BRETT J. ANDERSON
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Lenten Reflection Series
    • Lent 2020
    • Lent 2019
    • Lent 2018

Lenten Reflection SEries

Dying to Self to Live for God

3/18/2018

Comments

 
John 12:20-33 (NRSVCE)
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.

“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.” This is an interesting thing to think about. When a grain of wheat sprouts, it doesn’t “die” in the sense of no longer having life. Rather it sprouts into new life, a fruitful life. So what does Jesus mean when he says that the grain “dies?”

One way to look at it would be that the grain of wheat is, as a grain, self-contained. It is closed in on itself, and does not interact with things around it. In order to sprout and bear fruit, it must in essence die to itself. It must intermingle with the soil and nutrients around it so that it can begin its fruitful life. This “dying to self” is what I think Jesus is talking about here, at least in one sense. Someone who lives only for themselves will not produce any fruits for the Kingdom. He must instead follow the greatest commandment—he must love God and love his neighbor. He must die to his selfishness, so that in accepting the graces of God he can sprout into one who produces fruits for the Kingdom. He must live selflessly, and in so doing is no longer just a single man, but member of the Christ’s Church.

This is why Jesus says “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Those who live for themselves will die—that is, they will end up in the eternal death that is Hell. Their selfishness causes them to close themselves off from the grace of God, and from the saving power of Christ. But if we “hate our life,” meaning if we live not for ourselves but for God and for our neighbors, we will open ourselves to those graces, accepting the offer of salvation from Christ, and we will have eternal life. More than that, we will produce fruit! We will join with the Church in the act of building the Kingdom of God, most importantly through preaching the Gospel! But this will only happen if we forsake our selfishness, if we die to ourselves so that we can live for God.

The past few days have seen us bombarded by verses about the dangers of pride. Now Jesus tells us concretely what it means if we forsake our pride and selfishness. If we open ourselves up to Christ, as the grain of wheat opens itself up to the nutrients of the soil, we will be given new life, a fruitful life. We will be transformed by the grace of God, and that transformation entails eternal life.
Comments

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All
    Day 10: The Body Of Christ
    Day 11: Love Your Enemies
    Day 12: "Listen To Him!"
    Day 13: The Golden Rule In Practice
    Day 14: The Way Of Humility
    Day 15: Saved By Service
    Day 16: Lazarus And The Rich Man
    Day 17: Producing Fruits For The Kingdom
    Day 18: Pangs Of Guilt
    Day 19 - Righteous Anger
    Day 1 - Where Is Their God?
    Day 20: Faith In Times Of Doubt
    Day 21: Forgiveness Has Consequences
    Day 22: "Do" So You Can "Teach"
    Day 23: Dividing The Kingdom Of God
    Day 24: Repentance Forgiveness And Faithfulness
    Day 25: What Happens In Lent Should Not Stay In Lent
    Day 26: The Light Drives Out Darkness
    Day 27: Tears For The Damned
    Day 28: The Waters In Ezekiel
    Day 29: Father And Son
    Day 2 - Make Way For The King
    Day 30: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places
    Day 31: Jesus Is Offensive
    Day 32: The Ecounter With Christ
    Day 33: Dying To Self To Live For God
    Day 34: The Faith And Love Of St. Joseph
    Day 35: Justice And Honor
    Day 36: Rack Shack And Benny
    Day 37: I Am
    Day 38: Signs For Belief
    Day 39: The Divided Kingdoms
    Day 3 - Living The Gospel
    Day 40: The Passion Of The Christ
    Day 41: Mary's Love For Christ
    Day 42: Dance Of Love
    Day 43: Surely Not I
    Day 44: Judas Gets His Feet Washed
    Day 45: The Power Of Fear
    Day 46: The Story Of Salvation
    Day 4: "Follow Me"
    Day 5: Trial By Desert
    Day 6: Responding To The Least Of These
    Day 7: An Empty Disposition
    Day 8: Spending Lent In Ninevah
    Day 9: The Good Shepherd

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Lenten Reflection Series
    • Lent 2020
    • Lent 2019
    • Lent 2018