Janice, I thought about a true story that you might be able to use.
I had a member (call him Bill) who needed a heart transplant. His
own heart became so bad that he could no longer leave the hospital
but instead was hooked to this machine which pumped his blood and
kept him alive. It was big and bulky and weighed about as much as a
small refrigerator. Everywhere Bill went in the hospital, someone
else had to come along and tow this big machine. Then one day he
received the transplant, he lost the big machine, he was free to go
home with his family. he is now back at work and can play with his
young children. It seems to me that to write the covenant on our
hearts is a bit like all of this. The Law was written on the big
bulky tablets of stone. Then interpretations that were made created
a bulky set of laws too heavy. God wants to set us free, so he says,
I'll give them a heart transplant and write my law in their hearts.
Joy
Dear friends,
Is this text not about the glory of transformation for Christ's
sake? And the way in which we are humanly troubled by our fear of
same...?
Can this approach lead to a sermon path (I hope)...? I imagine that
many of us, and our parishioners, have felt that we would rather NOT
serve, that we'd rather NOT follow. It's too painful. It's too
risky. It's too much...
But Jesus pointed out that we must die to our old selves so that we
can live in newness of life...
I'm looking for ways that this can this be illustrated so that
parishioners can relate to the text. It's such a great way to
prepare ourselves for the following week's readings re the Palm
Sunday Passion. A forerunner of things to come.
But will people hear??
JFC in NH
I'm focusing on "seeing" Jesus: our similarities to the Greeks who
wanted to see Jesus, wanted to see more God whereas the Jews wanted
to see more power. (I want to see, not proof or power but
affirmation, acceptence, direction (almost more Jesus & less God.)
And how Jesus tells the Greeks how they will see him: 24, in his
death; 25, when we loose our life for his sake; 26, when we serve;
27, when we obey; 28, when we glorify God.Then there's a piece on
judgement. I'm not sure how that fits in. Any comments? - Linda in
MD
JFC I like your idea for a sermon I think it could go far. I have
lived an experience that may be helpful. I became a Christian in my
teens but never dealt with some of my old ways, got married and
wanted desperately to have children. For more than 10 years nothing
happened. When I started to deal with the old self and some sins in
my life then the new self in Christ came to life and some fantastic
healings happened in my life. I needed to loose my life in order to
gain the life Christ intended for me. The miracle in the story is
that after 13 years of prayer and changing to be more Christ like we
are expecting our first child. I beleive it is because I began to
honor the father that he choose to honor us with a child. Serving
God I always did but following his guidance ( getting rid of a
particular sin) was much harder and in the end I had to follow
knowing it was what was best for me and for my relationship with
God. Hope this helps.
The approach of the Greeks is a renewal of the temptation to Jesus
to avoid the cross. Those He has primarily preached to - Israel -
continue to reject Him and his message. Here now are Greeks
apparently inquiring after J. - of whose actions and words they have
no doubt heard something - in an open and welcoming spirit. Why not
turn away from Israel and go direct to the nations? With the
apparent responsiveness of the Greeks, perhaps rejection and a cross
won't be necessary in order to win them over to the kingdom of God.
This is just as in the first temptation, when the Devil lifted J. up
to the mountain top and said, "Here are all the nations of the earth
- I can give them to you without you needing to submit to the will
of God to undergo the cross".
But...accepting this path would have amounted to submitting to the
lordship of Evil - “...if you but bow down and worship me”. In order
for there to be any mission of God to the nations there first had to
be the cross/death of the Son of God - in its unity of course with
the resurrection/ascension. The event had to take place where the
failure of the whole world, and its consequent estrangement from
God, was resolved and overcome. If J. had avoided the cross, all of
this would have been lost. So, at this point of the history of
revelation, J. ignores the approach of the Greeks, and says
resolutely that His path must lie in the way of the cross/death - ie.
that His ministry must remain focussed on Israel who will continue
to reject Him, and crucify Him.
The Church is continually tempted to go direct to the “Greeks” - the
nations, the world outside the Church - without raising the whole
matter of the cross/death of Christ. Our Western Church is very much
focussed on “market” analysis in these days. We try hard to identify
what society wants - what appeals to it, what “sells”, and then
develop strategies and “product” that will supply these demands.
