For God So Loved The World That He Gave His Only Son,

Considerable conflict existed among the “Jewish Christians” at the time of John’s writing this gospel (John 3: 14-21). Those Jews who as followers of Christ, were very likely dealing with the pain of having been thrown out of their synagogues and cut off from their families and friends. The very foundation and center of their lives were gone. When we experience that kind of painful rejection, it’s easy to fall into a way of thinking that is negative and size up everyone in terms of whether they’re for us or against us. John’s teachings helped them to reinforce a new sense of identity, they were still banished from the elements of society that was “home.” We can fast forward to our day and time, and relate to the unstable feelings brought about by loss of identity and exclusion.

But that should not obscure the gems of truth found in this text. It clearly affirms Gods’ unconditional love for the whole world. It also tells us something about the kind of response that love calls forth in us. In John’s Gospel, it’s called “doing the truth.” Our faith, our truth, our convictions are meant to be put into practice in our lives. But this is not something we learn to do like riding a bike…once you learn it you’ve got it. It’s more like learning a musical instrument. The skill must be constantly honed or it atrophies. You just don’t sit back at the piano and play as you did years ago, just because you did before. Like the piano, if you’re really committed to it, you’re always learning how to play better.

 I’ve been practicing my religion almost as long as I’ve practiced the piano. But practicing my faith as it is proscribed by Jesus, is relatively new. My piano is coming back slowly but not without effort. As for my faith, I’m still continually learning what it means to love God and love others. I’m still learning how to get beyond my own selfishness so that I can truly love the people around me. I still learning how to open myself so that the life and love of God can flow through me. I’m still learning to relate to the people around me with compassion, understanding, kindness, and mercy. And I hope that I never stop practicing.