"A pastor was trying to explain to a little Sunday school student that "God is much bigger than we," the pastor said. "God is everywhere!" "Everywhere?" asked the little boy. "Everywhere!" said the pastor, “for example, the old Baltimore Catechism asks the question, “Where is God?” And the correct answer is everywhere.”
The boy went home and told his mother, "God is everywhere! The pastor said so." "Yes, I know," said the mother. "You mean he is even inside the cabinet?" "Yes," said the mother. "In the refrigerator -- even when we close the door and the light goes out?" "Yes," said the mother. "Even in the sugar bowl?" the lad asked as he took the lid off. "Yes," said the mother, "even in the sugar bowl." The boy slammed down the lid and said, "Now I've got him."1
Pop verse: John 3:16
It is the best verse for evangelization; it sums up the Good News that, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all, as a gift of God's grace and mercy. That definition comes from Saint Pope Paul VI. 2 Likewise, Pope Benedict XVI, in Deus Caritas Est, begins his teaching on God’s love by quoting John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life. John 3:16
Pop Church
Saint Pope Paul VI also says that “There is thus a profound link between Christ, the Church and evangelization;” adding that it is “Not without sorrow we can hear people - whom we wish to believe are well-intentioned but who are certainly misguided in their attitude - continually claiming to love Christ but without the Church, to listen to Christ but not the Church, to belong to Christ but outside the Church. The absurdity of this dichotomy is clearly evident in this phrase of the Gospel: "Anyone who rejects you rejects me." And how can one wish to love Christ without loving the Church, if the finest witness to Christ is that of St. Paul: who says that "Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her"? 3
Pop Prayer
Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42, that make up the Hail Mary prayer, has been said and prayed billions of times more than John 3:16. Life magazine estimated that the “Hail Mary” prayer is said two billion times every day.4
Pop Duel
Dueling Bible verses: John 3:16 vs. Revelation 3:16 which speaks about God warning the lukewarm believer.5
In John 3:16, one would expect the word “believe” to be in the aorist tense in Greek, showing a “one-point-in-time” event. For example, “I believed in Christ on such and such a date, so I know I am saved.”
However, believe is in the present tense "that whosoever is believing in Him;" which puts a different light on the verse because it is about currently believing and presently having eternal life. Future grace carries with it the promise of present grace. We can rely on the mercy and promises of God. However, Christ does not want us to be presumptuous, like, “I’m saved no matter what I do.”
“Have” is also in the present progressive tense—to have eternal life so it does not say that you will have eternal life in the past or future but that you will currently be having eternal life.
The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible speaks about John 3:16, saying that eternal life is what we receive already on earth in the hope that we will possess it irrevocable in heaven. Romans 8:24 says- “For in This Hope We Were Saved.” The footnote to John 3:16 directs one to 1 John 5:13 which talks about mortal and venial sin, which is a distinction made in Catholic moral theology.
Asking the question, "Don’t you wish you had the assurance of salvation?" or “Have you been saved?” envisions salvation as an accomplished event that lies in your past—as something that has already happened. Sometimes, the Bible DOES speak of salvation this way.
E.g., in our Second Reading today, St. Paul twice tells his Christian readers that “by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5, 8). That speaks of salvation as something that occurred in the believers’ past. But this is not the only way that the Bible speaks of salvation.
For example, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells his readers to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). This speaks of salvation as something that is ongoing—something that is still being worked out. The Bible also speaks of salvation as a future event.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells the reader that “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). And in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about how some people “will be saved, but only as through fire” and how a certain type of believer needs to be disciplined now “that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 3:15, 5:5).
These passages all speak of salvation as a future event.
So, while we can speak of salvation as something occurring in the past, the New Testament reveals that it is also something happening in our lives now—in the present—and that it is something that has yet to happen in the future.
If you want to lead your evangelistic friend into a deeper understanding of the Bible’s teaching on salvation, you might answer the question “Have you been saved?” by saying “I have been saved, I am being saved, and I hope to be saved.”6 Or say, "I did believe in Christ, I am believing in Christ and I am being saved."7
Pop Love: Isaiah 43:1
During my years as a priest and bishop, I have had many encounters with people who were struggling. As we spoke, I could sense the one question that always seemed to be at the heart of their struggles: “Can I, an ordinary believer, truly experience a personal and loving relationship with the Lord?”
“Since I was a young boy, I have both understood and experienced the love of Jesus for me. However, there always seemed to be a kind of glass wall that kept me from experiencing his love in a personal and intimate manner. I could sense that it was just beyond that wall, but I couldn’t reach it….Then in 2010, during an eight-day silent retreat with a group of brother bishops, the retreat director suggested that I bring to prayer this passage from Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine…Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you….I am with you (Isaiah 43: 1, 4, 5).
Putting my head down, I began thinking how unworthy I was to be loved so deeply: “To be so loved right now!” I thought. “Maybe I’ll know it later.” Then inwardly I heard the Lord speak, “Look up at me! Do you not get it? You are precious in my eyes. Yes, you are a sinner, but you are a sinner who has been redeemed by my love for you. I love you right now!” In that moment, the glass wall shattered, and I cried out with joy—softly but oh, how gratefully! Can you imagine how I felt? So much love was flooding my heart!” 8
1. Ron Lavin, The Rebirth, Sermons.com
2,3 Evangelii Nuntiandi #26-27; 44-45
4. Robert Sullivan, “The Mystery of Mary,” Life Magazine, Dec., 1996, p. 45.
5. Robert Bagley, John 3:16 vs Revelation 3:16, K of C Michigan
6.Jimmy Akin, “Have You Been Saved?” Catholic.com
7. Steve Ray
8. Bishop Paul Loverde, A Shattered Wall and a God of Love, The Word Among Us.
