Not to Judge but to Save
Notes
Transcript
Say it with me (you can look at the gospel in your bulletin if you need a reminder):
John 3:16 “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.”
Now keep going to verse 17 (some more of you might need to look):
John 3:17 “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.”
Untold quantities of ink have been spilled over the questions why did Jesus have to die and what did his death accomplish? I’ve got a book here with 10 chapters, each devoted to a separate model of atonement (the act of Jesus bridging the gaps between humans and between humans and God through his death and resurrection) in historical theology, and even that is far from complete. But I think Lutheran theologian Gerhard Forde is right when he argues that a lot of our arguments about precisely how and why Jesus saves aren’t about that at all - they come down to differences that are more important to the metaphors we use or the ways we understand but they miss the most fundamental point:
“Jesus died for us and not for God. What Jesus won for us on the cross is precisely the right to say the saving word of forgiveness to all universally, and he commissioned his followers to do so. The will of God is revealed in the saying and doing.”
The saving and forgiving word calls us and gives us the assurance and permission necessary to come into the light and let our deeds be seen, good and bad. Because when we understand that our failures cannot follow us forever if we but trust in the word, the logos, which Jesus said - that is when we can recognize that we no longer need fear judgment and hide in the darkness but seek the light (my translation) “in order to reveal his deeds which have been accomplished in God.”
If we hide our work in the darkness because we fear it will expose our sin, then the work that God has done through our hands also remains secret, even when it appears not. What happens when the pillar of a church is found to have also been sinning in secret? What good he has done, if it has been attributed to God, becomes witness against both him and God, reeking of hypocrisy and leading people away from the truth. Just look at the scandals around sexual abuse in the Catholic church (and many Protestant churches) and how many people point to them as a reason they no longer consider themselves Christian or worship in Christian community.
By contrast, when we really believe in our heart of hearts that we have been forgiven… when we, with Paul in Romans 8:38-39 can say
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When that is true, we do not fear that either our personal sins or those that inhere in the collective patterns of our society, our habits and cultures, will be put on display. Instead of saying “don’t hang dirty laundry out for all to see” we say “Nothing makes us so lonely as a secret.” (Tournier)
Christians are commissioned to share that saving word of forgiveness, the good news of Jesus Christ. He came not to judge but to save, and to save the world (not just a select few). Will hell be empty at the last day? Is it empty now? I honestly don’t know.
But what I do know is Isaiah 55:11:
Isaiah 55:11 (NRSV)
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
John 3 assures us not just that God cared enough to send his son, but that Jesus didn’t come to judge but to save the world. God in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and in our death and resurrection in baptism, takes us into his life and creates us as a new person, not taking us away from our fundamental self or personality but cutting our protectiveness and ties from our old self and replacing them with ties to his Word that compel us to be agents of change not just for our personal selves (navel gazing Christianity) but that pesky world that he came to save, with all its flawed institutions.
The judging in verse 18 and 19 is not a final verdict that sends us to the grave, and it cannot be in light of Jesus’ accomplishment of that for which he was sent. Yes, the one who has not believed (and continues not to believe) has been judged (a one-time past-tense event) BUT the one who believes is not judged (literally keeps on not being judged).
It’s not an accident that earlier in his dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus says that we “testify” about what we have seen. Just as condemnation and judging is the language of the legal system, so is testimony. We are witnesses (more legal language) not just to Jesus’ innocence of the crimes for which he was executed but his ultimate power over death and sin itself in the resurrection. And anything that gets in the way of sharing that has to take a back seat - whether we are apprehensive about making claims to others because we are modest and humble (or scared), or whether we feel concerned people wouldn’t trust us if they knew what we’d done, or whether we’re just too busy keeping all our balls in the air and our ducks in rows - all of those and anything else that interferes with our testimony, our martyreia, will be exposed and purified or discarded.
Just saying the words is not enough, though. I can go to Chick-fil-a and hear Muzak remixes of contemporary Christian music and see John 3:16 on my cup. And I’m sure there have been people whose curiousity and faith have been evoked by those verses or references at whatever Christian-owned businesses they happen to frequent. But I doubt that has ever been enough on its own to lead them to the truth of the hope, that Jesus really did come into the world not to condemn but to save. That comes from seeing people living in the light of forgiveness and the truth and justice it doesn’t just inspire but demands we seek out.
Gerhard Forde describes a scene where a child walks into the road and an oncoming truck doesn’t have time to stop but someone steps in, shields the child with their body, and in the process loses theirs. In the metaphor, Jesus is the one who steps in. And he doesn’t die because of some theological rule we make up about how God has to do X, Y or Z in order to be perfect. He dies because he jumps in front of a moving truck.
But we are not the child, Forde says. We are driving the truck. And it can’t stop because no human society and no human person is good. We all have mixed motives, limited discipline, and tend to seek out solutions that maintain the structures of power that benefit us. Whether or not we had time to stop, we are driving the truck and Jesus dies. And whether or not we are at fault is not the point. Jesus doesn’t worry about apportioning blame. He didn’t come to judge. He came to save. And the only way to turn around that tragedy was to not only voluntarily take the place of that child in suffering and death - but to create a moment of profound break, of disjunction, a new world in which death does not have the final word by actually dying and actually rising again, conquering death.
I don’t know all the emotions and everything else I would feel if I were the driver in that scenario. I certainly know I wouldn’t feel blameless and I would be absolutely heartbroken whether or not it was my fault. But I would rejoice together with others if that person I hit was alive again.
