Hate Your Life

John 12: 20-33 
Lent 5
March 16, 2024

 

Wheat Fields Crows and Cross
Milford

Some Greeks ask to see Jesus.

It doesn’t say a whole lot about these Greeks,

but we can infer some things.

It says that they were Greeks.

In other words, they were Gentiles by 

birth, non-Jewish people

And it says that they were in town

worshipping for the festival of the Passover.

 

Maybe they’ve converted to the Jewish faith.

Not unheard of, even in that time.

Or maybe they haven’t converted, but they’re spiritually curious,

Like people today they’re trying out different things,

hoping to find the one that fits.

Or maybe they are just religious tourists

fascinated with other people’s spiritual practices.

Like people of different faiths, or no faith,

visiting churches and temples, like people come to town

for a Irish Festival or an Italian Festival.

 

For whatever reason they’re there,

now they want to see Jesus. They said they just want to see Jesus.

They don’t want to hear Jesus or get to know Jesus.

They want to see Jesus. Jesus had developed a reputation for

doing many impressive things and they just wanted to see him.

Maybe see a miracle, if he’s up to it.

If it were modern times, they might have just wanted

to get a selfie with him to show their friends.

They just want to see Jesus. 

Maybe tell everyone they saw Jesus.  Just observe, not get involved.

Like they told Andrew, and Andrew told Phillip,

and Andrew and Phillip told Jesus.

“We want to see Jesus, please. “

They’re very polite.

 

So , I don’t think these Greeks at the festival –

or even Andrew and Phillip – were quite prepared

for the speech that they got from Jesus.

Somehow their arrival prompts Jesus to give

a short sermon to everyone around him.

He tells them that this is it.

Now is the time for Jesus to be glorified.

And for that to happen, he was going to die.

 

Uh, we just wanted to see Jesus.

 

Jesus talks about his death. He compares himself to wheat,

saying if a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,

it spreads it’s seeds around so that more can grow.

In other words, Jesus death isn’t just a death

it’s for the benefit of all people, so that others can live.

 

Now, we understand and believe that in Jesus death there’s life,

that somehow because Jesus died and rose,

that  gives us eternal life.

 

But there’s more to it than that,

because Jesus also says this life and death cycle applies to us too:

He says, “Those who love their life lose it and those who

hate their lives will keep it for eternal life.”

Jesus is expecting us to die too. Maybe even the Greeks.

 

The Greeks are getting much more than they bargained for here.

 

So really, hate our lives?  What does Jesus mean by that?

Should we reject everything on this earth

and just focus on Spiritual things? 

Should we be negative all the time always complaining? 

Should we be outraged by everything that happens this world?

(some Christians have taken Jesus words to mean just that.)

I thought we were supposed to live with gratitude every day.

That seems more healthy and Christ-like than hating our lives.

 

I mean, I don’t hate my life, I  actually love my life.

I love my job, my husband, my home, my job, my friends.

I love doing the things I enjoy. I love my life.

Does that mean I’m going to lose it?

 

And those Greeks just wanted to see Jesus.

 

So I don’t think Jesus wants us to actually hate our lives.

Jesus is using hyperbole again, exaggeration, which he uses often,

and which often throws people off today.

 

What I think he means is this:

We should not cling to the things of our lives,

we should be willing to give them up if we need to.

We should long for God’s kingdom, God’s ways, God’s will.

And do everything to see it come to reality.

Even if gaining the kingdom means losing something

that you have grown fond of  and even love.

Hate your life.

Don’t love all the things of this world so much

that you won’t trade the gospel for them.

 

The gospel of Jesus, the gospel of serving others,

The work of justice, and love requires sacrifice.

As Christians, we are asked to give up things that

we might love in order to see God’s vision through.

 

Those who cling to the  things of this world,

the power, the comforts, the predictability,

their status, their reputations, even their traditions,

and refuse to give them up for God’s vision,

will find that the things they cling to are temporary

and unsatisfying.

Jesus is saying don’t love the things of this life so much,

that you are not willing to release them for God’s sake.

  

To quote Martin Luther in A Mighty Fortress:

“Were they to take our house, goods, honor,

child, or spouse, though life be wrenched away,

they cannot win the day, the kingdom’s ours forever.”

 

And all those poor Greeks wanted to do was see Jesus.

 

This world is filled with stories of people who cling to their

power and their money and their comfort and won’t

give it up, and this results in terrible consequences

even if it means taking many, many lives.

 

Kings and queens and presidents and pastors,

prime ministers, and CEO’s and senators and representatives ,

who hold onto their positions long after they’re time.

 

The president of Syria refused to leave office,

even though it has meant 14 years of war,

and his beautiful country basically destroyed.

And we have our own issue in this country with that, don’t we?

 

73% of our Senate and 50% of our congress is over 70 years old.

And both of the people running for president now

were born in the 1940’s

And one of them just promised a “bloodbath” if he loses.

 

And you and I cling to our love of fossil fuels and plastics

and other conveniences, even though it’s wreaking havoc

with our environment. We’re just beginning to see the results now

and our children and our grandchildren will have

to deal with more repercussions in the future.

 

We cling to our right to own guns so hard in this country

And just in the first three months of this year

5000 people already have been killed by gun violence.

  

And we see what’s happening in our own churches.

I don’t have to go in to statistics and details because you know.

Is it because we can’t let go or let in new ideas?

Is it because we’re afraid of the changes that

younger generations will bring?

Are we loving and grasping so hard to it that it’s losing its life?

 Pr. June, we didn't want to hear all this.

Hate your life.

Be uncomfortable with the way things are.

Be uncomfortable with the privileges you have and

see where you can give your power to someone else.

Don’t be so attached to the way it is that you fight the change

that the Holy Spirit is trying to make.

Be willing to let it go so that the Kingdom of God can come to earth.

Let go of your life, so that the Kingdom of God can flourish.

 

Pr. June, we just wanted to come and see Jesus today.

 

So see Jesus. See what Jesus did.

Jesus loved his life, I’m sure. He loved his friends,

he loved his ministry, he loved to eat and drink.

He loved healing people and telling stories about God.

And then he stepped aside in death and let his followers take over.

 

Jesus had the ability to live eternally on earth and rule forever.

But Jesus didn’t do that.

Maybe it would have been nice to have him around.

But he didn’t want to be about him,

he wanted it to be about us, and about future generations

who will share the gospel with their future generations.

Jesus became the seed that bore much fruit.

Generations and generations of fruit.

 

Like those Greeks at that festival.

We want to see Jesus.

And certainly we certainly have.

We have seen the light in the world

that scatters the darkness,

and we can testify to that.

We have seen death and life again.

 

But Jesus doesn’t just want us to see him.

Jesus wants us to be him.

Jesus doesn’t need religious tourists who

just say they saw him and behave the same as they did before.

Jesus wants disciples.

Jesus saved us, so we could be him to the world.

Be his hands and feet, and do his work.

And also, when the time comes, Jesus wants us to

“hate our lives” to let go of what we have,

and let the seeds fall, so that others can live.

 

“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. “

 

Let us see Jesus.

Let us truly see Jesus.

And let us be Jesus for the sake of the world.