Intro
“Who ever said following Jesus was boring?
(“Themes” of John 12): Jesus basically said, “Unless you die, there will be no new life in you, or through you.” Unless you die to self, then _____________.” Who will miss out, who will suffer, who will physically, emotionally, relationally, die, because you didn’t die to you?
Context
Jesus’ public ministry is ending//Expectation of him to be a political military leader/deliverer/hero—to fix their lives, make them healthy and wealthy and comfy, get revenge on their enemies, maybe increase their self-esteem. John 12:12-16, crowds are chanting, “Hail to the King of Israel!”
But those same crowds later turn on him when He doesn’t live up to their expectations and shout, “crucify him!” He’s now days away from the cross. And after he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey with the crowds cheering for him--in John 12:20, there are some Greeks who want to meet this deliverer/military conqueror/king who’s going to hook them up in the political revolution too. They go ask his disciple Phillip if they can meet him, who then tells Andrew, and they together go to ask Jesus.
And Jesus blows their minds: JOHN 12:23-28
• John 12:23: “Son of Man” (Messiah) and “glory.” The disciples: “Now we’re talking!”
• John 12:24
Bombshell. Jesus just said, “glory will come through my death.” Messiah’s don’t die. But the right politics won’t save anyone from their depravity. Jesus’ perfect life would save no one from his or her sin. UNLESS He died, there would be no life. There had to be a cross, and resurrection. Only way people saved…
A seed goes into the ground (wheat seed, tomato seed, or whatever), the soil begins to penetrate and break down that seed’s hard outer-shell. And what happens? The life within the seed is released.
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, the LIFE…” But He will die. Like the seed, when He dies, Life will be released. Then, Jesus looks them, and me and you, all in the eye, and turns the table on us.
• John 12:25: “Despise” = speaks to preference over one thing for another.
• John 12:26: “MUST come and follow” not should.
Content
John 12:24a
• My “hard outer shell.”
o Every sermon//hardness of pride, self-righteousness, lack of compassion, entitlement, and spoiled-rottenness.
Oh that soil…
• Messy/dark/oppressing/blinding/restricting/pressure-filled/suffocating/overwhelming/no light/no relief/no where for seed to turn.
• But it’s in that place that hardness is penetrated, decayed, dispelled, and life comes forth. No soil. No life.
o Repentance for me even includes Biblical counseling//Lifting weights/Telling Christie.
• But the soil. Anybody in the soil right now? Rejoice! It takes the soil to decay your hardness of heart, mind, and spirit. UNLESS you enter the soil, then you will remain in your sin, denial, victim-mindset, chains of fear, selfishness, and entitlement. Unless you enter the soil, you’ll only care about your earthly life, not eternal life. It’s in the soil that you get eternal perspective, set free, and prepared to impact others with your life that’s budding forth.
• John 12:24b
No soil, No death. No death, No life in you, and no life (no compassion, no heart, no willingness to risk) through you to others who desperately need Jesus’ life through you.
• “Unless it dies it will be alone—a single seed.” What a waste if the seed just wants to play it safe, keep things comfy and secure, and just get through the week to party on the weekend, make a paycheck to get more toys and see more places, or just to get out of debt and be more financially secure and have a care-free retirement, and…. HOW BORING! A seed with so much potential of life having, and life giving, avoiding the soil at all costs.
o A wheat seed and a 14 karat-diamond. No, we don’t give a wheat seed a thought. But a 14k diamond? But a diamond is lifeless, and exists to be seen, and alone. How miserable. A wheat seed though is not sexy in the least, but is full of life, and will give life to countless of people, after it enters into the soil! And the legacy of a wheat seed could feed generations upon generations. I have to wonder, do you pursue more of the life of a diamond, or a wheat seed? Some of you might be so lonely though religious because you aren’t dying, you’re “diamonding.”
o When I read and re-read that passage about “Unless it dies, it will die alone.” Key: Don’t waste your life. Do not be “diamonds” but “seeds.” And a wheat seed that doesn’t play it safe by staying in the comfortable seed bag of a church building, bible studies, and so forth, but that you would fall to the soil and die to self, risk everything, so that through your sacrifice, your death to self, a harvest of new lives would come forth because of you (beginning with your family, and beyond). Unless you “die,” you will waste your life.
