Being God's Neighbor

 1 JOHN 4:7-21

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Beloved! As we continue our exploration of 1 John, I’d like to begin by showing you the opening scene from the movie Love, Actually. The character speaking is a man who has been successful at many things. In fact, he is the prime minister of England, but he hadn’t been successful at love…

It’s pretty easy to get gloomy about the state of the world. Especially after a week like this week. We watched the death toll in Nepal skyrocket to over 4000 with even more deaths possible from disease and crowding in shelters.

We watched violence and looting erupt in Baltimore among people who were protesting violence. We’ve watched the trial of the man who shot up the Aurora movie theater. We’ve watched as loved ones have gone through difficult times and maybe we’re even going through those difficult times ourselves.

It’s no wonder we sometimes get gloomy with the state of the world. The world is in chaos. There is tragedy and injustice.

But, despite its gross flaws and difficult people, God loves this world. God loves you and God loves those difficult people. The book of 1 John speaks passionately and eloquently about the love in this world. 

It can be tempting, especially during times like these, to envision God someplace other than this world. God has created a wind up toy or written a program for the world and is now kicking back and watching all unfold according to plan.

 It might be tempting to listen to the message that this fallen world is nothing but sin and evil. But, most of look around and know in our hearts that’s not true. We see evidence of goodness and compassion and love and care. We see glimpses of God’s coming kingdom that are already here. We see that God is in our neighborhood.

I suspect we sometimes wish we could leave behind the problems here for something a less messy and complicated--like the old commercial says, Calgon take me away!  We want to pray or meditate ourselves out of this world—to escape. We want to deal with the feelings of fear and disappointment and frustration by calling up something otherworldly. We want to separate ourselves from the pain and heartache. We want to leave the neighborhood.

But, I suspect, God has other expectations.

God revelation in Christ shows that the way to deal with disappointment, fear and unmet expectations of this world is not to escape, but to enter into it. Through Christ, we see that God starts to change the world—to reconcile humanity—by rolling up God’s sleeves and coming alongside us. God doesn’t close his eyes to our mess. God doesn’t stay aloof and holy. We know God loves us because God came to us. We know God loves us because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

The message of the 1 John passage today is that God is love. So let’s think about what this love looks like.

First, love is of God. Any love that we can know, feel or demonstrate has its origin in God. God is love. In his Insight book about Love theologian William Barclay says that Sometimes Christianity is presented in such a way that it sounds as if God had to be pacified, as if God has to be persuaded to forgive. One of the common images is of a stern, angry, unforgiving God and a gentle, loving, forgiving Jesus. Sometimes the Christian message is presented in such a way that it sounds like Jesus has to change God’s mind about us rather than reveal who God is to us.

But 1 John tells us that it is out of love that Christ came for us. Before the resurrection, God loved us. Before the crucifixion, God loved us. Before the incarnation, God loved us. We see evidence of God’s love as far back as Genesis when God finds Eve and Adam naked and ashamed and gives them clothes. Jesus reveals this love to us in person.

So, love is of God. What God has done in Christ defines what love is. Which leads to the second point…

Love gives. 1 John says: God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. This demonstration of love shows us that God doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to love. The Bible emphasizes that God gives his son, God’s ONLY son, to reconcile the world. God gives up something that is valued and prized for us.

To be honest, I’ve always found the Father, Son language to be unsatisfying to describe the work of the cross. For me, father-son puts too much space between God and Jesus, like they are two separate entities. 

LIKE GOD IS ON ONE SIDE

AND JESUS IS ON ANOTHER

Father-Son makes it sound (to me) like Jesus is not a part of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, Spirit, but something separate and expendable. And then there is this:

 I would never want someone to sacrifice their child for me. 

Ever.

But when I ask myself: Would I sacrifice myself for one of my children or my husband?  
Absolutely. In a heartbeat.

And this is what makes the work of the cross a testament of love. God did not give up something expendable to reconcile me and you. God gave of his very being, God gave himself for you and me. Sometimes I wonder which was harder for God: Giving up power and majesty to be human in the incarnation or giving up the tangible love of humanity in the crucifixion to return to heaven?

