3-17-2024 Don't Leave The Greeks at The Door

If the people in the church claim to see Jesus, how do they show Jesus to newcomers.

Transcript

Holy gospel according to John, the 12th chapter. Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--' Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 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." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. This is the gospel of the Lord.

At the beginning of this Gospel we see a kind of church bureaucracy that I fear is still alive and well today. Not in this church, I understand. But in other churches, I know. “We want to see Jesus,” is what the Greeks said. Okay. Wait right here. Or, better yet, lemme take your number and call you back. Can I text you? Oh right, we have no phones yet. Okay. Wait right here.
Philip goes to Andrew, “there’s a couple Greeks here saying they want to see Jesus.”
Andrew: “well you better go ask him” 
Philip: Come with me!
Andrew: Okay, I’m coming. 
Andrew & Philip go to Jesus: Some Greek guys are here. They want to see you, whaddya think? 
Jesus replies: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” 
Andrew looks at Philip
Philip looks at Andrew. 
Philip says…so is that a yes?
Jesus goes on to explain: “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”…and on for another 83 words until finally, God, Godself, gets in the conversation:
God: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
And before Andrew or Philip or Jesus can reply…the whole crowd jumps in and said that’s thunder. 
And then, and I quote, the Nameless Others speak up and say, "An angel has spoken to him." 
Finally, Jesus jumps in concluding the conversation by saying: “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."

Meanwhile, the Greeks are still standing outside the door waiting to See Jesus!! Am I right? It is a very strange gospel. Even for Jesus.

Now granted, in this gospel context, it’s Holy Week. Everyone is busy with the Passover. Jesus is down to hours before he has to host a meal with his disciples, get betrayed, get arrested, be scapegoated by political corruption, undergo police brutality, hear a crowd chant that they’d rather see a thief set free rather than Jesus…and that’s just the beginning of his bad week. We can imagine that he’s really not up for meeting some new people.

Still. I can’t quit thinking about these Greeks who showed up with one simple request: we want to see Jesus. And don’t we wish that was the request of every single person in the world. Wouldn’t we be right on the job to show them Jesus and not get side-tracked. Wouldn’t we?

And it makes me think of the way churches handle similar requests today. Up until now in the Gospel of John, people have been invited to “come and see”

In chapter 1, Jesus walks by John and two of his disciples who ask where Jesus is staying. Jesus replies, Come and see.

Later in that same chapter Nathanael says of Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” and Philip replies, “Come and see.”

And in chapter 4, the woman at the well tells the villagers, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done.”

So this “come and see” response to people who are curious about Jesus is a standard reply both from Jesus and from believers. In fact, we still use it today when we talk about our church or our congregation, right? You should come. Come and see.

So let’s bring this story into our life today. We, too, are one week before Holy Week. We anticipate, hope, pray, that we will see more visitors in our churches during Holy Week or at least on Easter Sunday. We presume they, like generations before them all the way back to the Greeks in today’s Gospel come here because they want to See Jesus. How will we respond to that?

Will we be expecting them? Will we be ready to greet them? Will we talk to them beyond showing them where to get a bulletin or inviting them to sit near us? Will we ask them about them?

Most importantly will we help them see Jesus?

Or will we, like Philip and Andrew, invite them to wait right here while we go tell someone else that we have guests? I’m not in charge here, you know?

Now granted, it is a little trickier for us than it was for Philip and Andrew. I mean they actually had the ability to show these guests Jesus…and they didn’t do it! To introduce them! Jesus was conveniently present, on the premises, wearing the body of a real live human being! This gave Philip & Andrew a distinct advantage that we don’t have in the same way, right?

Still. Surely you have been asked about someone you have known and loved who you could not introduce because they were no longer here. Think about it. When that happens what do you say? Let’s imagine they ask about your mother or father, a grandparent, a child, a friend.

If that person were not here, but you wanted to show them to the person who asked after them, what would you say?

I would say…my dad? My dad was so loving that after working long days as a maintenance man in a senior living facility, he literally helped people cross the border into this country and stayed with them…helping them fill out forms, teaching them English, even going to school with parents as they registered their children. He didn’t care if he got in trouble for it or not. He was driven to include those that others would exclude.

Now. My dad has been dead since 2001, but I ask you, in the telling …did you get a glimpse of my dad?

So perhaps this is the way God equips us to show people Jesus even though, it is true, we cannot introduce them to Jesus in the flesh. And maybe the Gospel today is a reminder to us to be ready. When seeds are planted, we know something is going to grow. When Christians routinely tell the world, Come and See, we must believe that at some point when we are not expecting it, of course, guests and visitors will show up.

And we, the church… we have some reconciling to do. Those who are not part of the church may well be leery about showing up here…and for good reason. The church, the greater church, has been complicit for thousands of years in hurting instead of healing. In excluding instead of welcoming. In ignoring instead of including. And Lord knows many who claim to follow Jesus continue to do more harm than good today.

Still, if the Gospel is about anything it is about the reconciling love of Christ. It teaches us that no one is beyond the forgiveness of sin, not even the church. It teaches us that the way things have always been are not the way things need to always be. It teaches us that you can know God without seeing God in the flesh by the stories we tell of how God has showed up in our lives, in our congregations, in our churches. And we can ensure that others know God is present in their lives even before they recognize the Holy One in their midst.

One time, I was in Philadelphia for a women’s conference…women around the globe. It was magnificent. But getting there was a trial. The life I had to walk out of, before I got there, was a mess. It was pouring rain. I got lost and ran out of gas. By the time I got to the hotel it was late and I was tired and wondering why I did this. And I was sitting in the lobby, a more desolate part of the lobby, and this man came over and sat down next to me and I was crying. And he just sat there quietly. Eventually he asked me if I was ok. I told him just a little bit about what had happened, and I mentioned that I was worried about my son. He went on to tell me that day he had… he had walked his son to prison where he was beginning a sentence. It was one of the saddest days of his life and he felt like a failure as a father. I felt at that moment like I was sitting with Jesus. I felt so seen…and so heard…and so not judged. The next day, at this same conference, this same man got up and introduced himself to the whole assembly as the presiding bishop of the ELCA. That’s how we show Jesus to anyone, right? We talk about ourselves and our pain and we listen and talk about theirs. That’s where we find Jesus.

So as we prepare for Holy Week, I suggest that in addition to making sure we have chosen the right hymns, and that we know how and who will strip the altar, and that we know where we will put the Lillies on Easter Sunday, I suggest we prepare to show people Jesus because it is our privilege, our joy and our calling to do so.

On this St. Patrick’s Sunday, I’d like to close with a Celtic prayer written by a Methodist Preacher based in South Wales. It is a responsive prayer, so when I say Bless the Peacemakers, please respond, Strengthen and Bless them. I’m going to say Bless the Peacemakers and you will say, Strength and Bless Them.

Bless those who are peacemakers
from all creeds and cultures 
all who bring no other agenda than to see neighbor and stranger 
Live together as one community.

bless the peacemakers
strengthen and bless them

bless those who are comforters 
shoulders to cry upon
A willing ear to listen 
A present help in times of despair and hopelessness.

bless the peacemakers
strengthen and bless them

bless those who are healers
of physical injury 
and deeper hurts
whose touch brings relief from trauma and pain
Who bring compassion.

bless the peacemakers
strengthen and bless them

God strengthen and bless you as you continue the holy reconciling work of showing Jesus in all you say and all you do.

[Bind us together Lord], with chains that cannot be broken.