• John 12:25
Interestingly enough, “life” is used three times in verse 25 alone. And the meaning behind “life” the first two times (psyche), is different from “life” at the end of verse 25 (zoe) .
• Psyche = human/self thinking, desires, emotions, feelings, and self-will.
• Zoe = the life you were meant for, created for, life of glorifying God (REAL, GOOD, eternal joy, pleasure, satisfaction, meaning, purpose, LIFE!)—the kingdom life, the transcendent life.
“ Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
What’s Jesus getting at here? He’s saying to “hate/despise” (don’t have preference for) what your emotions, desires, feelings, will, and self is after, because it will always pursue self-preservation. Always.
In Ukraine, Christie and I experienced two specific moments of, “What are we doing? What are we thinking? What have we gotten ourselves into? Are we crazy? We could just go home, you know.” And we began to slip into self-preservation, safety, comfort, the easy way. But through those moments came the whisper of the Spirit: “Kernel of wheat…,” “Unless it dies…”, “It’s death = new lives…”, “Follow me…”
Even in the middle of the Lord’s will and love, your feelings will fight for the comfortable and secure life. It will pound the table (waaaah, waaaaah) for convenience, comfort, security, fairness, assurance about the future, answers, freedom from pain, risk-free living, rights, ease, fleeting pleasure, and worldly “happiness” (instead of eternal JOY). And Jesus is saying that all of that is like a watermelon seed anyway (sorry to shift the metaphor for a moment). One minute you have it, then the next, and more often, you don’t.
“Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” In other words, the more you deny the selfish pursuit of your “psyche” life, the more your “zoe” life thrives and flourishes!
Said another way, when, by God’s grace and His glory, you no longer try to fulfill your own self-centered thinking, desires, pleasures, emotions, will, the more you experience and live out the life you were made for, and created to live out—a life of living for the glory of God!
Said yet another way, the more you keep your eyes off of your blue tape, and upon Jesus, the less concerned you will be about your blue tape’s comfort, security, and safety, and therefore the more willing, even excited, you will be to risk, sacrifice, and give yourself and stuff away (die!) so that one other, countless others, will be impacted for His glory, your good, and their joy!
C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) nails it:
The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.
What has preference in your life? Your own desires, emotions, rights, pleasures? Where have they gotten you? A prison of self…. Wasted life. Sure your safe and comfortable and “winning” to those on the outside, but you are alone. A lonely diamond… And you will continue to run into walls of loneliness (even in your relationships), despair (even in your laughter), rage (even in getting your way), ruin (even in your security), and decay (even in your self-preservation).
Unless you die, there will be no life in you, and through you.
• John 12:26
Jesus couldn’t be more clear that being a born-again Christian, a believer in the gospel, is NOT a sin-management thing, or behavior modification, or spiritual therapy for the dysfunctional souls. It’s FOLLOWING HIM where HE GOES.
It’s surrender. That wherever He takes you, and no matter what that means, that’s where you go. Wherever He wants you to be, that’s where you want to be. And you’ll know where because it will be a prompting that no matter how much you try to deny it, numb yourself to it, it never leaves.
o For the spouse who left, it could be following Jesus back to your home.
o For the person who struggles in prayer and reading Scripture, it could be to the quiet place in early morning or late at night, to pray and meditate on the Scriptures.
o For those who call Grace home, it could be to the Promiseland/Graceland area, or to the Newburgh campus, to serve your heart out.
o For the rebellious student, it could be away from the sinful/unhealthy relationship or lifestyle and back home to the ones who love you.
o For the person who hates their job or school, it could be to persevere in it with contentment and joy as a mission field until the Lord leads otherwise.
o For others, it could be to the foster care system, or to Ukraine, to give an orphan(s) a family.
