Sermon: John 3:16 God The Giver

It’s probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible. If I had given you the reference, you could have told me what it was without a moment’s hesitation. Yet just because something is well known, doesn’t mean we really know it. This morning, for a few minutes, we’re going to think about that verse - John 3:16 - and what it means for us.

It might be your favourite verse, but just as a diamond on its own may be impressive; rather we want to see the diamond set among a whole crown of precious stones - the verse wasn’t just randomly spoken by Jesus. They come in a context, in the middle of a conversation, as Jesus points to God the gracious giver.

Nicodemus had come to Jesus by night - perhaps to avoid being seen. He was a religious man, a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews. He knew there was something special about Jesus, but couldn’t work out what it was. Is Jesus really from God?

Jesus immediately begins to burst his bubble. You see Nicodemus thought that his religious duty would be enough to bring him to God. His prayers and his sacrifices and his giving and his religious performance would surely be good enough for God. You might find yourself in agreement with him. It’s a mindset that we’re very familiar with in Northern Ireland. Our duties and services and sacrifices to God are made in order to win God’s approval - you could also find that this Pharisee could be renamed Nick O’Demus.

But straight away, Jesus declares: ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above’ - or, as other versions put it, which actually make more sense of Nicodemus’ next words: ‘without being born again.’

Sometimes ‘born again’ is used as a slur against certain types of Christians; maybe those who are more extreme, or more straight-laced. But Jesus says that everyone and anyone needs to be born again to enter the kingdom. Every Christian is therefore a born again Christian, or else they’re not a Christian at all.

Nicodemus wonders about the mechanics of entering the womb a second time, but Jesus points to the new birth by the Spirit. Again Nicodemus can’t get his head around this. He doesn’t quite grasp what Jesus is talking about. All this chat about born again and Spirit and what have you. And so he asks: ‘How can these things be?’ (9)

Jesus takes him back to the Old Testament, and gives an illustration of what Jesus himself has come to do, which shows that salvation is a gift from God - that God is the giver.

Back in Numbers, from our first reading, Moses is leading the people of Israel through the wilderness. They have been rescued from Egypt, and they’re on the way to the Promised Land. Have you ever been on a long car journey and the voice from the back seat pipes up: ‘are we nearly there yet?’ ‘I’m hungry’ ‘I’m thirsty.’ ‘I need a wee.’

Moses is on the journey that lasts forty years. The people of Israel grumbled over and over again. And in this particular incident (Num 21:4-9), the LORD sends poisonous serpents among the people. The people began to die when they were bitten. It was a serious situation, as the people saw loved ones perishing and they feared for themselves.

So they repent - they recognise that they have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against Moses. They ask Moses to pray for them. And so Moses prays. And how does God resolve the situation? The people wanted the serpents taken away, but rather God provides the means of salvation from the serpents.

‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ (Num 21:8). So what does it take to be healed? Look and live. Can you imagine someone being bit, but refusing to look at the bronze serpent on the pole? You’re in pain, you close your eyes - but all it takes is to look at the serpent (in faith) and you will live.

God sent the punishment, because he is the righteous and just judge. But God also sent the cure, because he is the gracious and loving one. It’s the point Jesus makes: ‘And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’

Jesus was lifted up on the cross, raised high, so that whoever was perishing, whoever was in danger because of their sin, they can look to Jesus, believe in him, and be saved, be given eternal life. And that leads us into our verse. It flows naturally - because of the ‘for’ at the beginning of verse 16. When we say it by itself, it sounds a bit strange having a for at the start, but within the flow, it perfectly fits:

‘And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 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.’

The bronze serpent points forward to what Jesus would do on the cross. Just as God gave Moses the serpent for saving lives, so God gave Jesus to provide salvation and eternal life. God is the giver - and it’s all because of his love. ‘For God so loved the world...’

