On May 3, 2022, Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, had an interview with the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera. In it he described a 40-minute Zoom call he had on March 16 with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kiril. During the conversation Patriarch Kiril listed off all the justifications for the war in Ukraine. Pope Francis warned the Patriarch not to be “Putin’s altar boy.”

The same day as Pope Francis’ interview with the newspaper, I was part of a discussion led by retired U.S. Army chaplain, Col. Charlie Reynolds. The discussion was about the religious background to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chaplain Reynolds told us how Putin and Patriarch Kiril had become partners in seeking to justify the war, and why. Both men are using their alliance to further their respective political powers. Plus, part of Patriarch Kiril’s motivation may have come from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church separating from the Russian Orthodox Church in 2018.

How could Patriarch Kiril, or any Christian, justify the war in Ukraine? It would take a very selective reading of the Bible, or perhaps I should say a “misconstrued” reading of the Bible, to provide a rationale for all the destruction, bloodshed, and loss of life. My guess is that the Patriarch has not relied on scripture at all to come to his conclusions.

The goal of “spelunking scripture” is to get beneath the surface level to seek to discover the message of the Bible. One of the principles of “spelunking scripture” is that not all passages of the Bible are of equal value. Yes, there are many passages in the Old Testament which seem to condone physical violence. But as Christians, we seek to interpret the scriptures through the lens of Jesus. And Jesus taught the primacy of love.

As I said, one of the principles of “Spelunking Scripture” is that some passages of the Bible are more important than others. For me, one of the most important passages of scripture is the prologue to John’s Gospel, John 1:1-18. I’ve preached on that passage more than a dozen times, and there is always more to think about and more to say.

After announcing my upcoming retirement at Village Baptist Church, I had to decide what would be the scripture text for my final sermon, after 33 years as pastor. I selected John 1:14-18 and titled the sermon, “God’s Love Made Visible,” taken from the hymn by Iola and Dave Brubeck. In that final sermon I asked, “What could I possibly say that you have not heard before?” And I answered, “what I want to say in this final sermon is:…in Jesus, God’s love is made visible!” Of course, I had said that before, in many ways, but I had not used the words from the hymn before.

In my book, Preaching for the Long Haul, there are four sermons based on the prologue to John’s Gospel (including that sermon on my last Sunday at Village), and in my book, Spelunking Scripture: Christmas, there are three sermons based on the prologue to John’s Gospel. So, I have seven sermons in print based on that scripture text because for me, it is one of the most important passages of scripture.

The Prologue to John’s Gospel says that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). It seems like we are living in a very dark time right now. When the leader of a church of 100 million members defends the military invasion of another country, that is dark indeed. How we need the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).