To Die of Ourselves
Scripture Reading: John 12: 23 - 28a (NIV)
23Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!”
Message: To Die of Ourselves
St Patrick
Today is St Patrick’s day!
St Patrick is considered as the Irish apostle - apostle being a title that is not bestowed on just anyone
An apostle being a follower of Jesus - establishing the church of Christ
And that is what St Patrick did - he brought Christianity to Ireland
Today, St Patrick’s day is celebrated around the world by Irish diaspora
And even more beautiful, it not just celebrated in churches - pubs too!
(Just by the way, thought the years much of reformed theology happened around a pint of beer! Think Luther - brewery in Neustadt…)
Perhaps this celebration is a reminder today to live our faith in our community… even where we sit down to have a drink, or where we play sports, or where we are involved in the affairs of our community
May we continue to grow in the way we are followers of Jesus everywhere we go in the community
Die, as in give up
Jesus said: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
And then goes on to say: “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
The metaphor of a kernel that must die before becoming something is a powerful one… and Jesus brings that in line with the love you have for your own life
It think, as He did on many occasions, Jesus uses this metaphor to shock his audience
Because to die - is not a concept to take lightly
Our church family is dealing with the death of three beloved men at the moment
Jesus wants us to grasp the seriousness of the concept He is communicating
And it not death in the sense of a flat line on a monitor
It is a willingness to die in the sense of a willingness to give up
The willingness of dying of yourself
That is a huge ask - something we need to ask ourselves in this time of Lent
Am I willing to die of myself?
Am I willing to let go of my own selfish ambition for the Kingdom of God?
And we have a tendency to see a question like this in a negative way because we tend to ask ourselves subconsciously “must I now become a St Patrick?” Or “must I become a Mother Theresa?” Or “must I do some kind of sacred work?”
If this is what is expected, I would be inclined not to feel up to it!
Unfortunately, people throw their hands in the air too easily without realizing that being called to follow Jesus, is not all that complicated
Yes, we are called to die of ourselves, but it is not that complicated
So lets take a few minutes to reconsider what it means to die of ourselves and to follow Jesus
Process of Growth
The first think we need to consider is coming from the image of a kernel
To die like the kernel is to allow yourself to be planted in the ground and to allow for a new process of growth to start in your life
Surely this is doable?
I can make the choice to go on a path of growth - seeking what God wants for my life and not just what I want
I can make effort to bring better influences into my life than just my basic needs
Every bit of intentional turning towards what God wants for my life is part of dying of myself
Every little bit of choosing to follow Jesus in my deeds and thoughts and choices is a process of dying of myself
So, let’s not overcomplicate what is Jesus saying here
It is as simple as stepping into a process of growth
Transformation and Potential
And like one seed dies to be able to able to produce many seeds, a transformation happens in our lives when we die of ourselves
Your life will be transformed when you follow Jesus and it will have an impact wider that just your own life
The potential of more seeds is what dying of yourself brings forth
Have you felt the satisfaction of realizing that you have an impact on someone else’s life?
I believe that this is reason Christianity spread around the world - people that was impacted by their encounter with Jesus are impacting others
And sadly, this also why many churches struggle to grow, they are not willing to die of themselves and as a result not impacting lives of people in their communities
I want you to think of the lives you impact today
Just think how your own growth and transformation can impact others
That’s why I feel we need to make effort with our spiritual growth
Following Jesus comes down to small areas of growth
It’s in the way we make eye contact when we have conversations
It’s in learning to have more meaningful conversations - less talk about the weather and more talk about life and what matters in life
It’s about how we play, how we win and how we loose - have you thought of what a great opportunity it is to impact someone’s life when you play with them?
It’s in the gestures of kindness - a smile at the post office to a stranger, helping a the grocery store with a smile
It’s about picking up the phone and saying that I am thinking of you when you go through your hardship
It’s about the content your put on social media - instead of complaining, why not share something that might make a difference in someone’s life
It’s about being kind rather than being right - you might have all the facts in order, but does it really make a difference to let the world around you know how wrong they are and how right you are?
It is also about telling those who are close to you that you love them with your words AND your deeds
You see, it is not all that complicated
But it is small things where we die of ourselves bit by bit
Small things that tells a story of a transformation - a seed that is multiplying
The work is not done: Let’s go out and die of ourselves one small deed of growth at a time!
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