A Modified Mission

Text: 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 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.

~*~

A Modified Mission
A sermon preached by Dr. Jon Burnham at Batesville Presbyterian Church on April 2, 2006.

When Will Willimon was in the pastorate, he almost caused a church to split.  All he did was to suggest to one of his members, an amateur woodcarver, to carve a processional cross.  What he had in mind was something simple.  Modern and clean.  Something light that the teen aged cross bearer could carry in during the processional.  But what he got was something else.  What he got was a dramatic, heavy cross with a realistic Jesus hanging from it, blood and everything.

Some in the church managed to like it because a nice person had made it.  One of their own had crafted it.  But as it came down the aisle on that First Sunday of Lent, some worshipers in the congregation gasped.  They were upset.  The cross was too graphic.  Or it was "gory and depressing."  Or it was "too Catholic."

But it wasn't supposed to be that way.  "If I am lifted up from the earth," Jesus said, "I will draw all peoples to me."  And in case we might not understand, John explains.  "He said this to signify what kind of death he would die."  Jesus on the cross, the suffering, bleeding Jesus, was supposed to draw people to him, not drive them away.

But it's hard for us to see that.  And not only at Northside United Methodist Church.  It was hard for people that day in Jerusalem to accept it too.  They objected.  Just came right out with it.  "We've been taught since Day One that the Bible says just the opposite.  That the Messiah will live forever.  Reign triumphantly forever.  So how can you say you will be 'lifted up' in death?" What are we to do with a bloody cross? That is the challenge we face as we move toward Holy Week next Sunday.

And the question of the cross is not a new issue for Christians. For Jesus and his disciples are struggling with what to do with the cross in our reading this morning in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel According to John. There we read that some Greeks came to a disciple named Philip and formally asked to see Jesus. This is a big deal coming, as it does, after Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The question before the disciples and Jesus is this: "What are we going to do with this movement?" They could go international at this point. They could move beyond the quaint small towns surrounding Lake Gennaserat where most of their ministry has occurred until this point. For some time now Jesus has been reluctant to enter Jerusalem. Perhaps he still remembers the fate of his cousin John the Baptist who was imprisoned and gruesomely killed by King Herod. Jesus knows Jerusalem is a dangerous town for him and his disciples. The possibility of violence is very real and provides the subtext of our story today.

Philip was perhaps aware of both the dangers and the possibilities implied in the Greeks request for a formal audience with Jesus. So he does the very Presbyterian thing of consulting with someone else before making a rash decision on his own. Philip runs the Greek's request by Andrew and together they go and share the intriguing request with Jesus. The scripture doesn't mention this but I somehow smell the smoke of a fire cooking fish in the pit as Philip and Andrew and Jesus discuss the Greek's request for an audience. Against the pungent odor of smoking fish and the sound of a crackling fire Jesus lays out the game plan for the days that lie ahead.

Jesus does not mention the Greeks directly but instead refers to this time, these precious minutes in Jerusalem, as a time of great opportunity. The time has come, says Jesus. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And then he throws out one of those parables that he loves to tell. A parable whose meaning seems deep and dignified yet obscure and haunting.

"Listen carefully," says Jesus, "Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal."

Why does he do this? Think the disciples. Why does he talk about burying a grain of wheat in the ground? Sprouting. Reproducing. Holding on to life. Destroying life. Letting go. Reckless in your love. Having life forever. Real life. Eternal life. The disciples do not understand the meaning of Jesus' parable.

So Jesus gives the interpretation: "If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me." (MSG, John 12:24-26) This is not sounding good. It sounds like Jesus is stalling when he should be pressing forward. The Greeks want to speak to Jesus. The whole world is waiting at the door. And all Jesus has to do is open the door to the world. Say the word and all the world can be ours, thinks Andrew and Philip agrees. This is the way of the world. This is the way we want it to be. The church triumphant. The church all glorious. Conquerors for Christ. Conquistadors for Jesus. Taking over the world in Jesus' name. This is missions as we knew it. This is not missions as we know it today. Jesus is talking about missions as we know it today. You see, missions today means sacrifice. Mission means giving. Giving money to people we will never meet in order to satisfy a need we will never see. Mission means giving. Giving our time in going to the Gulf Coast and sweating our way through the days and tossing our way through the nights. Mission. There is nothing glamorous about the word mission today.
I wanted to be a missionary when I was five years old. I wanted to be the Tarzan figure swinging through the trees and helping the native peoples in the jungle. Jane right there by my side. And that was the vision of the mission field 40 years ago. An exotic place of passionate service for the Lord. The glorious sacrifice. As usual we get caught up in our own thoughts. Thoughts about ourselves. We'd like some glory here, Lord, if you don't mind ... we think. What about us? We ourselves and I ... we think.

