March 17, 2024 – Lent 5B

“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

Spring is a planting season – we start the process of planting the things we will need for food, and planting things we want to enjoy like flowers and shrubs.  Jesus uses this image of planting by saying, in essence, that if a grain of wheat remains on the stalk, it will remain just a grain of wheat.  But if it falls, and dies, and is planted in the earth, it will bear much fruit.  This image foreshadows Jesus’ death, describing it as both necessary, and life giving.  For through his death, by being lifted up on the cross, he will draw all people to himself, and will continue to bring many to faith as his disciples continue to share the story.  Through sharing the story of his death and resurrection, the news will grow and faith will grow as well.

But if our faith does not compel us to respond to that gift, to plant the seed with others, then we are a grain of wheat that just remains a grain of wheat.  You see my friends, for our lives to be as fruitful as they can be, we must die to this life.  Jesus says “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate (die to this life) their life in this world will keep it for eternal life”?  What could this mean, to die to this life? The truth is parts of us are dying all the time. You probably just lost half a million or so cells just listening to this sentence. We all lose about 100,000 cells per second. But just a many cells are being reproduced at the same time. This reality, constant dying and experiencing new life is true in the spiritual and emotional life as well. Spiritually speaking, “we must die and be raised to new life every day.”  Our failure to let go and let things die is a primary spiritual disease, for new life can’t come without some death. The failure to forgive leads to death of relationship while anger and bitterness ravage the spirit like a cancer.  Holding on to regrets strangles hope before it can lift us to new life. Trying to control events and other people leads to frustration, excessive stress, and exhaustion.  Forgiveness and letting go of control are spiritual exercises in the art of dying so that new life may abound.

My friends our lives are filled with difficult life and death decisions – whether these decisions are ones we face individually, or with our families, or even our friends. None of us are promised anything in this life regarding life, property, or the pursuit of happiness – no matter what each political party tries to sell you. But Jesus promises us eternal life. And what happens in between can be heart wrenching. And, Christ is not calling us to go it alone – he continues to come to us – each time we gather (wherever two or three are gathered) as a community – and whenever we go to Jesus in prayer. 

As we gather at the altar, we will take bread, bread that was made from so many grains of wheat. We will eat that bread just like Jesus did in the Upper Room with his disciples. As we consume that bread, we take Christ into us, we receive the forgiveness of sins, and also the promise of life and salvation. But we also remember that each time we die to this life – in ministering to others and considering the needs of others before our own – in doing that we have NEW LIFE.  And when we die FROM this life, we too will have new life, for eternity.

Pastor Dave

March 18, 2024 – Grace

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:18-25

“If you fail to take seriously what the Bible says about who we are and about the nature of the world we live in, you will live with unrealistic expectations, you’ll be naive when it comes to temptation, and you’ll find yourself regularly surprised and disappointed. Let’s examine what the Bible says about us and our world in this period of time between the “already” and the “not yet”. (“New Morning Mercies”, March 18; Paul David Tripp)

Paul uses three phrases to capture the brokenness of our world: “subjected to futility” (v. 20), “bondage to decay” (v. 21), and “in the pains of childbirth” (v. 22). You and I live in a fallen world. For all of the plans we may try to make in this life, odds are things just don’t work right no matter how hard you try. There will always be some kind of frustration as we live in a world that is not just operating as we would hope.

Something is always dying: our friends, our relationships, our dreams, our flowers and gardens. And along with the death that is all around us, there comes the suffering we try so hard to avoid. Under the weight of all this brokenness, Paul says that this world is “groaning together” (v. 22).

It is G-d’s grace alone that has the power to protect you from the evil outside you and to deliver you from the evil inside you. God’s grace will always be greater than you could ever have imagined it would be.

Pastor Dave