Whole Lotta Love
“A Whole Lotta Love”
John 3:14-21
March 26, 2006 CCUM
Rev. Carolyn Waters
14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
Odds are that if you were anywhere near a Sunday School class when you were between 8 and 10 years old, you memorized John 3:16. If you know any verse in the scriptures by memory, it’s most likely John 3:16. The verse in and of itself is….simply………..enough.
God so loved the world! That stands on it’s own.
God so loved the world that God sent/gave God’s only Son!
God so love the world that God sent God’s only Son that whosoever believes in him, shall not parish but have everlasting life! Makes for great poetry and not bad theology!
Except that I’d just as soon stay with the God so loved the world part………leave it there. Nice and simple, profound and complex in and of itself enough.
If you are scratching your head and trying to remember who sang “Whole Lotta Love” it was Led Zephlen. The lyrics to that rock song from the 70’s aren’t something to be quoted in a sermon, but the title has a nice ring and came back to me when considering what I wanted to focus on this morning.
Just how much love does it take to love the whole world? So much that only God is capable of such love. What does the statement that God so loved the world imply? And incredible amount of tolerance, forgiveness, and acceptance of the behavior of God’s children! Both when Jesus was credited with speaking the words and our reciting of the words from childhood memory and adult hope.
God so love the world that……….
In loving the world God offered the best gift possible to represent that love.
We attempt the same when we share ourselves with others in ways that go beyond the routine of daily relationships. There are times and situations in which we want to give the very best of what we have or who we are to another because of who they are for us or what they mean to us.
But almost without fail, no gift we give ever fully communicates our love or appreciation. If lucky the gift giving brings the hoped for joy within the spirit of the one we care for.
My mother turned 93 yesterday. She didn’t answer her phone in the morning, which brought worry to my mind as I always call her on Saturday morning and she always answers the phone. I found out later that she was in the community room of her senior apartment building eating birthday cake. She was too busy to sit around waiting for phone calls!
My brother that lives in the community where Mom lives threw a little birthday party for her Wednesday evening. Apparently it was quite the deal. Marti Gras beads, balloons, cupcakes and take out Chinese food. Of course Jacob the 21/2 year old grandson made the party real. My brother Jack and I conspired to give Mom a parakeet and habitat in which to live. We thought it was a safe gift as parakeets were not unfamiliar to our life when growing up. We also thought it would give her some company and something “alive” to talk to. The parakeet is green. Mom ask grandson Jacob what to name the bird to which he immediately said, “Go.” Everything in his world that is green is called “go.” Everything red is called “Stop.” So the bird is called go-go. And mother couldn’t be happier. She said she was so excited Wednesday night she couldn’t sleep.
What do you give a 93 year old mother that doesn’t need anything? You give her a parakeet and a roll of stamps. Why do you give her anything? Because you love her, because and even if she is your mother.
The giving and the loving doesn’t even begin to compare to the depth of love God has for this world or the gift of the person Jesus to show us how to live in relationship with one another and in relationship with God.
The greatest love you have for the one, two, five, or ten most important people in your life doesn’t begin to compare or measure to the depth of love God has for you or for me……………for the whole world.
That’s a whole lotta love!
The joy you offer to those you love or the joy you experience from their gift of life offered to you…………..doesn’t hold a candle, doesn’t even begin to offer a spark of a giant bonfire when compared to the joy God has in the gift of all creation and each and every human being on this earth.
That’s a whole lotta joy!
But as much as I want to simply rest in that vast ocean of love or luxuriate in the depth of that joy………….I can’t.
It’s not enough to simply give a birthday gift and feel good about it.
It’s not enough to realize God’s love for us and feel affirmed and accepted.
If that’s as far as the loving goes, then God’s love is lost on thankless children.
This well known scripture verse follows Jesus encounter with Nichodemus and his confusion about being born again. One can only assume that Jesus was doing his best to explain to those listening the depth of God’s love. In believing the depth of God’s love, transformation occurs for the believer. One is “born again” in spirit, in focus, in intention for living and believing.
When an understanding of that love occurs, an understanding of the representation of that love also occurs. The representation of God’s love is found in the person of Jesus. It is through his life, his ministry, and the way he died and lived beyond death that we see the image of who God longs for God’s children to be. And it is through the representation of God’s love found in the person of Jesus that we see what God expects of us.
