“Death and Exaltation”
5 Lent B –
John 12:20-33
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“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.”
This is such a simple statement. It is completely obvious on the face of it. Well, DUH! we might say, that just basic biology. But in these simple words Jesus tells us all we need to know about what Jesus is to undergo during Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter. And all we need to know about stewardship
John Rhode tells a story about his Uncle Oscar, a wheat farmer in
What does it take for wheat to grow and bear fruit? It takes seed. It takes a farmer to take the seed and put it in the earth. It takes the right soil, ample rainfall, proper cultivation.
Let me state that a bit differently. For wheat to grow and bear fruit requires our acknowledgement and thanksgiving for the gifts of God’s creation, it takes people and their faith. It also takes dying and living.
You see, for all of this to work, that seed must die. There is the dark, damp soil, the seed cover is split open, not by the farmer’s hand but by the new life that was always inside that seed, waiting for death to come so that young sprout can drive toward the light and the air, rising from death to a new and more fruitful life.
But if this is all true, if we are grains of wheat, and if we are to grow to a fruitful new life, there is a dying that comes before our living. A death that comes before new life. That’s what Jesus is telling us today about himself. He is pointing in the story of the grain of wheat to his own death on the cross and the new life to come.
The amazing thing is that as Jesus is telling the disciples about the wheat, Lazarus, who had only days earlier raised from the dead is right nearby. People who had see this happen or who had heard about it from others are gathering in a great crowd to see this Lazarus who was dead but now lives and to see this Jesus who gave him new life.
Lazarus the seed, had been well-planted in his tomb. Until new life stirred in him at the words of Jesus to “Come forth!”. And those people present as he came forth had to complete what Jesus began by removing his grave cloths, like farmers cultivating away a choking weed from a new shoot. Behold, Lazarus was free to live through the words and command of Jesus. And he is bearing fruit as others, like the Greeks in verse 20, come to see what Jesus has done.
You are such seeds as God has planted on this earth. You are precious and unique seeds. So precious and so special that God has called you by name. Today, our narthex and our bulletin are covered with your names, the names of the seeds that God has planted here at Christ Lutheran. Some of you are members. Some of you are friends of the congregation. Some of you are employees. We did our best to make sure that everyone’s name is listed. Because God has planted you in this place.
Stewardship is the cultivation and the practice of the new life we receive through Jesus Christ. In a sense, stewardship is itself a first fruit of that new life. How can you be free to live? How has God called you by name to new life?
What does that have to do with seeds and dying? Remember that in our baptism we are called to die daily to sin and rise to newness of life. It also a dying to and of self , a cracking open of the hard shell of our self-ishness so that the selfless Spirit of Christ that was placed in each of us in our baptism is a totally free gift.
Stewardship is the active use of God’s gifts to proclaim and to be Christ to others. It is the joyous freedom that fills us with the need to give for no other reason than because God has done great things for us. Not because we should or ought to, but because we want to. We want to because we’re so happy, so thankful, so glad that we want others to share this joyous new life. This is life flowing and bursting and streaming out of death.
Everyone’s looking for meaning in life. How about looking for new life? Then share the gifts God has given you with others time, talent and treasure.
In the last five years we have started numerous new ministries for people of all ages in this congregation, neighborhood and community. From Elder care to child care and every age in between. From the unchurched to the grieving.
Every ministry at CLC is a packet of wheat grains. The names on the posters are grains of wheat. Some of these grains are already planted, some are waiting to find fertile soil.
But these ministries don’t happen without cost, without death. But the new life will not appear if we leave the wheat in the granary. The planted seeds will not grow without water, fertilizer and attention.
Too often we approach stewardship like it’s a burden. We often say, “Hey, you can give a little more, it won’t kill you.” Jesus today brings us up short. Jesus tells us today it better kill you, if you want new life. “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.”
On the posters many of you passed in the narthex are the names of people here at Christ Lutheran who are currently sharing their God-giftedness with others through the life of God’s church. At the bottom of most of those posters are blank lines with the words “Your Name Here” pointing to the line. Go ahead write your name down.
That blank line is your invitation to experience the new life Jesus offers through stewardship of time and talent. Next Sunday, you’ll receive a chance to experience new life through financial stewardship in support of the ministry of Christ Lutheran Church.
And as we move closer to Jerusalem and the Cross, listen for the stewardship connection between the life, death and resurrection and your daily call to share time, talent and treasure in the name of Christ and for the glory of God. Amen.
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