Fifth Sunday of Lent
Worship Theme: Fruit of the Cross
Jeremiah 31:31-34 NRSV Bible
Hebrews 5:7-10 NRSV Bible
John 12:20-25 NRSV Bible
He Had To Die. . .
A reading from the book of John. . . we will be reading John 12 verses 20-23. It is found on page 980 in the Pew Bible. Here begins the reading of the Gospel. . .
Lately I have been talking about how much I like Spring. . . I have been talking about how much I love the newness of spring and the new life that burst forth. But, this week, I have been reflecting on the newness. . . what has to take place in order for the newness of spring? I have been reflecting on the fact that in order for the new life to begin, something had to die. . . in order to see the beauty of creation’s spring, it had to die and lay dormant in the cold of the winter until the warmth of the sun came back to bring forth the new life that lay cold and hidden from view. Sometimes. . . things have to die or change in order to make room for another type of understanding. . . another type of perception. . . a new experience in the world around us.
When I think of dying to and for new life I also think about the Cross and about the newness that it brought to you and to me. We are on a 40 day journey together, one of hope. . . of reflection. . . of love and of victory (Yes! We have a victory in Jesus!). In this season of Lent we have pondered on many things as we travel toward our destiny of the Cross. We’ve talked about new beginnings and how each season of Lent we can renew our journey of faith. . . to start a new chapter so to speak. . . a chapter that is closer to the one that the Author has written instead of our own. We’ve pondered on the promises of the Cross and the price of that promise. We’ve even looked at the ways that laws compel us to meet their demands. And we’ve sat in the throne room and basked in the Amazing Grace our Creator gives to you and to me. It has been a quite the journey. . .
But this Amazing Grace came with a price. The price was paid not by us but for us. It was paid by the One who loved us so much that He would not spare His own Son in order for new life to emerge from the darkness. The price was paid on and through the Cross of Calvary. God promised that He would save His people. God promised that His people would not forever live in darkness and He was willing to do anything to bring humanity back into the relationship He envisioned from the very beginning of time. We heard the promise in the Jeremiah scripture this morning. We heard that He was going to do a new thing and that His people would know Him.
Jesus knew that He was that High Priest that would offer salvation to all who would obey what He taught and accept Him as their Savior. Jesus knew that He would usher in this new covenant that God promised long ago. God heard humanity’s cries for redemption and answered that cry though a babe in a manger who would grow up and become the Passover Lamb for all of humanity. . . not just a certain few but for all of humanity. . . Jesus knew the cost of this gift that is freely given to you and to me. . . He knew that if He was not obedient, as we heard in the Hebrews reading this morning. . . until the end there could be no real fruit for the Kingdom of God. . . He knew His time had come. . . He had to die. . . we too must also die to self in order to bear that fruit for the kingdom. . . we too must go the way of our own cross in order to obtain that eternal life as we heard in the John passage this morning.
We are in the Season of Lent, a time of reflection and a time of change. We are making a pilgrimage to the cross of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sometimes, dying is a good thing and brings about a good change even though it may be a difficult process. We have our traditions and ways of thinking that at times needs to be exchanged. . . tweaked a little. . . in order to usher in newness and sparkle so that Son can shine in and through each and every one of us. And this can be a very scary and awkward thing. But we have a Leader who knows what it’s like to die to self in order to bring new life. . . we have a Leader who can bring us from the death of Autumn to the Victory of Spring. The time has come for all of humanity to change. The time has come for Christ’s church to change. The time has come for you and for me to change from what we know and to trust in the newness of spring. . . God’s spring. . . as He showers his love, compassion and forgiveness down from the Cross onto all of humanity. Let us spring forth with newness of life and join creations song of new life. . . given in and through our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Yes. . . we have Victory in Jesus, our Savior. . . now and forever. . .
AMEN!
March 25, 2012
John 12:20-25 (NRSV)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSV)
Hebrews 5:7-10 (NRSV)
John 3:16 (paraphrased in sermon)
Worship Theme: Fruit of the Cross
Call to Worship (Abington Worship 2012)
Unison Prayer (Psalm 51:1-17), Psalter, UMH #785
Special Music: “Power of the Cross” (Choir)
Prayer of Dedication (Jeremiah 31:31-34 GBOD 2012)
Special Music: “I Saw the Cross of Jesus” (Choir)
and sermon, “He Had To Die. . .”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
A Handmaiden of the Lord
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 25, 2012
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See all 35,080+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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