Pastor
Dan Eddy
John
12:12-26
Love
and lose? Or, hate and keep?
4-17-11
Palm Sunday
I. Introduction: What’s up with that statement?
John 12:25 ESV “Whoever loves his (or her) life loses it, and whoever hates
his (or her) life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Now if we’re honest with
ourselves there’s something very disturbing about Jesus’ words from our Palm
Sunday Gospel reading….at least as they ring on our ears when we hear them
today.
Hate is a very powerful
word, and so is love.
These are disturbing words
because Jesus spoke them shortly after the triumphant miracle of Him bringing
Lazarus back to life from death, and the celebration victory parade we call
Palm Sunday.
And after all of that was
done Jesus said: “Whoever loves his life
loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal
life.”
What in the world did He
mean by that?
II. Wrong answer #1
Well one possible answer could be that Jesus was just being a kill-joy. Christ
is imposing a bunch of rules and regulations on this life, because in Jesus’
view to be happy is to be a sinner.
A cynic would conclude that the Bible’s
ordinances and laws were made up by men to control behavior, and that Jesus
just doesn’t want us to have any fun in this life. As pop rock artist Billy
Joel sang: “I’d rather laugh with the
sinners than cry with the saints…cause sinners are much more fun for only the
good die young.”
And the skeptic could even provide you with good
cross-reference Scripture passages like Luke 14;26 ESV where Jesus said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate
his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes,
and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” That’s some pretty strong
language.
The
only problem with this answer is Jesus is offering the listener a chance at
real freedom today…not a kill-joy statement reflecting rules and regulations. There’s joy in His message for the here-and-now.
Clearly
the context of Jesus earthly ministry does not make Him out to be a kill-joy. I
mean He went to weddings, ate and drank with sinners, and when food and drink
were low…He, on more than one occasion, provided more to thousands of families.
He was quick witted, wise, and very much enjoyed His life on Earth. He never advocated
suicide. He saw joy, but in a more meaningful context…one of selflessness not
selfishness.
III. Wrong answer #2
So what did Jesus mean by “Whoever loves his life loses it, and
whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life?”
Well,
another possible answer could be: Jesus is
putting way too much emphasis on the next life and not enough on this one.
The
people who see Jesus this way may be best described as admirers of Jesus but not
necessarily followers. In other words…they may like some of the things
Jesus said like “Love your neighbor as
yourself” or “Blessed are those who
mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He’s a nice guy but a little naïve
when it comes to living in the real world.
Immortality
for eternity to these people seems at times unreachable, untouchable, and
intangible.
They
would say if Jesus sets the standards high for living this life by hating it
and we are to just look forward to
the next life…it really takes away from the problems we face today like world
hunger, environmental concerns, and all the wars and injustice in the world.
And
then this leads into the question of if there’s really a god how come there’s
all this evil in the world. This group would argue Jesus’ promoting of hating
this life only gives Christians excuses for not caring for the poor and
powerless.
The
problem with that answer is Jesus never, ever told us to ignore treating well His
Heavenly Father’s creation. He never told us in Scripture to look at the next
life at the expense of helping people in this one. His ministry was filled with
miraculous healings, helping thousands, while even bringing a few people back
to life from the dead. If He loved the next life at the expense of this one He
would have left Lazarus in the grave….never raised the Widow at Nain’s son…and
never healed children already dead from diseases.
The
way Jesus wanted us to appreciate the next life was by helping people more in
this one. He had concern for both people’s spiritual and physical needs and by
helping them today wanted them to get a small taste of what is ahead in Heaven.
IV. Gospel…the right
answer
So what did Jesus mean by “Whoever loves his life loses it, and
whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life?”
We
get an indication of what that means when we turn to John 11:25 (ESV) right
before Jesus raised Lazarus from dead He said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he
die, yet shall he live….”
You
see in John 12:25 when Jesus said “Whoever
loves his life loses it…” the Greek word used in the original text for
love, philos, is brotherly love or affection…a nice but lower form of love
compared to Agape Love…the highest form of love, it’s the love from God.
And
when Jesus said “Whoever loves his life
loses it”…the first Greek word translated as life refers to one’s whole
being…body and soul. And when Jesus used life the second time in the verse as
in “whoever hates his life in this world
will keep it for eternal life”…a different Greek word for life is used.
