“The Pattern that Runs through Life”
March 17, 2024
John 12:20–33
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “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. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 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.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ***
Gretchen Peters believes in the little things. The Nashville songwriter was tired of seeing self-help books that promised to turn readers’ lives around in a few easy steps. So, she wrote a song about two guys sitting at the “Starlight Bar,” pondering “The Secret of Life.” They decide it can be found in “a good cup of coffee” and “the right woman.” But, mostly, “The secret of life is nothing at all.” The song was a surprising choice for country star Faith Hill, who turned it into a hit song in 1999.
Hill recorded this song knowing that the secret of life is not nothing at all. Rather, it is mixed into the mystery of creation and the Divine’s activity in human life. A life-long Baptist, Hill says it is the truths of God’s presence and care “that’s where my strength comes from. It’s my foundation. I was raised in a Christian home and it prepared me to deal with life on my own . . . Having a backbone of spirituality makes me a little stronger. I pray a lot, and when I first moved to Nashville, that’s what kept me alive. I believed I was being taken care of. I apply it to my life every day. It’s how I’ve always looked at things.” (hollowverse.com)
The secret of life is the take-away I see in this reading from John 12 today as Jesus responds to the inquiry by some Greeks asking his disciples, “We wish to see Jesus.” When the request reaches Jesus, he says “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.
There you have it. The secret of life. “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.”
Isn’t that the pattern that runs through our lives and this world? Loss and renewal. Even if you’ve never thought of this as the secret to life, you’ve lived and experienced it, sometimes by choice and other times by chance.
I don’t think it is a coincidence that this scene occurs as Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Passover. The Passover is the celebration of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. It’s about freedom and new life. It is about the pattern of letting go, leaving behind, and moving into a new life.
Look at the way this pattern is present throughout life. We choose letting go of some things so that others can arise. Every parent lets go of things for their child, so the child can grow into responsible adulthood. Every caregiver of a failing spouse or elderly parent knows there is letting go in order to be fully present in helpful and comforting ways.
Throughout life, we choose certain losses and let go of some things so that others can arise. For every choice we make, every yes we say, there is at least one no and likely more than we can count.
The Bible has many stories of letting go, loss and renewal. Innocence in Adam and Eve died so that consciousness might be born. Abram left his country and kindred so that he might be made a great nation and be a blessing to all the families of the earth. James and John left their father, boats, and nets to become disciples of Jesus and fishers of people.
The secret is out. It’s everywhere. It is a pattern of loss and renewal, dying and rising, letting go and getting back, leaving and return.
There is something about this pattern that is the lens through which we see Jesus in this biblical story. Some Greeks come to Philip and say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” I don’t know why they want to see Jesus but I have a few guesses. They knew of Jesus’ power over loss and renewal. The knew Jesus turned water into wine. He healed the paralytic. He fed 5000 with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He walked on water. He gave sight to the man born blind. He raised Lazarus from the dead.
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (translated: “The one with the power for life”). Me too. That is the Jesus I want to see. Don’t you?
And Jesus says in response, “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.” The secret of life.
Jesus is speaking about not only physical death. Throughout our lives we die a thousand deaths. The loss of a loved one, a relationship, health, dreams and plans; all deaths we did not want or ask for. Other times we choose our losses and deaths. We give up parts of ourselves for another. We change beliefs and values so that we can be more authentically ourselves. And sometimes there are things we need to let go of, things we cling to that deny us the fullness of life we desire and the renewal God offers: worry, anger, resentment, regret, disappointment, guilt, approval, the need to be right.
Have you had an experience of loss where when you look back on it you say, “I never want to go through that again. But I would not trade that experience for anything.” What have been those times for you?
I’ve had those times too and those kind of losses mean life will never be the same again. No matter how difficult or painful those times in our lives are, we are changed and life at some point is renewed. That is when you were the grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died. Perhaps it became one of those times when you wondered if God had forgotten or abandoned you, but later realized God had been present and working in your life through the pain and difficulty.
This is the soul-troubling secret to life. “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.” What is the grain of wheat in your life right now that needs to fall into the earth and die? Maybe those are the very places waiting to bear much fruit in your life. Maybe that’s where you’ll see Jesus.
If you have ever planted a seed, you know the process of germinating to spouting and growing involves more than a matter of hours. Growth is slow and the fruit of new life takes time, usually longer than we want. Yet, even when unseen, unbelieved, or unrecognized, the power and life of God is present and at work in the depths of our life, in the dark and hidden places, too. That is the secret of life.
“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.”
