John 12:20-33
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 honour. ‘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 judgement 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.
It isn’t that easy.
How do you follow a crucified God and expect there to be no effort?
Dead Man Walking Poster
In the mid-1990s, the movie, “Dead Man Walking,” starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn was released. Sarandon won the Oscar for her portrayal of Sister Helen Prejean, the spiritual director for death row inmate, Matthew Poncelet. It was based on a true story and it showed the struggle and strain, confrontation and doubts of Sister Helen. At the movie’s end, following the funeral of Poncelet, one of his victim’s parents says, he wishes he had Sister Helen’s faith, to which she replies, “It’s not faith. It’s not that easy. It’s work.”
the advent of social media allowed many of us to reconnect with others from our past. As I reconnected through MySpace and then Facebook, with friends and schoolmates, I got comments such as, “How did you make it into ministry?,” “How did you keep your faith going?” and others. As I thought back, I have shared that it began with picking up a little book in the back of our church at Jarvis Memorial UMC called, “The Upper Room.” I read it everyday. Prayed and wrote down what I thought God was speaking to me. I had decided to follow Jesus.
I think it is a matter of choice, “do you want knowledge OF God” or “do you want to KNOW God?” You can make a nice career or hobby out of one but the other, well, you make LIFE out of it. It is a choice which narrows down your decisions and impacts the meaning of your world. To chose to be friends with someone or marry someone, has long meant excluding others. But to really KNOW God? To be in relationship to The Divine? The Holy One? Well then, you’ve got to Give Up.
If you’ve been with this the past few weeks, the words of John’s gospel will sound familiar I suspect. Back on week three, we read Mark 8:31-38 and how Jesus said, “you’ve got to deny yourself! You’ve got to lose yourself!” As we’ve seen, “GIVING UP” is a big theme for Jesus. It seems to be very near the center of the Christian faith (and nearly any other world religion).
Give Up Poster
There is some version of this passage in all four of the Gospels. Because it is such an important theme, it is likely Jesus preached on it on more than one occasion. But here is bit different structure which leads me to consider what more Jesus might be saying. It starts with these “Greeks” who want to see Jesus. We don’t know more than that though, John doesn’t even tell us if they get to see Jesus! Once the request comes from Philip and Andrew, Jesus breaks out into teaching.
The significant word here is “glorified.” The root in Greek is doxa and the root of the word “doxology,” which we sing. Like “righteousness,” it is part of the very NATURE and being of God. It is a given, that God deserves honor, that God is full of splendor and radiance. Say to a devout Jew in the first century that God is to be glorified, you’d likely get a “duh!”
But the New Testament and specifically Jesus’ words here in John make an additional point. It is one which the voice from Heaven confirms -Jesus is to be glorified too. At this time, no one has seen Jesus glorified but the voice confirms Jesus’ prayer for the Son of Man to be glorified, and the time is at hand. And so implied, is that no one had yet truly SEEN Jesus.
This seems to me an important aspect of the text and Jesus is trying to help us understand, “You can have knowledge of the Son of Man” OR “You can KNOW the Son of Man.” BIG difference and if you want to KNOW the Son of Man, to be accounted with him, to be part of the Kingdom of God, to experience and see God fully glorified...You Have To Give Up. You have to die, just like a grain of wheat; just like a seed. It is the one death you have a choice about.
Every fall, at our home, we have these massive acorns that fall on our drive way. I have never seen acorns this big until we moved to our current home. We run over them with the car and the pop and crush. I throw them down the driveway and our kitten, Zoe, chases them. Most of them all just die with nothing to show for it. But like wheat, if it fall INTO the earth and dies, AH-HA! It is reborn as a tree and produces MORE acorns!
SO what is next? Jesus points us in that very direction. Do you love your life - your achievements, your habits and hobbies, your stuff OR do you love God? Are you serving YOU or are you serving Jesus? Are you serving others? John Wesley pointed out in one of his sermons, that there is “A More Excellent Way,” but it will take effort. On Easter Sunday, I’m beginning a new series called, “Loving Large.” But there is no need to wait till then to start dying to self and living for Jesus
The Rev. Ken L. Hagler serves as pastor at Bethelview United Methodist Church (North Georgia Annual Conference). He blogs at Jedi Pastor Ken.