A Few Words On "The Word"

March 26, 2006
The Fourth Sunday of Lent

John 3: 14-21

What's My Choice?

You can't force someone to love you, right? Sure, you can work real hard at being loveable-taking good care of yourself and your appearance, working hard, doing good, standing up for what is right, going the extra mile, giving all you have to give, being a great friend, son or daughter, brother or sister, student or employee. And all of these efforts might even influence how someone responds to you. Being the coolest of the cool in school might "make" people want to be with you, be like you, be liked by you. But you'd be able to tell the difference between groupies and a true friend, right? Just like being the biggest bully in school may make others fear you, but not truly respect you. They might fork over their lunch money, but not because they love you.

Part of what makes love so wonderful is that it is freely given, a pure gift, never earned but always well-deserved. If you could make someone love you, it just wouldn't be love.

God loves us freely, without condition. But we're not forced to love God back. We have to choose: Will I love God or not? Put it this way, and we'd guess most people would say, "Of course, I love God back!" Yet we know that we don't always love God as much as we could. And it's clear that not everyone else loves God, either. But why?

Because the choice to love God is deep and sometimes difficult. Jesus teaches us that to love God requires loving other people, especially those who seem most unlovable. Love-like faith, like peacebuilding-is more than a feeling. It's also-maybe even more-a choice that lives in our actions as well as our attitudes. It's a choice that we make minute by minute. It's a choice that requires being so wide open to God that we're willing to let God shine the spotlight on the inner-most parts of our hearts and minds-those things over which we think we would just die if anybody ever found out.

This is what Jesus is trying to explain to Nicodemus. And also this: God doesn't get mad, get mean, get even if we choose not to love, or fail at loving, or fall a little short. God never says, "Love me or I'll punish you! Love other people or I'll zap you!" That's trying to force love. "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world." God hurts-other people hurt really bad-when we choose not to love or fail at loving. And God hopes-other people hope really deep-that we'll choose one more time to love, "that the world might be saved."

If you were baptized as a baby, your parents and godparents spoke your baptismal vows for you. One way to think of our baptismal vows is as the choice to love and work at loving better, every day and all the days of our lives. At Easter, you'll be asked to choose once again, this time for yourself, and to speak-if you choose to-your own vows. What'll be your choice?

Reflection Question

Why is it so hard to love some people sometimes?

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