1 John defines loves as selfless giving. Love causes us to give of our very selves for another person.

Finally, love casts out fear. When we realize the depths of God’s love for us, it frees us to live a life of love for others. A life that is in God and for others. When we are assured of the forgiveness of Christ, we aren’t haunted by our past mistakes (most of the time). When we are centered in God’s love we don’t fret about what comes tomorrow (well, not as much). When we don’t even fear death, we are free to live and love fully in the present.

This is precisely why Jesus was so dangerous to the authorities of his time. You can’t subjugate and control people if they don’t fear death.

This is why Jesus is still dangerous in our time. If love casts out fear, there are companies and people who have a lot to lose. You can’t sell designer clothes and bags and vehicles if people don’t fear for their reputation. You can’t sell insurance policies and anti-aging crèmes or offer online testosterone pills if people aren’t afraid of their aging bodies. You can’t sell wipes to every grocery store in the nation if people aren’t afraid of the germs on the grocery cart handle.

What would we be like if we didn’t fear grocery cart handles and aging bodies? 

I sometimes wonder what I would do if I had nothing to fear, if I only listen to the voice of God that 1 John captures so eloquently—that voice that says: You are made in the image of God. You are a child of God. You are my beloved.

Remember the love commandment of Jesus: Love God and love your neighbor? We always think of it as something that we have to do, right? We have to love God and our neighbor.

But, you know what we forget? 

We are the neighbor, too. 

When Jesus says love your neighbor as yourself, he’s saying, “I love you as much as I love myself.”

Take a peek at the person next to you. I’m guessing that since they are in church, they take this love your neighbor thing seriously. That person sitting near you loves you. Or tries to love you. Sure, they love imperfectly, but they are working on it.

Maybe we think world is such gloomy place, because we feel awkward seeing and receiving the love that is all around us. That leads me to wonder:

Do we fear being loved?

What is it about receiving love that makes us feel so awkward and vulnerable? What makes us say, don't do that for me! Who would we be without that fear?

What would you do if Jesus were to walk in here today and cast out the demon of fear from your heart? Who would you be if you had nothing to fear? Who would you be if you didn’t have to worry about paying bills or grocery shopping? How could you let the other people in this congregation (or the world) love you?

Without fear, I think we would love more broadly and more deeply. Without fear, I think I’d be more likely to enter into the broken places of our world and let other people into our broken places.

We have a word for this life without fear. We have a word for that place where we don’t worry about what we will eat or drink or how we will pay our bills. We have another word for that place that is so full of love that fear cannot exist. The word for that place is heaven.

And we are not there yet.

1 John tells us that perfect love casts out fear. But we are experiencing imperfect love in a far from perfect world. We watch in horror as the earth shakes and violence erupts. You can’t fix it. I can’t fix it. But, Jesus shows that we can enter in these places with our love.  

We can cry and pray with the people of Nepal and hope that love cast out fear in their final moments. We are entering in to it with a special offering today.

We can pray every man and woman and police officer and protester in Baltimore opens their heart so that love casts out fear and God’s justice rolls down like righteousness. We can work together for equality in our own area, recognizing that not all communities in our country offer the same opportunities.  We can ask what God is calling us to do about inequality in our own community.

Talking with church leaders in Baltimore Presbytery yesterday, their hope was for more listening. They want people like you and me to hear about and recognize the gross inequality that some people face. They want the people who did the looting and fighting to listen to them when they say there is a better way. They want the police to listen when they way we need your presence, but we need your respect, too. They want to remind everyone involved that they, too, are God’s beloved. They want love to cast out deeply rooted inequality and fear.  You can’t love God and hate your neighbor. 

And for those of you in this room facing your own fears, I pray with you and for you. For those living in fear of financial decisions, relationships or even fear of your own body, I pray that the light of love shines on you today, overpowering the shadows of fear. Today, you may be the neighbor that this church can love.

God is love. In the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God shows us that love can be more powerful than fear. And so today, I remind you again. You are God’s beloved. You are covered in the love of God.

The world may be broken and gloomy, but that’s not all there is to the world. God is there. Love is there, too. Go and seek it out. Go and share it. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.

Resurrection of the Body. Any questions?

 JOHN 20:19-31

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Happy Easter! Remember Easter is a season, not just a day here at church. We are finally blossoming into a long awaited springtime. The sun is warming the earth. The daffodils have opened up. New life is bursting forth everywhere.

