As we continue the journey toward Good Friday (and the promise of Easter beyond), we will look at another of the times that Jesus speaks with his disciples about his upcoming death and resurrection, and what that will mean for them and the world.
The main sermon text this week is the Gospel reading, John 12:20-33 (read it here). Unlike last week’s reading that contained the well-known John 3:16, today’s reading doesn’t really contain catchy phrases that make for good memes, but it does have some powerful images you will recognize, even if you didn’t recall the exact words.
- In verses 23-24, Jesus uses the image of a kernel of wheat, which is only one seed, but if it dies, produces many seeds.
- Verse 25: Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- And, in a passage that is comforting because we can relate to it so well, Jesus acknowledges in verse 27 that his soul is troubled. Yet, instead of asking God to save him from it, he recognizes that this difficult hour is what he was sent for.
If you are the kind of person who pays attention to sermon titles (and I’m really not, so coming up with a title is often the most challenging part of a sermon for me), you’ll notice that none of these things relate to the title.
Instead, it is from the Old Testament reading for today, Jeremiah 31:31-34 (read it here).
It is a prophesy of the world when God sends his messiah, who we know to be Jesus. The coming of the messiah is seen as a time of a new covenant, or promise.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
In both the Gospel reading and the Old Testament reading, God makes it clear that the messiah brings not just an adjustment or an improvement to our life, but a complete renewal.
The first time I remember being introduced to the word “covenant” was in sixth-grade Sunday School. It was the topic in the curriculum for several weeks, and wasn’t successful…the teacher’s lack of interest in the topic nearly equaled that of the students.
What I remember was a kind of confused, legalistic explanation of a contract with mutual obligations. In hindsight, I can see some of the thought behind it, but it didn’t work at the time.
Much later, in my first year of seminary, we were introduced to covenant discipleship groups. They are a take on the Wesleyan class meeting, using a model where several people band together and agree to do certain things to build their personal relationship with Christ. They then meet together weekly and simply go through the covenant, both challenging and supporting one another.
While that can sound legalistic, in practice it becomes intensely personal. As a member of the group, you learn a lot about accountability, trust and vulnerability. Though that particular model isn’t what is currently trendy in the Global Methodist Church, I’ve invited leaders of both churches to consider it as one possible option as we move toward building discipleship groups.
Those two encounters with the concept of “covenant,” though, play into how I understand the Jeremiah passage from today’s reading.
God says, though the prophet, that he will form a new covenant unlike the old covenant. While God was faithful to the old covenant, the people were not.
In the new covenant, God says, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Legalism is replaced by relationship. Doing God’s will in a spirit of obedience is replaced by doing God’s will in a spirit of love. Reciprocal legal obligations are replaced by a mutual desire for building up.
There will be no longer a need to teach about God, for God’s presence will be so infused into the life of people that it requires no explanation. In the same way that no one has to teach us to breathe, no one will need to teach about worshiping and following God.
A friend asked me recently what I thought the church would be like in heaven, and I said I thought there would be no organization identifiable as “the church,” as all of life would be focused on the worship of God. I don’t have any solid basis for that, but I think it’s suggested in Revelation 21:22 when it is said there will be no Temple in the new Jerusalem, as God himself will be the Temple.
What Jesus said about the kernel of wheat multiplying by dying was certainly true in his case; his death was the key that unlocked the power of the resurrection.
But his wasn’t the only death that served to spread the news of salvation across the world. Again and again throughout Christian history, people who have died for their faith have gained more for the kingdom through their death than through their life.
In the second century, a Christian writer named Tertullian wrote in defense of the Christian faith against Roman persecution and made a statement usually translated along the lines of “The blood of the martyrs in seed.”
A less pithy translation is “We multiply when you reap us. The blood of Christians is seed.” In either case, his point is the same as what Jesus meant when he said what he did about the kernel of grain.
Fortunately, we live in a time and place where the extreme sacrifice of death is seldom required of the faithful Christian.
You don’t have to look far, though, to find examples of Christians who have suffered in careers, relationships or reputation for taking a stand for the Christian faith.
You also don’t have to look far to find examples of people who have gained from taking stands that claim to be Christian but in fact have more to do with gaining human favor than standing up for Biblical truth.
Sometimes faithfulness does bring immediate blessings and benefits, but not always; we should always be quick to question our own motives when our “Christian” stand is immediately popular.