2 Chron. 36:14-16, 19-23
Eph 2:4-10f
John 3:14-21

Bishop Untener's Homily

What if you had only one of the four Gospels?

In the first two or three centuries of Christianity, most of the Christian communities scattered throughout the world had access to only one of the four Gospels. Each of the four Gospels was written at a different time, at a different place, and intended for a different community. Mark's Gospel, for example, was thought to have been intended for the Christians in Rome.

Communications back then were limited and, of course, there were no printing presses. Individual communities (we would call them "parishes" today) would manage to get a copy of one of the Gospels and keep it in their archives so that it could be read at Sunday liturgy.

So, think about a theoretical question. If your parish had only one of the four Gospels, and this is the Gospel that would nurture your faith for the whole of your life, which one would you choose? I suppose I could take "vote" right now, but I'm not going to do that. I simply want you to think about the question.

It could be that John's Gospel might not be the first choice of many people. It has some wonderful stories about Jesus - the miracle at Cana, the raising of Lazarus, the cure of the man born blind. But there are many other sections, long sections that seem so complicated and so abstract - like the Lord's long speech to Nicodemus, part of which we heard moments ago. There is also the long discourse at the Last Supper, which goes on for four chapters, and Jesus talks about how he is in the Father, and the Father is in him, and we are in him and he is in us, and he will send upon us the Advocate that proceeds from the Father... A lot of those texts come up on the weekdays after Easter, and those of us who preach sometimes find ourselves hoping for a feast day so that we get to use a text from another Gospel.

The "deep simplicity" of John's Gospel

You may think it strange, but if faced with that theoretical problem of having access to only one of the four Gospels, I'd pick John. Why? Because John soars to such great heights - that's why his symbol is the eagle. Or, to use the opposite image, because John goes so deep into the great truths of our faith. It may seem complicated at first, but the deepest truths are the simplest, and John has a wonderful combination of depth and simplicity. In John we get the whole sweep of God's plan... and it's so simple. 

• It starts in the first chapter: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God... And the Word became flesh. God became one of us.
• In the third chapter—part  of which we heard today—we learn that God sent the only Son so that we might have eternal life - God's own life within us.
• Then in the sixth chapter we hear that Jesus gives us the bread of life - the word of God and his own body and blood - to nurture the God-life within us.
• Then in the tenth chapter Jesus tells us that we aren't left to ourselves to figure out how to live this God-life. He is the Good Shepherd who leads us and guides us to good pastures.
• Then in the fourteenth through the seventeenth chapters, we have that long discourse at the Last Supper. It may seem complicated, but Jesus simply tells us that he and the Father will come and make their dwelling with us. It's not complicated at all. Just hard to believe.
• Then in the final chapters Jesus goes through suffering and death, and goes through death to a transformed human life, and ascends to God, and then he breathes his Spirit upon us. 

When we see the whole sweep of God's work, we learn a very simple truth: You and I have within us God's own life, God's love, God's goodness. It's a pure gift. We don't earn it. There's no explanation for it except God's largesse.

Now here's where it gets so simple. You and I are called upon to live the life that's in us - to be the graced person that God has made us to be. We simply have to let God's life, God's love, and God’s goodness show through. It's a gift, and all we have to do is let it shine through.

I'd have to say, at least for myself, that this is a different way of seeing things than I once did. So often it seemed to me that the light Jesus was talking about wasn't the light of God's life shining within me. It was God's spotlight shining on me, checking me out and rating my performance. I, with my limited abilities and mixture of goodness and evil, was caught in a struggle to try to be a better person than I really was.

What a relief to discover that God has gifted me with a life that is God's own life, and what I need to do is let it flow through me and into everything I do. I can do that.

An Example

An example that comes to mind is a person who has a wonderful singing voice - a voice so pleasant and good that you love to hear it. We say about a person like that, "What a gift!" which, of course, is true. It's a gift. They were born with it. 

You'd want a person like that to use that gift, to develop it, and let us enjoy it. Now, a person gifted with a beautiful singing voice might, for some strange reason, not use the gift, not develop it. And that would be too bad.

When we think of a simple example like that, we can appreciate how simple are the deep truths emphasized in John's Gospel. God has given us a gift - God's life, God's love, God's goodness. It's a gift. We weren't born with it, we were "born again" with it in Baptism. And if we have God's life in us, nothing else matters, not even death.

Now, we could decide not to use that gift, not to let it shine on other people and on the world - to prefer darkness to light. And that would be a shame... to waste a gift like that. 

If I try to live a good life all on my own, I don't have a chance. Left to myself, I'm just not that good. That's why Jesus said that the person who doesn't accept the life that God gives us is "already condemned." God doesn't condemn us. We simply set ourselves up for failure.

So... I'm glad I have all four Gospels. But if only one Gospel had survived, I'd want it to be John's Gospel, because of passages like the one we heard today.  

The second reading revisited

But, by the way, John isn't the only New Testament writer to speak this way. Our second reading today was a passage from the Letter to the Ephesians. I'll close with excerpts from that reading. Perhaps, with the deep and simple truths of John's Gospel in mind, these words from Ephesians will have fresh meaning.

God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us... brought us to life with Christ... that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved... This is not from you. It is the gift of God... For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. 

To see things that way can make a day, make a life, a lot easier.

Originally given on March 29/30, 2003