Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 5:5-10 John 12:20-33
PREACHER: Pastor Erik Zingelman
Our gospel reading gives us a reference to how Jesus is to die - he is to be lifted up - he is to die on a cross. It is clear that this is God’s plan - Jesus must die on the cross and in his death and resurrection he will draw all of humankind to himself.
I. “Lifted up he draws us all” to the cross. He confronts us with our sin.
A. Jeremiah’s promise of a new covenant grows out of a judgment on the whole history of Israel. Israel’s total inability to listen and to accept correction becomes the very starting point for Jeremiah’s promise.
B. Lifted up upon the cross, Jesus draws the focus of our attention. He hangs there on the cross because of you and me. It is for our sins that he has died. He has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. He has bridged the gap between God and humankind. The very gap created by our state of sin. He has given us the mirror of the commandments - the first covenant - in which to look at the reflection of our lives. It takes no genius to see that we are no where near the people God created us to be.
II. “Lifted up he draws us all” to himself, to the God who loves us as we are, warts and all, the God who forgives and strengthens us, the God who from the cross makes Jeremiah’s promised new covenant a reality.
A. “...this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”
B. In love our God has paid the terrible price of the cross to make of us a new people. In baptism we are baptized with his death. We are made a new creation. We could not change our hearts, but God does change us. His Spirit works in us continually. We are made one with Christ. We are the brothers and sisters of our Lord, the children of the living God. He takes us as we are - he creates a new heart within us. Drawn to him as bees are drawn to honey, we become a new people.
III. “Lifted up he draws us all” to his victory. Now and forever, as victors in Christ, we gladly serve and glorify God as we serve others.
A. “Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world: Now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
B. The ruler of this world has been cast out. You and I are no longer under the power and control of sin, death and the power of the devil. In the cross and resurrection the name of God has been glorified.
C. We are called by our God to be his willing servants his witnesses to our world. There will be sacrifice called for as we move toward the goal of lifting high the cross of Jesus Christ. Given the gifts of love, joy, peace, forgiveness, strength, patience, and endurance we know we are prepared to meet the challenge behind any door that opens to us. As the children of God - brothers and sisters of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we know that the promise of eternal life is ours. This is the good news we share with our world.
She hadn't intended to speak. In fact, she had thought she could sneak quietly into the church after the service began, sit in an inconspicuous place, and leave before it ended. She had no way of knowing before she got inside how open and exposed all of the seats in the small sanctuary were, not at all like the huge churches they showed in TV shows and movies. All she had meant to do was sit quietly and somehow communicate to God her thankfulness that her son had been spared. But she had felt exposed ever since she sat down. She was afraid everyone was looking and wondering, "What is she doing here?" And then the pastor had asked if anyone had concerns and celebrations to share, and before she could control herself she found her hand raised, just like she was in grade school again.
The pastor nodded at her, as nearly every eye in the church turned to look at her in the back pew. She swallowed to try and wet the inside of her mouth, where her tongue felt as if it were glued down. But, as she pulled herself to her feet, she saw the kind, welcoming eyes of the woman from the hospital several rows ahead, and she knew what to say.
"Most of you know my name is Mary Paul. I've lived in this town all of my life, and this is the first time I ever set foot in this church. My brothers and I have run the Whistle Stop tavern ever since our dad died. Our family never had anything to do with church. Dad used to say it was a conflict of interest."
A smile twitched the corner of her mouth, but she kept it from fully forming. The friendly woman nodded, though, and Mary kept going.
"I came in here today because I wanted to say thank you to God for the life of my son. I think you all know that Steve smashed up his car out on Highway 33 last Tuesday night. He's been in intensive care ever since, and they didn't give me much hope that he'd pull through. This morning at 7:00 they said he turned the corner, and they think he'll live. Up until Saturday morning, I would have only thought to thank the doctors that he pulled through. But on Saturday, a member of this church called on Steve and me at the hospital."
Some of the eyes of the congregation turned away from Mary at that point, and rested on the friendly face that still smiled softly at her. Mary pushed onward.
"I never met this woman before Saturday. I think she said her name is Eleanor, and I see her sitting over there. Well, Eleanor came into the waiting room when all my family and the people I call my friends had gone, and talked to me just like I was her friend. She said how sorry she was about Steve, and how she heard that the accident wasn't his fault, which is just the opposite of what everyone else was either saying or thinking. She asked if we could go into his room in the ICU together so she could say a prayer for him.
"I'm not one for praying. What my life has been like is no secret in this town. But she was so nice, and her caring was so real, that I said yes, and when she touched Steve's hand, with all those tubes and needles hooked in it, and prayed to God that he would be all right, well, I prayed that, too. I prayed for the first time I can remember in my whole life. And this morning they tell me Steve is going to pull through."
The lump in her throat, that had taken the place of the dryness, choked off most of her last words. She looked down, embarrassed, when tears escaped from her eyes and began to run down her face and nose. It just wasn't like her to cry over anything. Then she remembered the point she was trying to make, ignored the tears, and looked directly back at the congregation, most of whom now looked surprised.
"Anyhow," Mary said, "on my way home I saw all the cars here, and I just felt like I should come in and say thank you to God for my son's life. And while I'm at it, thank you, Eleanor, for being there at the right time for me and Steve. People like you are what goodness is really about. If there were more like you, maybe I would have been brave enough to come in here and say thanks to God sooner."
Then Mary Paul reached for her purse and keys on the pew and stepped out into the aisle to leave. But when she turned, Eleanor was standing beside her, and took her arm and led her forward to the pew where she had been sitting. And through the rest of the service they shared a bulletin and a hymnal and Christ's peace.
Mary was in the third grade. Her parents never went to Sunday school or church, nor did they see to it that Mary got there. Mary listened with great interest as her little friend, Dottie, related to her what her Sunday School teacher told her. Dottie also shared with Mary many of the Bible stories she learned in Sunday School as well as her fascination with a man named Jesus.
This only intrigued Mary all the more. One day Dottie told Mary that they would be seeing a film about Jesus in Sunday School that very next Sunday. Mary sat quietly at the dinner table that evening until finally her mother said, “Mary, what’s the matter? You’ve hardly said a word and you haven’t eaten your dinner.” “Mother, I’m so excited about what Dottie tells me about her Sunday School and all the neat things they are leaning. This Sunday they’re having a film about Jesus. Will you and Daddy go with me to Sunday School? I want to see Jesus.”
Listen to What I say! Like Mary, and like the Greeks in our gospel, there are so many today who need to see Jesus. Have you seen him? Have you invited anyone else to see him?
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