by Rev. Carole Horton-Howe
Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, 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. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
—John 12:20-33 (NRSV)
It has been about a year since the world changed so profoundly. Even if our lives have stayed relatively safe and stable, current news and the social unrest of this past year have probably left us with the same request as the Greeks who approach Phillip in today’s gospel: “We wish to see Jesus.”
I had a wonderful New Testament professor in seminary named Greg Riley. I can’t say enough about him. He had encyclopedic knowledge and was an extraordinary teacher. And what he taught us was that it wasn’t a coincidence that immediately after some Greek men came asking to see Jesus that he told his disciples that his earthly ministry was ending. The Greeks were a special people who were known to be seekers, who sought out wise men and wanted to learn from them. And there was something else about them. They traveled widely. And so what Greek people learned they took with them and shared it wherever they went.
Isaiah prophesied that God would make Israel as a light to the nations that God’s salvation might reach to the ends of the earth. Jesus saw in these men as fulfillment of that prophesy and instruments of God. And Jesus’ embodiment of God’s love, mercy, justice and compassion were now on a trajectory throughout the world. So this was the time, his time, God’s time.
Jesus is troubled at the thought of this transition. But notice how quickly he sets those troubling thoughts aside. There is no night in the garden of Gethsemane here. The Jesus of the Gospel of John quickly discards the idea of appealing to God to let the cup pass from him. He is confident of what will happen. Life comes from death. Fruit grows from seeds that die in the earth.
Knowing when it’s time - time to let go, time to move on, time to move forward - is a great challenge. What can this gospel teach us about letting our old stories die and turning away from the safe path?
Rachel Naomi Remen talks about a literal new path. She purchased a home that needed significant repairs both inside and out. She had a choice about where to put the entrance to her home. She could put in a sidewalk that lead straight from the street up to the front door. Or she could create a path that wound around the side of her house, past an ancient oak and a spot where you could see an impressive view of the land behind her and then a few steps up to the door.
She consulted with architects who told her she should definitely choose the first option. It’s a basic principle of architecture, they told her, that people need to see where they are going from the start. The winding path to her door would not be welcoming, especially to first time visitors. In spite of their advice, Rachel chose the curving way. Thinking about it now, she says, knowing where we are going encourages us to stop seeing and hearing and allows us to fall into routine. No seed dies and no life begins.
But uncertainty of not knowing where we are going fosters a sense of aliveness and appreciation of what is around us. If you look back on some of the goals you’ve had and the paths you took to them, you might discover that the real goal your choices led you to was something entirely unexpected, something you didn’t even know existed when you started out. Important decisions in our lives – especially that most haunting question about what is God’s purpose for each of us -- are often complicated and have competing interests. We sometimes go around in circles trying to push away fear or fantasy.
I think we can take direction and strength from Jeremiah who says essentially that what really matters is relationship. Covenant with God and with one another means to simply love and live in the present moment, not holding on to a path that probably didn’t resemble what our memories have made of it anyway.
The very reason we are born, our greatest blessing or our way to serve may come into our lives looking like a safe, predictable choice. But God may have a new truth for us that we can’t imagine for ourselves and can’t see if we stay on a safe path.
Jesus is talking about a life of risk. We must be willing to die to self knowing that only by doing so will we have true, eternal life. Those who see their lives as all important will ultimately lose them by separating themselves from God. Only those who set aside the lives they’ve created in this world will have life in the next one.
Are we willing to take a risk? What would dying to our lives look like for each of us? What would seeing Jesus be like? He tells us but he speaks in metaphors. We must die as a seed dies, that we must set aside our lives in this world with all the security and comfort that we have worked so hard to accumulate.
We are coming to the end of Lent. The holiest week of the year begins next Sunday with Palm Sunday. On that day we commemorate Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the Sunday after that we will celebrate his resurrection. But the most amazing part is what happens in between. They are those very events in which seeds of life are planted. These are the events that form the core of our faith, the times in which we can so clearly see Jesus, when we encounter him in the most exquisite experiences of God’s love for the world.
Until now, Jesus has been telling his disciples and many others that his time has not yet come. Until now. Jesus who lived as one of us, suffered as one of us, loved as one of us, will lose his life. Jesus is preparing to make his way home and make a way for all of us as well so that our wish is granted and we will indeed see Jesus. Amen.