That life refers to the relationship you have with someone or something.
So let me re-read the expanded version of verse
25: “Whoever has
affection for their body and soul is losing it, and whoever hates his
relationship in this world will keep it for eternal life?” The
question is “Is our life, our
relationships of the world or is our life or relationship in Christ?”
In
other words…where do we put our trust? In good feelings, personal agendas,
investment portfolios, in best friends, close family, stable jobs, big houses,
science, the law? Is our time and efforts focused on them at the expense of our
life, our relationship in Christ? If it is then we will lose our life, our body
and soul.
If
we live of the world then we risk losing our life in Christ and the
agape love God has given us through His Son at the Cross by His Word at our
baptism which produced faith to save us from the flames of Hell.
We are to hate our life of sin. Sin keeps us from
loving eternal life. We love life in the Lord, because by faith we are in love
with the Lord and the life He gives.
And think of Jesus. He didn’t love His life, His body and soul, in this world more than in His
Heavenly Father. He hated people’s
sinful life in this world so much He was willing to sacrifice His life,
His body and soul, and His relationship with His Heavenly Father for all of you…so you could receive forgiveness of
sins...and restore our life, body and soul, and relationship with God the
Father.
As verse
24 implies from His one death…His grain of wheat, His battered body, from His
corpse born in a cradle that 33 years later was laid in a crypt to give you a
new outlook on life for you today as you head closer to the perfect life
beyond. His one time death keeps bearing
ongoing fruit as through history billions are now saved and many more will be
saved in the future.
The love
of the world produces is fear and uncertainty…the hating of sin stops the fear
of death for your own benefit. The more fear departs your life today…the more joy
comes in.
And that should affect our outlook on life, our
relationships, including the life in this congregation.
So
how is Christ in this text asking us to love Him and hate the world?
The
answer is found in verse 26 when Jesus said: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I
am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor
him.”
Christ
is emphatic here. Serving and following are ongoing actions for believers in
Christ. And when that happens…the Father will honor you.
You are honored by God for serving Him in His
church....He blesses that effort…which is why we put an emphasis on reaching
out to those who have pretty much stopped going to church or rarely if ever
have been a part of a church. He wants them to not be of the world but in
Christ.
And
Jody Spear was a great example of someone who loved life in this world. She
started coming to Christ Lutheran before Berta and I came to
And
from I understand Jody had quite a reputation and not a good one. In fact we
had people outside this congregation talking to our own members warning us
about Jody. The wild life she led. The hurt she had inflicted on many people.
Some of you may not have known that.
I
am not telling you this to hurt Jody’s reputation but to emphasize the power of
God’s grace to give new life. Because the power of God’s Word proclaimed here
and the expression of faith by our members…caused Jody to repent and return to
the faith given to her at her baptism. She loved the Lord again.
And
we had people who came to her funeral…who couldn’t believe (some didn’t want to
believe) how much she had changed the last few years of her life. Some were
like Pharisees in our text…skeptics of what had happened. Too unbelievable to
believe.
The
reason why I mention this is because in a few moments we are going downstairs
for a meeting that is going to talk about budgets, dollars, and cents. And if
our discussion is strictly about monetary figures we’ve missed the point of
this text. We are not here to raise money to keep a building open, and pay
salaries and expenses for a non-profit organization for the purposes of
fulfilling some virtuous goals. That would be loving this life in this world a
bit too much. And if that’s the case let’s stop fooling ourselves, shut down
the congregation and spend our Sunday mornings and other times during the week
doing something more productive.
But
if we really see this congregation as being a place where people are given
God’s agape love by the Word which generates faith to change lives (body and
souls and relationships) for eternity then let that show in the way we conduct
ourselves during the meeting. Let that reflect in the decisions that we are
about to make, and let that be seen in our actions as we move forward….keeping
Jody and others as the examples of the accomplishments our Lord and Savior has
done and will continue to do through us for His glory. When that is done God
honors us through Christ Jesus.
God
blessings as we hate our lives in this world and love the Lord and
the life He gives so we can keep our life with Him, today and forever, and
encourage more and more to do the same. Amen.