3/29/20 John 12:20-33 “I’ve Been Planted”

27 Mar 3/29/20 John 12:20-33 “I’ve Been Planted”

3/29/20    John 12:20-33        “I’ve Been Planted”

This has been quite a week for just about everyone here today.  In one way or another we have been fighting the coronavirus.  This has never happened before, so we don’t always know what we are doing.  This is a time when we don’t get enough rest.  This is a time when we become vulnerable to all things and more.  Hopefully, today we will be able to rest easy in the arms of Jesus during this hour of worship.

You may be thinking that this really isn’t a passage about rest, and you may be right but it can be as anytime you are with Jesus it can be rest.  This passage however is basically about Jesus predicting his death.  Just at a quick glance you may not feel that this is the most uplifting topic to talk about.  But on the other hand it may be the most uplifting thing we can ever talk about.  Today let’s see if we can get a better understanding as to why Jesus had to die and what that means to us.

I would guess that most of you know what a paradox is.  It is when you have two statements that are contradictory or absurd, but they are true.  It is probably something that we don’t understand or at least I don’t understand but it still seems to work.  Russell Brownworth gives this lighthearted example.  There was a man working late in his office one night when he needed help.  He went out to the hallway and called out, “Is anyone out there?”  A voice came back, “I’m here.”  The man called out again, “How do you spell ‘simultaneous’?”  There was a long pause before the voice answered as if fading into the night, “There’s nobody here!”

Our whole gospel message is a paradox.  We are called to be servant leaders.  If we look at Jesus, we see that He is a paradox because He is both man and God.  We also find that Jesus would die so that we could all live.  There are many other paradoxes that you will find as you read through the Bible.

We have to remember that Jesus is a pretty smart guy.  After all, He knows everything.  So He knows that we have a hard time to understand that He has to die so that we can live.  He begins by telling us that the time has finally come where He will be glorified.  All through the gospel of John, we have been reading that His time has not yet come.  And now, finally, it has come.

Jesus decides to describe what He was about to do by comparing himself to a wheat seed.  Most of us know about wheat seeds or corn seeds or soybean seeds.  But I would like you to think about this for a minute.  A wheat seed will remain a wheat seed if I place it in a drawer, or a granary, or if I put it on the pulpit.  It will remain a wheat seed forever if I do any of these things.  However, if I bury it or kill it by putting it in the ground, then things begin to happen.

The buried wheat seed will cease to be a seed at all as it begins the cycle of being a plant.  It is almost like three days later it will rise up.  And not only will it become a plant but the one seed is able to produce many more seeds when it matures.  The seed in essence only produces life if it dies by being put in the ground.

This was going to be the same thing that Jesus was going to do.  Remember that Jesus is God and He could have walked on this earth for an eternity and we still probably wouldn’t have gotten it.  After all, He did minister to us for three years and nobody actually knew what was happening.  If we read ahead in the book of Acts we see that the disciples really never ‘got it’ until after Jesus went back to heaven.  So Jesus had to die and be raised up on the third day.  Like the wheat plant, He had to be transformed by death.  He not only died but he was raised up again, like the wheat plant, so that He could produce many followers.

I think the wheat seed is a neat illustration because it fits so well with all that we do.  Take a look around this broken world of ours.  We see wheat seeds everywhere.  They are our mission field.  Each of us was once in the same position.  This is where we all start.  We have to die before we can bear any fruit.  This is what we mean when we say we are born again.  Maybe a better term for this would be, ‘I’ve been planted.’  It means that we have already died and come back to life in the form of a follower of Jesus Christ.

People who don’t know Jesus really don’t understand any of this.  They see the things that happen to us and how we respond.  They see the happiness in our lives and they would like to have this in theirs also.  They see lots of good stuff and they would really like to know more about us but they are unwilling to make the sacrifice of dying to themselves so that they can be made anew.  They refuse to be planted.

And even after we have been planted and are growing Christians we have trouble.  Satan is not about to leave us alone.  You can tell sometimes that you are on the right track with Jesus if Satan continues to attack.  In these hard times, we still see the bills come.  Our bosses want more productivity from all of us in less time if we can even work.  In many areas it is also flood season.  There is an old song that goes something like this; “Nobody knows the troubles I know.”  These are the times when we sometimes fall away.  But these are the times we need to stay close to Jesus.

There is a story that is told by Maynard Pittendreigh that could and does happen to many pastors.  He did a funeral for a woman who rarely came to church.  She would be lucky if she attended twice a year.  The family of this woman was filled with grief as would any family.  They were trying to seek comfort from God even though they didn’t know God.  This is pretty hard to do and they came up with all sorts of different ideas.

At first they were sure that she would go to heaven, not because God loved her or had mercy on her, but because God owed it to her because he had taken her too early in life.  There was another family member who was pregnant at the time of the funeral and she got the family to think that the woman would be reincarnated into her child.  They were thinking that the soul would go to the next available body.  It would kind of be like trading cars.