Funnily enough, the cross and death are not in big demand in the
market place! Society does not naturally wish to be confronted with
issues raised by Jesus’ death: our failure and sin - both individual
and corporate - that necessitated it; God’s judgement upon our
failure and sin expressed in it; God’s sovereign grace for us
working in it to totally forgive and reconcile us to Him and one
another that totally obligates us to Him - no allowance for human
autonomy here!; the free and full and joyful repentance it commands
in us.
We may appeal to the world, we may attract the world, we might
“stuff” our Churches full without raising the whole matter of Jesus’
cross and death, but will we have actually carried out God’s mission
to them? Will we have given them a full, living relationship with
the only true life itself - the Father, the fons divinitatus? Will
we have given them anything different from what they already had,
although perhaps with a bit of a religious dress? If we have had
“mission” to the world that does not include embracing the cross of
Christ - all of its meaning in all of its depth - and living out its
truth, then we’ve led no one to a genuine relationship with Christ -
Jn 12:25,26.
Jonathan.
To Linda in MD A comment-The judgement of this world could not come
until there was a choice. The Law condemned but until the price was
paid and a choice could be made there could be no just judgement.
God provided the payment; the blood of his only Son. God gives us
the choice ...... we comdemn ourselves by not believeing on the one
God sent. God tells us to choose life. Jesus says, "I am the way,
the truth, and the live." LPinPA
Comment I'm looking ahead to our Youth Sunday and want to find a
poem called "Chosen" by Jim McEachon - name may be misspelled. Any
one who can help? Thanks Lee in Michigan
"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." To me, this verse speaks of the importance of Jesus following
God's perfect will instead of our own imperfect wills. Does this
mean we too need to follow God's will rather than our own? It is a
difficult challenge. Does anyone else see this here in verse 27?
revup
Revup Yes, and it is a struggle for me - at least when i am
spiritually "Intune". Other time - most of the time - I simply
follow my wisdom and then wonder why God does not use me in more
spectacular ways.
It resonates for me with the script that says "There is a way that
seems right to a man . . ." I beleive it doesn't end well for thise
of us who seek our own wisdom and comfort.
Much to think about here.
Pastor Bill in upstate NY
12:24 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. Sometimes a church structure must die before much
fruit comes. A church building becomes the idol... and people
struggles to keep the large empty structure heated in winter. Now I
know why God wants to live in peoples hearts. They are moveable
sanctuaries. Able to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
When the building becomes more important than the message something
is wrong. I pray to God he helps us see who and what the true Church
is and then gives us the strength to act upon truth. What is more
loving to keep a building open which saps the strength of the
people, who for some misguided loyalty stay, or to close the
building and let the people find another body of Christ which is
active and vibrant. Just by thoughts... and perhaps a prayer to
guide all in authority who know more than I. LPinPA
Thanks, Jonathan, for getting me started. The question of the Greeks
was the first thing that popped out at me. Debra in NYC
LPinPA: I had a student pastorate that was receiving subsidies. I
felt and kindly told them any church that could not support itself
and needed outside help was doomed. If a church cannot support or
even try to work at helping others missionally, it should close so
the members can find a loving, giving church that focuses on others
instead of themselves. Of course, there are churches that are
missions to the underpriviledged, but they too need to grow to a
point they can eventually focus on helping others themselves.
revup (PS: That church listened and is helping others and paying
their own bills, the last I heard.)
"12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
people to myself." 12:33 He said this to indicate the kind of death
he was to die."
Did he also say it to indicate what kind of life WE are to live? If
we are called to be Christ's Body in the world, is it not our task
to "draw all people" to the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus?
Ands what do we have to show those who come to us, asking as the
Greeks did, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus?" What Jesus will they see in
us? Early musings on a beautiful spring Monday! Shalom, Susan in
SanPedro
A true story, told to me by one of our members here in Raleigh.
Please forgive me for the length.
Few places in a hospital are as emotionally gut-wrenching as the
waiting room of a children's hospital. Parents are there facing
their worst fears - the health and safety of their own children.
What is remarkable is how quickly the various sets of parents that
find themselves in the waiting rooms begin to bond with each other.
A family here found themselves in the waiting room of WakeMed after
their son Alex quickly became seriously ill in the middle of the
night. All sorts of tests were being administered to him, and they
could do nothing else but to sit and wait. While there in the
waiting room, they found themselves sitting by another family - they
were there because their teenage daughter Karen had been in a car
accident.
