A kernel of wheat for the life of the world W/Pastor Andrea

This Sunday Pastor Andrea kicks off the new Lenten sermon series "Facing our Last Enemy: Death and Resurrection Hope." She preaches out of John 12, where Jesus gives us an agricultural lesson about what must happen to the seed in order for there to be a harvest. "Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed," Jesus said. "But if it dies, it produces much fruit." Jesus was talking about his own death which was right around the corner. People had followed him thinking he might be the one to lift them up, up up! But instead, Jesus reminds us that the Christian life is down, down, down first. "Anyone who saves their life will lose it, Jesus said. But whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." And so, whenever believers stand at the edge of a hole in the ground, they bury their loved ones in hope... because Jesus has already gone to the grave on our behalf. And if we are joined to him in a death like his, then we will also be joined to him in a resurrection like his. 

Transcript

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Today we'll begin our series by looking at John chapter 12, and I'll invite you to rise in body or in spirit for the reading of God's Word. John chapter 12, and we're going to read verses 20 through 26. Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. Philip went to tell Andrew. Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servants will also be. My father will honor the one who serves me. This is the word of the Lord. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we come before your word. And as we heard the psalmist say earlier in the worship set, I am poor and needy. And we are poor and needy. We are poor and needy in a world where it seems that death is gaining on us. And so we come back to your word again and again, because you will have the final word and not death. And so would you help us understand what we find in this text today so that we can walk out of this place and into the world that appears to be ruled by death with the confidence that comes from clinging to Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, all of the not yet stuff is over. Jesus has been saying all this time, if you read the book of John, my time has not yet come. My hour has not arrived. And he's not saying that anymore. The hour has arrived. The clock ticking down in the background of the story is getting louder because this is the last week of Jesus' life. And people were coming all over to see Jesus. He had performed signs and miracles, his reputation was growing. The whole world is going after him, the Pharisees complained. This isn't doing us any good. But while his own did not receive him, two outsiders, these Greeks, come to Philip and they say, Sir, we would like to see Jesus. I bet they do. At this point, who wouldn't want to see Jesus? He just raised a man from the dead. He raised paralytics off their mat. He raised up all those who were ill and suffering. And if he can do that for them, maybe he can help them all rise up, rise up above their troubles and climb up out of their suffering. Maybe Jesus is the ticket to lift them up, up, up. And so my guess is many of these people who are flocking toward him wanted to see him for a very particular kind of reason. They wanted to see a very particular kind of messiah, one who comes in power, one who can shield them from all the things that they are afraid of, who will protect them from danger, who will make Israel great and make their lives better. But instead, Jesus says, Truly, truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Not only is that a very weird response to this request, but that messaging might not play as well with a crowd. That does not sound like rising up, up, up. This sounds a lot more like laying it all down, down, down. Jesus is talking about his own death, of course, which is right around the corner. The men said they wanted to see Jesus, but Jesus is telling them who it is they will see. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, but not set on a throne glorified. Not come and be in charge, glorified, not get his way glorified. This glory looks more like a single seed falling from the palm of God's hand, pushed into the ground and covered over. This glory looks like dying. So that many more seeds can be produced from the one that gave up its own life. The agricultural lesson would have been clear to them. For a seed to do what it is meant to do, it has to be given up. It has to sit down there in the earth in the dark until it swells and cracks open and sends up a shoot. But before that can happen, the seed has to give up its own life. And that is exactly what Jesus is about to do. He would become the kernel of wheat for the life of the world, the planting of God's harvest. Well, that does not sound very messianic. Death feels like a defeat, not a glory. Death feels more like loss than like gain. But Jesus is reinterpreting death. Because if their life is caught up in his life, then their death will also be caught up in his death. And then their resurrection will also be bound up in his resurrection. You want to rise up? Oh, you will, but first you have to go down in death. Go down in death with Jesus. Not just at the end of life, at the end of your physical natural life, but every day. You want to rise up with Jesus? You better go down into death daily, dying and rising. Jesus said, the hour has come, and I wonder if some of the followers were like, oh good. It's time. It's time. Are you gonna do the glory now, Jesus? Are we gonna do the glory now, Jesus? Are you gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? I mean, he'd been performing all of these signs and wonders and miracles, and the crowds were going after him in mobs. And I wonder if some of his followers were like, it's happening. It's happening! The hour has come. And they have no idea what that means. Because they were looking for glory in all of the wrong places. They thought glory was bound up in power and in control and being on top, winning, rising up above. And Jesus is telling them, You've got it totally backwards. Glory is in the dying, in the in the self-giving, in the self-sacrifice. Glory is in the losing, the laying down of one's life. Are you gonna be lifted up, Jesus? I'll be lifted up, all right. But he said that to tell them what kind of death he was about to die on a cross. This is how you participate in his kingdom. This is what it looks like to follow Jesus and be united to his life. It does not look like getting your way. It does not look like putting yourself first. It does not look like being in charge. It does not look like a trophy case of winds in your life, it does not look like an accumulation of possessions, it does not look like establishing your own comfort and protection in your life. What happens to a seed that gets protected and encased in plastic? Nothing. How do we participate in the kingdom? It looks an awful lot more like losing. Like letting go of the grip that you have on your own life and opening up your hand and letting it fall and giving it away for the life of the world that is around you. