The Ultimate Gift

The Ultimate Gift
John 3:16

So often when I think of this verse I think of where I learned it: Sunday School, Vacation Bible School,
I think of it being a key to Salvation
I think of it as a synopsis of the Gospel of John
This is all true. We should teach it to our kids at SS and VBS
It is true and key in our salvation as it the entire discourse with Nicodemus
It is a summary of the Gospel of John.

All this is true but there is one other image that kept coming to mind as I read this passage again. The images and message of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” It was a horrific and realistic portrayal of the D-Day invasion as well as way in general. For any of us that have served in the armed forces, whether we have seen battle or not, it is haunting. I will not go into any of the details of the movie but, in order to give you a perspective, let me summarize it:
Two Ryan brothers were killed in action during the D-Day invasion, a third brother was killed within a day or two of the others in New Guinea. Mrs. Ryan, a widow, was to receive three letters and flags from the US government on the same day. The Joint Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall realizes this and then hears of a fourth brother, Private James Francis Ryan and vows to return him to his mother.
Captain Miller of the 29th Inf. Div, 2nd Ranger Battalion was tasked with finding Pvt. Ryan and bringing him home safely. Capt. Miller selects 8 men and they set out through enemy territory to find Pvt. Ryan of the 101st Air Born Division. Along the journey they argue about why 8 men are risking their lives for this one. They wonder why one soldier can be so valuable.
After fighting their way across parts of France they finally find him and his unit, a unit in short supply of men and weapons with a task of holding a bridge. When Ryan will not leave, Capt. Miller and his men help defend the bridge until reinforcements arrive.
In the end Capt. Miller lay dying on the bridge he defended and tells Ryan - “Earn this” Capt. Miller and six of his men gave their life to save Pvt. Ryan.

For some reason, as I think over this verse, as I think over all this verse means the thought comes to my mind, “Earn this”

Yet I know there is nothing I could ever do to earn the love of God. “For God so loved the world...”

If I can't earn it, then maybe I can at least understand it.

The Gospel of John is so complex, so layered, that one could study it for years and never stop discovering nuances within the book. Because of that we could read over this verse and every one of us come up with more of what the verse means. But to help us along I want us to look and the verse word by word.

For God...
This wasn't and isn't something from some other person. It wasn't from some figure of history. This is from God, the creator of all that was, is, and ever will be. The God, the one true God.

So Loved...
Oh, there's that word, Love... You know, I love pizza. I love lasagna. I love Steak and potatoes, and asiago shrimp, and chocolate meringue pie.
I love Colorado, the mountains in the summer, the snow in the winter
I love hunting and fishing
I love the United Methodist Church
I love my wife and my kids
I love God...

One word with so many meanings. Love is a word that has been used and abused, so much so that it has lost its meaning.

The Greeks have many words for love: Eros (erotic love), Phileo (friendly love), Storge (patriotic love), and Agape (Godly love),

Our one word has to be a noun, we see it described in 1 Cor 13 (Love is patient, love is kind...)
our one word has to be an adjective, how we do things lovingly...
Our one word has to be a feeling (a feeling you feel when you feel a feeling you never felt before...)
Our one word has to be a verb, “I love you”.

This love we find in this verse is so much more than all this. It is a deeper love, a stronger love. It would have to be because what else could pull Jesus from the wonder of heaven to the pain of the cross?
A love that, were it only for me, or for you, Jesus would still have come to this place, suffered, and died. It was a love beyond you and me. It was a love for all.

It was a love for the world...
This isn't a word for earth or just this little dirt clod out in space. The word here is cosmos. It is the word for all of God's creation.

That he gave...
What is a gift? A true gift is something that is given without any expectation of reciprocation. There is nothing we can do to earn God's love, it is freely given all we have to do is receive it.

Some of you may have heard of the Gutenberg Bible. It is named this because of Johan Gutenberg, the inventor of the Movable Type printing press and the first person to publish a copy of the bible on such a press.
He worked during the mid 1500's what we call the dark ages. It was a time when people feared God. They have a view of God more like Zeus of Greek Mythology than the God we discover in the Bible. With lightning bolts ready to throw toward anyone at the first hint of sin.

One day Gutenberg was printing a copy of the Bible when a mis-fed page fell from the press and his young daughter, Alice, picked it up. She looked at the words and read “For God so loved the world that he gave.”
From that day forward Alice was a happy girl. After days of smiles her mother finally asked her why she was so happy and Alice produced the page from her pocket. Her mother read it and asked, “what did God give?” to which young Alice replied, “I don't know but if God loves and god gave, then why should we be afraid?”

For God so love the world that he gave

His One and only Son...
that is, his unique, not begotten in the sense that we see in the Old Testament begotten in the sense that he is true God from true God. This one that we call Jesus is the one true God in human form.

That whosover...
That means you and me. That means that anyone can believe and be saved. Salvation is for all. That neighbor that seems unlovable. That disrespectful kid down the street. That little angel of a child or grandchild. Whoever means just that whoever.

Believes...
This isn't just a head belief. We can believe in our head that God can make a difference in the life of a person in need but that makes no difference. It makes no difference until the belief moves from our head to our heart and spurs us to action. It is deeper than just knowing. You see, this belief is both a head knowledge, an intellectual feat, and a heart knowledge, an emotional and spiritual endeavor.
When John Wesley experienced it he said that “His Heart was strangely warmed.”

In Him...
This is explicitly non-inclusive language. All through the NRSV and other modern translations the scholars have worked to be inclusive with their language of God but here we see this pronoun apologetically stated as Him.
It had to be because as you read the verse you realize that it encompasses both God, the Almighty, Jehovah, YaHWeH, and Jesus Christ he person. For John there was no question, they were one and the same. When you believe in Jesus, you believe in God. “I and the Father are one.” “You believe in the father, believe also in me. If you have seen me you have seen the Father...”

Shall not perish but have eternal life...
This isn't talking about immortality. It is talking about abundance, fullness. John 10:10 reminds us that Jesus came that we might have life abundantly. It is beyond just pie in the sky bye and bye... it is about living today recognizing that eternity starts now. It is about living fully in the life we have here as we seek to bring about God's kingdom here on earth.

It is in recognition of this that we look back upon our life and ask our selves, have I done enough. We recognize the gifts that we have received and out of gratitude try to live in such a way to say thank you. It is in gratitude for all the God has done for us that we look back on our life and try wonder, did we do enough to earn what God has done, knowing that we can never do enough.

At the end of the movie, Saving Private Ryan, a 65 year old James Ryan stands a the memorial in Normandy over Capt. Miller's grave and says,
My family is with me today. They wanted to come with me. To be honest with you, I wasn't sure how I'd feel coming back here. Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough. I hope, at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done for me.
As his wife walks up he says to her, “tell me I've led a good life, tell me I'm a good man.”

At some point in our life we have to look back and realize all that Jesus did for us. Out of gratitude we have to live a good life. But there has to be more.
We must believe in our head and in our heart.
We must follow Christ and we must accept the abundant life he offers.

“For God so loved the world...”
That is what it means to encounter Jesus. To daily remember what he has done for us and to live a life that reflects the change that it causes.