The church, too, blossoms at Easter. We transform an undecorated sanctuary into a vibrant, multi-sensory experience on Easter Sunday—with flowers and dresses and new ties and alleluias as a brooding lent makes way for a joyous Easter.  But his hasn’t always been the case. As the Easter story continues in the book of John, we discover that the disciples aren’t celebrating. They are confused and locked away in fear.

Who could blame them? They were a bunch of political and religious dissidents who had just watched a public torture and execution of their leader.  They feared they might be next and they did not want to die, even if Jesus did talk about the resurrection with them.

That’s The Resurrection—with a capital T and a capital R—the notion that one day all of the biologically dead would be brought back to life—a controversial and divisive topic among the Jews of Jesus’ day and one that is just as confusing today.  Believing that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead required a leap of faith. The idea that every dead body would rise from the grave was and is unimaginable.

The disciples had been told that Jesus had risen from the dead, but they hadn’t yet seen him. They weren’t sure if this resurrection thing was real or not. When our story starts, they’ve shut themselves off and locked themselves in a room filled with fear and anxiety.

This is where we meet them, cut off from the world where Jesus walked, preached and healed. They are in a room bounded by their fear when the resurrected Jesus somehow makes his way in and stands among them. Thomas, however, is missing.

Peace be with you, Jesus says, as he shows them his hands and his side right off the bat. Seeing his wounds, the disciples recognize him. Here he is, the resurrected Jesus that they had heard about but not yet seen. The disciples must have been astonished, confused and thrilled to be in the presence of the man that they so deeply loved. When Thomas returns to them, they can’t wait to tell him the good news. But as we all know, Thomas doubts.

Thomas says, “Unless I see and touch the nail marks and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Thousands of years and many sermons later we still think of him as doubting Thomas and fault him for not taking the resurrection of Jesus on faith.

But is it fair to Thomas to only think of him as a doubter? After all, Thomas is the disciple who after Lazarus is raised says they should all go to Judea with Jesus even if it means death. The other disciples were trying to avoid going.  In today’s reading Verse 24 tells us Thomas wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. We can’t say for sure where he was or what he was doing, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t locked in a room in fear.

When we read about Thomas, we discover that he’s an outlier. He’s brave enough or crazy enough or maybe even faithful enough to risk his life on the outside that locked house, in the world.  And if our Christian history is correct, Thomas continues to the be the outlier going out into the world. He is thought to be the only apostle to take the story of Jesus outside of the Roman territory and is credited with introducing Christianity in India.

The second time Jesus appears to the disciples, Thomas is there. Jesus knows of the conditions Thomas has put upon his believing. But instead of simply showing Thomas his wounds like he did with the other disciples, he invites Thomas to touch his wounds. Jesus meets Thomas where he is, on Thomas’ own terms, and turns his doubt into wonder.

Usually we in the church like to identify with the believing disciples. People with faith and not doubt. But, I’m guessing that every one of us has a doubt or two. Or at least some questions. For example, most of us don’t have any trouble believing in Jesus’ resurrection, but I wonder how many of us believe in The Resurrection that the Bible talks about.

How many of us believe that our actual bodies will come back to life long after we are dead? We stand here every week and recite the Apostle’s Creed and say “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life ever lasting. “ Our creed does not say that our souls go to heaven when we die, but that our bodies will one day come out of their graves. The Bible is  so clear about bodily resurrection that we’ve included it in our creeds. Here are a few examples:

Isaiah 26:19  Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

1 Thess. 4:6  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Romans 8: 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

When Jesus’ disciples hear him talk about resurrection, they must have had their doubts, because he tells them in John 5: 28: Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

I’m going to guess that many of us are a lot like Thomas when it comes to the idea of our bodies coming out of graves. It sounds more like the zombie apocalypse than our idea of heaven. Bodily resurrection is something that we have a lot of trouble understanding. And it may be something we have trouble believing. We have questions. We have doubts.

There are times in our lives, maybe like right now, when we are caught between what we think we know  and what we are called to believe. We can conceive of souls going to heaven, but the idea of bodily resurrection is really, really hard. So we are stuck between our own ideas and the Biblical witness. But, these can the times when we grow in faith and understanding. As the Christian philosopher Paul Tillich says, Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.

To grow in understanding and faith, doesn’t mean we can’t have doubts. But is does mean we have to hold our doubts lightly. We need to be willing to let the doubts give way to wonder and awe when it comes to God.

