Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:10] Welcome back to another edition of the weekday podcast. I'm so thrilled to get to hang out with you over the next several days as we think about one of the most famous moments in all of scripture in John chapter three. And specifically for the rest of the week, we're going to be thinking about how big and how wonderful God's love is.
[00:00:26] Because I think all of us have heard the phrase God loves you, and maybe you've heard it so many times that it starts to feel like background music. What I mean by that is that it's playing, but we're not really listening anymore. So my goal this week is super simple. I want you to hear it again, but like you've never heard it before. Now let me read you the first part of John 3:16. For God so loved. You know how it goes, the world. And that's it for today. I just want you to think about that one little phrase, because most of us don't mean to, but we do it. We draw little circles around who we think that God probably loves. Now, we'd never say it out loud, but we think it that God loves people who are like us, people who think like us, or people who grew up like us, or people who behave like us, people who vote like us, people who parent like us, people who show up to church like us.
[00:01:17] And then there are people we quietly place outside the circle.
[00:01:21] They're too different. They're too loud. They're too annoying. They're too messy. They're too skeptical. They're too cynical. They are too far gone.
[00:01:29] But here's what's so powerful about John chapter 3. Jesus is talking to a man named Nicodemus. And Nicodemus is not just a random guy, he's a Pharisee. That means he's extremely religious. He's extremely trained. He's extremely respected. He's got the right background, the right reputation and the right resume. And yet he comes to Jesus and he comes at night. And I don't think that's only about the time of day. I think it's also about the condition of his soul. He's got information, but he's been missing the transformation. He knows a lot, but something in him feels honestly empty.
[00:02:03] So he comes to Jesus, and eventually Jesus says the sentence that we all know that for God so loved. And what shocks Nicodemus is not that God loves. Nicodemus believes that God loves. But what shocks Nicodemus is who God loves. Jesus doesn't say for God so loved the religious or for God so Loved the Jews or for God, so loved the rule keepers. What Jesus says is he loves the world, everybody. Which means that God's love is not a private club, it's not a gated neighborhood, it's not a members only thing that God's love is wide.
[00:02:41] God's love reaches further than your categories. God's love reaches further than my preferences. And if God loves that wide, then it changes the way I'm allowed to see people. It means I don't get to write them off anymore. It means I don't get to decide who's in and who's out. It means I don't get to shrink down God to my comfort zone. And here's where it gets really personal. Sometimes the person we've pushed outside the circle is us.
[00:03:09] We believe God loves the world, but we're not so sure that he could love us. Because we know our story. We. We know our mess. We know what we've done, we know what we haven't done. But Jesus says the world, and that includes you.
[00:03:25] God's love is wider than your categories and it changes who you're allowed to write off. So here's the next step. Here's a simple step that you could take today. And honestly just ask yourself, who have I quietly placed outside the borders of God's love?
[00:03:41] Maybe it's a person you avoid. Maybe it's someone who hurts you. Maybe it's someone you disagree with. Maybe it's someone who honestly just gets under your skin after you identify them. Then pray this. Pray their name.
[00:03:53] Just say, jesus, you love them. Help me to love them too while you're at it. Receive that same kind of love for yourself today, my friend. God's love is wider than you could ever imagine. Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.