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, Jesus says. Well, anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Now we don't hate our life as though it's not a gift from God. Our lives are gifts from God. What he's saying is we're to hate all the ways that the world wants to cheapen our life. By chasing after the wrong things, by centering ourselves to the exclusion of our neighbor, and by prioritizing comfort over risk, and by self-protection instead of self-sacrifice, and by prioritizing being superior to others instead of serving others, power over solidarity with those who are suffering. What does a seed do? It doesn't dominate in order to multiply itself, it dies. You know what kind of seeds dominate to multiply? Invasive species. And they're bad for things. But the kind of seeds that produce a true harvest, they die. Jesus would have us to die and be buried in order to get a harvest of those who would be like him, all of us, kernels of wheat in God's kingdom. And it is because Jesus was willing to become like us and then to be buried in a grave in order to create this harvest. It's because Jesus was willing to become flesh that we discover that death is actually not the worst thing that can happen to us. And I think we need that reminder today. I know I need that reminder today. On Thursday of this past week, we had my mother-in-law's funeral. She took a fall in her home and never returned to it. She died exactly two weeks later. I think we have a picture. Here we are on Thursday. Getting ready to bury mom. Ruth Ann Bolt. And I included this picture because you can see the hole there. Here she is being this colonel of kingdom wheat being carried in a box, her sons and grandsons carrying her in death the way that she had carried them in life. And so many of you have stood in this same place. Some of you very recently. Kathy Joe just lost her mom. Where did you go, Kathy Jo? Also a Ruth. We both lost a Ruth, a mom Ruth, in the last little bit, almost around the same time, because I know I couldn't go to your visitation because we were dealing with all the things. But others of you have stood in this same place, maybe very recently, or maybe it's not recent on the calendar, but the dirt feels fresh, like it's in a pile next to the grave. You've stood out in some cemetery at the graveside of someone that you have loved deeply, and you have carried them to the edge of a hole in the ground. And you're looking down into that darkness, and it's dug into the earth. And for someone who does not know Jesus, looking down into that hole, what do they see down there? A final resting place, the end of the line, yet another victim to our last enemy. Sometimes people will, when I do graveside services, they'll walk away from the graveside service without lowering the casket down. And I do not like that. When I can get my way, I say, put it down. I can't always get my way. But I say, put it down. And so I was glad on Thursday when they got out their tools and they put that handle on the crank and they they started turning that crank and they lowered mom's body into the ground while we watched. Down, down, down. Down, down, down. You can see there's still snow there, uh, because that was sort of a shady area where those trees were. But if you remember, it's hard to remember today, but last Thursday was warm and it was sunny, and there was a bright blue sky, and there was a mild breeze, and I was standing there with the sun on my face, and I could, I could literally smell the deadness of winter coming back to life in the over-isile cemetery. And I took in a deep breath and I turned to my niece Micah and my daughter Annika, and I said, It smells like resurrection. And that probably sounds like a weird thing to say in a graveyard, as we are about to walk away and leave mom behind in a hole that had been dug specifically to hold death. But I said it because I was staking my claim, my Christian claim on God's promises. I was saying them out loud. I said it because I believe in the resurrection and in the life everlasting. These are my fighting words. I'm standing in the territory that seems claimed by our last enemy, and I wanted to let death know loud and clear mom is in Christ. You have lost your sting. Our eyes of faith for believers see something different in a graveyard. That hole, we see a harvest field, not a cemetery, a harvest field. And mom being planted, lowered down, planted in the seed like a ground, waiting in the dark for the day of resurrection, awaiting the day when the Lord of the harvest is gonna show up now in power and glory. You better believe it. In power and in glory, he's gonna say to all who belong to him, Up, arise, up, up, up, all of you who went down, down, down. Get up. There is nowhere we can go that Christ has not already been. And that even includes death. That even includes the grave. In a few weeks on Holy Saturday, that quiet day between the agony of the crucifixion and the resurrection joy of Sunday, we remember that Jesus, by being put in a tomb himself, has reclaimed the graves of all those who believe in him. He's reclaimed them. All the people who have joined him down, down, down in the grave in faith. Do you not know, Paul says, that all of you who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death? All of you, if you have been united with him in a death like his, down, down, down, then you shall also be united with him in a resurrection like his, up, up, up. And so we buried my mom in the ground like a seed on Thursday. And we will do the same for Andy Dykstra tomorrow. And it appears that a day is coming much sooner than we would like when we will have to do the same with our own Laura Whaley. Our beloved sister, our friend, our fellow staff member. I have another picture here for you. There she is. We did some filming at Laura's house at the beginning of this month. Stay tuned for that. But afterwards I asked James, I said, Can you pull a still shot from the video that we took? And he pulled this, and I love this picture. Some of you might know this already, and some of you are hearing it for the first time in church. But during