Jim Gill March 2, 2008
“It’s Time” John 12:20-33
It'S Time. That’s the catch phrase promo for this year’s version of our Houston Rockets. It’s not quite your “Unbeatable” of the Hakeem Olajuwon era in 1994. (I love the way he used to say it. Unbeeetabull). It’s not quite the following year’s “Believe.” when they won their second championship in a row.
Since then they’ve been “Beatable” and they’ve not had much reason to “Believe.” So this year’s theme? It’s Time. It kind of has a defeated ring about it. It’s been 14 years since we won a championship. It hasn’t been time. I guess maybe……It’s Time.
This week the news came down that the Rocket’s all star center Yao Ming had a stress fracture in his left foot and he is out for the rest of the season. It’s a shame because things were going so well. They were on a 12 game winning streak. It was becoming too good to be true. When was the bubble going to burst? ….. It’s time.
In spite of the loss of Yao, the team has continued to win. They’re now up to 14 wins in a row but that may be more attributable to the ability of the last two opponents than the resiliency of the ones for whom It’s Time. In reality, each of the last 3 seasons Yao has missed significant numbers of games due to injuries. I guess a 7’6” 315 pound man can’t get around the fact that when it come to playing 80 some odd games a year there comes a time when…. it’s time.
The book of John has 21 chapters. In the first ten chapters Jesus is teaching. The eleventh chapter is devoted to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The Last 10 chapters Jesus is marking time, marching through time…heading….to the cross.
With the raising of Lazarus, the Kingdom was about to break into the world. The power that represents the Kingdom, the power of new life, the power of creation, was about to break in. You see, the raising of Lazarus did more than raise a dead man. It raised the price on Jesus’ head. There were secret police in that crowd at Bethany when Lazarus was raised. They saw everything. They heard what Jesus said. They went immediately back to Jerusalem to tell Caiaphas, the high priest what they saw and heard.
As high priest, Caiaphas was a government official in a city crowded with religious pilgrims hoping that this was the year that the Messiah would come. Among the pilgrims there were revolutionaries, and anarchists planning to overthrow the government. They were hoping that something would happen with the crowd that they could exploit to create a mob that would throw the Roman oppressors out.
For a person who was responsible for governing in a volatile situation as Jerusalem was at the Passover, the news about what happened in Bethany was like learning that a fuse has been lit, and there is only a short time before there was an explosion. Fearful that Rome would come down maybe even destroy the city Caiaphas, said "It is expedient for one man to die to save the people." It was Caiaphas saying, “It’s time.”
The eleventh chapter of John concludes with these ominous words: "So from that day on they took counsel as to how to put him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer went about openly, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town named Ephraim; and there he stayed with the disciples."
Two weeks ago we saw a full blooded Jewish seminary professor come to “see” Jesus in the cover of night. Last week we saw Jesus reaching out to a woman who was half Jewish and half Gentile as he asked her for a drink of water at Jacob’s well. This morning we take a look at full blooded Gentiles with no Jewish blood in them at all wanting to “see Jesus.” Hear the gospel of our Lord from John 12:20-33.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for this your word. We are like those Greeks. We want to see you. We want to know you. We want to be known by you. We want to know what purpose you have for us and how we can be used by you. We want to be a part of what you are doing in the world. As we focus on what on this part of your word means to us, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
***
On April, 21 1978, (almost 30 years ago?) I stood behind the pulpit of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Beaumont, Texas to pronounce the benediction of the service where I had just been ordained for the gospel ministry. As I did so, a brass plaque on the pulpit just below the tilted part where the Bible rests caught my eye. The plaque said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” (Westminster now has a female pastor. I wonder if the plaque is still there or if it’s been changed to Maam, we would see Jesus.)
Because of the whirlwind of excitement generated by the raising of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus had gone to the wilderness of Ephraim. When the time was right though, on the first day of the week Jesus and his entourage entered the city amid wild enthusiastic crowds waving Palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna, blessed is He who come in the name of the Lord.” It wasn’t as big as our Rodeo parade yesterday, it only had one rider and it was on a donkey. We’ll look at that part of Jesus life in a couple of weeks. But in John’s gospel, after that grand entrance something monumental happens.
