3/17 Sermon - Rethink Commitment

Rethink commitment
John 12:20-33

Sociologists divide Christians into two groups: cultural and committed. Cultural Christians call themselves Christians, but their lives don’t follow it. Maybe they go to church sometimes, but that’s it. Committed Christians are regularly go to church, go to bible study, pray, read the bible, and give back. It’s an interesting distinction, right? Am I a cultural Christian, or a committed one? It’s a useful distinction! I want everyone here to be committed Christians. But it’s also a dangerous distinction. Then the focus, the center of my religion, is on me. What do I do? Today, our reading from John 12 challenges us to rethink commitment and what that’s really all about.

Read 20-22. During the festival of the Passover, Jews from all over the world came to worship. There were Greek Jews, non-Jewish converts to Judaism, that came as well. Jesus fame had spread so much, he was the buzz of every table, that  foreign Greeks, who traveled 100s of miles, heard about Jesus and wanted to see him.

What do they do? They find Jesus’ group, inner circle. We all know who Taylor Swift is, for better or for worse. Not many people know her personally, but knowing someone who knows her is maybe more likely if you want to see her. So these Greeks go through the disciples.

The famous Jesus. The miracle worker. The sensation. What will this celebrity say to these Greeks, to the crowds around him?

Read 23-24.  What could have Jesus said? He could have used his platform, his influence, to spread his fame, to convince others to join him, to gain a following. But he doesn’t do that. He says something utterly strange. He talks about a kernel of wheat.

A farmer plants a seed in the ground. To our eyes it dies. But rain, sun and time pass over, a wheat sprouts up, giving food in abundance. This picture of a wheat kernel dying and rising beautifully shows us what Jesus have come to do. To our eyes, Jesus suffered, died, and was buried in the ground. But three days passed. He rose. The fruit that Jesus gives blesses the whole world: forgiveness for all our sins, a new heart of faith, and the promise of eternal life. A kernel of wheat. What a beautiful picture of the gospek!

This death and resurrection, Jesus says, is all for the glory of God. “The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.” This is where our theme comes in. Today we rethink commitment. Of course it’s important for us to be committed to Jesus. We’ll talk about that soon. But the center of our religion, of our faith, the foundation on which we stand, is not anything that we do. No. Not at all! The center of our religion is God’s commitment to us, what Jesus has done for us. Jesus was so committed to us he died and rose for our salvation.

So, do we have an excuse to be lazy Christians? Does this mean Jesus doesn’t care about our commitment? Let’s read.

Read 25-26. The Marines have a recruiting slogan, maybe you’ve heard it, “The few. The proud. The Marines.” And I have respect for any branch of our military, and especially the marines, for their dedication and service. What does that tagline convey? Not everyone can make it through the training to be a marine. That tagline is NOT a good tagline for Christians, because what Jesus says here applies to every. single. Christian. I have two question. How? Why?  

How can we do this? “Whoever loves his life will lose it. Whoever hates his life will save it.” Hate does not mean dislike or a desire to kill or destroy. The second meaning for hate in the Greek dictionary is actually “prefer something else.” Do you hate your life? Or rather, do you prefer God’s way to your way? Oftentimes, that’s not true of us. We prefer our life, our opinions, our thoughts, our comfort, over others and over God. A common saying now is, “Live your best life.” That can be understood just fine! But often it means this: put yourself first, disregard others, serve yourself. How can we be committed to Jesus? Prefer his Word, his way over our way.

How can we do this? “Follow me. Stand where I stand,” Jesus said. Everyone’s life looks different. I’m not going to tell you exactly what to do. God gives us freedom. But scripture is clear and what it looks like to follow him, to stand where he stands. 1. Service to others. 2. Glory to God. No matter what you do, where you work, where you live, who lives with you or next to you, our lives as Christians serve God and other people, and our lives as Christians give glory to God our Father. We serve others, we give glory to God, just like Jesus did.

