so that we might live. To be saved. Trinity giver her life for Neo, and Neo gives his life for the world. William Wallace gives his life for his lost love, and so those who come after him might be free to live and love. A soldier makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his troop. John Lock becomes a proxy to save his friends and get them back to the island. OK, you have to REALLY be a fan of the show LOST to understand that one, but again, it all points the this great theme, the great longing, this great need in human life and in our world- Who will love us enough to give their life and save us? Who will be the atoning sacrifice, the one who will make us right by paying the greatest price?
When I was in middle school I found myself in a life or death situation. The circumstances were beyond my control. I wasn’t running with a gang or jumping off of bridges. Actually, I did do a lot of that in my youth, bridges, quarries, cliffs, I was a bit of a thrill seeker. But I found myself in a life or death situation and it so happened that a man came upon me and in the process of saving me, he lost his life. I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know if I should rejoice, or mourn. I was full of joy, and yet consumed with questions. I was shock to the core of my being, and I realized I would never be the same again. I began to pursue a different course in life. I began to find out everything I could about this man. I talked to others who knew him. I put together the pieces of his life- where he lived, how he lived, what he did, what drove him, and what would compel a man to live in such a way that he would put my life before his own, even though I didn’t know him or had any idea who he really was?
As I began to understand his life I found myself falling in love with him. I found myself drawn to others who loved him. I found myself drawn to tell others about this one who gave his life so that I could live.
Of course the man is Jesus Christ. And the situation I found myself in is the situation we all find ourselves in- we are born into a “life and death” world. We all find ourselves in this situation. We are all helpless to save ourselves. We can eat right and exercise, we can put ourselves in a bubble and try to remove all risk and danger. But sooner or later, we’ll get sick, we’ll get shoot, or we’ll just grow old, and we will die. These bodies will fail us. That breath of life, that spark, whatever it is, that makes one organism a living being, will leave us. And we’ll die. This is the human condition.
On Thursday morning my grandmother died. I have now lost all my grandparents. I never knew my grandfather on my father’s side. My paternal grandmother died about 12 years ago. I lost my grandfather, my pap George, whom I am named after, less than 2 years ago. Now my grandmother is gone. This was not a surprise, but of course, it’s still not easy. Even when someone lives a great life and is ready to go, it’s still hurts.
And I have to tell you that once again, this week, I am faced with this stuff all over again. As I celebrate her life, I still struggle with her death, and the questions beg to be asked, and I have to ask myself, do I really believe all this stuff. Not just the good stuff, not just the God is love and has a great plan for your life stuff. Not just the stuff that actually helps us live a better life. But this core stuff- do I believe that we can know God? I do really believe that in knowing God we can be saved? Do I really believe that outside of Jesus we cannot fully know God and be in a relationship with God? Do I believe that in Jesus Christ we have the hope of heaven and eternal life? Do I really believe that outside of God life is hell? Life is torment and pain and brokenness and death? Do I really believe that this is not just the good news, as the church likes to say, but the best news, the greatest news the world has ever heard? The news that changes everything?
And I have to say yes, yes I do. I believe this to my core and I can’t even tell you exactly why. I believe this to the core of my being and it gives me hope in the shadow of death. It gives me joy amidst the pain. It gives me peace in middle of the storm. It gives me reason to go on. It makes sense of my life and our world. It is why I am who I am and why I do what I do. And it goes even deeper. I believe that God so loved the world that he gave his only son that in believing him I will not perish but have eternal life. That believes makes me want to share this love with the world. It makes me the man who stands before you today. It makes me the husband I am to my wife, the father I am to my children. It makes me want to be a better neighbor, and a better friend. It makes me want to be a good son, and a good grandson. It makes me want to make a difference in this world.
And while I grieve and mourn and miss my gram terribly, I have hope. I have hope that she lives today in glory with God. I have hope today that she is with her savior in heaven. She has been reunited with family, with friends, with saints from ages past. I have hope that she is without aches or pain or failing health. I have hope and faith in a God who I says, I am with you, I love you, I delight in you, I will save you, I will sing a song over you. I am that into you. I am so into you I have sent my son and if you believe in him, if you believe he laid down his life for you, you will have life in him, and in me, now and forever.
You know that old expression, be careful what you wish for? Maybe God should have been asking himself that. God wanted us to be his children. God wanted us to be in a relationship with him. But in order to restore that relationship, he would have to pay the ultimate price. He would give his son, and give his life.
But this is how we know God. This is how we are made right with God. This is how the real problem of sin and death is dealt with by God. He doesn’t go around it, he doesn’t gloss it over, he doesn’t sweep it under the carpet. He deals with it face on. Death is horrible. Death is painful. Death is awful. I miss my gram and I hate that she had to die. I hate that I am only a breath away from death. And God hates our sin and death to. SO he goes through it. That’s the craziest thing about God loves- he knew full well that he would have to go through death to bring us life. He came, knowing he would die.
And so the real question that I want to ask you today isn’t is god just that into you? I know God is that into you. I know God is so into you that he gave his life for you. What I want to ask you today is how into God are you? Are you just that into God that you will believe in him, that you will give your life to him, that you will make him your savior, and your Lord, today? Are you willing to be that into God?
