First Lesson: Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Responsive Reading: Psalm 51: 1-12 Second Lesson: Hebrews 5: 5-10 Gospel Lesson: John 12: 20-33 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin with a story. Once upon a time, there was a bank president[1]. The man was no different than most bank presidents you know. He was somewhat stiff and very formal in how he communicated. The bank president seeking to be well-mannered had heard two bits of news in the past week. Number one- a competitor bank had recently moved into a new building. Number two- a loyal customer and valued member of the community had recently passed. The bank president decided that he needed to send floral arrangements to both the other bank and the customer’s family as a way expressing well-wishes. He calls the flower shop; only the florist manages to get the card messages confused. The bank president receives a call from the other bank president wondering exactly why he received a floral arrangement stating “With our deepest sympathy.” The bank president upon hearing this turned white as a ghost. He had never been more embarrassed in his whole life. He knew his customer’s family was now going to receive at the funeral home a floral arrangement in their loved one’s memory that said “Congratulations on your new location!” Now we hear this story and we sense the embarrassment felt by the bank president. We know by instinct that death is something that is no laughing matter. The pain, the separation, and the grief haunt those who encounter. We should try to run from death with every fiber of our being. Sarah Pardee was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1840[2]. Sarah marries a gentleman named William Wirt Winchester. Winchester was the primary heir to the Winchester firearms fortune. William Wirt Winchester died young at the age of 43 from tuberculosis. Becoming a widow left Sarah Winchester with all sorts of money. Winchester inherited 20 million dollars which would be the equivalent of over 500 million dollars in 2018[3]. Besides this, Winchester received a fifty percent ownership stake in the firearms company, earning her 1,000 dollars a day or the equivalent of 25,000 a day in 2018[4]. Winchester was never going to have to worry about money the rest of her life. In 1884, she decided to seek out advice moving forward after the recent death of her husband, a young child and father in law[5]. Winchester believes her family is cursed because of people killed by the family rifles. She decides to consult a medium to contact her dead husband. The medium’s advice was that she needed to build a home to honor her husband’s memory, as long as she was building this home that she would never die. So in 1884, Winchester buys a farmhouse on the other side of the country with eight rooms in San Jose, California[6]. She purchased the house on top of 161 acres. She was going to spend every cent of her twenty million dollar inheritance expanding this house to ward off death. So construction began shortly after, laborers worked twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, for nearly forty years as a way for Sarah Winchester to ward off death. The house is like nothing you could ever imagine. The house consists of 161 rooms, 40 bedrooms, two ballrooms, 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys, and two special basements[7]. The house was built seven stories high. The house contained numerous staircases and doors that lead to absolutely nowhere. Winchester poured millions upon millions of dollars into this house, believing that she could ward off death. 1922, Sarah Winchester dies in the middle of the night due to heart failure. Here is the interesting thing about Winchester at the time of her death, she had purchased enough building materials that further construction of her home could have continued for an additional eighty years[8]. For plenty of people are like Sarah Winchester in fearing death almost to the point of it holding them bondage[9]. While Sarah Winchester took her fear of death to an extreme end, in some ways, she’s no different than many of us. Sarah Winchester’s story leads us into Our Gospel lesson for Today from John 12[10]. Our lesson takes place during the Holy Week of Passover. So people from all over the world were coming to Jerusalem for religious pilgrimage. In our lesson, a group of Greeks approaches Jesus’ disciple Phillip. The Greeks were religious outsiders during Holy Week; they were not Jews because they did not descend from Abraham, they rather converted at some later point in time. The Greeks have a request for Phillip “Sir; we wish to see Jesus[11].” Jesus’ response to such a request was interesting. He tells a story to his disciples. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.