Rev.
Debbie Cato
John
12:20-33
Fircrest
United Methodist Church
March
18, 2018
Dying to
Live
This
text is dramatically situated in the context of the festival of Passover. It is followed by Jesus’ raising of Lazarus,
Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet, and the triumphal entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem. The responses to these events
are intensely divided, as crowds of people form to hear Jesus, while others
plot to destroy him and some disciples become more reverent while within the
heart of one of them, irritation escalates.
Momentum builds as all eyes – including those of some Gentiles – focus
on Jesus. The scene is poised for a
powerful statement by Jesus to his disciples regarding not only what is going to
happen, but also what it means. One more
time he tries to tell them what his mission really is about.[1]
This
week the human Jesus comes face to face with human mortality. He knows that his death is imminent. It will be brutal, drawn out and full of deceit. He will be betrayed and abandoned, humiliated
and ridiculed. In his agony, he will be
made a laughing stock. Naturally, Jesus,
our human brother, is tormented by this impending ordeal. “Now my
soul is troubled.”[2]
“The hour has come,” Jesus
says. It is an hour to which his whole
life has been leading; an hour in which he is to be glorified. It is clearly important to him that his
disciples, his closest companions have some understanding of this hour, yet
what he offers them is an oddly jarring proverb.
“Very
truly, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a
single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” [3]
Any
one of us who has ever covered a seed with dirt knows that this is true.
How
many of you are gardeners? I don’t have
much of a garden now, although I always try plant tomatoes. There’s nothing like home grown tomatoes!
When
my girls were young, we always planted a vegetable garden. It was something we did together. We would get the soil ready in the spring. We would pull all the winter weeds and loosen
the soil. We would dig little rows and
then plant the seeds and cover them with dirt.
And then we would watch for them to sprout and grow. For a long time we would watch. And finally, one of the girls would come
running in and announce that there was a green shoot pushing through the
ground. The seeds were growing!
One
of our favorite things to plant – besides tomatoes, were zucchinis. It was amazing how many zucchinis would grow
from one small seed. Of course, we would
forget about this abundance and each year, we would plant too many zucchini
seeds (they are so tiny) and end up with way too many zucchinis! Everyone we knew would get zucchinis –
whether they wanted them or not!
“Unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it
bears much fruit.”
Of course, we ought to know that Jesus is not
talking about planting a garden. He’s
talking about His coming hour; His dying; and yes. He’s talking about our dying, too.
He says, “Those
who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this
world will keep them forever. Whoever serves me
must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me.”
“Now I am deeply troubled. What should I
say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? No,
for this is the reason I have come to this time. Father, glorify your name!”
Jesus’
soul is troubled. He knows what is
ahead, and yet he follows God’s vision for his life. Jesus is willing to face death for the sake
of healing the world. For your sake. For my sake.
“Very truly, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it
dies it bears much fruit.”
And
so it is this week, that we find ourselves thinking about dying as we hear
Jesus’ words today. I expect we
experience the truth of it in our lives to a certain extent without really
thinking about it.
We
see it when spouses sacrifice by setting aside their own wants or needs to help
the other become who they are meant to be. We see the proof of this in families
where parents give up a whole lot of themselves so that their children will
flourish. We see it when a family member
becomes terribly ill, and the rest of the family changes their whole routine;
their whole life to focus on the other. “Unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it
dies it bears much fruit.” But, it’s bigger than this. It’s bigger than our families. Bigger than those we love.
Jesus
didn’t wait until his final hour to die to self, did he? His life was uncomfortable because of who he
chose to be the positions he took. Throughout His ministry Jesus fought against
systems that were unfair; systems that were lopsided; that put the little guy
at a disadvantage. Jesus spoke against
systems that kept people captive and oppressed. The money changers in the
temple. The religious leaders who set up
their own rules that no one could possibly keep. The rich landowners who took advantage of the
workers. Jesus loved and healed the
lepers who were ostracized and isolated outside the community; he touched the
untouchables. The woman who was about to
be stoned. The mentally ill. The woman at the well whose self-worth had
been beaten down. The poor, the
forgotten. And Jesus said, “Whoever serves me
must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be.”
