April 2, 2006

Fifth Sunday in Lent  (B)

Reverend Jeffrey M. Kemper

Jer 31:31-34  X      Heb 5:7-9   X   John 12:20-33

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The image of the seed falling to the ground and dying

in order to bear much fruit

is not an image unique to Christianity.

In fact, anyone could come up with the image

if they know enough about gardening.

The seed actually ceases to exist

in order to become something better,

a plant which will produce many more seeds.

 

Why would Jesus choose to use such a common and ordinary symbol

instead of an exotic, extraordinary one?

The answer lies in a most basic truth of Christianity and Catholicism:

God speaks to us, deals with us,

in ways we can understand and in which we can participate.

We can understand the example of the seed;

we can relate it to Jesus who is “buried in the ground”

and rises to something much better:

an eternal life, not just for himself,

but for us, for all humanity, for all time.

 

Jesus doesn’t just mean the example for himself,

but for all of us.

We all have parts of us that die so that new life can come about:

we die to the security of the womb

to be born into the world;

we die to the stages of earlier childhood

to grow into teenagers,

and die to the qualities of teenage life to become adults.

This is a natural part of being human, of being alive.

 

Yet, what humanity values most,

and what Jesus calls us to,

is not just dying to ourselves for our own growth,

but even more so, to die to ourselves

for the sake of others.

What is it that made the firefighters and police

who died in the World Trade Center Tragedy heroes?

Not just that they died,

but that they were willing to lay down their lives

to save others.

 

What is it that makes the soldier killed or wounded in action a hero?

Not just that they were willing to go to a strange land and carry a gun,

but rather that they did this for others, for their country.

 

What is it that makes marriage such a big celebration?

Not just that two people seek happiness for themselves,

but that they pledge to live for the other person,

to let things die in themselves that would make themselves happy

for the sake of the other person.

Ultimately, what has the greatest value is not just dying to oneself,

but dying to oneself for the sake of others.

To do what Jesus did

and calls us to do.

 

What needs to die in us

so that God’s life may grow in us, twenty, thirty, or a hundred fold?

 

Do we need to let our own talking die

so that we can listen to others?

Do we need to let our judgments of people ­–

especially those in our families or work places –

so that God’s image of them may be seen?

Do we need to let our time in front of the TV or the CD player die

so that we may hear God speaking to us in the Scriptures or in silent prayer?

 

We are on the downside of Lent.

Maybe our Lenten penances have begun to fall apart.

Now is the time to recommit ourselves

to making them bear fruit,

to pick up the pieces and continue on.

Maybe it is time to ask ourselves

how we can die to ourselves

so that others may live more fully.

 

In that way,

on Easter,

the Lord may find us to be people

who do not just sing his praises,

but who live imitating the Lord who has saved us,

by being a seed that fell to the ground and died

so that others – you and I – may have life.

 

© 2006 Jeffrey M. Kemper