Alex's parents and Karen parents bonded quickly, supporting each
other in their angst of not knowing whether or not their children
were going to live through the night. After several hours, Karen's
parents were called out to a seperate room where they were given the
news that her injuries were too severe and there was nothing else
they could do for her. Almost unbelievably, in the middle of their
grief they made the effort to go back into the waiting room to thank
Alex's parents for their support and shared their prayers for his
health before they left the hospital.
An hour or so later, Alex's doctors came into the waiting room to
tell his parents that they his condition had stabilized - but they
were going to have to send him to Duke Medical Center (about 45
minutes away) for further testing. So after a couple of hours, they
found themselves sitting in another waiting room of another
pediatric intensive care with another set of worried parents.
It was not as easy for Alex's parents to strike up a conversation
this time. They were physically and emotionally exhausted from all
they had been through that night. But what else can you do while
sitting in the waiting room? After an hour or so of silence, Alex's
mother decided to break the ice.
"It's hard sitting here with your child in there, isn't it?" he
said.
The father of the other child began to smile, though. "Actually,
this is the best day of our life," he said. "You see, our daughter
has needed a kidney transplant since she was a little girl. And now,
thanks to a teenager in Raleigh whose family donated her organs...."
How often do you get to witness the grace of death and life in the
same day?
Moravian in Raleigh
In another discussion group, a comment on this text reflected on
"the blood of martyrs being the seed of the Church."
I was wondering if anyone had given thought to going along this
line, given that Sunday is the 55th anniversary of Bonhoeffer's
martyrdom at the hands of the Nazis.
I've been working with "Sir, we want to see Jesus..." and keep
finding myself drawn to Bonhoeffer, seeds, martyrs, and seeing
Jesus. Anyone care to help the seminarian sort this out?
Peace Vicar Art in VA
Linda in MD, About vs. 31 "Now is the judgement of this world; now
the ruler of this world will be driven out." The judgement is
against "the ruler of this world" which is the power and presence of
evil which the we call satan. Death where is your sting? Satan where
is your power? He has none that we do not give him. Jesus is
victorious over death and the power of evil. His death and
resurrection teach us that death does not have the final word in our
lives. He also passes on that same power on to us in the presence
and gift of Holy Spirit.
jmj in Wis.
God's most glorious work was accomplished on the cross at Calvary
and as we are drawn to that powerful act of love we are transformed.
The "ruler of this world" has no claim on us. We are transformed by
the Spirit of God to do our work in the world. To continue do "even
greater works." Jesus drawing all people in to the loving, healing,
nurturing Kingdom of God where we "ain't gonna study war no more,"
where we ain't gonna hate no more, where new people are welcome,
where "differant" people are welcome, where we are not satisfied
with waiting for them to come in, but we are out there where they
are lovin' them in such a way that they are drawn to our Jesus,
where we are willing to go without so we can give to others who have
less than we do. Oh Lordy, do we have work to do if we are really
serious about being Christ-ian, like Christ!!
jmj in WI
Do we want to truly "see" Jesus for who he really is or are we like
those who visit the county fair and want to see the freaks in the
sideshow. (I remember the wild man who ate the live chicken!)
Somestime it is easier for us to see the sideshow and go off
wondering about such strangeness than to see the real Jesus and go
away to live like him. GJS in Gulfport
Vicar Art -- Your question is EXACTLY why I checked out this site
today ... I am trying to do a tribute to Bonhoeffer, but -- am
finding it difficult in working with these texts. I'm not offering
any help (yet!) but -- would be very interested in knowing about
other sites that are engaging in this dialogue ... or, any of the
rest of you who are working with this significant day...?? Thanks!
meredith in va
Vicar Art, meredith, et al - I, too, am struggling to weave these
texts together with a tribute to Bonhoeffer. My sermon title came to
me after reading Jonathan's entry (above - thanks, Jonathan) -
"Straight Down The Middle - A Message to a Growing Church". What
popped out at me was the connection between Bonhoeffer's discussion
of "cheap grace" and the perspective Jonathan offered from the
gospel text - what are we offering to people who fill our pews on
Sunday and share in our "life together" if we fail to share the
truth, depth and meaning of the cross.... isn't it just "feel-good"
theology and cheap grace? The way of the cross calls us to go
"straight down the middle", even if Satan is sending Greeks our way
to tempt us to sidestep our call to discipleship (I think I need
coffee!)- churchmouse in Muskegon, MI
The Bonhoffer posts remind me of one of his famous lines, which I
paraphrase: When Christ call a persons he calls him to come and die.
