Suppose
a stranger approached you in Wegmans or in the Mall, noticing you’re wearing a
crucifix or some other Catholic symbol, and asked you to sum up your Faith in
150 words or less. Could you do it? What would you say? Suppose this is your one and only chance to
explain the Faith and bring that person to Christ.
I
don’t think you could do any better than to recite to them today’s Gospel
passage from John’s third chapter. For
it’s all right there. Six verses. 148 words.
For
anyone whose idea of God is a vengeful, wrathful god, John starts with what, to
me anyways, are the most beautiful words in all of scripture: “For God so loved the world.” It all starts with God’s love for us. How many of us grew up with a notion of God
as angry and vengeful, looking for any chance at all to condemn us. That’s not the God Jesus calls His
Father. He is not filled with
wrath. Nor anger. Only Love.
And
because of that love, He refused to leave us in our sin. Despite our transgressions, for us the Father
gave His only Son, pointing right to the cross which Christ alluded to
yesterday in verse 15 – when He said just as the serpent was lifted up in the
desert, “So must the Son of Man be lifted up.” By that cross He came not to
condemn us but to save all of us who believe in Him.
And
that’s the choice we all must make – believe in Him and be saved or reject Him
and be condemned. How we choose will be
the basis of our eternal judgment! And it’s
not a judgment that is made far in the future – it’s a verdict that is rendered
right now, in each of our lives, in every choice we make, and that choice is
whether we choose to live in the light or in the darkness. The verdict on our faith, on whether you and
I truly believe in His name, is made based on our works – are our works those
of evil and darkness? Or are our works
of goodness and light? True faith is
shown in works of goodness, and truth, and light.
Let
us pray that in all that we say and do, all our works may be clearly seen as
done in God.
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