Unfortunately, it can be easier to put more faith in our own doubts than we do God’s promises. To grow in understanding, we have to let go of what we think we know and trust God. When we trust God, we venture into the realm where things just aren’t provable. Like bodily resurrection for the billions of people who have been on this earth.

When we go back and look at the story of Thomas, we can see that even though his doubts unsettled Thomas, they didn’t cut him off from Jesus. Just like Jesus entered the disciples’ room despite the locked doors and the disciples fear, he entered into Thomas’ heart and head despite his doubts.

Most of us are like Thomas. We entertain questions and even doubts sometimes. But, we don’t need to let them separate us from Jesus. Jesus will still come to us.

However, when Jesus shows up we may have to decide where to place our faith—in our own doubts or in the promises of God. Jesus may walk into in our locked up lives and invite us to explore the impossible. When he does, we shouldn’t cling to our doubts in order to prove ourselves right or feel safe and secure.  If we do, we will miss what God has to offer.

Ironically, it is Thomas, though his doubt and wonder, who takes the disciples’ faith to an entirely new level. The other disciples refer to Jesus as My Lord.  After encountering Jesus’ invitation to touch his wounds, Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God.”

While the disciples saw the wounds of Jesus as proof of resurrection of a human, Thomas’ doubt gave way to wonder allowed him to see further into the identity of Jesus. Jesus, Thomas tells us, isn’t just a man resurrected. He is God himself present in the room.  Immanuel, God with us. The doubter and the outlier reveals a new truth to the other disciples.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe, Jesus says to Thomas at the end. Coming to belief is a dynamic process of faith and doubt. It means letting our doubts be transformed into wonder at what God is doing. It’s giving up being right or absolute in order to be in relationship with God--as crazy as it may sound. We grow in faith, as Thomas did, when let go of our fear, our agenda, and our doubt and follow Christ into an unlikely yet extraordinary mystery of faith. 

We need to be willing to take Jesus’ invitation to see and touch things that make no sense. Jesus walks into our closed hearts or minds in new and unusual ways He invites us to be transformed and live in the fullness of joy.  Not just once, but over the course of our whole lives.

And so I invite you—and your questions and doubts— into the great mystery of faith…Christ has died. Christ is Risen. Christ will come again. Christ came so that you might have life and have it abundantly and eternally. That is God’s promise. You may question how that happens. But don’t doubt for a minute that Jesus is willing to come to you and invite you to live into that promise.

When Fans become Followers or When Jesus asks YOU to get the donkey

MARK 11:1-11

¹When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ²and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” ⁴They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. ⁷Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. ⁹Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
     “Hosanna!
          Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
¹⁰       Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
          Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

This sermon owes a huge debt of creative inspiration to the essay "Donkey Fetchers" by Thomas G. Long. 

Hosanna! Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem. The air is celebratory and joyous. Just like the crowd in Jerusalem, we cheer for Jesus with our palms alongside those who were welcoming him as he rode in on a young donkey. 

Found this on Facebook

This ride into Jerusalem is Jesus’ rock star moment. His reputation precedes him and everyone wants to get a glimpse of him.  Jesus’ fandom lines the street and lays down cloaks for him to walk on. Maybe it was like when the Beatles would come in concert cause women to scream and faint.  Or maybe it’s like on of those comic conventions when a Star Wars or Star Trek actor line up for an autograph.

Fans of the Beatles and Star Wars and even Jesus get passionately excited in the presence of the person that they adore.  They shout and wave their hands. Their hearts burst with love and excitement. And then they go home and tell everyone about their encounter.

But both the stars of today and Jesus have other people around them, too. They have people who take care of them. People who do things like make sure they eat, book rooms and in Jesus’ case go get the donkey. These people are on more intimate terms with the “star.” These people are more than fans. They are more like followers.

On that original Palm Sunday, we are given a story of Jesus’ fans cheering and woo-hooing along the road. They've heard about him and want to catch a glimpse of him in person. If this were today, there'd be selfies and Twitter updates. It’s great to be a fan of Jesus. To be excited about Jesus is a great experience. We should all be fans of Jesus!

But, if you are a fan of Jesus, you'll want to be prepared because at some point Jesus is going to want you to do more than just cheer.  At some point, Jesus is going to turn to you and say:

Go get the donkey.  