Also, any exegetical thoughts on what "serving" with Christ means in
this text?
Mike in WV
Any thoughts on verse 22? The picture I get is of Philip and Andrew
lacking confidence, being somewhat tentative or unsure about taking
the Greeks to see Jesus. I wonder what that was about. Janice in Ks.
To LP in PA, I love the phrase "movable santuary" in referring to
the human heart. Thank you for the poetic image. revavis in KY
I am not preaching on Bonhoeffer Sunday but my sermon ideas may
help. A good lead in for Bonhoeffer might be the Theology of the
Cross "Why did Christ have to suffer?" "Why do we have to suffer?"
"Why does the Chirstian way bring suffering?" RevRon
12:24 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.
The kenosis of Christ reflects the truth of our own lives - we live
only by giving ourselves away in love. Faith is that risking of
ourselves, facing the unknown, yet entering it with boldness and
expectation that it is there that God will be found. Such was the
meaning of the resurrection ... "I have gone ahead of you." When we
surrender we find not only a deep peace but also new life.
Only as we let go of ourselves as we are will we know the life that
God intends for us; when we fear death we remain isolated from
everything except our own despair.
tom in ga
Thomas Muntzer: The Bitter and Honey-Sweet Christ
The Sweet Christ
The Doctrine of the sweet Christ asserts that all suffering has
already been “accomplished”, in Christ it is already finished. He
had done everything for us; we need only “charge it to Christ’s
account”; faith is the acceptance of this completed salvation, rady
and waiting for us. This faith, “that suffering was put on Christ
alone, as though we are not permitted to suffer,” corresponds
politically to the two kingdom doctrine, ecclesiastically to infant
baptism.
By trusting the sweet Christ “a person wants to be in the image of
God so that he no longer wants, does not even completely desire to
attain the image of Christ.” Faith remains unexperienced. It is
merely received outwardly. To be in the image of God without
attaining the image of Christ is a suffering-free Christianity.
The Bitter Christ
The Doctrine of the bitter Christ is experienced in a discipleship
of suffering. Suffering, not just believing, is the way to God. No
one will be with God, “until he has overcome through his suffering”.
First one must endure hell; all other ways, “which bring consolatin
before affliction,” bring a faith that is merely received outwardly.
The bitter Christ means that we “let God uproot the thorns and
thitles” that are in us. “You must endure and know how God himself
uproots the weeds, thistles, and thrns out of your fruitful land,
that is, out of your heart.”
To attain the image of Christ means to live in revolt against the
great Pharoah and to remain with the oppressed, and the
disadvantaged. It means to make their lot one’s own. It is easy to
be on Pharoah’s side if one just blinks an eye. It is easy to
overlook the crosses by which we are surrounded.
If you don’t want to suffer for the sake of God, then you must
become the devil’s martyrs. <Dorothee Soelle, Suffering, 1973>
D. Bonhoeffer: Cheap Grace and Costly Grace
Cheap Grace
Cheap grace means grace as doctrine, a principle, a system. It means
forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth ... without
repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without
confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is
without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus
Christ, living and incarnate. Cheap grace is the bitterest foe of
discipleship.
Costly Grace
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the
gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and itis grace
because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. Costly grace is the
Incarnation of God. Grace is costly because it compels a man to
submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; ...< Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 1960>
Reference Bonhoeffer... While stationed in Germany, I had the
privilege of leading several soldier professional development trips
to Flossenberg Prison Camp where Bonhoeffer was executed weeks
before the camp was liberated. A monument stands next to the only
remaining, restored prison house in the park complex, a hundred
yards or so from the crematorium. His name along with others
arrested for conspiracy against Hitler are etched in stone with the
words (in German) of 2 Timothy 1:7, "FOR GOD DID NOT GIVE US A
SPIRIT OF TIMIDITY, BUT A SPIRIT OF POWER, OF LOVE, AND OF
SELF-DISCIPLINE." Next to the crematorium is a mound about 8 feet
tall of ashes (now covered with grass) of the remains of the victims
of the brutality of the Nazis. Each of the trips I led would wind up
at the chapel erected out of stones from the old guard towers where
we would discuss leadership, courage, integrity, and faithfulness.
"Whoever serves me, the Father will honor!" V. 26 Army Chaplain E.
