One thing forgot about in between my internship and actually working here at St. James is how long Wednesdays are, especially during Lent and Advent.
Last week after our midweek meal and worship service and a remarkably long day, I was talking to Andy Crouse, and he asked if I’ve been getting enough rest. I responded, “I can rest after i have a sermon idea for this weekend”. He mentioned “well, it should be something GREEN”. So, challenged accepted. Here’s a St, Patrick’s Day sermon about John 12: 20-33. Thanks, Andy.
1, 563 years ago, St. Patrick, died in Saul, Down County, Northern Ireland. Today is typically celebrated with a conglomeration of all things Irish – Green, leprechauns, three leaf clovers, and Guinness, topped off with a trip to the GarryOwen. But there’s more to the Green, clover-filled weekend that we typically celebrate the weekend of March 17th. We tend to forget the real story of St. Patrick.
Patrick was born Maewyn Succat under the Roman rule of Britain, likely around 385 BC. His father was a tax collector and a deacon, and his grandfather was a priest, but he himself felt disconnected from the Christian faith.
When Maewyn turned 16, he was captured by a group of Irish pirates, to Ireland, and forced to work as a shepherd. His time in forced labor in the sheep pastures of Ireland led to him to re-discover the Christian faith, re-forming his relationship with God. After six years, he heard a voice from God telling him that he would soon be home, and he fled his captors, risking re-capture, starvation, and the wilderness.
He arrived home in Britan, and shortly after he saw a vision from God, which he described as so: I saw a man coming and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”
He knew that his time had come to serve God’s people, and he was ordained to the priesthood.
He remembered his vision and returned to Ireland- the land of his captors – serving as Christian missionary, converting the Irish to a life of Christian love. He spread the message of Jesus’ love and God’s grace to all people – eventually even converting his former captors. This mission from God was dangerous, he knew his life was at stake for preaching and teaching the word of God, but he did it anyway. He knew that Christ was with him, and that Christ would shine through to those he encountered.
Todays’ Gospel message begins with a similar theme – of the message of Christ reaching an unlikely people at a personally dangerous time. Our Gospel takes place in Holy Week – Jesus had already arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover, triumphantly riding on a donkey, the people shouting “Hosanna” at his arrival.
John tells us that some Greeks were also present for the Passover festival, and they arrived wanting to meet Jesus. Jesus responds to this request by telling his disciples that his hour finally has come, and that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. He speaks about his death, disclosing that he is troubled in heart and soul. A voice comes from the heavens, declaring that God’s name has been glorified, and that Jesus will bring all people to himself when he dies.
A moment of honesty: This text is full of sermon possibilities. I was quite overwhelmed this week when trying to narrow down a sermon angle.
But the one line that stuck out to me when I was reading was about the Greeks present at the Passover who wanted to meet Jesus.
And it’s this distinct notation of their heritage that is intriguing.
Jews and Greeks were historically two separate groups, and they didn’t interact in religious circles. Historically, the Greeks were to the Jewish people like the Irish were to British individuals at the time of Patrick.
And this distinction of Jewish believers and Greek individuals is important- The Holy Land, as we know it today, has been conquered by groups of people throughout history. It was conquered by the Jebsusites, or Caananites in 1200 BCE, the Babylonians destroyed the first temple in 586 BCE, the Persians took control around 530 BCE, the Greeks in 332 BCE, the Hasmoneans in 141 BCE, and the Herodians in 37 BCE- the time that this story took place. So this interaction with the Greeks was unique – because they wanted to meet Jesus- but also because their people, during the Greek Hellenistic period- would have taken over Jerusalem, and heavily influenced the daily lives of the Jewish people who lived and worked and worshipped in the city.
And it’s interesting that it is this moment- when the Greeks come to see Jesus- that Jesus decides that his time has come.
The book of John features times when Jesus says the opposite – “My time has not yet come”- from the very first miracle he performs at the Wedding at Cana, turning water into wine, to when Jesus acknowledges his brothers’ disbelief in Him prior to the Jewish Festival of Booths.
And yet, it’s not at the encouragement of his mother or the prodding of his brothers that convinces him that his time has come. It’s not the support or lack thereof, of the people closest to Him. It’s these Greeks, these unbelievers, these historical conquerors – who heard about the Messiah and decided to Come and See for themselves.
St. Patrick’s return mission to Ireland began in a similar circumstance. with a vision of the Irish people calling out to him, urging Patrick to come back to the land of his captors and live and walk and serve among them. Jesus, too, declares his time has arrived with a message from unlikely people, the historical conquerors of his land, wanting to learn more about Him, his message, and God’s love – not just for the Jewish people, but for us all.
Today, we are reminded that Jesus came not for those who believed right away, those who worshiped in the temple every week or kept all 613 Torah laws.
We are reminded that through His death on the Cross,Jesus spread the seeds of His love to us all.
And we are to remember that we, as seeds of God’s kingdom, are called to share the message of the cross, the death, and resurrection of Christ, with all we encounter. Those who we travel this path of faith alongside weekly, those who are new to the faith, or rediscovering the incredible grace of God for the first time in decades.
preaching to people on street corners or at the Ragged Edge while we wait for coffee, or over a pint at the GarryOwen today, but in small ways.
By offering our support to a family or a community going through inconsolable, confusing grief.
By offering our time to listen to a friend who is struggling as a single parent.
By reaching out to those who are in the midst of the confusion of young adulthood, and are looking for a space and a place to feel connected to each other, and to our community.
This week, may we too be seeds of God’s Kingdom, spread to the corners of the world, called to share a message of love, grace, and welcome to all we meet.
Not doing so alone, but with seeds of Christ’s love abiding with us, and carrying us forward in faith, trusting that there are no barriers to the love of God and as St. Patrick reminds us,
Christ is with us, Christ is before us, Christ is behind us,
Christ is in us, Christ is beneath us, Christ is above us,
Christ in us all.
Amen.
Sermons at St. James Gettysburg 