Nicodemus sought out Jesus on his own. Jesus sought out the Samaritan woman at the well. But these Greeks didn’t feel like they had the right to approach Jesus himself. These Greeks were among the many people, Jews as well as Gentiles, from throughout the Roman empire who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival and worship at the temple. No doubt they had heard many reports about Jesus, including the recent news that he had raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. Like the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8 and the Gentile centurion Cornelius of Caesarea of Acts 10, these Gentiles were described as “God-fearers.” Disgusted with the polytheism and immorality of their pagan religions, they were drawn to the monotheism and morality of the faith of Israel.
These Greeks probably attended synagogue worship in their home towns and regularly traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate festivals. But when they came to worship at the temple, they could only go up to the court of the Gentiles. There was a wall separating Gentile worshipers from the rest of the temple area and they could not go past it.
John tells us that Philip was from Bethsaida which was way up on the northern most side of the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was a city with a large ethnic Greek population. In fact, Philip and Andrew are Greek names. They were practicing Jews, but part of a large Greek ethnic population had settled in that part of Palestine. I guess when you grow up around Greeks, parents like to give their children that names that were popular at the time. (kind of like Jessica and Jennifer and Michael and Christopher were in the 80’s when Anne and I were naming kids) Acutally Michael has been the number one boy name since the 60’s!
Philip and Andrew thought that they could move around Jerusalem incognito at the time of the Passover, for the city was filled literally with tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world who had come to the Holy City on this most holy of seasons. But someone from the old neighborhood recognized Philip and they pulled him into a doorway, looked around to see if anybody was looking, and said, "We would see Jesus."
Philip is suspicious. He says to them, "Wait here." He goes to find Andrew. "What shall we do? Are they working for the police? Can we trust them? Are they interested only in the reward? What do we do?”
They decide to take the chance. They go to tell Jesus that some Greeks want to see him and Jesus response? He says, "The hour has come for the Son of man to receive great glory. Jesus says, “It’s time.”
In John 8 Jesus said “I Am the light of the world.” When his opponents challenged him John says that even though they were infuriated by his words that “no one laid hands on him for his hour had not yet come.”
But when Greeks come asking to see Jesus he says,”Now is the time for the Son of Man to receive great glory.” He was declaring that what is about to happen to him was not the end of his mission, but the fulfillment of his mission.
Ever since the raising of Lazarus Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem. Jesus was getting ready, preparing himself, to take up his cross, to demonstrate through his death, and in his resurrection, what he had preached all of his life. God loves us. God loves us so much that he sent his son so that whosoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." We can be forgiven. We can be reconciled to God. We can be loved as a child of God.
Jesus was preparing himself to bring his mission to a close. He came to do more than be a teacher to a Jewish Seminary professor like Nicodemus. He came to be more than a therapist to a half Jewish six time loser like the Samaritan woman at the well. He came to be more than a interview to non-Jewish God fearers like these Greeks. He came to give his life to be the savior of all three groups and every person in between. He came to die and be planted in the ground like a grain of wheat so that fields and fields and fields of Jewish, Half Jewish and Non Jewish of followers could come from his sacrifice. He came to be lifted up so he could draw all people to himself.
With then news that even Greeks were coming wanting to see him Jesus says, "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour'?" It is a rhetorical question. He answers, "No, for this I have come to so that I might go through this hour of suffering. Father bring glory to you name! And then, for the third time in his ministry Jesus hears his heavenly Father speak.
At Jesus’ baptism his heavenly Father said from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” On the mountain when Jesus was transfigured and had a awe inspiring visit from Elijah and Moses his heavenly Father spoke and said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Now, here, after even the Greeks come seeking Jesus his heavenly Father says, “I have brought glory to my name and I will do it again!’ People who heard it thought it was thunder while others thought it was an angel, but Jesus knew who it was and what those words meant. Through Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel, through Joseph and Moses and Elijah and all the prophets God had brought glory to his name. But in Jesus, God planned to do it again in a greater way than it had ever been done before. God was going to do it again through the cross.
Jesus sees the cross not as something from which to run, but as a part of God’s plan that is greater than Caiaphas’ plan. His plan was to make life easier for himself. But God's plan was to bring new life to everyone. Caiphas’ plan was to get rid of a trouble maker. God's plan was to get rid of troubled, worried minds who had no clue that God loved them. On the cross God took the plans of politicians and used them for the plan of salvation. Oh Lord, do it again!
A thousand years before Jesus was born this principle was lived out in the life of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. They hated him, so they got rid of him, or so they thought. He applied himself in Egypt, and rose to the rank of prime minister. With a diligent administration he managed to store enough food for seven years, so when the famine came, only Egypt had the food. Now Joseph's brothers came to him asking for refuge from the famine. They didn’t recognize their brother. But Joseph recognized them. He said to them, "I am Joseph, your brother." They fell on their knees, asked for forgiveness for what they had done. He said to them, "Get up, it's all right. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."