Ft. Belvoir
Thanks for the Bonhoeffer excerpts. Resources on the Web which have
added to my thinking about John's "a grain of wheat falling... and
following...where I am there will my servant be also...losing
life...now is my soul troubled..." are: 1) from Westminter Abbey's
new statues project honoring 20th c.martyrs http://westminster-abbey.org/Martyrs/dietrich_bonhoeffer.htm
and 2) the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Home Page http://www.cyberword.com/bonhoef/
and 3)another perspective in an archival discussion from the
Jerusalem Post Daily Internet Edition from 29Ap98 http://www.jpost.com/com/Archive/29.Apr.1998/Features/Article-6.html
socalb
Responding to the comments about Bonhoeffer, in addition to the
publications of his writings of sermons and essays such as "No Rusty
Swords" and his books such as "Cost of Discipleship", "Life
Together" and the gathering of various writings in "A Testmaent to
Freedom" edited by Geffrey Kelly and Burton Nelson, there is a 1996
publication entitled "Dietrich Bonhoeffer- Meditations on the Cross"
(Westinster John Knox Press) which pulls together writings on the
cross from various books, sermons, essays written by Bonhoeffer. The
essays and excerpts in that book seem to relate well to the issues
in this text and might be a good resource for those highlighting the
Bonhoeffer contributions. John from CFUMC in Ga.
ANybody know these?
I am looking for two illustrations which I have heard in the past,
but they are a little bit fuzzy in my recollection.
The first has to do with some famous trapese artist who strung up a
tightrope across Niagra Falls. He went back and forth and gathered a
huge crowd that was watching him spellbound. Then he got a
wheelbarrow up there and asked the crowd, how many of them believed
that he could cross the wire with the wheelbarrow. Most everybody
raised their hands. Then he said, since you believe I can do this,
who would like to get into the wheelbarrow? Nobody volunteered.
Anybody know who the tightrope artist was and when this happened? I
believe it is a true story.
The other illustration has to do with a mountain climber who got
into some kind of a jam and was at the end of a cliff with hundreds
of feet below him and certain death if he jumped - for some reason
he couldn't turn back. He felt God's Spirit nudging him to jump and
eventually he screwed up his courage and jumped, only to fall just a
few feet to a hidden switchback that was below the cliff.
I love these two illustrations of "taking the step of faith" but I
would like more detail if anybody knows it.
Thanks tons!
DEK in MN
Vicar Art in Va and other Bonhoeffer/martyr folks: This morning I
heard a sermon on this text. The preacher mentioned Romero and
Martin Luther King Junior, both were martyrs for the faith. (Romero
was assassinated on March 24, 1980 in a hospital chapel in El
Salvador.) The theme of the sermon was "There's a troubling in my
soul." I don't know if this helps, but the martyrdom topic/illustation
seemed to work well. DV at GETS
Concerning Bonhoeffer, these verses from the lectionary stand out to
me:12:23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man
to be glorified. 12:24 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. 12:25 Those who love their life
lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it
for eternal life. 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where
I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father
will honor. Speaks about Christ, speaks about Bonhoeffer and his
oppostion to cheap grace AUGGIE
To DEK in MN - The story of the tightrope and the wheelbarrow is
told in Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks and is thus: The story is
told of a great circus performer by the name of Blondin who
stretched a long steel cable across Niagara Falls. During high winds
and without a safety net, he walked, ran, and even danced across the
tightrope to the amazement and delight of the large crowd of people
who watched. Once he took a wheelbarrow full of bricks and amazed
the crowd by pushing it effortlessly across the cable, from one side
of the falls to the other. Blondin then turned to the crowd and
asked, "Now, how many of you believe that I could push a man across
the wire in the wheelbarrow?"
The vote was unanimous. Everyone cheered and held their hands high.
They all believed he could do it! "Then", asked Blondin, "would one
of you please volunteer to be that man?" As quickly as the hands
went up, they went back down. Not a single person would volunteer to
ride in the wheelbarrow and to trust his life to Blondin.
Hope this helps. . . LA in IA
To DEK in MN... the "version" of the tightrope story that I am
familiar with is not as factual as the posting from LA in IA, but it
offers a different twist depending on how you want to use it. Here
goes...
Most successful people are people who take risks - calculated risks
- but nevertheless, risks.
Consider the case of the rising young executive who suddenly found
himself unemployed when his company went through a downsizing.
