John chapter 3 vs 16 to 21
One of the most beautiful passages in scripture, is the passage that says God so loved the world that he gave. What is fantastic is that we realize God’s love for the world and God’s offering to the world did not begin with Jesus. God’s love for the world and God’s giving start with the world’s creation. Jesus reminds those willing to listen to him that this experience is about love; I don’t know if we sometimes get that.
So when we ask ourselves what this life is about, what is it for? What is it that we are accomplishing? The only answer that makes sense is love. In reality, it is often the one characteristic that is most often absent, so it is as though this is the objective; it is this we must remember, for this we must strive: Love. Not ownership, not power over the other. No, none of those other things we have in any way labelled love.
Love is more profound beyond our physical being. At the level of the physical, we end up with separation and being special, and that’s not love. Love is internal and external. Love is without limit, without any differentiation. Our apparent reality is the most significant human challenge because it calls for us to go beyond all the boundaries we see and invest in.
It is interesting when we are watching a movie, especially one of those gangster movies, and you see how, in one scene, set in an area of the house, the chief or the head gangster is overseeing the brutal beating of someone who has crossed him. Next movement, he kills the individual. He then wipes his hands, if they are soiled, for dramatic purposes, in the jacket of one of his men. Then you see that chief gangster walk away from the room, close the door and go over to another section of the house. There, he meets his wife and children, embraces his child with love, kisses the child, plays with him, and loves and hugs his wife. You are amazed. You silently wonder if this person is the same, and if you call this experience with his family love, what do you call the experience in the other room: business? You see, the truth is that love cannot exist in such a dichotomy. If love is present, love extends to all rooms, every single one. There can be no compartmentalizing of love. Yet it is this very thing that we have learnt.
It is such a conflicting pathway that we teach children, at times, who to love and who not to love, who to play with and who not to play with. The scripture says God loved the world, not a particular group of persons. Yet, interestingly enough, we take this same passage that says, “he gave his only begotten son and whoever believes should have eternal life,” and we then declare to the rest of the world who may not be following the Christian path that they are condemned. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world.
The passage also asks why we, on behalf of Jesus, seek to condemn the world or at least condemn those who don’t follow our path. Sometimes, when one thinks about the way of Jesus, the question comes to mind: who can master this? This requirement is massive. Who can master it? We realize that there is always more for us to do. We must continually seek to break down the barriers we create in our lives, the obstacles that prevent us from loving as we should. We seek to protect ourselves by using barriers but do not realize that, in reality, we need no protection.
The most excellent protection we have is our ability to love and give love, to send love out. It breaks down many walls because it is light. When light shines, darkness flees. When love in its purity presents, hatred and separation must leave. You say you desire to follow Jesus, well it’s an inside work, a work of unification. We must develop that sense of love within ourselves, a love which is forever expanding, including someone else, another set of persons. The more someone appears unlovable, the more we can grow in our love.
So, as you journey and move from place to place, be very conscious of how you love, be present at every turn, and demonstrate this love that is supposed to be unconditional. See where you show up, not to judge nor condemn but to see, to name it for yourself and to be able to acknowledge, “Wow, so this is where I am,” and realize, “yea, I have got some growing to do.” You aren’t to feel that you should be anywhere else. You are where you are because that’s where you are, which is fine. It just helps you understand where you must go from here. Take some time and, in all your interactions, measure the degree of love you are showing in every circumstance and see how you do on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being complete and utter love. Give yourself a continuous assessment as the days go by and you encounter different individuals and circumstances. Ask at various points, “What is my degree of love in this situation, and how could I improve that degree of love?” See how you do, bearing in mind why we are doing this.
It is because we are mindful that God so loved the world, that world that you and I are a part of and that we claim to be manifestations of God. We grow through our love, our willingness to follow the example of Jesus, and love because that is what life is all about.
