God So Loved the World

by the Rev. Kate Atkinson

“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.” John 3:16

Which part of that promise is hardest for us to accept?  We may find it easy to say that Jesus is the Messiah.  But in order to achieve a life-changing shift in understanding and acceptance, we have to believe the first part of the promise: the part that reminds us of how profoundly God loves the world.

That indescribable love is what compelled God to live among us; and it’s why Jesus overcame death and made it possible for us to live with God for eternity. It’s love freely given, poured out without reservation. It’s ours for the taking; but too often we fail to take it.

God can’t possibly love me, we say.  Look how imperfect I am.  Look at all the mistakes I’ve made, that I keep making.  Look at the people I’ve hurt and the opportunities I’ve wasted.  Look at the darkness in my heart and the sins that control me.

Isn’t it interesting that we don’t struggle nearly as much with the idea that God loves other people? Our ministries are rooted in a desire to help other people believe they are beloved children of God.  But when it comes to ourselves, we have such a hard time believing it.

Our Mission of the Month for March is our Mission with Jamaica—a mission that’s been a part of this parish for almost 20 years, capturing the attention – and the support – of hundreds of parishioners. 

Our latest medical mission team recently returned from a week in Jamaica.  They tell amazing stories of the breaking down of racial, social, and religious barriers – of relationships that were forged on shaky ground but have grown into something solid and enduring, and life-changing.  These are stories about God’s unconditional love in action.

Geoff Forester has been on four of the mission trips now, taking literally thousands of photographs.  He’ll be telling the story in words and pictures over the next few weeks, in the Concord Monitor – so we’ll be able to see for ourselves the effects of God’s love, channeled through God’s people. 

There may have been a time, more than 20 years ago, when the residents of Chantilly doubted that they re beloved children of God.  It’s a community characterized by chronic unemployment, and grinding poverty.  Health services, utilities, and education are seriously under-resourced; the people struggle daily with hunger, sickness, hopelessness, and fear for their children’s future.

You may be thinking that the people from St. Paul’s arrived on the scene like a band of superheroes and saved the people of Chantilly.  That’s certainly part of the story.  They brought medicine and medical equipment and expertise; they provided dental care; they helped repair houses and improve living conditions; they refurbished the Basic School and raised funds for uniforms, books and meals for the preschoolers in the village; they offered Vacation Bible School programs—and recruited older children to help with them; and they generated scholarships for high school education that would otherwise be inaccessible for the youth of Chantilly.

Our mission teams brought many things to Chantilly but the main thing they brought was their presence.  Returning year after year, Mark and Jan Carney and the other team members established a deep connection with the people they’d initially chosen to help.  Helping them became loving them; loving them brought transformation.  And it wasn’t only Jamaican lives that were transformed.

Geoff Forester says, “In Jamaica the hugs last longer and the tears flow harder.” 

The people of Chantilly grew to love and trust their friends from New Hampshire.  Before long they were looking forward to their visits not just for the care and assistance they received, but because of the deep relationships they had formed.  When our team arrives in the village, “enthusiastic” doesn’t begin to describe their welcome!  And when they leave to come back home, the grief is overwhelming – on both sides.

God loved the world so much that he gave us his Son to show us what love means.  And God gave us Jesus to show us not only how to love others but how to receive love from others.

When we respect the dignity of our outreach clients, or encourage children in our Sunday school, or take our Ministry of Presence into hospital and hospice rooms, or pray for a fellow parishioner in distress, or open our hearts to the people of Chantilly, we’re both expressing and discovering what Jesus meant when he said, “God so loved the world.”  And by sharing our love wholeheartedly with others, and receiving their love in return, we catch a glimpse of how it will be when eventually we claim our gift of eternal life.