John 3:14-21
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. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
“Whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” “Everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” “Those who believe in him are not condemned.” “Those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed.” “Believing,” it would seem, is REALLY important to this Gospel lesson. Pretty much the key to it, if we’re being honest, but what Jesus meant by “believing” 2000 years ago turns out to be very different than what most folks think “believing” means now. Marcus Borg, who was a Biblical scholar, professor and author wrote, “Being Christian is not very much about believing, in the sense of 'believing the right things', even though the notion that it is about believing a set of teachings or doctrines is widespread. That is a relatively recent distortion of Christianity.”
It seems that the change in the meaning of “Believing” happened during the Reformation and in the wake of the Enlightenment. In the reformation churches divided over doctrine and which doctrine you “believed,” up here in your head, put you either in the right or in the wrong. Then, when the scientific discoveries of Enlightenment called into question things like the earth being at the center of the universe, what you “believed” about that, up here in your head, again determined right or wrong. This was where the idea of biblical literalism began and before long “believing” had turned into “believing the right things" including that the Bible was literally true and science was wrong. The stakes of what you “Believed” up here in your head could not be higher… it was literally heaven or hell.
But that was not what Jesus meant when he talked about believing. So, what did he mean? Borg says that to Jesus, believing meant something like the English word “beloving.” When Jesus said “BELIEVE” Jesus envisioned you and I having a relationship with God and Jesus characterized by fidelity, devotion, and loyalty. A steadfast, trustworthy allegiance with God and Jesus. That connection would be ardent, dependable, reliable, and true. When Jesus talked about “Believing” he wasn’t talking about what we do up here (point to head). He was talking about TO what or TO Whom we give this in here (our heart).
In a few minutes we’ll profess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. The Latin word “credo” is most often translated into English as “I believe” but that word’s roots tell us it would better translate as “I give my heart to.” Borg says that even though the creed includes "a list of central Christian convictions… saying the creed does not mean, “‘I believe the following affirmations to be literally true.’ Rather, it means ‘I give my heart to God’ – and then it tells us who that is... The creator of heaven and earth, of all that is. I give my heart to Jesus – and who’s that?” Well, it was the one born of the virgin Mary... and so on.
Christianity, it turns out, is not about “believing the right things in our heads.” Simply “believing the right things” doesn't change us but Christianity is about a transformation of our entire being that shapes the way we see the world, shapes the way we enter into relationships in the world, and shapes the way we live in the world so that what Paul wrote becomes more and more true each day, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
Believing isn’t a head thing. Its a heart thing. Believing isn’t about thinking… it’s about passion! A PASSION to be closer to God. A PASSION for Jesus. NOT a Passion for the Bible, or a doctrine, or a theology… all which may (or may not) point to Jesus. It is a passion for Jesus, the person, and a passion for living this life as Jesus lived this life.
And HOW did Jesus live this life? With compassion and love, never with hate or division. With his hands and his feet, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, casting out demons, challenging oppression, standing up to an abusive economic system, raising the dead, weeping with those who mourned. It is our devotion to that person and our emulation of that person’s way of living in this world… THAT is what Jesus meant by BELIEVING all those years ago. THAT is what it means to be a Christian.
“Whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” In other words, whoever devotes their lives to living as he did will experience life as God intended it to be! “Everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” In other words, a devoted connection to Jesus is something that transcends this earthly life. “Those who believe in him are not condemned and those who do not believe are condemned already.” In other words, those whose hearts are molded after Jesus’ heart are even now experiencing abundant life, while the rest have yet to begin living at all.
For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that everyone could see a person living this life the way God created it to be lived and attach ourselves to that person as a guide to help get us through this thing called life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might see that the WAY out of the hole humanity had dug for itself wasn’t hard, wasn’t impossible, and wasn’t just for a select few people, but was right there in front of everyone, given to them as a free gift… and that WAY'S name, is Jesus. Amen.
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