We, as persons, as a congregation, as the Church, cannot just keep our heads down and try to make it through another day. If we are to live in the light, we must be willing to expose our collective dirty laundry to the light of day because we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Even though you may worry that undoing a little corner of the legacy of slavery and racism by treating immigrants with love and kindness as fellow children of God without asking for their papers first might put a family member’s job at risk…
even though you may finally have reached the contented middle-class life you worked hard for…
even though you don’t know how to talk about your faith and how it impacts your life to your partner, let alone a coworker or neighbor…
You, me, and we are called to speak up and speak out as vessels of God’s saving grace for the world, not just in the end of time but right now. Because God’s word of forgiveness, sent and enacted through Jesus and passed on by us, is effective - at its best the hope and assurance free individuals and society to have hard conversations and do hard things.
It will still be hard. We still will have fear. We still pray “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief.” But today’s Gospel can give us hope - for God so loved the world that he sent his son to save it and not judge it, knowing full well that Jesus’ way was so different from the world’s way that he would be rejected by literally every part of society - every sect and level of Jews, Greeks, Romans, and even his own disciples - because not only his teachings but his very way of being challenged them by shining a light on dark places. The verdict on Jesus was inevitable, just like the judgment on our dark places is inevitable.
What’s not inevitable? Our decision of whether to embrace the good news that we share in Jesus’ body and blood, in his death and resurrection. Our decision of whether to take the chances that are put before us to enact God’s love to our neighbors and to practice talking about our faith. Our decision whether to entrust the gifts we have been given - our selves, our time, and our possessions, to further those expressions of the gospel.
And to be honest, I’m not as good at that as I am at standing up here and talking about that. My natural home is doing research and talking about interesting things I learn, preferably in a way that helps people feel better but doesn’t rock the boat.
But I’m not calling you to do this alone; I’m walking this path with you.
I changed paths from becoming a pastor in part because I did not discern gifts in myself at visitation for those in need - in hospitals or nursing homes or otherwise struggling. I’m more mature and better identify with people in various situations than when I was in my 20s, but I still feel uncomfortable and awkward doing so, in addition to the organizational struggles I face making things like that happen. But God’s message needs out, and so I will be a part of it - now by making visits and moving forward by helping coordinate a congregational care team so we can have more connected and reliable visitation and prayer. I will not be perfect at it but I will be there. And no, I don’t want assurances that you’re sure I’m good or congratulations on doing the hard thing. The Gospel itself is both the promise that I am enough and the reward.
Whether you join that team with me or contribute to the A/V team or choir or fellowship or any other ways - you, my brothers and sisters, are indeed called to be vessels of God’s forgiveness - not the kind that sits on a shelf in a museum but the kind the servants brought to Jesus at the wedding, where he turned the water inside to wine and amazed the guests.
And if you’re thinking “Me, really? What do I have to bring?” first remember that Jesus said you do have something to bring. Then start looking around at where you’re already having an impact or where you see needs that aren’t being met that you could try. Or, if you’re not sure or you struggle with doubt or depression, ask people you’ve known for a while what gifts they see in you. Again, that conversation can be awkward - you don’t want to fish for compliments - but also it gives an opening for someone you trust to entrust you with a gift of truth themselves.
Don’t be surprised if, as you seek to serve and share in new ways, you discover some challenges, or if things that you struggle with become known to others. But take comfort in knowing that none of that can keep you from the love of God, and that your family in Christ will also keep on loving you. The church is not filled with perfect people, and should not feel like it is. If the world around us looks at Our Saviour Lutheran Church and says “There’s a bunch of people who are better than I could ever be and I don’t belong there” we are just as ineffective as if they say “There’s another bunch of people who think they’re so good but they’re dying like all the other churches.” Either way, we are irrelevant and thus risk making the Gospel itself feel irrelevant to our neighbors - in the first case because it doesn’t feel like God’s love is for THEM and in the second place because it doesn’t feel like God’s love makes a difference.
I’m not here to say you can’t be good without God. That’s a discussion for another time. But God so loved the world that his son came to save it and to free everyone who believes from the burden of judgment not in some far future but now.
If you’re not sure you believe in God or Jesus, then let’s explore and discern together. The church should be a safe and non-judgmental place to express doubts or disbelief.
And if you believe in general, but you’re not sure about the liberating power of God’s forgiveness in our lives today, try for yourself and see - consider what you could be freed to do if you weren’t held back by worries and inadequacy.
And if you know that power and are ready to dive in, then let’s get started together. Now’s the time to reach out to others in this or other faith communities and share the ideas you have for making God’s grace real to someone or some group around you.
Our car has a bumper sticker that says “I hope something good happens to you today.” And I like sending that message of friendliness and kindness to others. But the gospel is bigger than paying it forward or wishing others the best. The gospel-bearer says “I hope I can bring the best news of freedom and release from captivity - both in an ultimate sense through forgiveness and in an immanent sense by working with you to change the circumstances of our world that bring about unnecessary suffering, inequality, and despair.”
Is that responsibility intimidating? In a word, Yes.
We are even now in the midst of the longest and holiest fast of the Christian year, Lent, where we sing hymns with lyrics like
“Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee!
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.”
Who are we to be entrusted with the most important message the world has ever known?
We are the very world that Jesus came to save and not to judge, knowing he would be crucified at our hands. We have been condemned on account of our sin, but we are not condemned, for we live in the light of God’s promise of forgiveness for all people.
We’ve got a long journey ahead of us, but we can gather strength from being part of this sacramental community, from being together, from sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection through baptism and Holy Communion, and through sharing our testimony in the confidence that God’s word will succeed in its work and lighten the load of those who need him most. News that good changes lives. Let’s find out how together!