“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
(John 3:14-21)
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There’s been a lot of focus in recent years in the Christian publishing industry about things being “purpose-driven.” It was Pastor Rick warren who introduced the term. It all started in 1995 with a book called “The Purpose Driven Church.” The book quickly became popular, and it spawned sequels. There’s “The Purpose Driven Life,” “Purpose Driven Youth Ministry,” “Purpose Driven Youth,” “Purpose Driven Worship.” Rick Warren’s daughter Jamie Lynn Warren added a children’s book into the mix called “The Purpose Driven Donkey.” Now, there’s nothing really wrong with this trend, I suppose. It’s an attempt to put some meaning into faith for people, so that faith doesn’t become just a set of propositions but a life-changing quest for - you guessed it - purpose. If you look at “The Purpose Driven Life,” Warren helpfully tells us what our five purposes are: as Christians, we are to offer real worship, to enjoy real fellowship, to learn real discipleship, to practice real ministry and to live out real evangelism. You’re not going to find me arguing against any of that. And yet, still, the whole “purpose-driven” trend troubles me a little bit, because it fixates on our purpose. And the question occurs to me - are we really looking for our purpose? Wouldn't that make things a little too me-centred? But then again, we must have a purpose, or God wouldn't have created us. How, then, do we define our purpose? I would suggest that we don’t really need a 40 day plan to discover what our purpose is. What we really need to do is reflect on God’s purpose. If Jesus is our example, then we think in reference to, say, John 6:38, where Jesus said that “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." It seems to me that, like Jesus, we discover our true purpose simply in doing God’s will, and in nothing else. So what is God’s purpose?
We don’t really seem to think very much about God’s purpose. I’ve noticed in doing some research on the internet that when you google “God’s purpose” what you come up with is a whole lot of Rick Warren-like stuff - so that it becomes not God’s own purpose, but rather God’s purpose for us or our purpose in God. It’s almost as if people think that it’s not proper for us to be trying to understand God’s own purpose; as if it’s too lofty for us to try to grasp and too mysterious for us to truly understand anyway. But I don’t think so. I think we can begin to glean God’s purpose in creation itself - not the biblical story of creation, but just the fact that creation exists. God didn’t create because God was bored. God had a purpose in creating, and it seems to me that God’s purpose was to be in relationship with those whom he created. Relationship is the centre of God’s purpose. Relationship with us - with you and with me. I see that divine purpose shown in the Christmas story: the coming of God to earth in human flesh to dwell among us, to be with us. I see that divine purpose shown in the Easter story: the willingness of God to submit to suffering and death just as we sometimes have to do, but the promise of God found in the resurrection of Jesus, a promise that tells us that there is no end - that there’s only change, change that brings us ever closer to God; into an ever deeper relationship with God. I see that divine purpose shown in our Scripture reading today.
Most people can cite John 3:16 from memory: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But most people stop there. You really have to go on to John 3:17, which is in many ways the key to understanding everything said before and everything said after: "for God did not send his Son to condemn the world but so that the world through him might be saved."
Here is the purpose of God clearly shown again - “that the world through him might be saved.” Saved from what? Well, traditional Christian language would say saved from sin, but you have to understand what that means. Sin is that which separates us from God. Sin is that which destroys our relationship with God. Sin is that which erects a barrier between ourselves and God. Sin is that which God wants to overcome. Breaking down barriers is what God wants to do. God's purpose is the salvation of the world; it’s returning the world to the state God wants the world to be in. That’s the message of Scripture from beginning to end - the world started as God wanted it to be; we pretty much messed it up; God seeks to return it to the state God wants it to be in, where everything exists at peace with God and with all else. When I point John 3:17 out in certain circles anyway, I’m always challenged then with John 3:18 - “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already …” And I don’t deny that. Those who obstinately refuse God’s outstretched hand may well face consequences, but I still think of that warning in the context of God's ultimate purpose being the salvation of the world. And I place my trust in God. If God’s purpose is that the world be saved through Christ then I trust that it will happen. And understanding that helps us to discern our own purpose as the people of God.
We find our purpose only in that divine purpose. Our calling, when everything else is stripped away, is to further that purpose of God. How do we do that? We do that by proclaiming grace as the means by which God forgives us, reconciles us and transforms us. We do that by proclaiming hope that things can be better, that challenges can be overcome, that the future need not be feared and that death has been defeated. We do that by proclaiming love as the ultimate divine power that’s given to all, and that will never be taken from us. If you want your life to be defined by a purpose then the best thing to do is to follow the example of Jesus. Make God’s will your will. Make God’s purpose your purpose. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” That’s God’s purpose. Our purpose is to reveal it to the world.
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