Liquid Church Questions, Gifts and Love John 3.14-21 Ephesian 2.1-10, Anne

On the radio a couple of weeks ago, the author Kathy Lette was promoting her new book about a single mum and her autistic son. The main character is modelled on her own son Julius, who is now a young adult. Because of his disability, he struggles to make sense of the world and he has his own particular, unique way of interpreting the world around him. In the book she uses real examples of the sorts of questions Julius asked as he was growing up, questions such as: If onions make you cry, are there some vegetables which make you happy? Is a harp just a nude piano? What’s the speed of dark? And finally: Why isn't there another word for synonym? (think about it!)

At one level, his questions are both breathtakingly profound and sensible and yet at another they seem a little ridiculous because he doesn’t understand what appears obvious to us. He can't filter out his own particular way of looking at things in order to make connections and to understand new information.

Nicodemus has the same sort of difficulty – like Julius, his view of the world is based on preconceptions, but his preconceptions come from his background knowledge and experience as a Pharisee and leader. We enter the story halfway through a conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. Nicodemus has come to Jesus in the dark – it’s night-time, but he’s really in the dark – because he’s struggling to understand. But as a Pharisee and a leader, he already thinks he knows what is or isn't possible with God. So, Jesus says to him: I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again, born from above (Jn 3.3)

Now Nicodemus is a learned man, he’s not stupid. He knows he’s alive, he’s breathing, walking and talking. So he asks what appear to be perfectly sensible questions, but they’re a bit like Julius’ questions: they’re only sensible in relation to his view of the world but that’s the point, Jesus’ view is different. Jesus talks to him about a radical new birth, a life born of water and the Spirit. And so Nicodemus’ questions, How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born! (Jn 3.4) are a bit ridiculous. Jesus answers him, but Nicodemus’ idea of what’s possible, stops him from embracing His words and so Nicodemus asks a final question, How can this be? (Jn 3.9).

Jesus then likens the lifting up of the Son of Man to Moses lifting up the snake in the desert. He refers back to a story Nicodemus understands and knows well – a story from the Book of Numbers, from Hebrew Scriptures. The Israelites in the desert desert God and are poisoned by snakes. God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent’s head, place it on the top of a pole and lift it high so it can be seen. Those who are bitten who look up at the serpent’s head will not die – they are saved.

And so Jesus then makes a statement, a statement which is the essence of the gospel message, a statement that is one of the most well known pieces of Scripture in the Bible. It’s so familiar – and yet I wonder sometimes if we take the words for granted? I wonder if we recite the verse and yet don't really hear what it says? I wonder if we read it, and don’t really look at it? Jesus says: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (Jn 3.16)

Using Julius’ and Nicodemus’ questioning approach might slow us down enough to examine the words more closely, might help us to embrace the words. So: -

What does God do? He gives..

What does he give? His only Son

Who does he give him to? The world

What’s ‘the world’? You, me, all of us

What does he give his Son for? So that we shall not perish, but have eternal life

Why does he give? Because he loves us.

As a society, we know about gifts – especially on days like today. On Mothering Sunday we might give or receive a gift to say thank you; at other times we might give a gift to celebrate a birthday, a wedding or to mark some other special event.

An experiment carried out on a busy London street shows how we interpret the giving and receiving of gifts; it highlights our preconceptions about gifts. A man stood on a street corner giving out leaflets to the passers-by. The leaflet said: ‘Return this leaflet to the person who gave it to you and he will swap it for £10’. And what do you think people did? Quite a lot didn't even read it, assuming a piece of paper wasn’t worth having and just threw it away. Others read it – but it was too good to be true, they assumed that there must be a catch in it somewhere, after all, you never get something for nothing - there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The £10 gift must be conditional on answering a survey or signing up to something. The smallest proportion of people by far (less than 10%) took it back to the vendor and hesitantly and tentatively gave back the card and received the £10.

In John 3.16, God’s motivation is clear: he loves us. He gives us the gift of His Son so that we might live. But we’ve got preconceptions - there must be a catch, right? There must be conditions, after all, why would you give the most precious thing you have to a whole bunch of people like us? Surely we have to sign up first; we have to believe in order to be offered the gift? Or maybe we have to earn it by doing good things. So it might be a bit like having a nectar card or Tesco club card, every time you give up your seat on a bus, you get ‘points’ which you can then swap for God’s ‘free gift’ - only the gift is not free because you had to earn the points in the first place. Even on Mothering Sunday there is an expectation that the flowers and chocolates are a thank you for the sleepless nights, for the taxi service, for putting up with the angst of teenage years - we’ve certainly earned those flowers and chocolates – it was hard work!

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul preaches that love is God’s motivation. Do we have to believe first? Is the gift conditional on ‘signing up’? No - “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2.4-5).

Do we have to earn God’s gift? No – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2.8-9).

What does this mean? The whole point of grace is that it is undeserved and unconditional. The gift of God’s one and only Son is freely given - in love.

Questions

Lent is a good time to reflect, to question, to face our struggles and challenges. As we journey towards Good Friday, towards Jesus being lifted up, towards the act of God’s saving love, we can place before Him our questions and struggles. In your group, after discussing the questions, you might want to have some time for silence, to bring before God your questions, your struggles and the preconceptions that make it difficult to receive his most precious gift.

1. Are there parts of the gospel message you struggle with?

2. Like Nicodemus, are there parts of the gospel message that challenge your preconceptions?

3. God offers his gift – what’s our response?

4. In John 3.16, the word “believes” means ‘believing into”. It is more than believing in whether Jesus exists or not, but rather has the meaning of trusting in and commitment and obedience. Thus the verse calls us to discipleship - to be followers of Christ. Paul also says: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” How are ‘discipleship’ and ‘in Christ Jesus doing good works’ linked and played out in our lives?