Old Testament: Deuteronomy 9: 23—10:5
Psalm 50 * [59, 60] or 19, 46
Epistle: Hebrews 4: 1-10
Gospel: John 3:16-21
“For God SO loved the world that he gave…” John 3:16
This has always been an intriguing passage of scripture to reflect on the essence of true love. God loved and God gave. What a story! I tend to not fully understand the depth of love that is summed up with giving, not taking. My human experience sometimes gets confused with thinking that love is taking rather than giving and sometimes I miss the mark and need this passage once again to jar me back to the essence.
When I was a child, I would go to my grandmother’s home to play and before we could play, we would have to recite John 3:16. This childhood memory calls me back to the essence of love. My grandmother, who had her own human limitations, struggled with emotional bipolar conditions that would cause her to become mentally unstable and sometimes dangerous to herself. I wonder, if in her life that had seasons of darkness like us all, if she needed this reminder of how she was loved.
We all have different journeys, but the single thread to our lives is this measure of love. We are dignified by love. No one is perfect, but we are loved and the pattern given us of love is the dignity we give to others. It is in giving that we understand and live out love.
One other thought about this passage has always intrigued me. Why did John put the emphasis on love? He could have said that God loved the world. John inserted an emphasis on love by saying that God SO loved the world. Sometimes I lose sight of the emphasis of love. I become entangled in the daily tasks of work that I don’t stop to love and care for others. I often need a reminder, not just of love, but SO love.
This emphasis by John on love, for whatever reason he placed it in the gospel, is a reminder to me of two things. First, we are loved with an emphatic, passionate, pursuing love by God. Second, we are called to love others with that kind of so love that gives. May this Lenten time challenge us all to rest in God’s love and give that love to others.
Colby Galloway
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