Lent
March 10, 2018
Scripture Reading: John 3:14-21
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
‘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.
‘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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. –John 3:14-18
.When most of us read John 3:16, we probably think of perishing as meaning not going to heaven or not being in eternity with God. The Greek word translated perish also could be worded (a) I kill, destroy; (b) I lose*. A wasted life is a lost life. Weeds are wasted vegetation. They use up nutrients needed by producing plants. Jesus talked about weeds in a parable Matthew 13.30:
Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.
God created the world and all that is in it as interdependent and with purpose. In truth most of the plants we classify as weeds serve some use. We were not assigned the task of identify the weeds from good plants in our spiritual journey. Following Jesus’ lead, we are given the job of enabling all of God’s creation to fulfill its purpose. Our job is to turn what we consider to be weeds into useful producing plants. George Washington Carver found hundreds of uses for the lowly peanut that is not a nut at all. Are we assuring that all the curious little boys and girls in our schools are given every opportunity to follow his example? Do we see the potential in every homeless person we encounter? How do we protect the disenfranchised?
God sent Jesus into the world to save the world not to condemn but to return each facet to wholeness. Jesus sent us into the world to do the same.
Prayer: Lord, enable us to enable others until there are no weeds to burn. Amen.
*http://biblehub.com/greek/622.htm