That’s
us. Like Jesus, we too must confront
God’s purpose for us. We were not
baptized into the Body of Christ to let his body wither from our neglect. We are charged to be disciples. We are called to take up our cross and follow
Jesus.[4] “Whoever
serves me must follow me.”
How
does that fit with your plans and priorities?
Do we even grasp that God has a purpose for us? Or are we just grazing our way through life,
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain?
Focused on the ways of the world?
What we do defines what we are.
Christians follow Christ. If that
is what we are, then that is what we must do.
The Body of Christ is not a social club where attendance and dues are
optional.[5]
Jesus
was not lifted up on the cross so we could skate selfishly into heaven. Our salvation is a gift, but it is not
all-take and no-give. We are not just
beneficiaries of Christ’s passion; we are the ongoing instruments of his sacred
mission. The purpose that brought Jesus to the cross is our purpose now. Like Jesus we know who sent us and why. His love is our legacy and our reason for
being.[6]
Throughout
his journey to the cross, Jesus refuses to respond in the world’s own violent
terms. In his trial before Pilate, Jesus
replies, “My kingdom is not from this world or [this system]. My followers want t0 fight to keep me from
being handed over to the Jews. But as it
is, my kingdom is not from here.” Jesus’
rejection of violence is precisely what distinguishes his way from the way of
the World.[7]
What
are the primary ways that the System or the world holds us captive and takes us
down the path of death rather than life?
What is the spirit that drives Systems that perpetuate racism, sexism, power,
and violence today? We are in a time
when this question could not be more important than it is right now.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it
bears much fruit. Whoever
serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be.” Losing your life and gaining it is what
transformation is all about. Dying to
something old and familiar and safe.
Going beyond self-interest.
Letting go of security.
The
question needs to be asked: Where do you
need to ‘die’ today?” Where do we need
to die today? What do we need to lose to
be faithful to God? Each of us will have
to answer this question individually.
What do we hang on to that is not biblical? What do we hang on to that is not Gospel/not the
teaching of Jesus?[8]
This
is the question we need to ask this 5th and last week of Lent. I found a poem that sums up this passage very
well that I would like to share with you.
It was written by Rev. Michael Coffey, the pastor of First English
Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas.
Either
way you’re gonna die:
Clutching
your seed in your fist
Buried in
your Sunday suit
the lid
sealed shut with a rubber gasket
watertight
lifetime guarantee,
impermeable
to the forces of nature.
And the damn
thing sprouts and its pale stem
pushes
through your dried fingers
and urges
upward straining for sunlight
until it bumps
the steely casket lid
and bends
and arcs downward finally surrendering.
Either
way you’re gonna die:
You can
open your hand and let loose
the grain
of love you bear.
You can
open your protected soul
to life
and death and mystery in the breathable air.
You can
plant your seed I the welcoming earth
and die
to your fear and let something uncontrollable grow.
When you
are buried like the seed
it is
already free to break through soil
and let
the sun kiss it to life
and sprinkle
the earth with a thousand new grains.
Either way
you’re gonna die:
But if
you let your seed go
and die
before you die
there
will be wheat and flour enough
to bake
bread with holy wild yeast
and feed
the hungry world,
which gives
thanks for your small grain
to the
One who made you to die for the fruit of love.
Michael Coffey, 2012
Amen.
[1] Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 2; Lent Through
Eastertide. Fifth Sunday of Lent. Theological Perspective. Margaret A. Farley. Pp140
[2] www.episcopalcafe.com/speaking-to-the-soul-cross-purposes/
[6] www.episcopalcafe.com/speaking-to-the-soul-cross-purposes/
[7] Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 2; Lent Through Eastertide. Fifth Sunday of Lent. Homiletical Perspective. Charles L. Campbell. Pp144.
[8] Adventurous Theology for a
Missional Church. Bruce Epperly. Adventurous Lectionary – Lent 5.