What a remarkable and wonderful and amazing statement. God loved the world- as Don Carson says, this isn’t amazing because of the bigness of the world, but because of the badness of the world. The world here means people hostile to God; yet even though we are sinful and rebellious, God loved us. Indeed, you can even go so far as to put your own name in there: ‘God so loved ... ‘ God so loved Joe Bloggs that he...

God’s love led to God’s giving, as he gave the most precious object he had - his only Son - in order to rescue us. God is the giver, in giving us Jesus, who came to die on the cross, lifted up to draw all people to himself.

But as with all gifts, they have to be received. If I were to write you a cheque, you have to cash it in to receive the benefit. And so it is here- God has given, but we must receive. We are to believe in him- to trust in him, to throw all your weight on him, to depend on him. In doing so, we are promised that we will not perish, but have eternal life.

On this Gift Day, as we bring our gifts to God, it cannot be as a religious duty; as a way of earning merit or receiving approval. Rather, our giving must be in joyful response to the God who is the giver - of all things, everything we have, but especially the giver who has given us salvation in Jesus Christ.

It’s one thing to know what John 3:16 says. It’s so much more precious to really know it in our lives and experience. May we know the giver, and rejoice in his gift. Amen.

This sermon was preached at the Gift Day in Aghavea Church on Sunday 2nd June 2013.

Sermon: 1 Chronicles 29: 1-20

It’s a momentous day in the nation’s history. An important time in the life of the country. It has been anticipated for so long; preparations have been made. Crowds have gathered in the capital for a great celebration. It’s a day that will never be forgotten.

You might think I’m talking about the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, this very weekend. It’s right and proper to celebrate her long reign over us, and to give thanks to God for his faithfulness for sixty years of the Queen ruling. But I’m actually thinking about the circumstances surrounding our first reading, from 1 Chronicles.

It’s a book you might not be so familiar with, coming near the end of the Old Testament history section. 1 & 2 Chronicles are a history lesson for the exiles returning from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. The two books tell the story of how they got into the mess in the first place - how the kingdom of Israel was established, how promising everything looked, and how it all withered and fell away, starting with the reign of Solomon and the other kings.

Our reading, though, comes at the end of David’s life and reign. David has been king for forty years, finally in the city of Jerusalem. He lives in a palace, but the ark of the covenant (the symbol of God’s presence among his people) still stays in the tabernacle - the tent it travelled through the wilderness with the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt and journeyed to the promised land.

David wanted to build the temple - the stone building where Gods presence would rest in the heart of the city - but God said no, that Solomon would build it. So David has made the plans, the directions for building the temple are completed, and David gathers the whole nation together for a Gift Day.

It might be useful to have the chapter open in front of you, to follow the action. Firstly, David gives his gift to the temple: gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, onyx and precious stones, and marble. The King takes the lead in giving such treasure to the work of the Lord’s house. He’s not like a back seat driver, telling others how to do it but not doing it himself - he takes the lead, he shows that he is in control of his money (not the other way round!), and so he shows his wallet who is boss.

It’s then that he can issue the challenge, as he asks the people of God: ‘Who then will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the Lord?’ (5) It’s not a compulsory thing; it’s an invitation, to willingly offer gifts to the Lord. The people respond in generosity, with more gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and precious stones.

Do you see their reaction in verse 9? ‘Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the LORD; King David also rejoiced greatly.’ There is joy as we give to the Lord’s work, it leads to rejoicing. Let’s hope that it is with joy that we also come to give our offering this Gift Day.

You see, we’re still giving to the work of the Lord, to the building of the temple. There is now no physical temple, no building we can point to as our temple. The temple is being built in us and all around us - just as we’ve been learning from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: ‘So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.’ (Eph 2:19-22)

Occasionally on my travels, I come across a church where there’s some renovations happening. Several months ago, I had discovered Boho church (Bo ho as I thought), where they were building an extension. At the gate, there was the warning sign showing the need for a hard hat, because the place was a building site. In a sense, every church needs a sign like that, reminding us that we’re still a work in progress, there’s more to be done, we’re in the building trade, building the Lord’s dwelling, the Lord’s temple.

