The overarching theme of our “Celebrate Stewardship!” campaign is, as you heard last week from Julia, and as I tried to explain in the course of my remarks last week, that you can’t out-give God! That’s true in every aspect of our lives, of course, and it should be obvious in everything we do. Today we are directly confronted with the nature of God as an extravagant giver who gives the most extravagant gift. Every year, on the first Sunday in October, Christians from around the world and from across denominations join in what’s known as “World Wide Communion Sunday.” If the celebration of Holy Communion - either today or any day on which we celebrate it - is to have any real resonance with us then we have to be able to celebrate it as the sign of God’s giving. Two simple verses we heard a few minutes ago, but the words contained in those two simple verses are among the most meaningful you will ever encounter, because those words point us to the very nature of God, and in many ways they remind us of what we’re doing when we approach the table of Christ. John 3:16 - known to some as “the little Gospel” because, some folks say, everything you’ve ever really needed to know about the gospel are contained in those 26 words. John 3:16 begins with the elegance of simplicity, and then builds finally (in the space of 26 words) to a magnificent crescendo which, if we listen to the words carefully and hear them not just with our ears but with our hearts as well, will stun us with their power - a power that reminds us, indeed, that we can never out-give God. Let’s begin with the simple, and begin the movement toward the crescendo. “... God so loved ...”
“... God so loved ...” Could there be anything more basic than those three simple words? They’re matched in their simplicity by perhaps only a couple of other Scriptures. In 1 John 4:16, the same author who wrote this Gospel would write in an equally simple three words, “God is love.” Moving back to the Gospel, we see the purity of God’s love displayed when we are told in John 11:32 that, confronted by the death of His friend Lazarus, “Jesus wept.” Love is simple; love is also very complicated. Interviewed after his engagement to Diana, Prince Charles was asked how he knew he was in love. He got a quizzical look on his face, and replied “what is love?” Some, operating with the benefit of hindsight, see in that question a red flag, a warning signal to Diana, but, whatever may have been going through Charles’ mind when he spoke the words, I think he expressed a fact - there’s a mystery to love. We know that we love someone, but can anyone really explain the process of love? I think not, and perhaps that’s appropriate. After all, God is a mystery (at least in part) and if, indeed, “God is love,” then love itself must be a mysterious force. Love is played out in our lives in many and varied ways - some of them noble; some less so. God’s love is a noble love, a passionate love. God’s love is God’s very nature, and so begins John’s description of God’s love, which now begins to build. “... God so loved ...” - but what did God love? Our love is narrow, shared with only a select few. Not so with God. John pushes us forward: “... God so loved the world ...”
“... God so loved the world ...” Some have tried to suggest that the best way to make these words meaningful in your own lives is to substitute your name for “the world,” so that the verse becomes “... God so loved [Julia]” or “... God so loved [Bob]” or “... God so loved [Phyllis]” or even, dare I say it, “... God so loved [Steven].” I disagree. Understand what I mean. God loves Julia and Bob and Phyllis - and even me! God loves all of us, warts and all, but to personalize this verse and make it about “me” is about the biggest sell-out to the “me generation” I’ve ever heard! Since when does the church want to buy into the idea that “it’s all about me?” The truth is that as hard as it is for some people to understand, it’s not “all about me.” My suggestion would be to take these words and substitute the name of the most unlovable person you’ve ever known! Then there might come blinding flashes of insight into the mind of God! Oh Lord - God really does love Tim Lindsay! (I’m having a momentary flashback here to the school bully from Grade 7 who tormented me!) Understanding the words “... God so loved the world ...” doesn’t depend on us believing that God loves us, it depends on us believing that God loves even those we can’t love, even if we try to love them with all our might! And the real magnificence of the concept is that the love of God isn’t just an emotional reaction without substance behind it. John pushes us forward again: “... God so loved the world that He gave ...”
“... God so loved the world that He gave ...” One of the hymns in Voices United puts it simply but meaningfully: “God Whose giving knows no ending.” God is constantly giving. If, indeed, “God is love,” then it can be just as easily and simply said that “God is giving.” The two go hand in hand. We can’t love someone unless we give something for the one we love. We can understand that concept from a human perspective. If you love someone you give something for them. Our love isn’t perfect - because we’re not perfect - and so we don’t give enough for those we love, to be perfectly honest, but still we give something. If I love someone only to receive from them and never to give to them, then my love isn’t only imperfect it’s unhealthy; it’s selfish; it’s sick; it doesn’t deserve the name “love.” Because our love is imperfect, of course, we do seek to get something out of our loving relationships even as we put something into them - there is something of a selfish motive to our love. God’s love is different, though. God’s love is perfect. God seeks nothing in return for the love He gives, because God needs nothing. God is totally self-sufficient, and loves merely for the sake of loving; merely because God can’t be God unless He loves. And because God has everything He could possibly need, God is freed to offer His love to the rest of us out of His extravagance. God’s love is an extravagant love, shown in extravagant giving. “... God so loved the world that He gave ...” Yes, God gave - and then He gave, and He gave and He continues to give, because we continue to need. And God’s extravagance is demonstrated in this, as John pushes us forward one last time: “... God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son ...”
“... God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son ...” Here’s the crux of the matter; here’s what it all comes down to. God gave of that which was dearest to Him: God gave of Himself, of His life, of His being, of His love. “You are My Son, with Whom I am well pleased,” spoke God’s voice from heaven at the time of Jesus’ baptism. And this Son - a part of God’s very being - would die on a cross because in this act of self-giving, self-sacrificing love is seen the extravagance of God’s love. “Greater love knows no better than this: that a man lay down His life for His friends,” said Jesus. And you know what? Jesus was wrong! I don’t say that lightly, but Jesus was wrong! Greater love knew one thing better than that: Jesus laid down His life for those He had never met; for countless generations down to our own and beyond who weren’t among His earthly friends, but all of whom are still loved by Him. That is extravagant love; that is the extravagant gift from the extravagant giver, Whose memory we still cherish and acknowledge whenever we come to the table.
What, finally, do we say in response to all this? Perhaps the response can be summed up no better than by a few words from the wonderful old hymn “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” But even as that amazing, divine love demands all that, one question is left hanging: will we give our souls, our lives and our all? We may not be able to out-give God, but surely we can give something of real value when we consider the extravagant gift our extravagant God has given for us.
