Lent
March 17, 2018
Scripture Reading: John 12:20-33
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. –John 12:20-26
John moves Christ’s followers toward diversity in this scripture reading. The visiting Greeks were not Jews who lived in Greece or Greeks who had converted to Judaism. These Greeks were gentiles and Jesus welcomed them. He spoke about the death of seeds planted eventually bearing much fruit. In Matthew he had commanded the Disciples to Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20) In John Jesus is modeling that command.
We too live in a diverse world with multitudes of different skin tones, cultures, customs, and languages all made in the image of God, but not all always treated as God’s children. I watched a story on TV recently telling the story of children in the Congo being held out of school to mine for minerals necessary to make our cell phones and other electronics work. Greed is the driving force as child labor is cheaper than adult labor. The children work hard, well, and long for the small sums they are paid.
Part of opening our hearts to all of God’s children is doing justice for them. When everyone in every nation has enough to be fully the people God endowed them to be, we will experience the joy of the Kingdom of God.
Prayer: Lord, help us to see our citizenship in the whole world and work together with our brothers and sisters across the earth to foster wholeness, oneness, and justice. Amen.