[12]” Jesus is making a point within our lesson to not only the Disciples, but also the Greeks, Sarah Winchester, and the Bank President. The point has to do with the nature of death, specifically his death later that week. Daniel Habben describes it as such “Just as the purpose of a seed is to be buried into the ground where it can germinate and grow into something productive, Jesus wants us to know that the purpose of his coming into this world was to be buried[13].” Upon his death, many new seeds will spring to life. The point of this passage is through his death; many resurrections would soon take place. Death being the way to Resurrection is made even more clear in the next verse. John 12:25: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Jesus’ point here is that hope does come from where Sarah Winchester believes it comes. Hope doesn’t come from money; hope doesn’t come from youth or beauty, nor does hope our best of deeds[14]. Once upon a time, there was an old man who made an agreement with the Grim Reaper[15]. He told the Grim Reaper that he would gladly accompany him when it’s his time to die, the only condition is the Grim Reaper give him sufficient warning. The man and Grim Reaper agree on this deal. The man doesn’t hear back from the Grim Reaper for years and years. Finally, one night the man is sitting at home when the Grim Reaper taps him on his shoulder, the man gets annoyed saying “You said, you would warn me.” The Reaper responds “I’ve kept my part, look in the mirror, your thick black hair is now thin and white, look how you need to turn your head in my direction to hear me because your hearing has started to go. Perhaps you’ve noticed how year after year, you need to stand slightly closer to the mirror to see yourself better. I’ve sent plenty of messengers to warn you. Your time has come.” We’ll often be like the man in this story, think of every way to deny death’s pending arrival. Jesus’ point is that to inherit eternal life; we need to die. We need to die to our success, our failures, our sins, and our selfishness. When we die we are reminded that we are no longer at the center of the universe, only when we come to this realization will we begin to anticipate inheriting eternal life[16]. Holy Week will soon be upon us. The most real judgment of death will shortly be upon us. Judas will hand Jesus over for money, the rest of the Disciples will fear and cower, Peter will deny knowing him. The Disciples will display a discomfort in the presence of death no different than any one of us. Jesus doesn’t want to us to look at his death like this; Jesus wants the Disciples to know early in Holy Week that his death will be the means by which the many, many seeds of salvation will be spread throughout the entire earth. Seeds to die to produce harvests[17]. The harvest to come will be one of forgiveness and eternal life. Let me close this morning with one final story, a preacher one time lost his wife[18]. He was driving his young children to the funeral. On the way to the service, they saw a truck ahead of them stop at a red light. The truck was the biggest truck that dad or the children had ever seen in their life. On this day, it was sunny. The sun hit the truck at just the right angle, so a giant truck shadow shined upon a nearby field. The preacher pointed this out to his children by saying “Look children at the truck and look at its shadow. If you had to be run over, which would you rather be run over by? Would you rather be run over by the truck or the shadow? The youngest child pointed out “The shadow couldn’t hurt anybody.” To which the preacher nodded in agreement, to which he said to his children here’s the thing “Death is a truck, but the shadow is all that ever touches the Christian. The truck ran over the Lord Jesus; Only the shadow is gone over (your) mother.” It was on days such as this one. The Bank President’s words rang true. The customer was indeed moving to be a better location. Sarah Winchester would not be able to avoid death, yet she should not tremble because of it. No matter how old we grow, we are reminded that life in this world merely paves the way to eternal life. Resurrection spreads many, many seeds over the Earth. What we are reminded as we prepare for Holy Week to witness Jesus’ death and resurrection up-close. The truck shall not touch you, but only its shadow. Amen [1] The following is taken from May 25th, 1992 edition of Daily Bread. The illustration was accessed on Sermon Illustrations.com on Feburary 20th, 2018. [2] “Sarah Winchester.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 19. Feb.2018. Web. Feb.20.2018. [3] Sarah Winchester.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [4] Sarah Winchester.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [5] “Winchester Mystery House.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 19.Feb.2018. Web. Feb.20.2018. [6] Winchester Mystery House.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [7] Winchester Mystery House.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [8] The following is taken from the April 2nd, 1994 edition of Daily Bread. The factoid was found on Sermon Illustrations.com on Feburary 20th, 2018. [9] Hebrews 2:15. [10] John 12:20-33. [11] John 12:21. [12] John 12:24. [13] Habben, Daniel. “What’s Eating Jesus?” Sermon Central. 20.Mar.2006. Web. Feb.19.2018. [14] Habben, Daniel. “What’s Eating Jesus?” [15] The following illustration comes from the Feburary 29th, 1991 edition of Daily Bread. Illustration was accessed on Feburary 19th, 2018 from Sermon Illustrations/death. [16] Markquardt, Edward. “If a Seed Dies.” Sermon from Seattle. Series B. Lent 5. Web. Feb.20.2018. [17] Haugen, Roger. “5 Lent B.” Sermon Central. 6. Apr.2003. Web. Feb.20.2018. [18] The following illustration comes from Donald Grey Barnhouse and was found on Sermon Illustrations under death. Website was accessed on Feburary 19th, 2018. Comments are closed.
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