Jesus is going to send you into the world to do something.  And if you are ready to transition from fan to follower, you'll start after that donkey.  You will trudge into town and untie a strange, unbroken and smelly animal. When people look at you like you are crazy and ask you why you are untying the donkey, you will simply say because. Or perhaps, the LORD needs it.

Now, your donkey may not be a literal donkey like the disciples in the story. But, Jesus is calling you to the work of ministry, which involves a lot of donkey fetching. Getting a donkey means you are participating in the unglamorous or even unpopular work of ministry. But, donkey fetching is part of following Jesus.

I know we have a lot of donkey fetchers in this congregation. We have people who check the sanctuary every month, making sure the hymnals and Bible’s are arranged. We have people who buy and cut up the communion bread, people who provide the food for lunches and wash the dishes, clean closets and pull the weeds.  Thanks be to God for all the people who participate in donkey ministry.  We have a lot of followers of Jesus, not just fans.

But, notice in the story that the disciples are asked to leave the group to go get the donkey.  He says, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it."

Jesus doesn't make it easy on his followers, his disciples. He's always changing up the expectations. Different circumstances have different needs, different donkeys, if you will. The followers aren’t asked to do the same thing over and over—sometimes they feed hungry people, sometimes heal sick people, sometimes they find lodging, and sometimes they get the donkey. 

If your ministry has been the same year after year, I wonder if Jesus has placed a different donkey out in the world for you to fetch.

Sometimes we discern that Jesus is telling us to go on ahead. Maybe Jesus wants us to leave the group and connect with people in another place—people who are younger than us or richer than us or poorer than us or of a different race. Maybe it time for us to go ahead and get a different donkey--to do our ministry differently as individuals or as a group. 

Maybe our donkey call is to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us—as Jesus taught.

Maybe we are called to hands-on mission by helping with the food bank distribution or with the Salvation Army.

Maybe we are called to feed thousands of hungry people when all we have is a loaf of bread.  

Go to the village ahead of you and get that donkey, Jesus says.

And we may sigh and make excuses and resist because being a fan of Jesus is sooo much easier than being a follower. Why not experience the glory without the suffering? Why not just confess Jesus with our lips and lift our hands in praise once a week and then go on as usual?

The followers, the donkey fetchers know why. We follow for one reason alone. LOVE. We follow Jesus because first loved us. We don’t do it for the promise of reward. We don't do it so that we can exchange it someday for a crown. We do it because we feel the love of God right here and now and we want to love God back to the best of our ability. None of us follow perfectly, but we try.

As I was thinking about the difference between what it means to be a fan or a follower of Jesus, I couldn’t help but remember our baptism today. And how much donkey getting there is in parenthood.

In the coming months we will be cheering and celebrating mothers and fathers for their respective special days. Everyone is a fan of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Those days lift up the job of parenting, making it seem easy. All the mothers on the TV ads are beautiful and radiant. Dads are never stressed or out of shape. And none of them are ever changing diapers or wiping noses.

But, in many ways the journey of parenthood is like the journey of being a Jesus follower. There are “show” days. Palm Sunday and Easter or Mother’s and Father’s Days. These are days of celebration and joy.

And then there are the other days, the many days where we tend to the more mundane in what can feel like a never ending series of everyday tasks. Feeding, bathing, changing, convincing a child to sleep. Again and again and again. Here at the church, we cook and clean and print bulletins and practice readings. Again and again and again. 

Those who have raised children know that becoming a parent means that your life is no longer your own, your heart shifts. The needs of the child come first. We change our whole lives to accommodate our children.  They way we eat, sleep, exercise and even speak changes. The people we hang around with changes. Our heart shifts— and with it our lives.

And that’s the difference between a fan and follower of Jesus. A follower has experienced a heart shift. A huge piece of a Jesus follower’s heart belongs to Christ. When this happens, our whole life changes. When this happens and Jesus asks us go ahead and do some donkey fetching, we say yes. 

Following Jesus isn’t just about belting out our favorite praise songs and heading home. It's about committing to do what Jesus asks. When we do this weird things happen. We start to see Jesus in odd and sometimes broken places. When we become a follower, we gain the strength and courage to go on ahead to the next thing. Sometimes it's inspiring and rewarding. Sometimes it's mundane. Sometimes it's downright terrifying. 

