Rude Jesus
This is the message I shared with St. Timothy Lutheran Church this past Sunday. The sermon was slightly modified for St. Mark's. The scripture was John 12:20-33.
Agnus Day
In today's gospel, once again we see Jesus acting in an
unexpected way. Unlike the previous weeks of grumpy, angry Jesus, today Jesus
just seems to be rude.
John tells us about some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. They
were in Jerusalem for the feast, so they were not pagans. They were likely
Jewish proselytes, converts to Judaism. First they talked to Philip and then
Philip talked to Andrew and then Philip and Andrew talk to Jesus.
Jesus responded to the Greeks by saying, "The hour has
come for the Son of Man to be glorified..." What in the world does that mean and how does it
have anything to do with the Greeks' desire to meet with Jesus? Prior to this,
in John's gospel, Jesus kept saying that his hour had not yet come, even when
his life was threatened.
As far as we can tell from scripture, Jesus totally ignores
these Greeks and they disappear from the scene. After verse 23, we don't hear
any more about them. It seems that Jesus' words were addressed to Andrew and
Philip, but there was likely a larger audience that may have included the
Greeks who had wanted to see him in the first place.
Jesus spells out for all to hear that death awaits him. If
anyone wants to follow Jesus, they too can expect a kind of death in order to
be faithful followers. Jesus teaches that in the kingdom of God, death brings
life, hating life in this world is the way to eternal life. If one serves Jesus
he or she must follow him and this will result in the Father honoring them.
Couldn't Jesus have answered Andrew and Philip with a simple
yes or no regarding the Greeks' request? We might paraphrase Jesus' answer in
this way, "If you want to see me, first look down into the dirt; then look
up to the cross."
This begs the question
for us today, like the Greeks, "Do we really want to see Jesus?" We
see him teaching children, feeding the multitudes, healing and driving out
demons. But do we want to see Jesus in his glory--on the cross?
It is easy for us to see Jesus in the faces of fellow
worshippers, but what about seeing Jesus in the faces of the homeless and
hungry, the suffering and the dying? What about seeing Jesus in the face of
someone on death row? Seeing Jesus means all this and so much more.
Those who are going to Honduras have a unique opportunity to
see Jesus in the faces of the poor, the abused, the needy in ways the rest of
us don't have. They will return to us as different people. An encounter with
God through service to others turns one's world upside down. In this way, our
lives more truly reflect the upside down kingdom of God.
Is our congregation a place where unbelievers and outsiders
can come and see Jesus? Do we have the skills to bring the unchurched to Jesus
for a conversion experience? The 21st century is much like that of the early
church. We can no longer assume that people have been brought up in church.
There are those who have never been inside the doors of a church.
We do not need a theological degree to simply tell people our
stories of what God has done in our lives. However, we must be careful about
the language we use when we are talking to the unchurched.The longer we have
been following the Lord, the harder it can be to speak in a way outsiders can
understand. It's hard to drop the churchy language or churchspeak that we know
so well that others do not understand. It is difficult, but I challenge you
this week to practice telling your story of what Christ means in your life,
what this congregation means to you and how your life is different because of
Jesus without cliches and churchy words.
We have experienced the great good news of what God has done
for us and it is news worth telling well. As we draw closer to Easter, let us
prepare ourselves to tell the world the greatest story ever told, that a dead
man got up and walked and ascended to heaven to draw the whole world to himself
and to his Father. Amen
Resources:
Cousar, Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Guide Based on the
NRSV-Year B.
Fred B. Craddock, Preaching Through the Christian Year B.
John Fairless and Delmer Chilton, The Lectionary Lab
Commentary
Gail R. O'Day, The
New Interpreter's Bible: Volume IX John
Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical
Notes.
Sundays and Seasons
Comments