Sermon Tone Analysis

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!
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
!
Year B
!!!!!!  
!!!!!! April 6, 2003
 
* *
*TITLE:  *   I Hate My Life!
 
 
*SERMON IN A SENTENCE: *   Christ calls us to lose our life in his service, and promises that the Father will honor us if we do.
*SCRIPTURE: *   John 12:20-33   
 
*SERMON:     *
 
Some Greeks came to see Jesus.
We wonder why John would mention this little detail.
It was near the end of Jesus' life.
The chief priests and Pharisees had given orders for his arrest.
Jesus had come into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, to the cheers of the crowd.
Mary had anointed his body for burial.
Then, John says, some Greeks came to Philip, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
When Philip and Andrew told Jesus that the Greeks wanted to meet him, Jesus responded by saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
That seems pretty mysterious, but here is what was happening.
First of all, the coming of these Greeks signals that the whole world is coming to follow Jesus.
Until this moment, God had been the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but not the God of the whole world.
The arrival of these Greeks near the end of Jesus' life said that the exclusive relationship that the Jews had always enjoyed with God would soon be exclusive no more.
It would no longer be, "For God so loved Israel," but "For God so loved the world."
Secondly, when Jesus said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified," he meant that the time had come for him to die.
Later, he would ascend into heaven and resume the glory that he had enjoyed from the beginning, but his pathway to that glory would be through the cross.
By way of explanation, Jesus gives this little parable:  "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."
That is an interesting image, isn't it!
The grain of wheat that says, "No, no!  Don't put me in the ground!
Don't bury me!  Don't let me die!" never becomes anything.
But the grain of wheat that allows itself to be buried so that it sprouts -- losing its original form and substance -- becomes a plant that produces much grain.
The irony is that it is from the death of the grain of wheat that new life is born.
The irony is that it is in dying on a cross that Jesus will bring new life to the world.
And then Jesus tells us that what is true for him is true for us as well.
He says, "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
In the other Gospels -- the Synoptic Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke -- Jesus tells his disciples that they must take up their cross and follow him.
In this Gospel -- John's Gospel -- Jesus puts it this way:  "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
When he says that, he is speaking to us.
He is telling us that if we love our life we will lose it, but if we hate our life we will keep it.
We have to be very careful with this verse, because it would be very easy to turn it into something very different from what Jesus intended.
There are plenty of people around who hate their lives.
They say, "I'm not rich enough!" -- or "I'm not thin enough!" -- or "I'm not smart enough!" -- or "I'm not popular enough!"
And so they conclude, "I hate my life!"
That is almost a teenage mantra, isn't it!
I hate my life!
But it is hardly limited to teenagers.
There are plenty of people who hate their lives -- because they hate their job -- or hate their boss -- or hate getting up in the morning -- or hate having too many kids and too little money -- or whatever!
But that is hardly what Jesus was talking about.
In fact, that is the opposite of what Jesus was talking about.
People who complain that they aren't rich enough or thin enough or something-or-other enough are really saying, "I don't have enough!" -- or "I'm not pretty enough!" -- or "My life's no fun!" -- so "I hate my life!"
The solution, as these people would see it, is to be richer, thinner, more popular, sexier, more athletic -- to have more of the things that would make them more attractive to other people -- to have more of the things that would make their lives fun!
But Jesus wasn't saying that we should be self-centered like that -- craving more stuff -- wanting more popularity -- wanting to be the star of the show.
When Jesus said, "and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life," he was talking about people who were the opposite of self-centered -- the opposite of craving popularity -- the opposite of star-power.
He was talking about people who care so little about the things of this world that they can follow in Jesus' footsteps -- people who live their lives in service to others -- people who make sacrifices for the cause of Christ -- people whose lives are centered on giving instead of taking.
I have friends like that.
Don and Bridgett are missionaries to Haiti.
In their youth, they felt that God was calling them to Haiti, one of the world's truly impoverished, unpleasant places.
They worked their way through school to prepare themselves for life on the mission field.
When I first met them, almost thirty years ago, they had completed their education, and were in the process of trying to master the dialect that most of the people speak in Haiti.
Once they had done that, they went to Haiti, where they raised their family.
They consider Haiti to be their home now.
At least one of their children has just completed his training and has rejoined them in Haiti to help them in their work -- and ultimately to take over their work when they can no longer do it.
I have often thought that I would like to visit Don and Bridgett in Haiti.
They are such wonderful people, and I love them.
I have not made that visit, however, and I think that my hesitance to do so stems from my understanding of the way that they live there.
They have electricity part of the time.
They have phone service part of the time.
They have running water part of the time.
It is hot in Haiti -- really hot -- and I am sure that their house is not air conditioned.
They had to home school their children.
By my standards, they live in primitive, difficult circumstances.
The truth is that I don't want to go to Haiti even for a visit, because it seems like such an unattractive place -- but Don and Bridgett have gone there for their life's work.
They have done so out of their love for Christ -- and out of the love that Christ has given them for the Haitian people.
They have lived there for nearly thirty years, and I would not be surprised if they die there.
You would think that Don and Bridgett would be unhappy with their circumstances.
You would think that they would be beaten down by their poverty and the poverty that they see all around them.
You would think that they would resent the sacrifices to which Christ has called them.
You would think that they would be counting the days until they would complete their obligation so that they could return to civilization.
The truth is quite different.
Don and Bridgett are living proof of the Beatitudes.
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
Don and Bridgett are truly poor in spirit, and they are truly blessed.
I don't think that they have an unhappy bone in their bodies.
They love Christ -- and they love each other -- and their love their family -- and they love the Haitian people -- and I seriously doubt that there is a person on the face of this earth who is more content and fulfilled than they are.
Jesus put it this way:
 
"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."
Let me close by asking you to examine your own life.
Are you one of those people who thinks, "I hate my life!"  Are you unhappy because you aren't rich enough -- or thin enough -- or talented enough -- or sexy enough -- or whatever?
If so, the world has all sorts of answers for you.
It says, "Use this toothpaste!" or "Buy this car!" or "Take this vacation!"
The world will tell you that the answer is becoming more self-centered -- more grasping -- more of a pleasure-seeker.
But Jesus will tell you the exact opposite.
His prescription is that the only life worth living is a life of self-giving.
Look at the people around you with fresh eyes, and you will see that it is true.
You will see quite a number of people who are looking for happiness in the things that they can get -- and you will see that they aren't quite there yet.
If you look closely, you will often see an edgy, almost desperate quality to such people's lives -- always looking, but never quite finding -- always striving, but never quite getting there.
But you will also see people whom you admire for their quiet strength -- for their contentment -- for their happy lives.
Look closely, and very often, at their core, you will find Christ.
Jesus said, "Whoever serves me, the Father will honor."
Believe it, because it is true!  Do it, and receive the blessing!
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