When he asked "Why me?" the vice president, who was the young man's
superior, explained that he was too conservative in the way he did
his job. “Things have gotten more competitive," the vice president
explained. "Our people have to look at things from different angles
and they have to take risks. And when they take risks, they have to
believe they'll succeed. That's where you come up short."
For six months the young man tried to get a job and failed. Then one
day he met a retired circus tightrope walker. The two had something
in common... time on their hands. Before long, the unemployed
executive became an accomplished tightrope walker.
He became so good that he and his circus mentor were asked to
participate in a televised charity event at Niagara Falls, and the
young man invited his former boss to attend. “I'll show him who can
take risks," he said.
All went well at the event. The young man successfully crossed the
falls on the tightrope, followed by his circus mentor, who also
pushed a wheelbarrow across. The vice president congratulated the
young man and then dared him to cross over the falls again, this
time pushing the wheelbarrow. "You can do it if you believe you
can," said the vice president.
"Do you believe I can?" the young man asked his former boss.
"Yes, I do," the vice president replied.
"Okay," said the young man, "get in the wheelbarrow."
Jo in MO
Here is another version of the tightrope walker. There was a
tightrope walker, who did incredible aerial feats. All over Paris,
he would do tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. Then he
had succeeding acts; he would do it blindfolded, pushing a
wheelbarrow. An American promoter read about this in the papers and
wrote a letter to the tightrope walker, saying, "Tightrope, I don't
believe you can do it, but I'm willing to make you an offer. For a
very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees,
I would like to challenge you to do your act over Niagara Falls"
Now, Tighrope wrote back, "Sir, I've never been to America and seen
the Falls, I'd love to come." Well, after a lot of promotion and
setting the whole thing up, many people came to see the event.
Tightrope was to start on the Canadian side and come to the American
side. Drums rolled, and he came across the rope which was suspended
over the most treacherous part of the falls and blindfolded!! And he
made it across quite easily. The crowd went wild. He then came to
the promoter and said, "Well, Mr. Promoter, now do you believe I can
do it?" "Well of course I do. I mean, I just saw you do it." "No,"
said Tightrope, "do you really believe I can do it?" "Well of course
I do, you just did it." "No, no, no," said Tightrope, "do you
believe I can do it?" "Yes," said Mr. Promoter, "I believe you can
do it." "Good," said Tightrope, "then get in the wheelbarrow. "
Okay--take a shot at this. "Now is my soul 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." *This* hour, *this* reason--**what**
reason is "this reason"? It may be that Jesus referred to the
"obvious" cross in its future, especially given the "dying seed" in
v. 24, the life-losing in v.25, and the "when I am lifted up" in
v.32. But what if "this reason" is--that his soul is troubled. What
I'm suggesting is that Jesus (JN1:14!!) walked the human walk to
"this hour" when (precisely when--and for the precise reason that--)
his soul was *troubled* NOW he knows us! Now he really knows the
ambiguity-ridden folk His cross is all about. Not until "this hour"
(when, btw, not only Greeks but "the world has gone after him" {the
Pharisees in v.19}), did Jesus discover the deep pain of the
troubled soul who can see great success there for the plucking at
the very moment he discovers that success to be the enemy his life
has sworn to defeat. That His soul might become [as] troubled [as
mine is], I am pondering, may be precisely "this reason" that Jesus
has come to "this hour." GG in NC
My soul is troubled..... Everyone of us must get beyond the “Now my
soul is troubled” to willingly turn ourselves totally over to God.
Jesus faced his agony as we must face ours. We must die before me
die. This is totally against our human self-centered nature. Jesus
loved God...... the true test came when He trusted God. We say we
love God but the bottom line is do we trust God? When Jesus asked
Peter, “Do you love me? and after Peter answered, Jesus said, “Feed
my sheep.” It came after the cross. Peter’s example to trust stood
before him. Now it was Peters’ turn for, “Now my soul is troubled.”
Still trying to pull my thoughts together. LPinPA
OK DEK in MN - now for the definitive tightrope-walker-over-Niagara
story!!!
In 1859 Charles Blondin, the French Acrobat, walked across a
tightrope suspended across Niagara Falls.
One day, thousands watched him as he pushed a bag of cement in a
wheelbarrow along the wire, fifty metres above the raging waters.
There was a great cheer when he reached the other side.
Then Blondin challenged a nearby reporter: “Do you believe I can do
anything on a tightrope?”
