Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 12:20-33
Lent is supposed to be a time of drawing closer to God through setting aside things that distract us from Him. We’re more than half way through and it’s not working well for me. I’m not as close as I was a month ago and I’m missing my all-the-time friend. What have I given up? Actually, not a lot. I have been trying to make more space and time in my life by making life more orderly. I’ve been doing this by getting rid of stuff and putting things away, by getting things done quickly so as to reduce my to-do list, and by sticking to a regular daily schedule as best I am able. Orderliness is increasing and I’m getting back to where we were. Life is like trying to hold five ping pong balls under water with your fingertips. One can never hold that for long. The trouble with making space in one’s life is that there is always something else trying to fill the spaces created.
One can go through the work of reassessing and rearranging life during Lent but one can’t relax once Easter comes because life carries on with all its stresses and joys. During Lent we may put some extra effort into our relating with God and we hope to build some momentum that will carry us a long way after Lent is over.
The whole thing is doable because God is always coming towards us. There are two of us in any relationship and God wants this more than we do. So not only does he make it possible, he does all manner of things to make it happen. Lent highlights our sin but in the process also highlights our forgiveness and in doing so it highlights our redemption and the delights of his friendship.
Lent calls us to honesty, repentance and self-awareness – very much the essence of today’s readings. Each speaks in pictures. Jeremiah speaks of washing hearts and Jesus speaks of seeds dying. I want to look at both pictures.
What’s a grain of wheat for?
This may sound like a strange question, but there are several possible answers (such as food for birds, or wheat in next year’s harvest). Let me suggest that the purpose of a grain of wheat is ‘to become something else’. Grains of wheat cannot stay as they are. God created them to be planted and to grow. They die, in the sense that they do not remain themselves any more, but from them comes something new and different. The purpose of wheat grain is to grow into a wheat plant.
Wheat becomes flour
Look at an ear of wheat. Isn’t it wonderful how complicated and perfectly designed it is. And it came from one small grain. But if the wheat was allowed to stay in the field until it faded and died it would not have achieved its purpose. The purpose of wheat is to be harvested and taken to the mill to make flour.
Flour becomes dough
People have been grinding wheat to make flour for many thousands of years. Windmills used to do this, although now most flour is made in factories. The seed and the ear of wheat did not exist just to make flour. What is the flour for? It makes papier mache and playdough but what else? It makes bread. Bread is very important food for us all.
Dough becomes bread
A grain of wheat is crushed, yet ends up as part of a loaf of bread. Jesus said, “A grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it dose die, then it produces many grains.” (John 12:24). Jesus was using a grain of wheat to make an important point about himself. He knew that the time he had spent with his friends was coming to an end, and that having entered Jerusalem he would soon be put to death on the cross (this passage comes straight after the triumphal entry, which is next week’s topic).
Jesus’ death becomes new life
Jesus knew that his death was to be like planting a grain of wheat in the ground. The wheat would no longer remain as it had been, but it would achieve the purpose for which it had been designed. In the same way, Jesus’ life had been leading towards this point, so that he might not only show people how to live their lives, but also die on a cross. This is what he meant when he talked about being ‘lifted up from the earth’.
Jesus’ one death led to new life and enabled him to come alive again. This meant that people could discover that God could forgive them and that their sins could be dealt with. One thing followed on from another. Just as the grain led to the ear of wheat which led to the flour which led to the bread, so Jesus’ death led to his resurrection, led to the hope of forgiveness of sins, and ultimately led to the Holy Spirit bringing new life. Jesus said, ‘.. if it dies, it produces many seeds.’ His death would bring many people to know God for themselves.
Jesus’ death was no accident, which is something that we will explore further in the next two weeks. His death was part of God’s plan for the whole world.
What about Jeremiah’s picture?
A heart being washed
How do you get a clean heart? Do you take it out of your chest, scrub it down, then stuff it back into place? This week I got the vacuum cleaner out to clean the carpet and it it didn’t seem to be sucking that well. In fact, very soon it was screaming, making the noise it makes when the bag is full. I checked the bag and it was nowhere near full. Then I took the pipe apart and I could not see through it. I found it was thoroughly blocked with pine needles and dust. In our excitement last week at cleaning up after the tree next door was removed we sucked up a lot of needles. It took me a short time to clean out the blockage and then it worked well again.
The pipes – the arteries – of our hearts can get blocked with cholesterol – hardening of the arteries – and then the surgeons do have to take our hearts out and give them a thorough clean, even replace parts. But we can also suffer from hardening of the attitudes. We can get too clogged up with bad feelings to work properly. Our conscience robs us of sleep. We feel so terrible about mean things we have done, we forget we can do kind deeds. We have been so mean to someone that we hide from them. And all sorts of stuff like that.
But we can let God clean us up so that we work again, like a clean heart or vacuum cleaner hose. It takes repentance – facing up to what we’ve done and admitting it to God – confession – and receiving his forgiveness, as we did early in the service and as we do in every service and hopefully every day.
Application question
How do we become what we believe? Is there congruence in our faith and action? What do we need to have change in our hearts so we can find integrity within ourselves as individuals and as a community? What do we need to let die, let fall to earth so God can bring to us new life and new possibilities? We proclaim that children are important to us but get upset when children are noisy, restless, and don’t sit still. Or we assert that we are open to new people but complain that “We’ve always done it this way.” What is God saying that will help us “walk the walk” and not merely “talk the talk”?
Like the Jews of that time, and many people today, adults and children alike, wish for a hero who will conquer all their enemies and solve all their problems. Jesus insisted that God did not send him to be that kind of hero. Jesus taught us to love our enemies into friends and to solve our problems by taking care of one another. Jesus accepted the cross because he knew that self-giving love was what we needed. Our mission is to live that out daily.