"The Hour Has Come"

 Meditation on John 12:20-33 for the 5th Sunday in Lent

     Scripture: "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."

***

      

      Last week, we talked about one of our biggest obstacles to living out a heartfelt faith.  The problem of busy-ness.  We fill up our days, evenings, and weekends with activities, in addition to our work and school responsibilities.  

     We keep going and going and going. 

      But the problem isn’t just our busy-ness.   It’s whether or not we want to pray, read our Bibles, go to church, and serve the Lord.

      Does it really matter if we do or not? Being a Christian definitely means different things to different people, depending on whom you ask.

      I had a childhood friend once explain to me when I was in my early 20s that she was a Christian, but religion wasn’t as important to her as it was to me.  She said she didn’t want to make it as much a part of her life as I did. 

      She didn’t feel the need to pray, read her Bible, or go to church.  She believed Jesus had died for her sins.  That was enough.

     Now she was an adult and had a career to worry about and a mortgage to pay. As a matter of fact, she didn’t even want to talk about faith and whether she went to church.  That wasn’t any of my business, though we had known each other and been close friends since we were in the 3^rd grade. 

     This very same childhood friend cut off all communication with me after I left my journalism job in 2005 to go to seminary, draw closer to the Lord, and hear what He wanted me to do.  

      I was stunned when she didn’t return any of my calls, letters or emails after that. I never imagined her enraged response to my decision to follow Christ and use the gifts He had given me for His Church.

***

      In the gospel of John, we get a pretty good picture of some of Jesus’ followers—and what stirs them to follow—and some of His enemies—and what stirs them to hate.  After Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, many people, in addition to His disciples, believe in Him and tell others about Him. 

    More and more people seek Jesus out because they hear what He has done—this sign showing He has power over life and death—a power that could only come from God. 

     The chief priests’ reaction to the raising of Lazarus, though, is anger and jealousy. They plot to kill Jesus, and they plot to kill Lazarus, whose very existence bears witness to the Christ.

     At the beginning of our gospel reading today, some people on a religious pilgrimage show up and tell Philip, one of the disciples, that they want to see Jesus.  John’s gospel calls them simply “Greeks,” which means they are probably not Jewish.

      This is the first time in Jesus’ ministry that non-Jews have come to Him seeking truth. This is a turning point in the gospel of John.

      Well, Philip doesn’t know what to do with these Greeks, so he goes to Andrew and tells him.  And then both of them go and tell Jesus.

     Christ’s response?

      “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified,” He says.

       It is time to begin his journey to the cross and complete what God has sent Him to do. Up to now, His message has been that the hour is coming or has not yet come.  Now it is clear that Jesus has come to save not only the Jews but everyone else, including the Greeks.

       Jesus tells them, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

       What He is saying is that He has to die so that from His death, others will have new life.

        Jesus knows He has to do this, but suddenly, when death looms nearer, His response is, at first, very human. 

       “Now my soul is troubled,” He says. 

        But should he call out to His Heavenly Father to save Him? 

        No. “But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

       And He is perfectly obedient to God—all the way to the cross.

*** 

       I think about my childhood friend off and on.  Sometimes I dream about her, remembering the hurt.  I wonder if she is OK because I know for many years, I was like family to her. And she was like a sister to me.

     When I wake up from those dreams, I just pray, placing my friend in God’s hands.  I don’t even try to contact her anymore.

     Christ tells us that you cannot love your life in this world and serve Him. In this passage in John, he tells us to “hate” our lives! Now He doesn’t mean that He wants us to be miserable and grumbling all the time.  He means that our motivation to do the things we do cannot be the things—or the people—of this world.  We have to be serving Him.

      If you ask me what it means to be a Christian, I will tell you that it means your heart and your life are different than if you were not a follower of Christ. 

      I will assure you that if you ask God faithfully in prayer, He will show you exactly how He wants you to live, with your specific gifts and situation.  Don’t compare your life to anyone else’s.  God has something planned just for you.  Just wait and see.

     Also, to me, being a Christian means sacrifices and suffering sometimes, because Christ suffered and was a living sacrifice for us.  How else can we carry His cross?

     If you aren’t making any sacrifices and you have never suffered to live out your faith—are you sure you are following Christ with all your heart?

      My friend was very proud of me when I was journalist. She knew me when I was a little girl who loved to write. I was proud of myself, too, and I am ashamed to say I didn’t always give God all the credit for what was, without a doubt, His gift to me. I wasn’t using it all the time for His glory. 

     With God’s help and my husband’s support, I did what God wanted, and finally found peace.  I know I made the right choice, though it was so hard to do.  

     My friend was angry and ashamed of me that I would give up a prestigious career in order to be, of all things, a more faithful Christian.

      But you have to want to serve God with all you have and all you are—at work, school, church, and play. 

      And if your friends get in the way of your spiritual journey, your drawing closer to the Lord, then maybe they aren’t really your friends. 

      If you want to serve the Lord, then you have to follow Him.

      And He was perfectly obedient to God—all the way to the cross.

    

Prayer:  Holy God, thank you for your patience with us as we continue to learn, each day, what it means to live as a Christian. Thank you for Christ’s perfect obedience to you. Forgive us when we are selfish and want to do what we want to do.  Give us ears to hear Your will for our lives and hearts to obey.  Teach us to love serving you more than anything else.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.