“Oh yes, Mr Blondin,” said the reporter: “After what I’ve seen
today, I believe it. You can do anything.” However, the reporter
melted into the crowd when he was invited to put his trust to the
test and get into the wheelbarrow.
But, there was a person who did trust Blondin with his life. He got
into the wheelbarrow and was pushed across the wire. As Blondin made
his way high above the falls, people quickly placed bets on the
outcome. It looked like any other easy conquest. But, when they were
half way across the 500 metre journey of trust, a man with a heavy
bet against Blondin’s success, crept across and cut one of the guy
ropes.
Suddenly, the tightrope pitched crazily back and forth. Blondin
fought for his balance, only seconds away from death. For, when the
rim of the wheelbarrow came off the wire, they could both be pitched
into the churning water. Blondin spoke, cutting through the terror
of his passenger. “Stand up!” he ordered. “Stand up and grab my
shoulders.”
The man sat there paralysed.
“Let go and stand up! Let go of the wheelbarrow! Do it or die!”
Somehow the man managed to stand up and step out of the swaying
wheelbarrow.
“Your arms ... put them around my neck! Now, your legs ... round my
waist!” said Blondin.
Again the man obeyed, clinging to Blondin. The wheelbarrow fell,
disappearing into the frothy turmoil far below. The aerialist stood
there, using all his years of experience and every trained muscle to
stay on the wire until the pitching subsided a little. Then, inch by
inch, he made his way across, carrying the man like a child.
Finally, he deposited him safely on the other side.
c/- Desperate Preacher, South Australia.
Getting back to Jonathan's discussion of the Greeks, I wonder, what
were those Greeks doing in Jerusalem during the passover? It reminds
me of something that happened in my church last year. About 5 or 10
minutes into the service, a group of at least 30 or 40 people walked
into the back of the sanctuary, and took seats along the side pews.
They were kind of looking around. They sat through the scripture
readings and the children's sermon and began the next hymn. And then
suddenly they all got up and walked out. It took me a minute to
realize what was happening. (It is still a guess...) They were with
a tour group that had gotten the wrong address. They thought they
were coming to Harlem to see "black people singing". Technically
they were in Harlem, and our ushers did happen to be black that day
(our church is well integrated). But when they realized that it
wasn't going to be the kind of show they expected, they got up and
left. (Another group showed up the next week, but the ushers set
them straight before they disrupted the service.) Were the Greeks
there to worship, or were they just checking out the scene? Debra in
NYC
Thanks you guys! I've been having a 'Bonhoeffer feast' with all of
the suggestions and what they have stirred for me in my own research
and study. At this point, I am leaning towards rethinking v. 27 as
"Save me FOR this hour..." ...i.e. the prayer of costly discipleship
... It was also the challenge for Esther - "perhaps you have been
appointed for such a time as this" ...the thought works well with a
tribute to Bonhoeffer as well as the other lectionary lessons.
Thoughts? meredith in va
What about Jesus's teaching that, 'Whoever serves me must follow me;
and where I am, my servant also will be.."? How often do we try to
serve Jesus on our own instead of following the path of service that
he has chosen for us? Do we avoid God's will because we somehow know
that sonner or later we will end up at the Cross?
Thanks to all those who reminded us of the Bonhoeffer connection.
These passages dovetail wonderfully with his own commitment to
follow Jesus "Whowever serves me must follow me, and where I am
there will my servant be also." Bonhoeffer was also willing to risk
his life. Along the lines of suffering, I would offer this quote
from Ann Morrow Lindberg. "I do not believe suffering teaches. If
suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone
suffers. To sufering must be added mourning, understanding,
patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable."
I believe that it is this willingness to remain vulnerable that
marks Christ's suffering for us and our own call to risk suffering
for the the gospel. That is, suffering in and of itself is not
redemptive. It is how we suffer and for what and for whom that makes
it redemptive. Just some thoughts. LP in CO
Denise Giardina in her wonderful novel on the life of Bonhoeffer,
shows a real man struggling with his concern for safety, his desire
for peace, his love for country, and his sense of what it means to
be a disciple. While he was pastoring in London during the early
years of Hitler, he lived with a lot of depression. He thought
seriously of going to India and studying with Ghandi, even received
an invitation to do so. But at the same time Niemoller invited him
to come back to Germany and head a new seminary for the resistance
church. Nothing wrong with Ghandi, but for Bonhoeffer, it was the
Greek's calling, a way out of suffering. His hour came, and he took
passage to Germany. jpwes