her last hospital stay, Laura was told that her cancer journey is most likely coming to an end. Not because she has defeated cancer, but because her body cannot fight it anymore. And so the doctors told her it's time to consider hospice and told her to make some of her final arrangements. Last week, Monday, I sat across from my friend and I opened up a new document on my computer, and I couldn't believe that I had to type Laura's funeral at the top of it. And this is hard news among us because Laura has given up so much of her life among us. Laura is always multiplying. She's probably one of the best artists I know, one of the best designers I know, but she put art in this church and sanctuary design into the hands of the people. She opened up her hands and she let her own gifts fall among us. She made it communal instead of something for her to be great at, which she could be. She could have done it alone and been great. She didn't do that. She broke open her life and shared it in the community. And she would write these long, meaningful cards to people, especially the kids who have put art into the art gallery, telling them what God showed her and taught her in each and every piece. And she did that so there would be a great harvest among us of theologically imaginative artists. Instead of only one Laura Whaley, she wanted a harvest of that among us. So our life at Madison Church is different because of Laura. It's more prayerful and more hopeful and more beautiful and more compassionate because she has been so open-handed with us, letting the kernel of her very life crack open here with us. So I'll share more from her next Sunday, a note for the church next Sunday. But in the meantime, I'm just really grateful for Laura's testimony among us. And part of her testimony that I am grateful for is that she told me she doesn't really resonate with the battle language that people use when it comes to cancer. Some do, and that's fine. She does not. She's like, I don't resonate with the warrior sort of fight language, kick cancer's butt language. She says, and I'm gonna quote Laura here directly humans were not wired to fight death. Jesus did that for us so that we don't have to. I will fight for you, the Lord says, and all you have to do is be still. End quote. All you have to do is be still. How still? As still as a seed in the ground. As still as a casket that has been lowered down into the darkness, as still as a tomb on silent Saturday, waiting for life to swallow up death once and for all. And this has been a difficult journey for Laura. Some of you are guests or you're visiting and you're going, who's Laura? We love her. We love Laura. Yes. But if you've walked this journey with Laura, you know that it has seemed on the on the outside, it seems like it has mostly been down, down, down. Down, down, down. But ah, see, behold, I tell you a mystery because Laura knows that the way down is up in Christ. The way down is up in Christ. She has not tried to grasp at her life. She has not tried to hold it tight in her grip in order to not lose it. She knows that anyone who loves their life will lose it. But anyone who loses their life for my sake, Jesus said, will find it. And Laura, I hope you hear this right, has been a very faithful loser. A very faithful loser among us, giving up of her own life, giving her life away to other people, not just in these last few months as she's been getting sicker, but really as a lifelong habit among us. I think of the song we sang Blessed are those who died to live, who give their whole life away to Jesus. That is What she has done. And so for her, with her life just caught up in Jesus, death is not defeat. It is glory. It is glory. And we don't say that to gloss over death or lighten the situation that we face with her. Death is real. And Christ has entered it on our behalf. And so I'm asking all of you, Madison Church, all you kernels of wheat, this harvest field of Jesus planting. I'm asking you to open up your hands and crack open the seed of your life for the life of the world. If you protect your own life like a seed in a little piece of plastic, guess what happens? Nothing, nothing gets multiplied. But Jesus is giving us a recalibration of what it means to be in the kingdom. It means that because he was the initial seed of that planting, we all become part of his harvest. And we don't have to hold on to our lives. We can give them away because more seeds will come after us. Be losers of the highest order, Madison Church. Do not be afraid of our last enemy. Yes, death prowls around and boasts in our face day by day. Every time you stand in a cemetery, it's like death is boasting in your face. Every time there's a casket in front of the church, death says, I have won again. That is not true. We can take a deep breath. And we can say to our last enemy, I'll tell you what, it smells like resurrection here. It smells like resurrection, church. Let the church say hallelujah! Let's pray. Indeed, Jesus. Jesus has come, and you have died, and you have rose again, and you will come back again. We journey this pilgrim journey as those who cling to that hope even when it is so difficult to do it in the face of our last enemy. He does prowl around and haunt our lives and breathe in our faces. Lord, we want to take a deep breath and say, we smell the resurrection. We want our lives to be so bound up in you that we are bound up in your death and also then bound up in your resurrection. God, give us hope when we need it. It can be so hard to hold on to at times and yet you are our anchor. Would we cling to you in times of trouble? Would you be the firm foundation beneath our feet? Even as we sing this once again, thinking of all those that we have stood at the edge of their gravesides, or those that we will stand at the edge of their gravesides, it's it's an act of resistance to sing in the face of our enemy, Christ, my hope in life and death. So I pray that you would remind us of this hope daily. That you would walk with us in the dying and in the rising, that we would lose our lives in order to save it, not try to save our life and lose it. We pray for miracles in Laura Whaley's life. Yes, we know what the doctor said, but your arm is not too short. You raise people from the dead. We pray for grace and for mercy in this journey that she's taking. I pray that you would give her peace that passes all understanding. And for all of us who sit here mourning these losses, may we walk out of here on stronger legs than what we came in on, because we know that death has been swallowed up in victory. So we do say, Hallelujah, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.