Exodus 33:18-19a (NIV) 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence.
John 12:23-28 (RSV) 23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him. 27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
Jesus is talking about His death. He is talking about God’s glory being revealed in His death. We find proof in the Cross of Jesus. What had been the symbol of death became a symbol of life and of God’s forgiveness of sin. What seemed like the triumph of injustice became God’s judgment on injustice. What looked like the stark absence of God, and the powerlessness of God was the presence of God and the awesome power of God.
For whoever would save his life will lose it and who loses his life for my sake, he will save it. Unless the grain dies… Unless you and I die to what? Unless we die to self. Unless we die to thinking and feeling and believing and acting as if we are the center of what life is all about.
Death is seldom easy. On this side of dying all we see, all we seem to be able to focus on is what we are going to lose, on what we are going to have to give up. Jesus struggled with the choice and the possibility before him. But in the middle of that struggle, for Him and for us, comes the voice of God. In the turbulence comes a presence, a power not our own, that enables us to let go and to find life.
When we feel like a failure and feel sorry for ourselves life becomes darker, more draining physically and emotionally and spiritually. We may quit going to church. And then we hear the words from the Cross, “It is finished” and they pierce our soul with something so real and strong it feels like a sudden white light. And, we know it is finished – the hurts, the blame, resentment, regrets, guilt, self-pity. And there is peace, and life, and a call. A new sense of call to get on with life and use our gifts.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 16, 1997
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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