And you do so, not for show, not to get approval or acceptance or applause, like many followers of Jesus who thought once he was exalted as king, they would get exalted and famous too. You do so because HE FIRST LOVED YOU. He DIED for you. He PURSUED you. And in response, YOU LOVE HIM. YOU FOLLOW HIM WHEREVER HE GOES—EVEN TO THE HARDEST PLACES AND BEYOND—BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM. You know in your soul, He’s worthy, and worth it.
Where is Jesus leading you? What’s that prompting? Where has he revealed Himself to be, and beckons you to come? What’s holding you back? Fear? Finances? Time? Energy? The unknown? Whatever it is, take to heart the words of Jesus: vs. 26c—“And if [you] follow me, the Father will honor [you]” He will HONOR you. He will take care of you. He will provide. He will sustain and strengthen and give you grace unknown in the present, and the future, no matter what you encounter or face.
We know this because of what Jesus went on to say next: Verses 27-28: “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead?’ But that is the very reason I came. Father, bring glory to your name.”
When Christie and I briefly flirted with those moments of self-preservation and ease to tap out of the ring, we just had to remind ourselves that Jesus had us there on a mission. The reason we were there was to rescue two precious little orphan girls, give them a mommy, daddy, brothers, and a home. Period. No matter what or how long it took to complete the mission.
Along those same lines, we also are not in any kind of denial about what might await us in the future either when we bring the girls home. They already have health issues, Jubilee with significant ones, and we’re not sure what else will be discovered, and how others might respond. In fact, the future is what overwhelmingly sent us into a state of fear one specific night in Ukraine. But along with Jesus, even in our past, present, and future-troubled moments, we with Jesus say, “Should [we] pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead?” No, I, we, the Jones family were created for this. Now, and in the future, whatever lies ahead, BRING GLORY TO YOUR NAME!”
UNLESS you follow Jesus into the unknown ahead, you will never know the honor, the salvation, the “well done” of the Father. What are you fearing lies ahead if you do, say, or go where Jesus is? Glory is there--His Glory, your good, and others joy.
Conclusion
Christie and I have been especially moved by the response to the adoption story we find ourselves in. So many who are following our story from around the States, and even people from 12 different countries…. The reason I mention this is God is answering a personal prayer on our behalf that he stir the hearts of Christians for orphans, whoever those orphans might be, and wherever they might live (whether OC, America, China, or Ukraine, or wherever). Orphans are orphans. It’s mysterious how the Spirit leads Christians on whom and where to adopt.
Adoption IS the gospel. The world in fact is one big orphanage and sinners are the Orphans. And God has rescued and adopted you believer. And practically, orphans ARE dear to the very heart of God as revealed in both the Old and New Testaments. And we are called to be Fathers/Mothers to the Fatherless.
Maybe like me and Christie a few years ago, you have never entertained a thought of adoption. Then again, maybe like us, four years from now (or four months from now, who knows), you will be the proud parents of an orphan, whether domestic or international.
With that said, I leave you with the opportunity of a lifetime for whomever God touches for this mission and “death” to self…
Tanya… (Orphans in the Ukraine, especially those with significant issues, basically have a death sentence on them. Once they leave the orphanage at around 18 years old, the gov’t no longer provides care or medication. And statistics show they either commit suicide, become prostitutes or get trapped in the sex trafficking trade, become hardened criminals, or they die).
And I wonder, who in this room, who is listening to this podcast, and the Lord has whispered to you…“Unless YOU become the Kernel of wheat…” So much hangs on that word, “UNLESS…”. For orphans like Tanya, Marni, Jubilee. Unless you “die” there will be no new life in you, or through you.
