John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” It is perhaps the best-known bible verse here in the United States.  It appears on bumper stickers and will no doubt appear during the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. It’s everyone’s favorite Bible verse. Why not? God loves us. Swish – nothing but net. Game over. Nothing left to do but flood the court in unbridled joy!

The language and logic of the kingdom of God is Love. It is the calculus of the Kingdom by which God is “all in”: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  That the world, the whole world might be saved. The ones whose team hit that game-ending three pointer. As well as the ones whose final shot air-balled, all hope vanishing in a moment. And God still comes. Still loves. Still saves.

But… I’ve wondered whether, if people thought about this verse for just a little longer it might just prove to be far less comforting and far more disconcerting. So let’s review…

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