Sermon
Christ Church, St.
Michaels Parish - March 22, 2015
John 12:20-33
This coming week marks the end of
our Lenten journey; a time of intentional reflection, prayer, meditation and
self-denial. A time during which we were tasked with pondering the nature of
our relationship with God as we journeyed with Jesus, his face set towards
Jerusalem; his teaching filled with prophesies of his impending death and
resurrection; his passion to fulfill his role as the “Beloved Son of God” so
very evident as he expressed over and over again, and in so many different and
urgent words, the way to eternal salvation.
In Mark, “If any want to become my disciples, let them deny themselves and take
up their crosses and follow me.” (Mark
8:34)
In John, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will be my
servant also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.” (John 12:26)
Again in John, “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.” (John 12:31-32)
Lent – a powerful five weeks in
which we, once again, seek to discern the centrality of Jesus and our
relationship with God to our way of life. Five weeks during which we perceive
anew Jesus as the universal truth; the universal path. Jesus as the decisive
disclosure of God in our lives and in the world. Jesus, as the way, the truth
and the light.
I am fairly certain that there
are many among us who, over the course of this brief Lenten journey, have also been
confronted by personal challenges both big and small. Situations that, despite
the best of intentions, cause us to ponder anew our relationship with God –
situations that generate questions such as “Where is God in all this,” and
“What is God trying to tell me.” Situations that make feeling and recognizing
the centrality of Jesus in our lives an even more complex and challenging task.
Personal crises, business
challenges, family responsibilities that at times seem overwhelming; FOX News,
CNN, Facebook, pages upon pages of email, and the myriad social media that
blast us out of and into bed and follow us throughout our day to day lives –
all of these fast-paced distractions make it even more difficult to carry out
our Lenten journey mandate of focusing on our relationship with Jesus and with God.
Jesus - without whom our day to day life is
meaningless, draining, dead - lost in the hub bub of day to day life. Jesus,
the decisive disclosure of God in our lives, slowly fading from our hearts and
from our minds as each wave of day to day living engulfs us.
I don’t know about you, but for
me, when I lose sight of Jesus, when he has fallen away from my mind and my heart,
I am lost, confused, and unable to love myself much less others. The light goes
out of my life, and I am no longer a light to others. And, that is what we are
called to be – a lamp shining forth the love and compassion of Jesus – a lamp
that brings those living in darkness into the light.
In Matthew Jesus said to his
disciples, “The eye is the lamp of the
body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if
your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the
light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.” (Matthew 6:22-23)
In the Gospel of John light and
darkness define the major theme of the Gospel. They represent the opposing
powers of righteousness and evil – belief and disbelief. In the opening words
of the Prologue the light is the life that was manifested in Christ. Through
him the divine radiance was focused on the world as a searchlight plays on a
dark landscape.
The underlying concept of dark
versus light is apparent on almost every page of John’s Gospel. In every contact
that Jesus made, he penetrated the dark recesses of the human spirit and
revealed its true character. The light of his holiness uncovered hidden
hypocrisy in sharp relief. Every sign he performed was a manifestation of the
light that was in him illuminating the darkness of the world.
Now, we are called to be the
light that illumines the darkness. We are asked to, “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are
waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may
open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.” (Luke 12:35-36)
Our Lenten journey was a mandate
to seek the light of Christ within ourselves and within others through
reflecting on our relationship with God.
My Lenten journey, despite its
many moments of darkness, was a time in which I saw the light of Christ and the
gift of God’s love more clearly than ever.
It was a time during which I experienced
the incredible love and compassion of my family and friends both here and in
Florida as that bright searchlight on a dark landscape. A searchlight that
found me, encompassed me in its scope, and kept me safe from darkness as it
carefully followed me throughout the wilderness journey of my husband’s complex
and complicated surgery and recovery.
Looking back, I can still feel
the experience of that light, the light of Christ shining forth from within those
many friends and family, the warm embrace of their love, compassion and
concern. A light that allowed me to hope, to function, and to know that God was
with me every step of the way.
The light of Christ that burns
within us and then shines forth throughout the world is central to our way of
life; to our ability to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our
neighbor as ourselves. It is the decisive disclosure of God within us, God
around us – God throughout the world.
In a recent blog, Bishop Dan
Edwards of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada – the bishop who ordained me –
wrote, “I am convinced that all the church
growth marketing and charismatic clergy we can buy will not enliven the Church.
Our deadness comes from our lack of belief we have anything to offer that the
world wants or needs. The problem is we don’t have Jesus in our hearts. We are
not being transformed ourselves so that we can, in the power of the Spirit,
transform the world. Cosmetics won’t help if our heart is not beating. For our
heart to beat, there is one and only one way: we have to follow Jesus.”
Just as we have engaged in the
process of examining our own relationship with God over the past few weeks, our
own commitment to hold Jesus central to our way of being – so Jesus asked of
his disciples so many years ago, just days before his betrayal, crucifixion and
resurrection.
Jesus asked his disciples to
follow him without question, without hesitation – always. Jesus is asking us to
follow him to the cross and beyond, without question, without hesitation -
always; dying to an old way of life so that we may be raised to a new way of
life. A way that sheds love and light into a world of darkness and fear.
How did light and darkness
manifest itself in your Lenten journey? When the light of Christ is
extinguished on Maundy Thursday how will you feel? What will the return of
light to the world through the resurrected Jesus mean to you?
Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy
of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. (Psalm
51:1-13) AMEN
