vv20-21 Now
there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.
“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
I think that most ministers, when
they reach the end of their ministry, must ask themselves this question: “Did
I help the people see Jesus?” It might not be something that other
people worry about, but I believe that most congregational pastors feel troubled
by this challenging question. When I speak with my clergy peers, many of them
carry a similar burden in their hearts and on their minds. They feel that they
cannot do enough, be everywhere, and see to every need that each church member
requires of them. And the longer pastors stay in a church, there are more
occasions where people can feel let down, dissatisfied, and uncared for. This
is why I believe most pastors only stay with a congregation between 4 to 7
years and move on to a new place, a new people, and new opportunities.
When I became a Christian almost
forty years ago, all I ever wanted to do was to make people aware of who Christ
was, what He did for me, and how they could experience the same blessings. I
gave out Gospel tracts in the busy downtown streets of Glasgow; I preached,
sang, and witnessed to folks at street corners; I gave messages, played my
guitar, wrote songs about Jesus in a young people’s Gospel Club. My whole life
at that time was to help others see Jesus.
These days, I preach, teach, write,
and draw for the very same reason: I still want other folks to see Jesus – to
know Him and love Him – to be known by Him and loved by Him. And this is not
just because I’m a pastor or a Presbyterian; this is because I’m a Christian,
sometimes a not very good one, whose only purpose is to serve and follow
Christ. But this is not just my calling – it is the same calling for all
Reformed Christians because we fundamentally believe in the priesthood of all
believers, in the ministry of all followers, in the pastorate of all those who put
their faith in Jesus.
Today’s Gospel passage shows us
something similar. Some Greek people, who have come up for the Passover feast,
have heard other folks talking about Jesus. They have heard some interesting
stories and amazing reports about this Carpenter-preacher-prophet from Galilee.
Now they want to satisfy their own curiosity. They want to personally see and
encounter Jesus. They want to come into His presence and experience His
preaching, teaching, and healing for themselves. We may not realize it, but
this was a pivotal moment in Christ’s ministry. His work went from being
regional to becoming international. His fame was spreading and this meant that
the Kingdom was advancing, not just all over Galilee and the Holy Land, but
into the hearts and homes of Greek Mediterranean people, who would take His message
when they went back home, and share it with their own families and friends,
colleagues and peers.
Christ is pleased with the request from the Greeks,
but He also uses the opportunity to present one of His special teaching moments.
v26 “Whoever
serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father
will honor the one who serves Me.”
We no longer belong to a servant
society, so a lot of Christians don’t understand what Jesus is actually saying
here. We want other people to serve us continually – the restaurant server, the
grocery clerk, the public servant, or the company representative for our cable,
telephone, or internet service. We want immediate attention and instantaneous
results. We pay for our taxes, rates, purchases, and even our church offerings
with our hard earned dollars, so we expect results and demand respect. We sometimes
don’t know how to serve, but we do know when we are not being served properly,
fittingly, and satisfactorily.
Do we misunderstand Jesus? Have we
forgotten that we are His servants? Have we managed to set aside what He
purchased for us with His blood? He saved us from our sins, and yet we still
continue our selfish ways. He bought our souls with His sacrifice, and yet we
still say ‘No’ when asked to serve. He gave everything of Himself, so that we might
have everything from God, and yet when asked to give anything for Him, it takes
too much time, too much effort, too much trouble. In other words, we want
Christ to serve us – our prayers, our projects, our ideas, and our dreams.
This week has seen our denomination
redefine marriage as between two people, no matter what gender they belong to.
It’s part of the ongoing Interpretation Wars that are destroying denominations
and creating chaos across many congregations. How we interpret the Bible is important
because it reveals to the world what we believe, who we are, and how we actually
serve Jesus. And if you don’t think this has any relevance to what the Gospel
passage reveals to us today, then let me introduce you to the beliefs of a
PCUSA pastor on the West Coast. Just recently, he wrote these words:
“I believe that: Religion is a human construct
The symbols of faith are products of human cultural
evolution
Jesus may have been an historical figure, but most of
what we know about him is in the form of legend
God is a symbol of myth-making and not credible as a
supernatural being or force
The Bible is a human product as opposed to special
revelation from a divine being
Human consciousness is the result of natural
selection, so there’s no afterlife
In short, I regard the symbols of Christianity from a
non-supernatural point of view.
And yet, even though I hold those beliefs, I am still
a proud minister. But I don’t appreciate being told that I’m not truly a
Christian.
So who does he serve? Who does he follow? In whom does
he place his beliefs? And how on earth has he been able to remain as a PCUSA
pastor? Remember Christ’s words:
v26 “Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and
where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves
Me.”
As well as
teaching the Greeks and the others around Him of what following Jesus meant, he
also used this incident to remind His disciples of His mission – He wasn't here
for fame or fortune, His popularity or pride. So He told them:
v31 “Now is
the time for judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be
driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the Earth, will draw all men to
Myself.”
Judgement is not a very popular word
in Christian circles. It very quickly gets transformed into ‘judgmental,’ which
is something that Christians are continually told that they should never be.
Judging and judgement belong to God, or in this case, Jesus Christ His Holy
Son. As He expresses it, the world is presently being judged by God. However,
when folks tell Christians to stop being so judgmental, what they are really
saying is this: no one has the right to judge me, not even God.
When Jesus talked about judgment at
this time, He was confronting evil and telling it that its course, time, and hold
over humanity had run out. He would bring all the conflict in the world to a
climatic point when Jesus Himself would be lifted up on the Cross to draw all
evil from the past, present, and future and pinpoint its destruction on
Himself. This is why we are constantly told that He who was sinless became sin
itself. Christ bore God’s wrath for our sinful behavior. He took upon Himself
the judgment of His Father so that we may be totally forgiven of every single
one of our mistakes, in order to be fully cleansed, made holy, and eternally
reconciled to God. Without Jesus, we would be eternally annihilated by God;
with Jesus, we are entirely accepted by God.
So, what does all this mean for us here in
church this morning? What should we do about Christ’s words and deeds from this
Gospel passage?
Firstly, as Christians, we need to remind
ourselves that we are the vehicles of faith, the channels of mercy, and the instruments
of God’s love to enable other folks to see Jesus. We are not only meant to be
believers or followers or disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to be witnesses
of His grace and truth.
Secondly, we are servants of Christ and
not just seekers of God. This requires commitment and consistency, humility and
faithfulness. Servants are not meant to choose to come to church in order to
get something out of it; servants are supposed to obediently come to church in
order to give something into it – whether it be time and talents, money and
meaning, or service and faith.
Lastly, judgmental Christians make poor
witnesses, however setting aside or ignoring the fact that Christ is actually
judging the world is spiritually dangerous, and may cause people to wander down
into dark tunnels of their own misunderstanding, instead of paying attention to
Christ’s words and ways, which are meant to lead us toward His Light and God’s
gift of everlasting Life. In Christ’s Name. Amen.
Prayer & Apostles’ Creed.
(As we say the Creed, let’s be reminded of the fact
that when Christ returns, He comes to judge the quick (those still alive) and
the dead – in other words, everyone who ever existed in the past, lives now, or
will be born until the Day in which He returns).
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