Caiaphas meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Jesus was crucified. But three days later He was resurrected and fifty days later the church was born
All of us have had things done to us that were meant for evil, but God brought good out of them. God has taken things that could have been seen as setbacks and used them for steps forward. All of us have been hurt by someone else. All of us have hurt someone else. We can brood about it, hold on to the hurt, nurse the grudge or we can say, “It’s time.” It’s time to let go of it and move on. It’s time to forgive for in forgiving we can learn to receive forgiveness. In forgiving others we can learn even to forgive ourselves. In asking for forgiveness we can learn to give forgiveness. Life is too short. Time is of the essence. It’s time to let Jesus’ sacrifice of his life serve as an inspiration to us to take up our cross and follow him. It’s time to quit holding on to the past and stretch on toward the future. Even if the past has been good.
In May of 2005, after 2 years of meeting in other people’s places this congregation and our presbytery said, “It’s Time,” and through your help and through the help of our presbytery and several churches in our presbytery we moved into this wonderful place. It’s been great. After two and a half years of meeting here this congregation and the presbytery said of the challenge to charter, “It’s time.” As we move toward the celebration of our chartering and the ordination and installation of our officers I pray that you who elected those officers will see their election not as an opportunity for you to sit back and watch them work. I pray that you who elected them will rise up and support them and rally round them and join a Ministry Team or take on a particular task to help them because, It’s Time! Who knows, the day may come when it’s your turn to serve as an elder and I know you would want others to say “It’s Time.”
But that’s not all. Sometime this month, Marie Mullarkey, the owner of My Great Beginning’s Learning Center next door will take out the lease on the 1,000 square feet space behind me. We have been negotiating with her to develop a plan where we can share space and increase our and her ability to serve our community. We still have details to work out, but the essence is that she will take out the lease and use the extra space for the times she needs it and we will sublease the additional space from her for the times we need it. Part of our agreement is that she will allow us to take down this wall and expand our sanctuary to accommodate 50 more people in worship at a time. In return, she will be able to use the new classroom that the addition will provide and our existing classroom and part of our expanded sanctuary for a weekday Mother’s Day Out and After School program. This will increase the usefulness of what God has given us and enable us both to be an even greater blessing to our community.
This is a pivotal time in the life of our church. Our ministry teams are meeting this afternoon at 2pm and everyone of them needs more participation. We have child care scheduled if that has kept you from joining in before. If you feel called to help us plan our chartering service, come sit in on the Worship Ministry Team today. If you feel called to help organize our Multicultural Potluck dinner following our chartering service, stop by the Fellowship Team. If you feel called to join those who are teaching our children or in one of our as of next Sunday TWO adult classes or want to pitch in helping fill the extra chairs our addition will provide, lend a hand to our Discipleship Ministry team. If you feel called to help find the funds to make our Addition happen or to fill our Faith Budget, the Stewardship Ministry Team meets today at 3pm.
If a center from half way around the world breaks a bone in his foot and his team regroups and says to themselves, “It’s time,” and can win something as insignificant as "games," how much more can we, as a part of the Church of Jesus Christ called Peace, with all the power and all the resources that are available to us as such, rally round our Savior, and bring to heim the "Greeks," of ourworld who seek us out saying, "We would see Jesus?" How many more seminary professors and women at our wells need to see Jesus in us and through us? Isn't it high time we cared moare about people who need ot know that Jesus loves thenm than which town's hired gunners can put a ball throgh hoops more times than another town's hired gunners? If you ask me, I'd say , "It's Time."
Let’s pray. Dear Lord, thank you for sending your son into our world. Thank you for glorifying your name in the past, and for doing it again in Jesus. Thanks you that Jesus did not run from the cross, but embraced it and willingly laid down his life on it so that Greeks and Samaritans and Jews and all the children of the world could echo the words spoken so long ago, “We would see Jesus.” Help us to see him now in the faces of one another, in the faces of those in need, in the faces of children yet to come to a Mother’s Day Out and an After School program and in the faces of those yet to come for whom our addition will make room. Give us the courage and the faith to lift you up, Jesus that you may draw all kinds of people to yourself. Give us the faith to give to fill this room to overflowing with those who have yet to “see Jesus.”