Why? Why do all of this? Again, two reasons. 1. “The one who hates his life (prefers God’s way) will keep it for eternal life.” It’s that simple. Only through Jesus, through his commitment to us on the cross, by his death, do we have life. 2. “My father will honor the one who serves me.” God gives life and salvation to all who trust in Jesus.

Read 27-29. We see a glimpse into Jesus’ life. It’s hard, isn’t it! Even Jesus confesses it was hard for him! Go back to our theme. Rethink commitment. It was terrible for Jesus, but Jesus was committed for our salvation, to God’s glory, and nothing gave God more glory than Jesus dying for our salvation.

It’s a hard for us, too. Every day, to follow Jesus, to stand where he stands. Every day, to serve others, to give God glory, to put ourselves second. We fail at it, quite a bit! It’s so easy for us to love ourselves, to love our comfort.

It makes it even harder when the world disregards Jesus. Even when people heard God’s own voice, they wondered. “Who spoke? An angel? Just thunder?” Our world rejects Jesus. “Dying on a cross? Our sinfulness? Reliance on Jesus? Not for me.” We’re tempted to walk the same path.

Read 30. Our lives as Christians are like a jug of water. I can’t keep pouring out of a water jug forever. I can’t make a gallon of milk last forever. At some point I need to fill myself up. I need God. This is a great illustration of how God works with us. Everything in Scripture is meant for you. Jesus came to save you. His Word is meant for you! Of course it’s important to be a committed Christian, to pour out our lives in serve to others and glory to God. But the only way we can do that is going back, every day, to God’s Word, and drinking from Jesus, from what he  has done for us, from his commitment to us.

Read 31-33. “Now. Now is judgment. Now the ruler of this will be expelled. Now I am lifted up and will draw all people to myself.” Now. Now. Now! Two weeks ago my wife and I went to a church conference in Florida. It was tough to stay inside and listen to presentations when it was so warm outside, but we got some time to enjoy the sun. I misread when our plane left, so we got to the airport as our plane was supposed to leave. While I was on the UBER ride there, I got a message on my phone, “Boarding has begun. Plane leaves soon.” Now? Now our plane leaves?” (Thankfully it was delayed, and we barely made it on). Have you experienced something like that? The game starts now? They’re coming over now? The project is due today?

The center of history. The center of our faith. Salvation itself happened 2000 years ago. 2000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross. He took away sin. He expelled Satan. He destroyed death. He gave life. Jesus showed just how committed to our salvation he was. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the foundation, the cornerstone of our life. Our faith is built on this cornerstone, on Jesus our Savior. This takes us back to our theme: Its’s all about Jesus’ commitment to us!

And Jesus draws all people to himself. Whoever is a Christian, whoever follows Jesus, trusts in Jesus alone for forgiveness and eternal life, on Jesus’ commitment to us.

Application. Now, because of Jesus’ commitment, we too can be committed back to God. I’m going to pull together some thoughts from this reading and give you three takeaways.

1. We’re pitchers of water, jugs of water. The only way for us to be committed is to fill ourselves up with Jesus’ love. So I think there are a few things every Christians should do. 1. Be in church every Sunday. 2. Be in Bible class every week. 3. Read the bible every day. 4. Pray every day. 5. Give back to God and to others regularly. These are basic things, and good way for us to be committed to God every week.

2. Our lives all look different. But no matter where we are, as committed Christians under God, who is committed to us, we will 1. Serve others no matter where we live, where we work, what we do. 2. We will give glory to God, not to ourselves.

3. Who here hates their life? We all should hate our life! I don’t mean, at all, in a negative sense. I mean we prefer, we choose, God’s way. Every day, we look at our life, serving ourself, doing what we want, and think, “No, I’m not going to choose me. I’ll choose God.” Instead of our motto being, “Live our best life,” let’s make this our motto, “Live God’s life.”