Our gifts today will go towards the building work of the Lord. May they be offered willingly and cause rejoicing, as we see progress in the Lord’s work.

The thing about Gift Days, though, is that we can become fixated with the amount raised - whether it’s more than last year; whether it’s enough. Just in case we’re tempted to fall into that way of thinking, David helps us get our focus back to where it really matters - not on the gift, but on the gracious giver of all gifts. He does this by his powerful prayer, using some words that might just be familiar: ‘Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours... For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.’

It’s not that we’re so great or good or generous. Rather, David celebrates that God owns all things, and graciously gives us everything that we have. So whatever we have already belongs to God - we are just stewards of it - so it’s only right that we use it to honour God, and give to him.

It’s a bit like the boy who can buy mummy a birthday present because mummy has already given him his pocket money. We can only give because God has first given to us. It’s the very essence of grace - God gives us what we don’t deserve; it calls for us to willingly respond with praise and thanksgiving.

You see, David’s gift that day wasn’t his way of saying “right God, I’ve bought your favour now, you’ll have to do what I want.” We can’t buy God; we can’t pay our way to heaven. Instead, the God of grace makes the first move. He gives us life and strength and every good gift. He sent the Lord Jesus into the world to die for our sins on the cross, to clear the way to welcome us home, to bring us into his cosmic temple building project. He gives us the gift of faith to receive his promises and believe them.

The giver of all things doesn’t need our money; but he graciously invites us to give to his work. The Lord of all wants us to respond with joy, by giving not just our money, but by giving up our lives as living sacrifices, giving all of us for his work, for his praise and glory.

It was an important day in the nation’s history. David and the people celebrated the gifts given that day to build the Jerusalem temple. During Solomon’s reign, the temple was built, and people came to hear the wisdom of Jerusalem’s King. Eventually, though, that temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The returning exiles tried again, but with less success.

The temple of the Lord is being built here and now, and across the world, as men and women, boys and girls hear the good news about Jesus and are added to the temple, the Lord’s dwelling. This temple will never be destroyed. You’re invited to be part of this great building project - will you receive God’s grace, and then give your all? Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on the parish's Gift Day, on 3rd June 2012.

Reasons to be Cheerful: 1, 2, 3

I started studying Colossians again yesterday morning, and was quickly stopped in my tracks. Within the first five verses, I was arrested by Paul's words, which are God's words.

Following the greeting, Paul (as is typical) launches into a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the people to whom he is writing. Paul has never met the Christians at Colossae; has never visited the city; and yet he is thankful for three interconnected reasons - a triumvirate of thanksgiving - three reasons to be cheerful:

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. (Colossians 1:4-5)

Did you catch that? Faith, hope, love. This fledgling church is abounding in faith, hope and love, and it's getting noticed and talked about.

Their faith is in Christ Jesus - he is the object, the ground of their faith. Reason to be thankful, number 1.

They have love for all the saints - for other Christians. This isn't something that comes naturally or easily, yet it comes on conversion and grows as believers unite. Reason to be thankful, number 2.

But the one that seems to be driving the other two, their faith and their love, is the third element - 'because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.' Paul isn't speaking about their hopefulness, rather, he's talking about the certain, unshakable hope that comes through the promises of the faithful God - their future is guaranteed, and because they have grasped this, they have faith in Christ Jesus and they are being transformed to live a life of love.

I was arrested because I was challenged as to what it is we give thanks for these days. Are we captivated by numbers - just bums on seats? Are we poring over the offering plate to see if collections are up? Or are we looking for, and thankful for faith, hope and love? Offerings and attendances may be indications of an increase in faith, hope and love, but at the same time it may not!

If it's what we're looking for and thankful for, are we also working towards these things?

What are the things our local church is famous for - how are we being talked about in the community? What are the things we will give thanks for as we approach another Sunday, and as we reflect on our time together on Sunday morning?

May it always be faith in Christ, love for all the saints, because of this sure hope.