“Reach for the Light”

John 12: 20-36

Please pray with me….

I must admit that I struggled with my sermon this week.  I was reaching – no, groping – for the light of clarity.  The events of the week interrupted my writing, and it took me awhile to follow their lead to this morning’s message. 

In today’s scripture, we hear that the passion of Jesus has begun. The events as we know them are falling into place. Prior to this Jesus had said that “his hour had not yet come,” but it’s getting closer in this passage.

Jesus tells the followers that he is leaving…he will be lifted up…he will draw all the followers to him….but they are confused.   They cry out, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever!”  What will they do without him, they wonder?

The writer of the Fourth Gospel, John is telling this story for the benefit of people who lived long after Jesus. They needed to be assured that even though it was well past Jesus’ time on earth; they were not beyond the life-giving grace of Jesus’ salvation. We need to hear it too…we are not second-class disciples born way too late to realize the tangible presence of Jesus in our lives. Our culture may suggest we can live on the nourishment of stories about Jesus when He was here 2000 years ago. I don’t know about you, but I can’t live on that diet.  John wants us to know Jesus is here….now….in us…in this church…in our world.  He wants us to come out of the darkness and put our trust in the Light, even though it’s not always easy.

Reverend Joanna Adams of North Carolina tells the story of a special teacher, Miss Julie, who was called on to visit a boy in the hospital. Billie was 12 years old and in the 6^th grade, and he’d missed a lot of school.  Miss Julie went to the hospital to “catch Billie up” on his verbs and adverbs.  When she arrived she realized that Billie, who she did not know, was in the burn unit in very serious condition.  His eyes were covered…he could not see her…or anyone or anything. He was frightened and fearful he was going to die…in the dark.  Miss Julie began to question the merits of her effort, as well as her courage to teach Billie in spite of her physical discomfort. She worked with Billie and was anxious to leave.  She wasn’t sure she would return in three days as agreed… but for some reason she did.

As she walked down the hall to Billie’s room, Billie’s doctor saw her and said “What did you do to that boy, Miss Julie?” Miss Julie was alarmed and concerned.  ‘What’s wrong with him, Doctor?” she asked.  “No, no,” said the doctor, there’s nothing wrong.  In fact, since you were here, he’s made the most progress since he was burned.  We were afraid we were going to lose him, but he’s made a miraculous turnaround.  He’s gonna make it.”

Billie was sitting up in his bed waiting for Miss Julie to arrive.  She asked him why he was so excited and ready to work.  Billie said, “I was afraid I was gonna die.  When you first came, I thought you were an angel and you’d come to get me.  I thought Jesus sent you. Then you told me what you were here for.  And I thought, ‘God wouldn’t send an angel to teach verbs and adverbs to a boy who’s gonna die.’”

Billie had lost hope in the depth of darkness.  With the everydayness of verbs and adverbs, Miss Julie helped him believe he would live.  Billie believed on nothing more than the light Julie offered him.

Like Billie, Jesus thought he was to die.  He’s every bit as human as Billie. One might ask,will the teacher of the disciples be able to bypass the pain of death leading to new life? Will Jesus call for and receive a bailout from God, the creator of all? No, not at all. No, says Jesus…this is the reason I have come to this hour. Jesus is assured of God’s Love and Presence at this time. Jesus embraces God’s will and hears a voice from from Heaven that confirms his will…his decision to follow God’s plan. Not everyone with Jesus at that moment heard God’s voice…not all of us do either….but sometimes we do, and it helps us manage our burdens and bear our crosses.

As I was considering this on Thursday morning, life interrupted, as I mentioned earlier. A woman who had previously come by the church for help with her family arrived in tears…desperate…she said she was drawn here, and thankful for prior help she had received from our outreach. This time her needs were different. She was looking for safety and assurance. A domestic dispute had boiled over to another level (into physical abuse, and promises of worse to come.) So she sought refuge here. She believed God would comfort her and her daughters until the storm blew over. (She never asked for money), but it was clear she needed the light of God’s love.

We sing, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now am found, was blind but now I see.” The living light of Jesus is the grace that finds us in these times. Both Billie and this neighbor of ours, a new friend of our church, felt compelled to grope their way out of the darkness toward God’s light, the light of Jesus Christ.

I love the end of today’s passage when Jesus says, “The light is only with you a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so the darkness cannot overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going.  While you have the light, believe in it, so that you may become children of the light.”

In our Confirmation class the other night, we talked openly about who Jesus is to each of us. A variety of answers, visions, and perspectives. Quite a discussion.  Most of us grow into our beliefs, stoking up light that helps us along the way in our lives. These honest, articulate kids, young adults are doing just that; our job is to stand next to them with our own light so the path way gets brighter.  If we stick with them, that path will lead to courage and courage will feed their confidence in themselves.

Theologian Paul Tillich, who taught at Harvard Divinity School in the 1960s, wrote about the reality of Jesus’ salvation in our daily lives. In his book, The Courage to Be, he says that courage does not overcome doubt and fear, and is not the opposite of fear. In his words, “Courage is how we face the reality of fear and move through it and beyond it.” He talks about the “anxiety of meaninglessness,” and “the attempt to channel this anxiety into the courage to be oneself.”  I wish for that kind of courage for our kids – for all of us.

Jesus tells us in the scripture to walk in the light…believe in the light, so that we may be children of the light.” Sometimes we accompany others on the way. Our growth and transformation often comes from the outward projection of the light to others. And the way we are light to our kids is just one example.  Our Caring visitors ministry, men’s and women’s fellowship, nights of hospitality, social concerns, Habitat builds, mission and outreach…all of it shines a light on the path of another. As Jesus said, “Walk in the light while you can.”  And we all know that someday, the situation may be reversed and we will be the ones in darkness who need help along the way. We may be reaching for the light. Jesus calls us to do it now, while we can. And we do it together.

One of my favorite singing groups is The Blind Boys of Alabama, a gospel quartet formed in 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind.  Three of the four singers and the drummer are blind. The leader is an 84-year-old man named Jimmy Carter (not the former President).

He says the highlight of his concerts is when he jumps off the stage to mingle with the audience.  An interviewer asked, “But Jimmy – how does that work, you jumpin’ off the stage?  You’re blind!”  “Oh,” Jimmy says, “I have someone who takes my hand and jumps with me.  But once I’m on the floor, with the people, I don’t need any help findin’ my way.”  Can’t you just see him, movin’ through the audience, led by the warmth of the crowd and the singing and the dancing?  Jimmy’s action shows that we can be led by the light in each other, even when we can’t see anything but shadows.

God’s Love for us and creation began long before Jesus walked among us. Even “at the beginning” in Genesis, God had a plan for how light would shower creation. God’s physical Presence in humanity is the mystery of Jesus in the Incarnation. Jesus is human in life and death, and leads us to the promise of future life in the Resurrection. It is not just the historic Jesus we follow, but the living Jesus in all of us. Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement in the 1950s said, “When you love people, you see all the good in them, all of Jesus in them. God sees Jesus, his Son, in us and loves us. And we should see Christ in others, and nothing else, and love them.”

As Jesus says, believe in the light, so we can be children of the light. Reliving and re-telling the passion and living in the resurrection of Jesus is the heart of our faith. As we do so, we are changed, healed and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. There can never be enough of that, so just reach for the light…there…there…and there it is.

AMEN

PRAYER

Gracious God,

In the depth of our darkness, we reach for Jesus to assure us and steady our way. When we find the light of Jesus, we know we are called to share it with others, in gifts of time, talent and gentle presence. Jesus, your son, our brother gifted us with the Holy Spirit to guide us. We are blessed, we are alive, AMEN