Bible Text: John 12:20-33 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
As many of you are aware, I love to attend live music events- be it a simple night at a local cafe or a large music festival. Yet, when I try to explain why I love attending such things I have trouble- sometimes it is because I enjoy singing along- hopeful that those who paid good money to hear the real artist aren’t upset at my off-key accompaniment, or sometimes I enjoy listening to the between song banter-especially if the artist is willing to share a story or two about a particular song, or sometimes I enjoy just seeing this artist live and in person on stage- often living up to my rock star expectations, or sometimes I enjoy watching a new musician gain confidence- sharing one of those, “wow isn’t this great” smiles. I know it is not for everyone; I get frustrated by all the standing or the obnoxious fans just as much as the next person and I almost always wear ear buds because the sound mix is usually very loud. Criticisms aside I know I will continue to enjoy my live music experiences. Whether I am watching or listening, or watching and listening, I just seem to enjoy live music. Seeing and hearing, the sights and the sounds, tie the experience together. In John’s Gospel often seeing and hearing are the ways in which the audience comes to experience Jesus. It is how the people come to know who he is and what his purpose is. For example, as John the Baptist is declaring a baptism of repentance, he sees Jesus coming towards him and declares, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Or there is the time when Jesus turns to Andrew and tells him to “Come and see”. And from the visit with Nicodemus to the Samaritan women at the well there are numerous stories in John’s gospel of Jesus in dialogue with others. Seeing and hearing are ways in which Jesus gains followers- and many of them can’t explain or give one good reason why they love to follow Jesus; they just do. Seeing and hearing Jesus leads them to believe in Jesus.
With this in mind it should not surprise us that our passage opens up with another moment in which Jesus is experienced through sight and sound. There are some Greeks who come up to Philip and declare they wish to see Jesus. It should be pointed out that although they are described as Greeks there is nothing to indicate whether they were Jewish or not, meaning they could have been Greek-speaking Jews or Greek proselytes but it is significant that this detail, that they were Greek, was important enough to record. They are Greeks in some way, shape, or form, and they represent the vast breadth of interest that is developing in Jesus. This is important to John’s Gospel because it was likely written for a largely Greek audience. But equally intriguing is that we never ever get to find out if their request is granted- whether they end up seeing Jesus or not because Jesus simply responds to this request by speaking of his death.
Jesus declares that, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain but if it dies it bears much fruit.” This is not exactly a clear answer to whether these Greeks can see Jesus or not. But then again, while the Jewish audience would have had trouble over the fact that Jesus was not exactly the Messiah they had been planning for, the Greek audience would have had difficulty understanding why Jesus had to suffer a humiliating death. Jesus uses this agricultural metaphor of a seed being planted in the ground and then elevated to bear fruit to help the audience understand the relevance of his death, resurrection and ascension. This metaphor also works well when we talk about the church- that we need to plant things in order for them to grow. We can hoard all the seeds we want but those seeds become useless if we just keep them in their packet rather than putting them in the ground. Jesus then mildly laments his reality but also acknowledges that his life, death and resurrection has the potential to bring God’s name glory. Which then elicits a response from heaven stating, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
Once again we are struck by the importance of seeing and hearing- because while the crowd hears something they can’t quite name it as the unmediated voice of God. They have plugs in their ears and as a result the words sound more like thunder or maybe an angelic rumble. As Mary Hinkle Shore points out, “The Father is bearing witness to the Son and that witness is mostly missed!” I think we are often blinded by the weight and logistics of being a minority in a mostly secular society. I think that we are often like the crowd who know we’ve heard something but can’t quite make out what is being said- is it thunder or an angel or is it the voice of God?
Thankfully the story doesn’t end there because Jesus then goes on to explain that he will be lifted up, and as a result people will be drawn to him. And he will be lifted up not once, not twice but three times. He will be lifted up on the cross as he is crucified. He will be lifted up in the grave as he is raised from the dead. He will be lifted up as he ascends into heaven. And each time people will be drawn to him. Yet, how are we drawn to Christ today?
I am often asked what made me want to go into ministry and most often the question is asked by people who have either left or had no experience in the church and I ask myself where do I begin? Do I talk about the theology of grace or being saved by faith, do I engage in debate or just give a simple answer? Or do I talk about the things I see and hear? The moments where Jesus is so clearly lifted and glorified in the love shared within this community- the moments in which we are Christ’s body at work in the world. Do I talk about being draw into the community of faith because it is where I feel loved? I know that many of us dread the annual general meeting. It is just another meeting in an already busy week. But what I read in the annual report and what I have heard in the various presentations the last few months and what I see at the various groups and committee meetings is the way in which Jesus is personified and glorified. That is what we celebrate at the AGM, it is why we have discussions on how we wish to be active in the community, and it is why we debate what things we should and shouldn’t have in worship because we want to give opportunity for people to hear and see Jesus through this church. We want to bring glory to God through sights and sounds. Amen