We want to see Jesus.
We want to see Jesus. There is nothing wrong with that request. Those words are written on many pulpits – not the one at Faith-Lilac Way. But on many pulpits these words, “We want to see Jesus” are placed where only the eyes of the preacher can see them as a reminder that our task as preachers is to point to Jesus, to show Jesus. For this is our desire too. We want to see Jesus.
In our Gospel lesson the request came from some Greeks who were in town for a Jewish festival. We don’t know what they heard about Jesus, but clearly news has spread of this amazing rabbi who heals the sick and the lame and raised the dead back to life. It might be that they are just curious about the newest celebrity in town who could turn water into wine. But since they had travelled to this festival, it may be that they were faithful seekers, those who had studied Jeremiah and who sought the one who would inscribe God’s law on their heart and give them the courage – the heart – to follow God’s way.
We don’t know their motives but we do know that the Greeks are polite – they follow social protocol. They search out Philip – whose name is Greek and may have spoken their language -and say: We want to see Jesus. This is exactly what the Pharisees had been worried about. In the verse just prior to our Gospel, the Pharisees express fear that the whole world will be coming to Jesus. And here they are, asking for Jesus.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with that request. In the beginning of the Gospel, when Nathaniel asks Philip who is this Jesus, Philip replies, “Come and see.” This is also that Jesus tells them when they ask where he is staying. “Come and see.”
But this time, when asked for an audience, Jesus answers with a story about a seed. You may remember the parable of the seed that is found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In those Gospels, the seed is scattered with reckless abandon and, when it finds good soil, it produces an amazing abundance of fruit. Jesus tells a different story about a seed in the Gospel of John.
Seeds are quite amazing things. When asked about how it works, Len Morrow, a biology professor explained that a seed could be dormant for a long time, but “with the right conditions, it comes to life… by giving of itself for the sake of the roots that go down (the professor points to his feet) and the stalk goes up and branches out– (the professor puts up his hands) and the result is something that looks rather like a person.”1 When Jesus, in the Gospel of John speaks of himself as the seed which must die and be buried in order to produce good fruit, this is the image that he wants us to see. Jesus is the seed who is buried, dies, rises and bears much fruit.
If you plant a tomato seed, what do you expect will grow? A tomato plant, right? And give you tomatoes? But if you were to plant a kernel of corn, you would assume you would get a corn stalk, right?
In the same way, just as the seed nourishes the plant, so Jesus, by his death and resurrection and ascension, nourishes the fruit – the people of God – the church and all of you in it. You all are the fruit of Jesus – and, as a result, you and I and all the rest of us should look like, act like and be like Jesus.
It makes sense that Jesus, living in an agrarian society, would use seeds, a well-known image from ordinary life, to help people understand. And I can imagine the crowd nodding. They know what happens when they plant a seed – just as you do. But then Jesus says, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Are the Greeks still listening? Do they still want to see Jesus? It’s one thing for Jesus to talk about himself as a seed – but now it’s getting personal. Does Jesus really want us to hate our life? And what does that mean anyway?
In the 1930s after the Nazification of the universities in Germany, and in the midst of the church struggle in their response to the Nazi regime, Dietrich Bonhoeffer published his book, The Cost of Discipleship. In it, Bonhoeffer writes that when Christ calls us, he calls each one of us to “come and die.” He explains, “It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow Him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world.” 2 In theological language, this call to come and die is a call to die to sin. In ordinary language it means putting Jesus and the way of Jesus first in our life and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us on the way.
However, another professor cautioned, “Losing one’s life for the gospel is not a call for meaningless sacrifice or abuse.”3 You and I are not called to be the savior of the world. We already have a Savior – His name is Jesus. What we are called to do is follow.
As Jesus says, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.” And this is something that we can do.
Following Jesus is not a spectator sport. Following Jesus means lending a hand, praying a prayer, delivering a meal to someone who is ill, spending time with those who are lonely.
A friend of mine is currently providing palliative care for her mother in her home. On the one hand, it is a costly endeavor. She is missing work. She is putting all of her “normal” activities aside and focusing, for this time, on the needs of her mother. This is not the way of the world. But, she would not miss this time for the world. She is giving her whole attention to her dying mother – and being blessed in the process. This can be an exhausting, challenging and heart-wrenching time and it is not subject to our schedule. But, as I can say from experience and I know many of you can too, this is also a holy time. For Jesus Christ is present. These are the times that you can see Christ at work.
But it is not the only time. Whenever you take time for another, give of yourself and share with another person who is in need, you are being like Christ. This is where you can see Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, open your eyes to see Jesus – for Jesus is present in our midst. Open your hearts and your hands and your lives to be like Jesus – and you will be blessed. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church + March 17, 2024 Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane
1Dr. Len Morrow, quoted by Rev. Jim Somerville, https://asermonforeverysunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/The-Death-of-a-Seed.pdf
2 –Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (London: SCM Press, 1948/2001), 44.
3 Dong Hyeon Jeong Working Preacher: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent-2/commentary-on-john-1220-33-6