But, even though Jesus tells us to go ahead, Jesus has been there already himself. There is no place that we can go where we can't find Jesus. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with Us, has fetched his share of donkeys. He did the mundane. He did the unpopular. And he called it ministry. 

Eventually, he did the unthinkable, and we call it salvation. The crowd of fans turns against him. His most devoted followers fall away from him. But Jesus goes on ahead. By the end, there are no Hosannas or palms waving. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus goes ahead to the cross on his own. The women watch from a distance. 

Why did he do it? Why did Jesus go ahead with it? Probably to fetch a few donkeys like you and me. 

Seeds of Resurrection

JOHN 12:20-33

¹³The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The hour has come, Jesus says, for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Now imagine that you have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you didn’t know anything about the resurrection and Jesus was saying these words to you what would you think Jesus’ hour of glory might be?

If you were the singer Bruce Springsteen you might think it was a return to your high school days when you were the big man or woman on campus. In his song Glory Days, Springsteen sings about people who missed the power and promise of their high school days.

If you don’t know about the resurrection you might think that Jesus being glorified means he is going to rise to power. If you only read the Old Testament, you might assume that glory means victory over those who hold you captive since in the Exodus story of the escape of the slaves from Egypt, God gains glory from Pharaoh.

If you don’t know the story of Jesus death and resurrection, you might think that when the Son of Man is glorified, he’ll be lifted up onto the shoulders of people who love and support him like a beloved coach or ball player after a big win in March Madness.

But when Jesus says, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  He means something different. He means something troubling. In his life and his preaching, Jesus challenges us to think about glory differently. Jesus says his glorification will look like this:

Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. (The Message)

Jesus is telling those who are listening that to be glorified is more complicated that winning a victory and lording over all the people. No, the Jesus way is complex and full of paradox. One tiny seed contains many fruits. To win you have to lose. To ascend you have to descend. To live you have to die. This is the way of Jesus. This is the way of resurrection. This is the way of life. It’s a pattern that we see in little ways each day of our lives and in big event that draws us to God by way of the cross.

In the story today, Jesus uses the idea of a seed to explain what will happen to him. If you think of a seed, it has life within it. Its protective shell guards the essence of life for the plant, withstanding heat and cold and different seasons. A seed is a portable, transferrable, time-traveling way of creating new life.

From the Seed Savers Exchange

I was delighted that the last time I was in the store the displays of seeds were out. After a winter of too much cold and too much snow, just the pictures of flowers lifted my spirits. There were cosmos and nasturtium and zinnias. This time of year even the lettuce and spinach are beautiful. In the cold of March, we can buy life in an envelope from the hardware store or get them shipped in the mail. Amazing.

Growth and dormancy, life and death are a cycle we go through here in Western Pennsylvania and in our lives—the flowers and the gardens die off, we cut and prune them and prepare them for winter. We descend into the dark and snow. A time when things survive, but nothing seems to grow.  And then comes spring and we perk back up. The glorious flowers and fruits and even the number of people in the sanctuary multiply. This isn’t THE resurrection of Christ. But it does give us visible reminders of resurrection.

Throughout his ministry Jesus calls us to participate in the final resurrection we should also participate in the every day resurrection. He says repent. He says let the things of this world die in order to participate in God’s world. He says whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will also be.

Jesus calls us to follow him in this cycle of dying and living. Not just in the big things, but in the little things, too. Dying in order to live not an easy journey. It wasn’t easy for Jesus. It’s not easy for us either.

The church historian Diana Butler Bass puts the idea of dying to live another way. She says that we need to let go, let it be and let something new come. But letting go is so hard. It’s soul troubling.

Sometimes we don’t have a choice. A loved one will die or we will experience an accident of illness that forces us to let go of life as we knew it. But, sometimes we are faced with the challenge of making a choice to let go of something we love or value.

In our time of advanced medical care letting go can feel irresponsible or unloving. We are racked with guilt about choosing to let go.

My family experienced this with the death of my grandmother. She was a smart, engaged and active woman for much of her life. She raised six sons after her husband died. She worked as a school counselor and was a professor of counseling at IUP. She was a matriarch’s matriarch. I, and many people in my family, were proud of her survival skills. I can remember one year that my sister said that she wanted to do the Race for the Cure in her honor.

