The Other John 3:16 May 7, 2006

Psalm 23, John 10:11-18, 1 John 3: 11-18

If there’s one verse in the New Testament that just about every church-goer knows, it’s John 3:16. Many of you can recite it, in the King James Version. In fact, why don’t we just say it together?

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

That’s pretty basic – good words to store in our spiritual memory banks, what Martin Luther called “The gospel in miniature.” But what if I asked you to recite that other John 3:16 – not from the gospel of John but from the First Letter of John? I doubt that there is anyone here who could do it, and I wouldn’t have been able to before this week, but these are important words too:

It begins “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us......”

So far it’s almost the same as “God so loved the world” – “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us” - but it goes on to a different conclusion:

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”

Christian faith begins with what God has done for us through Jesus’ death on the cross. That’s the ultimate sign of God’s love and Christian identity begins when we believe in him – that is, when we enter into a faithful, committed, trusting, grateful relationship with God in Christ. That’s the beginning of faith, but not the end, for as that other John 3:16 tells us, there are some implications to believing in God’s only begotten son. “He laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” If we really believe in Jesus we will live as he lived and love as he loved.

That’s what the letter of John says, but the writer makes it clear that when he says we ought to lay down our lives he’s not necessarily talking about a one-time, literal death.

His next sentence, verse 17, points to a particular challenge for Christians who wants to live by Jesus’ model – the challenge of letting our faith have an impact on our financial decisions. John asks, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” And then verse 18 spells it out more generally: “Little Children, let us love not in word or speech, but in truth and in action.”

We need that prompting, reminder and challenge from the other John 3:16, because Jesus’ way of living and loving is contrary to everything our world encourages and models. He says we ought to lay down our lives – to live sacrificially – but there are a million voices in this world that say the opposite. We’re in a culture that encourages getting, not sacrifice; it promotes self-enhancement, not self-emptying; it says we ought to bend people and situations to our wants, not pour ourselves out for others. It’s a constant struggle, and though there are many people here who have thought about this, and who want to live as Jesus lived, I’m sure that there is not a one of us who has not been shaped and somewhat tainted by the selfish, materialistic nature of our world.

So we need reminding, because sacrificial living in the model of Jesus doesn’t always come naturally to us. We need reminding that it’s an expectation, a rule, a commandment that we should lay down our lives for others. But today I want to remind you of something else, something in addition to the obligation. I want to remind you that living as Jesus lived, though sometimes challenging and costly, is ultimately a joyful way of life. Our story goes by way of the cross but it doesn’t end there. It’s culmination is resurrection – new life – and the great mystery of Christian life is that when we take Jesus’ example seriously, when we are intentional about living a cross-shaped life, God can meet us in that place of openness and self-giving and bring us to a life that is really living.

I think that’s a very important point, one that is often missed by the detractors of Christianity and even by many Christians whose only reference point is a very grim-faced, “doing our duty, no matter how hard it seems.” To live as Jesus lived, to give as he gave, to trust God as he trusted his heavenly father, and to follow him in making sacrifices as a sign of love – that’s the way to a good life, a fulfilling life, a happy life, and a blessed life.

As people in our church have tackled the challenges of this building program, and the commitment to sacrificial giving that’s been involved, I think that many of us have begun to see again this illogical but wonderful idea, the idea that sacrifice – laying down our lives, in a way - is a step towards joy. Chris Brand spoke of this last week in her excellent talk, and Mike and Leslie Grodesky will share in a moment, but I want to add a brief testimony from my life with regard to God’s faithfulness, and God’s capacity to transform our sacrificial living from a burden to an inspiring experience in which we are allowed to see his saving help.

Holly and I have tithed our incomes for years, with the majority of our giving going to our congregation, so two years ago it was a challenge for us to think about a new level of giving for the building campaign. We thought we were already being as sacrificial as we could be, but after going through all the meetings with our consultant, Rusty Lewis, I came home and suggested a figure to Holly that to her seemed ludicrously high. But we agreed that we’d keep praying about this and by the time of the early giving event that March we were pretty much ready to make our pledge at that number. But then that night, as the time came for bringing our pledge forward she said to me, “I’m not ready to do this yet. Maybe God is calling us to do more.” That was a surprise to me, but we did continue to pray, and by our Celebration Sunday we had come to a new figure, 25% higher than my original stretch.

Somehow, with God’s help, we’re on target – about 2/3 of the way towards meeting that pledge. Some of the unusual expenses we’ve had over the years because of our children’s education and health problems have abated, leaving more money for our pledge commitment, and though we now have a new joy that comes with a financial challenge – our daughter’s wedding – we have faith that God, who has brought us thus far, will bring us to the finish line.

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” That’s a great set of marching orders for Christian life. He laid down his life for us – he lived sacrificially – and we can do the same. It’s not specifically a text about finances, but that’s one area in which we can follow Jesus’ model – the self-giving that begins as sacrifice, but by the grace of God becomes a source of joy.

It is my continued hope and prayer that together we will find in this sacrificial living the joy that comes from God.