Unless a grain of wheat dies!

http://www.pastortimclark.com/?p=5468

Living a true life

I struggle with the idea that we are called to 'hate' our lives. But i think that what Jesus was doing doing was calling us beyond a shallow definition of living to a deeper, truer path.
On hating one's life: Jesus did NOT mean that we are to hate ourselves. We are children of God and how can we hate God's creation? He also did NOT mean to hate our jobs or our homes, or our marriages, or anything that we DO on this earth. What we DO is only a superficial part of our lives. And he did NOT mean the disregard for life that comes from being depressed and leads to suicide. He was not talking about killing ourselves (as in suicide, or suicide bombing), but being killed for a higher good.

What Jesus meant is that we are not to be so attached to our life that we can't see anything more important than it; than 'me'. When we 'hate' our life, we are willing to give it up for the sake of something good... for the sake of God, or truth, or justice, or love. In a real sense i think that to 'hate' our life in the way Jesus speaks of is to love what is true and meaningful and beautiful in life, not what is hollow or false. It is to live a life of Love.

The challenge of God's law within us

In the Gospel reading, we heard Jesus say that unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. This could be another way of expressing the idea that the primary goal for Christians is not their own comfort and advancement but to do everything possible to encourage others to life in all its fullness. We know that the seed falling to the ground does not die. In fact, if it did die, it would produce little except a minute amount of nutrients for another plant. What happens when the seed falls to the ground is that it comes in contact with the ground of all being which enables all the hidden potential of the seed to be released and to flourish.

Christians for the main have aspired to move away from earthiness rather than towards it. Why has the Church thought that grand buildings were what brought glory to God? Does a great cathedral, which was built at the cost of many lives both in the actual building and in the cost it was to the poor people of the district show more of God’s glory than a single sprouting seed? It depends on how you see glory. Do we see the glory of God’s humble goodness or is it the power and wealth of Empires we see? Such buildings show how clever humans are rather than the glory of God..

Being prepared to lay down our lives is about acting humbly rather than showing how great we are. The world by now might be quite different if the Church had remained an example of the humility of God rather than its idea of the glory of God? If we had taken note of what God told Moses about the glory of God being goodness, if we had heard the prophets telling us that God hated the way the people worshiped and that what God wanted was justice, mercy and humility, the whole world might be different.

God has made a new covenant with us and put God’s law with in us. God has given us many gifts, fruit and abilities to enable us to become more Christlike. We have the responsibility  to trust these are sufficient for us to behave as Jesus behaved and calls us to do.

Rev Julianne Parker

(for full sermon see sermons page)