At one point in the time before the funeral one of the members had asked the pastor, “Why did God let this happen?”  And of course this is a very good question and a very deep question.  But how do you ever begin to answer this when the people you are talking to have no understanding of God in the first place.  It would be like trying to teach a first grader calculus.  This family just wouldn’t understand because they have not yet died to Christ.

And of course if they don’t understand this then they will not understand another paradox of leading by following.  Jesus came to us in the form of a servant.  Just look at the things that He did.  He took care of the sick.  He helped the lame.  He even washed the feet of the very people who were following Him.  Jesus Christ followed the way of God right to the cross.  And yet He was and is the leader of this tremendous religion called Christianity.

Some of you know that I worked for many years at the Post Office.  They had kind of a funny system for promotions there.  More often than not, people would get promoted for not being able to do the job.  If you were able to do a good job where you were at, then you would stay there and someone who didn’t know the job would get promoted.  There was absolutely no servant leadership there.  And I think that you might find this in many of the larger companies of this country.

On the other side of the coin, take a look at some of our doctors and medical people.  These people are trying everything they know to save lives and help people through this coronavirus.  Some of them seem to be there day and night.  They are being a servant leaders.  Then take a look at some of our news people.  They just want to argue about anything and everything that comes up.  So the question becomes, ‘Who would you follow in the next next crisis like this, someone who has been there or someone who just wants to argue and not do?’

Jesus Christ has been there and done that.  He has lived our lives and seen the things that we have seen.  Everything we have done, He has already been there and defeated the enemy.  This is why you can invoke the name of Jesus to drive Satan away from you.  Jesus has beaten every kind of evil that there is on this earth.  So don’t be afraid to call on his name when you need help.

The hardest part of all of this is that we have to surrender to be free.  This paradox is really hard for us to overcome, but it is very true.  I read about a man who was a real up and comer in our world of things.  He tried to amass all that he could.  He wanted the best of everything that money could buy so he went and got it.  He wanted to be able to say that if he didn’t have it, then he didn’t want it.  He also didn’t want have anyone telling him what to do or be his boss.  He wanted total freedom and he was rich enough so that he could have it.  What this poor man couldn’t see was that he had become a slave to those very ideas of his definition of being free.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, freedom only comes through Jesus Christ.  You can never be free until you give it all to Jesus.  If you don’t know Jesus today, then ask Him into your heart.  This is an invitation to be free.  This is what this passage is all about.  If you surrender and follow then you will be free.

Now notice that Jesus doesn’t shirk from his duties here.  Oh, He has thought about asking not to go to the cross.  He knows that it will not be pleasant but He also knows that this is why He has come.  His time has come.

And what does God say about this.  A voice came from heaven and said, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  The ‘it’ here means the name of God.  This is all God’s plan and He is telling us so right here.  And some of the people nearby said it was thunder while others thought it was an angel.

You see, the people of God can hear His soft, gentle voice but the people who don’t know God, can’t hear him.  Things are no different today.  I think that it is so sad that there are many people in this country who cannot hear the voice of God.  They are all over the world but it is especially sad for this country because we have had our chances.  One day our chances will run out.  When we look at the Old Testament, there comes a time when it is too late.  God is very patient but He will not wait forever.  This is why it is so important that you help everyone that you know to come to Jesus.

And when you are obedient and follow the ways of Jesus in all that you do, then you will be glorifying God’s name just like Jesus was about to do.  And when you glorify the name of God, then you are doing the right things in life.

Our lives are hard.  Many of us have had major losses in our lives that have left us in turmoil.  Even today as we have this broadcast, many are out fighting this terrible virus.  This has been a very hard week and next week may be the same.  And when we get to the next week after that, we might more of the same problems or we may find new problems to conquer.  Don’t let Satan win the battle for your mind.  Keep your eyes focused on Jesus.

This is very hard to do.  We are in a crisis.  We are in trouble.  Why do these things happen to us?  I don’t have the answer to that except for the answer to any question.  Trust God.  This is very hard to do.  In this area we not only have the coronavirus, but we also have flooding.  A few years ago they were going to evacuate one of the senior homes in Fargo due to flooding and they didn’t have a clue as to where they would take these people.  Just then a home in central North Dakota called and they had 50 beds they could use.  Trust God.  If you get sick with this virus, do the things that you are supposed to do to get healthy and trust God.  I would guess that each and every one of you today could tell a wonderful God story.  Trust God.

We will get through this.  Things may be a little different but we have to trust God that He will make it better for us.  It is only through Jesus that we have hope.  He is our Great Hope.  He did all that He could do for you as He died for you.  Now is the time to grab onto Jesus and hang on.  And while you are at it, find someone else who doesn’t know Jesus and invite them along also.  People will be searching after this disaster so let’s help them find Jesus.  That is because a life we have in Jesus is the best life that there can be.  Thank you Jesus for all that you do and have done.  And thank you for first loving us.   Let’s pray.