Being loved goes a long way. Believing that we are loved is the foundation to our core personality and character. But being loved is not enough. Unless we figure out how to return that love, to respond to that love, then we haven’t fully realized the gift of the love we are offered.
My mother has loved me since her first awareness of me in her womb. I have absolutely no doubt of that. My mother loved me through my stubborn teenage years, my obstinate young adult period, the poor decisions I made in my 30’s and the trials and triumphs I have experienced the last 20 years.
But I didn’t always love my mother. In fact, for a number of years my prayer was that my mother would live long enough that I could learn to love her.
It’s happened. And in loving her, I have a greater appreciation of her love for me.
It makes me think of a couple of Charlie Brown comic strips:
Lucy once said to Charlie Brown, "Discouraged again, eh, Charlie Brown?" "You know what your whole trouble is? The whole trouble with you is that you're you!"
Charlie asks, "Well, what in the world can I do about that?"
Lucy answers, "I don't pretend to be able to give advice...I merely point out the trouble!"
Perhaps the greatest insight of this passage from John is to realize that we are part of the problem and God offers to whatever our problem is, the person of Jesus……….that through his life we can begin to see some solutions to our problems.
However, another conversation between Lucy and Charlie Brown indicates another part of the problem/solution.
Lucy speaks, "You know what the whole trouble with you is, Charlie Brown?"
Charlie answers, "No, and I don't want to know! Leave me alone!" He walks away.
Lucy shouts after him, "The whole trouble with you is you won't listen to what the whole trouble with you is!"
The solution begins with listening. .Perhaps if "you" are the problem, "you" can't be the solution. The solution has to come from outside ourself..
If loving isn’t a two way street, then the power of love, the gift of love, the sacrifice of love has little meaning.
If we are not able to see “our stuff” in the challenge of loving, we seldom reach the grace filled space of realizing the “gift of love”.
Hear again the last three verses of today’s lesson:
19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.
If we dare to be children of the light, children of the love of God, children who see a vision of what life can be and what love can be and what relationships can be when lived in the embrace of God’s love for the world……..
If we dare these things………..not only will our lives be different, but the world will be a different place because of our response to being loved.
John 3:14-21
March 26, 2006 CCUM
Rev. Carolyn Waters
14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
Odds are that if you were anywhere near a Sunday School class when you were between 8 and 10 years old, you memorized John 3:16. If you know any verse in the scriptures by memory, it’s most likely John 3:16. The verse in and of itself is….simply………..enough.
God so loved the world! That stands on it’s own.
God so loved the world that God sent/gave God’s only Son!
God so love the world that God sent God’s only Son that whosoever believes in him, shall not parish but have everlasting life! Makes for great poetry and not bad theology!
Except that I’d just as soon stay with the God so loved the world part………leave it there. Nice and simple, profound and complex in and of itself enough.
If you are scratching your head and trying to remember who sang “Whole Lotta Love” it was Led Zephlen. The lyrics to that rock song from the 70’s aren’t something to be quoted in a sermon, but the title has a nice ring and came back to me when considering what I wanted to focus on this morning.
Just how much love does it take to love the whole world? So much that only God is capable of such love. What does the statement that God so loved the world imply? And incredible amount of tolerance, forgiveness, and acceptance of the behavior of God’s children! Both when Jesus was credited with speaking the words and our reciting of the words from childhood memory and adult hope.
God so love the world that……….
In loving the world God offered the best gift possible to represent that love.
We attempt the same when we share ourselves with others in ways that go beyond the routine of daily relationships. There are times and situations in which we want to give the very best of what we have or who we are to another because of who they are for us or what they mean to us.
But almost without fail, no gift we give ever fully communicates our love or appreciation. If lucky the gift giving brings the hoped for joy within the spirit of the one we care for.
My mother turned 93 yesterday. She didn’t answer her phone in the morning, which brought worry to my mind as I always call her on Saturday morning and she always answers the phone. I found out later that she was in the community room of her senior apartment building eating birthday cake. She was too busy to sit around waiting for phone calls!
