Perhaps the first Bible verse that most of us put to memory is 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.” It is a cherished verse that has been an inspiration to millions of Christians, a word of hope for seekers and gospel “in miniature” for the world over. It has been for me. I have taught on this verse, preached on it, done entire series from it.
And this summer it has been a constant refrain in my heart, “God so loved the world…”
As I have traveled literally from Costa Rica to Alaska, have walked through rain forests and free stone rivers, rappelled down waterfalls and ridden my bike over mountain passes; have watched monkeys, moose and mountain goats, sloth, bears and foxes, osprey, eagles and toucans; I have met people from poor villages and wealthy resort towns, from small towns and big cities; I have had conversations with cab drivers in my beginning Spanish, with fishing guides and innkeepers, merchants and park rangers. I have traveled through tiny hamlets and on highways that were enveloped by an immense blue sky. Through it all, I have experienced a deeper understanding of this verse and especially the world that God loves. God’s love for the world includes both his creation and the cultures of the world; both people and persons. God created the world in love and declared that it was good. He created humans and declared them the pinnacle of his creation.
One day, while walking in a rainforest in Alaska (I visited rainforests in both Costa Rica and Alaska) the thought occurred to me that God loved his creation so much that he invented hundreds of different colors of green just to decorate it. I have never seen so many hues and shades of one color—not to mention the many different blues in the sea and the sky, or the reds and purples in a sunset.
But even more than that, I have listened to different languages and accents, met people literally from dozens of different countries who beamed with pride when I asked them about “home”. I have been teased about being a tourist when I almost ran out of gas in the middle of “nowhere” Montana. I was cheered on by waiters and taxi cab drivers who just wanted me keep learning their native tongue. I met a man from Mauritius (I actually had to look that one up!) and talked with three different people from the Philippines who were so excited that I was visiting their country next month that they wouldn’t stop talking to me. It seems so much more obvious to me that part of God’s love for the world is in this magnificent diversity and that God’s intention for his creation is more connected in all of our diversity (Indeed, a book I am about to start reading is called The Future is Mestizo.)
Through all of this, I have come to see that there is so much more to loving the world, than just loving individual persons in the world. Indeed, a key theme for our church in the coming months is going to be exploring what it means to “so love” the world that God “so loves.”
I don’t have it all worked out, but at the very least, “so loving the world” means loving the whole world: The world that God made in all its beauty and diversity, in all its creation and cultures, peoples and persons, the earth and the world. We must not only love God and each other, but also love God’s world the way God does. This means that we recognize and accept the original call given to our ancestors to be stewards of all the earth. Since our Father and King is the Creator of the world, we will dedicate ourselves to protect, cultivate and care for “all creatures of our God and King” and the earth that God created good.
And it also means that while we reject the worldliness that seeks to live apart from our Creator and King, we welcome the people of the world and reach out to all peoples of the world believing that God is making a new people made up of every race and tribe and people that will reflect his glory in all of its grand array.
Which seems to be what God’s “so loving” was all about in the first place.
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