And Jesus responds to the disciples and to us saying, "Well, what about me? My soul is troubled. What do you want me to say, 'God, don't let me suffer? No, this is what I am about. This is why I am here. This is my mission." The cross. We don't like to hear it. The cross. We don't like to think about it. The cross. That is why Jesus came according to him.

Then drama ... a voice from heaven. God speaks. It only happens on auspicious occasions in the gospels. An angel announces Jesus birth to shepherds in the fields. The voice of God speaks at Jesus' baptism. God's voice again at Jesus' transfiguration. And here. On this occasion. Just after the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The donkey is still over there in the stall. And God's voice comes thundering down from heaven. God says, "I have glorified my name, and I will glorify it again ... on the cross." And that is not what we want to hear. And that is not what the disciples want to hear. But that is what God says.

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to Jesus.
Jesus answered, "Look, I don't need this. I don't need to God's voice from heaven. This voice has come for your sake, not mine." And yes, God spoke to us about the cross. At this moment the world is in crisis. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. And I, when I am lifted up on the cross, will draw all people to myself.

Why did he say this? Why couldn't Jesus just talk to the Greeks and get them on board and open little franchise churches all over the Roman Empire. No blood. No sweat. No tears. Why can't we hold onto our vision of the church triumphant? Jesus, you are bringing us down, here.

Rev. Joel Osteen is pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, which is now perhaps the largest congregation in the world. According to one newspaper report Osteen's credo is "Eliminate the negative, accentuate prosperity." There is a globe hanging in the sanctuary of Osteen's church but you won't find a cross there. The cross doesn't sell. Some people may find it offensive. It reminds us of suffering. It reminds us of pain. It speaks of humiliation.

We want Jesus to be like Joel Osteen. We'd like Jesus to eliminate the negative and accentuate prosperity. We want to hear Jesus say to the disciples and to us, "Carpe diem. Seize the day." But instead of telling the disciples and us the plan. Instead of telling us how we are going to conquer the world in Jesus' name. Instead of giving us a game plan and telling us how to live it out and make it work ... Jesus talks about the kind of death he was to die.

Where do we go from here Jesus? The crowds are tuned into your message. The whole world is gathered with us here in Jerusalem. The Greeks want to speak to you, Jesus, they may want to join our movement. And instead of going up Jesus goes down. He talks about a seed falling into the dirt and dying. For if it dies, it will be reborn. It will bear fruit. It will become something more than any old dirty seed could ever hope to become. A grain of wheat gets planted into the ground and it grows up how many thousands of times taller ... and it can feed people ... lots of people ... but first the wheat must go underground. And first, so must I, says Jesus. And first, so must you, says Jesus. And first, so must we. We must go underground first. The death of life. Then comes the resurrection.

All of us want to go to heaven but none of us wants to die. But die we must if we would be reborn into something new, something better, something bigger than ourselves. For if we would follow Jesus then we, like he, must go underground. We must be planted into the earth before we can fly with wings of angels. We must lay down our lives before we can take them up again with renewed vigor and clarity of vision and singleness of mission.

The message today is both simple and hard. Die. Die. Die to your notions of what it means to be a success. Die to your notions of what it means to be a triumphant Christian soldier. Lay down your cares. Lay down your burdens. Lay them down at the foot of the cross. And then, over time, know that new life will transform you into something more than you ever imagined. Such change is possible. God's plans for you are bigger than anything you have every imagined. But first we have to die our own ideas of success.

"You are thinking too small." That is what Jesus was saying to Andrew and Philip. They wanted to talk about the Greeks. But Jesus wanted to talk about something more. Something deeper. Something more real. It is there for you and me today. This something more. This reality beyond scientific fact. God's love is stronger than death. We take up our cross with Jesus. We lay down our life with Jesus. And God will most assuredly raise us up from the dead on the third day.

Thanks be to God.
Amen.