Gospel in a Nutshell

Sermon preached Sunday, March 14, 2021, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Littlestown, PA. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.…”

That’s probably one of, if not THE most famous Bible verses out there. Do you have any idea where you were when you heard or read it for the first time?

Maybe it was in Sunday School, where a teacher taught it to you to memorize it? Maybe there was a catchy song taught along with it. If you were confirmed, maybe you had to be able to recite it in front of the congregation at your Confirmation. Or maybe it was just sprawled across a colorful and cheerful poster tacked up in the wall of a Sunday School classroom or Youth Room.

Maybe your parents shared it with you. Maybe you were given a Bible and had that verse pointed out to you or underlined on that page in the Gospel of John.

It’s the Gospel in a nutshell, at least that’s what one of my many Study Bibles calls it. It’s naming God’s works and the reason behind such good work all in one sentence. What did God do? God sent the Son so that we might have eternal and abundant life! Why did God do this? Out of eternal and abundant love for the world which God created.

But it’s much more than that. It’s important to know the tree this particular nut came from–it’s important to know the larger context around this oft-quoted scripture. This is a conversation…or rather, Jesus’ part of a conversation.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was a leader in the community, and part of a group of people who, even at this early stage, less than three chapters into the Gospel of John, were suspicious and even hostile to Jesus. But Nicodemus has come in the middle of the night to talk to Jesus.

Their conversation winds around several questions and answers before this stuff about light and dark and condemned and saved. The talk about being born from above, being born of the spirit; how the Spirit is like the wind; how the Son of Man has descended from heaven. Jesus references this well-known story from the Hebrew Scripture about God working through poisonous snakes and a serpent on a pole.

But then, finally, we have our nutshell, our gospel, our Good News: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves us SO much, that God chose to come to use in the human form of Jesus Christ in order to be reconciled with us.

But we often don’t act like that—like we’re worthy of such a terrific sacrifice. God sent the Word, Jesus, the Light into the world, and yet we still so often prefer to dwell in shadow. Jesus says it too, to Nicodemus: “…people loved darkness rather than light…” (John 3:19)

This is the lack of light that looks like not living up to our potential, the image we were made in when God created us: when we are cruel or hurtful instead of forgiving and sympathetic. When we fail to give others the benefit of the doubt. When we seek to advance our own interests at the expense of others. When we fail to see God’s hand in the world around us and care for God’s creation accordingly. This shadow that is us living as if we are not children of God, children of the light.

And we prefer it, much of the time. It’s easier, takes less self-study or introspection. Have you ever been walking around your house in the middle of the night and turned the light on? That light hurts, doesn’t it? It’s less stressful, less of a shock to our system to stay in the dimly lit midnight.

And we can find places to hide when there’s no light shining. We can pretend as if our selfish parts aren’t there. We can ignore the callings to peace and justice God gives us. We can act as though only we are God’s beloved, not those other poor souls stumbling around in a shadow world of their own.

The light shows us, and the world around us, as we really are.

Several years ago I was visiting my sister, along with my mom. My sister had recently moved to Newark, New Jersey and was working in Manhattan. On Friday, she had to go into work, while my mom and I ran around and did lots of errands for her: we hit Ikea and Target and got into a pretty intense HGTV-style apartment improvement for her. That evening, my mom and I took the train into the city and met up with my sister to have a touristy dinner in Times Square.

We ate and then walked around a little, taking in the giant lighted billboards and scrolling news updates. It’s bustling, and noisy, but also exciting. There are all sorts of things to look at and to distract you. You sort of get swept up in a stream of people and find your focus is scattered all around.

And I thought about the other times I had been in Times Square. I had been there at night before, but I had also been there during the day. Cities can be strange places. At night, they are often glittering, the skyline lighting up into something beautiful. But that darkness hides some of the things you see during the day. During daylight, you might notice more of the trash. You might notice the graffiti on the side of a building. You might realize how dirty the sidewalk is. You might more readily see the homeless person who at night is trying to find a place to sleep tucked away close to a building.

The night has its own problems, but it also covers up an awful lot.

And the night might hide what we want to keep hidden, but that’s just because it’s deceptive.

You can’t do much without any light.

If something breaks in your house, can you clean it up without turning on a lamp? If you need to get something, can you do it without light to see? Why do we have flashlights, if not because we need to have emergency light when the shadows are closing in?

You need the light to fix, to heal, to change, to look at yourself in a mirror and see your real identity—not what the shadows know you as, but as who you are. You are not merely selfish, you are someone God became selfless for. You are not sinless, but you have been forgiven. You are not worthless, you were bought at great price. And you are a child of God, so loved that God came into the world for you.

For God so loved the world that God gave Jesus, God’s only son.

For God so loved the world, that God shined light into the shadowy void.

For God so loved the world that God claimed us as daughters and sons through our baptism.

For God so loved the world that God offered body and blood to us in bread and wine.

For God so loved the world…For God so loved you and me…that’s the Gospel in a nutshell.

You are so loved. Amen.