My brother that lives in the community where Mom lives threw a little birthday party for her Wednesday evening. Apparently it was quite the deal. Marti Gras beads, balloons, cupcakes and take out Chinese food. Of course Jacob the 21/2 year old grandson made the party real. My brother Jack and I conspired to give Mom a parakeet and habitat in which to live. We thought it was a safe gift as parakeets were not unfamiliar to our life when growing up. We also thought it would give her some company and something “alive” to talk to. The parakeet is green. Mom ask grandson Jacob what to name the bird to which he immediately said, “Go.” Everything in his world that is green is called “go.” Everything red is called “Stop.” So the bird is called go-go. And mother couldn’t be happier. She said she was so excited Wednesday night she couldn’t sleep.
What do you give a 93 year old mother that doesn’t need anything? You give her a parakeet and a roll of stamps. Why do you give her anything? Because you love her, because and even if she is your mother.
The giving and the loving doesn’t even begin to compare to the depth of love God has for this world or the gift of the person Jesus to show us how to live in relationship with one another and in relationship with God.
The greatest love you have for the one, two, five, or ten most important people in your life doesn’t begin to compare or measure to the depth of love God has for you or for me……………for the whole world.
That’s a whole lotta love!
The joy you offer to those you love or the joy you experience from their gift of life offered to you…………..doesn’t hold a candle, doesn’t even begin to offer a spark of a giant bonfire when compared to the joy God has in the gift of all creation and each and every human being on this earth.
That’s a whole lotta joy!
But as much as I want to simply rest in that vast ocean of love or luxuriate in the depth of that joy………….I can’t.
It’s not enough to simply give a birthday gift and feel good about it.
It’s not enough to realize God’s love for us and feel affirmed and accepted.
If that’s as far as the loving goes, then God’s love is lost on thankless children.
This well known scripture verse follows Jesus encounter with Nichodemus and his confusion about being born again. One can only assume that Jesus was doing his best to explain to those listening the depth of God’s love. In believing the depth of God’s love, transformation occurs for the believer. One is “born again” in spirit, in focus, in intention for living and believing.
When an understanding of that love occurs, an understanding of the representation of that love also occurs. The representation of God’s love is found in the person of Jesus. It is through his life, his ministry, and the way he died and lived beyond death that we see the image of who God longs for God’s children to be. And it is through the representation of God’s love found in the person of Jesus that we see what God expects of us.
Being loved goes a long way. Believing that we are loved is the foundation to our core personality and character. But being loved is not enough. Unless we figure out how to return that love, to respond to that love, then we haven’t fully realized the gift of the love we are offered.
My mother has loved me since her first awareness of me in her womb. I have absolutely no doubt of that. My mother loved me through my stubborn teenage years, my obstinate young adult period, the poor decisions I made in my 30’s and the trials and triumphs I have experienced the last 20 years.
But I didn’t always love my mother. In fact, for a number of years my prayer was that my mother would live long enough that I could learn to love her.
It’s happened. And in loving her, I have a greater appreciation of her love for me.
It makes me think of a couple of Charlie Brown comic strips:
Lucy once said to Charlie Brown, "Discouraged again, eh, Charlie Brown?" "You know what your whole trouble is? The whole trouble with you is that you're you!"
Charlie asks, "Well, what in the world can I do about that?"
Lucy answers, "I don't pretend to be able to give advice...I merely point out the trouble!"
Perhaps the greatest insight of this passage from John is to realize that we are part of the problem and God offers to whatever our problem is, the person of Jesus……….that through his life we can begin to see some solutions to our problems.
However, another conversation between Lucy and Charlie Brown indicates another part of the problem/solution.
Lucy speaks, "You know what the whole trouble with you is, Charlie Brown?"
Charlie answers, "No, and I don't want to know! Leave me alone!" He walks away.
Lucy shouts after him, "The whole trouble with you is you won't listen to what the whole trouble with you is!"
The solution begins with listening. .Perhaps if "you" are the problem, "you" can't be the solution. The solution has to come from outside ourself..
If loving isn’t a two way street, then the power of love, the gift of love, the sacrifice of love has little meaning.
If we are not able to see “our stuff” in the challenge of loving, we seldom reach the grace filled space of realizing the “gift of love”.
Hear again the last three verses of today’s lesson:
19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.
If we dare to be children of the light, children of the love of God, children who see a vision of what life can be and what love can be and what relationships can be when lived in the embrace of God’s love for the world……..
If we dare these things………..not only will our lives be different, but the world will be a different place because of our response to being loved.
posted by Rev Waters | 10:04 AM
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