Grandma responded, “Don’t you dare. I have survived so much more in life than breast cancer. That’s not who I am.”

But age caught up with her and little by little those of us who loved her had to let go of what we thought defined her.

She retired. She slowed down. Eventually, this fiercely independent woman who loomed so large in our minds could no longer take care of herself and so she was placed in assisted living, and then nursing care. And finally she was hospitalized. With oxygen. Then a feeding tube. But even though she was a dying old woman in a hospital bed, we hadn’t let go of who we thought she was. Even when things were hopeless. I think that some of us thought she would survive this, too.

But she didn’t.

Her hour had come and we had to let go of our idea of who she was and let her be. Simply let her be. We had to let go so that something new come into her life and ours.

Unless the seed is dead and buried, it cannot bear fruit.

In order to be bearers of God’s fruit and glorify God we have to let some things go. Jesus is very clear on this. He doesn’t use the euphemism of letting go. Jesus uses much stronger language. He says some things have to die, we have to lose our life, we have to hate life in this world.

It’s almost as if Jesus frightens himself with these words, after all he is the one facing death. 

After speaking these hard words of death and losing and hating, Jesus says, Now my soul is troubled. Jesus knows the path is hard. Jesus knows fear.  

Can you picture Jesus with his troubled soul pacing and muttering? Talking to himself saying, My soul is troubled, what should I say? Should I say save me from this hour? No! That’s why I’m here. My soul is troubled. But, this is the reason I have come to this hour. OK. I'll do it. Glory to God.

But despite his troubled soul, he knows why he is there. He knows the path he must take. In verse 32 he says, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. Jesus will be lifted up bodily as he was nailed to the cross and he will be lifted up or exalted for his willingness to go there out of love for you and for me.

Why was Jesus soul troubled? Jesus soul was troubled because there were a lot of things he had to let go of. Jesus soul was troubled because there were things and people in the world that he loved dearly. He knew he would have to let go of these things.

He had to let go of the love and support of friends and family who followed him in his ministry. Those of us who move or change jobs understand that it can be hard to leave people behind. But sometimes that’s what we are called to do. To serve Jesus we must follow him.

Jesus had to let go of his reputation. People had placed their hopes and dreams in Jesus the Messiah. They dreamed that he would be the one to lead them to overthrow the Romans and return Israel to power. When Jesus didn’t do this, the crowd turned on him.  We have to let go of worrying about what other people think of us when we follow Jesus call. To serve Jesus we must follow him.

Jesus had to let go of his comfort. The man went willingly to be tortured and executed. I don’t think any of us are at risk of being lashed and crucified. But, nonetheless, if we are to follow Jesus, we may be called to give up our comfort. We may be called to give up our security. To serve Jesus we must follow him.

Jesus had to let go of the love and support of his friends, he had to let go of his reputation, he had to let go of his comfort for God’s glory. These are just a few of the things Jesus had to let die in order for the resurrection to happen.

Jesus’ dying and rising pattern has cosmic and eternal implications. But it has daily impact as well. As Christians, we are a people of resurrection. But, we can’t be a people of resurrection unless we are also a people of death.  Our daily lives are filled with opportunities to choose between life and death. The good thing is that most days we decide between life and death metaphorically or symbolically more than literally. 

To serve Jesus means we must follow him. To bear fruit the seed must die. To glorify God, we must risk something.  As we close out our Lenten reflections. I encourage you to think about what is dying and rising in your daily life today. What is it that you must let go of and let be so that you can let something new into your life? What needs to die in order for you to bear God’s fruit? What of the here and now are you so focused on that you can’t see God’s eternity?

The answers are as unique as our DNA. It might be an addiction or a desire for power or notoriety. It might be fear of following God because God’s call might tarnish our reputation. It might mean giving up the comfort of easy living and trying something difficult. What do you need to let go of so that something new can come into your life?

We gather today grateful that the God of the universe was willing to let go. God was willing to be the seed that falls to the earth—life and mystery and being encased in human flesh.

We gather grateful that despite his troubled soul, Jesus was willing to die to his life so that you and I can enter into a life with God.

We gather grateful to God in Christ who lets go in order to all to draw all people to himself.

The seed must die to bear fruit. Christ crucified is Christ glorified. In his death there is life. Thanks be to God.