March 14, 2021
“A Love Story”
Numbers 21:4-9
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. AMEN
Back in 1970 a movie came out that was a huge hit at the time. It starred Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal and the movie was “Love Story.”
I’m sure many of you remember it. I vividly recall going to see it at the theatre with a bunch of friends, and I remember that it was nominated for several Oscars and other awards, and so it was quite a big deal at the time.
“Love Story” also had a very haunting theme song that became quite popular, and while the subject matter of the movie was very serious and sad – so, I do not mean to ridicule what happens in the film at all – I do have issues with one line that became very synonymous with the movie. That line was this:
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
I remember not really relating to that line at the time, and all these years later, it still doesn’t resonate with me.
What exactly does it mean to say, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”? Frankly, I think the exact opposite is true. Love means you care enough to say you’re sorry.
All three of our Scripture passages for today tell a love story. And that story is the story of God’s great love for the world.
The strange story of the snakes that we just heard from Numbers is one of many, many stories in the Hebrew Scriptures where the ancient Israelites fall away from God, mess up, complain, and find themselves in dire circumstances – yet through the great love that God felt for God’s people, the Israelites are shown a way out of their misery.
And so, I think particularly on this 4th Sunday of Lent, it is appropriate for each of us to take the time to reflect on our own Lenten journeys, because those journeys for many can be difficult.
Sometimes we find ourselves in need of saying “I’m sorry” for the times we, too, have messed up.
But it is also a time when, despite circumstances and hardships that are out of our control, we can be reminded that God’s great love for the world continues.
This is a particularly emotional time for me as yesterday was the five-year anniversary of my husband’s death. My journey over the last five years has been difficult. I know that there are many who can relate to those words.
But I continue to be comforted by the love story that is God’s love for the world.
In our Epistle lesson from Ephesians, we just heard these words:
God, who is rich in mercy, out of great love with which he loved us…made us alive together with Christ.
And then there is our Gospel lesson from John, containing what can arguably be considered the most well-known and oft-quoted verses in the Bible.
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.
So, there are three things I want to point out about this verse. All three points may seem obvious, but I think sometimes we are so familiar with certain verses we don’t really even hear them anymore.
The first point I want to make is the way in which the verse begins: “For God so loved…” Salvation and forgiveness and opportunities and comfort and courage and grace are given freely to all of us because “God so loved.” It is a love story.
The second point I want to make is that the verse goes on to say, “God so loved THE WORLD.” It doesn’t say God only loves certain people. God so loves the world, and to me, that means everyone.
Finally, I want to point out that the verse ends with the words, “Eternal life.” That of course does not mean that we will continue to live on this earth forever, but for me personally it means that despite what we face on this earth – loss, hardships, challenges, – through God we are always given the chance to find our way out of the wilderness and experience new life in whatever form that may take.
Sometimes it means we have to have the courage to say “I’m sorry” for those times we have fallen short – love indeed DOES mean having to say you’re sorry.
And sometimes finding our way means allowing ourselves to be open to whatever it is we are feeling, knowing, however, that there is a loving God waiting to lift us up and help us live again.
God so loved the world. What a sacred love story.
AMEN