Greeks Wish to See Jesus (MPLS)

John 12:20-26

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.

My wife, Brenda, and I were driving through the mountains of Colorado. We made our way carefully along a narrow, winding road—the kind of road that sometimes drops off a couple thousand feet. As I navigated the car, Brenda offered several, should I say, “constructive” comments to the effect that I better keep my eyes on the road and off the scenery. She was right, of course, but it was hard not to sneak a peek at the spectacular vistas. One particular rock formation definitely caught my attention. There was painted in large white letters: “Prepare to meet thy God—read John 3:16.” Fortunately, I already knew John 3:16. But I shuddered at the thought of some poor soul madly thumbing through the Bible trying to find John when he or she should have been watching the road.

Right after the painted rock, we came upon a hairpin curve. It took us to the very edge of a jagged cliff. I’m sure the sign was put there knowing we would come upon that cliff. Prepare to meet thy God—because who knows what’s around the bend. Perhaps your tire will blow or a huge boulder will come crashing down the mountain. And in the blink of an eye, you will come face to face with Almighty God. Are you ready for that? Better check out John 3:16!

I’m guessing that most of us know John 3:16. If you do, say it with me: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 

What are we to make of this verse—and not just on a mountain road, but anywhere? John’s Gospel focuses on the world part of that verse and stretches our thinking. In the very next chapter, Jesus is approached by a Samaritan woman who’s come to draw water at a well. In case you don’t know, Samaritans were considered a mixed race, half Jewish and half something else. Self-respecting Jews kept their distance from them. But not Jesus. Jesus strikes up a conversation with the woman. And eventually, he spends a couple of days in her village. When he gets ready to leave, the villagers are so appreciative of Jesus’ presence that they proclaim him “Savior.”

For God so loved the world. In our reading for today, there are some Greeks that are every bit as curious about Jesus as those Samaritans. Before their arrival, Lazarus makes an appearance. Lazarus has been attracting attention ever since Jesus raised him from the dead. Word travels fast. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, are increasingly annoyed. Jesus is getting noticed and they don’t approve. They throw up their hands in disgust: “The world has gone after him!”

For God so loved the world. Passover is near. All sorts of people have come to Jerusalem. Think Mardi Gras, with a definite religious bent. Greeks have come. We’re not sure why. All we know for sure is that they’re not Jewish; they’re Gentiles. Evidently they’ve heard about Lazarus. They want to meet the miracle worker who raised him from the dead. As with the Samaritan woman, Jesus goes to them. In so many words, he’s saying: “I’m here because of people like you. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. It will be like a grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying. If it dies, it will bear much fruit.” 

First Samaritans. Now Greeks. Jesus’ world is getting bigger and bigger. “Whoever serves me, must follow me. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.” John 3:16 is sounding more and more like a love song. Whether people know it or not, they desperately need this love because there might be a hairpin curve just around the bend. 

There’s an organization in Chicago called Emmaus Ministry, or Emmaus for short. The group reaches out to young men in their teens and 20s who are living on the streets. These young men come to Chicago looking for opportunities. They often aren’t connected with their families. They wind up getting trapped in drug abuse and, to support their habit, they often end up selling drugs or working as male escorts. People from Emmaus walk the streets of Chicago from 10:00 at night till 3:00 in the morning. They offer a lifeline. Every so often a young man will feel trapped and hopeless and will say to them, “I can’t take it anymore. Is there any way out of this hell?” And someone from Emmaus will come and provide shelter and a first step toward hope. 

One young man named Joseph was looking for a way out. He was befriended by John from Emmaus. The next evening Joseph was sitting in John’s living room. John’s wife was setting the table. Other members of the group were preparing the meal. They’d invited Joseph to have dinner with them. As he sat down, Joseph whispered to John, “I’ve never done this before.” John was confused, “Done what?” Joseph answered, “This family-dinner-thing around a table. I’ve never done this.”

Joseph was typical of the young men in his world. He didn’t know his father. His mother was a crack addict. He was removed from his home when he was 4 months old. He’d been shuttled from one group home to another. He was in a gang by age 11 and in prison by age 16. Now he was in his mid-20s and never once had he sat down to eat a meal at a table with a real family. Never once had he been around people who cared for each other as they passed the food and talked about their day. He was embarrassed. “I’ve never done this before,” he said, “but I’ve seen it on TV.”

After dinner that night, John and the other folks from Emmaus started the hard work of helping Joseph. Of course, they could have started with: “Joseph, you’ve done horrible things. You’ve made a mess of your life. You should be ashamed.” But the Emmaus folks usually take a different tact. Instead of starting with judgment and shame, they start with something much harder to swallow: “Joseph, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Joseph, you are loved by God more than you can possibly know.” It took Joseph a long time to believe those words, but eventually he did and his life began to change.

Jesus’ hour has come near. He makes room for people who approach him. Whether they are Greeks or Samaritans or someone like Joseph, he isn’t offering a quick fix for their problems. Turn your life over to me and everything will be fine. Instead, he’s giving them a glimpse into the heart of God. God’s primary work is not judgment; it’s love. 

 A decade ago Pastor Rob Bell wrote a book called, “Love Wins.” Maybe you’ve read it. The book sparked controversy. Bell’s premise is that God plans to save the whole world through the power of Jesus’ love. We can either accept or reject that love, but God will keep looking for us. Bell claims that God’s searching will continue until we are found—and this is where some of the controversy arises—that searching will continue in this life, and if need be, in the life of the world to come. Bell makes the claim that hell is real, but he defines it more a separation from God than an actual place of torment and fire. As separation from God, we might find ourselves there anytime we reject God’s love for us. Bell writes: “Love is what God is, love is why Jesus came, and love is why he continues to come, year after year, to person after person. And in the end, love wins.”

As I said, the book sparked controversy. The Southern Baptist Convention got so angry at Rob Bell that they passed a resolution to affirm the reality of hell as a place of eternal physical torment. That’s right. It wasn’t enough to affirm hell as separation from God. No, they had to make sure that everyone knew it was an actual place where unrepentant sinners would be tormented forever.

Truth be told, there were parts of Rob Bell’s book that stretched me too, but I’m a lot closer to Rob Bell than I am to the Southern Baptist Convention. I believe God’s primary work is love, not judgment. God’s desire is to save the whole world. Anytime we say no to God’s love, we can end up in a hell of sorts, but it’s more a separation from God than anything else. And even if we do say no, I find it hopeful to believe that God will keep coming to us until we are found.

For God so loved the world. How many people are included in this love? Renowned evangelist Billy Graham was once interviewed by Newsweek. He was asked whether he believes that heaven will be open to Muslims, Hindus, and more. Graham answered humbly, “Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won’t.” But then Graham added, “I believe the love of God is absolute. God said he gave his Son for the whole world, and I think God loves everybody, regardless of what label they have.”

I appreciated Billy Graham’s humility as I read that article. In the end, we really don’t know what God will do. But we can hold out hope that God’s love is lot wider than we can imagine. It’s wide enough to include Jews and Samaritans and Greeks; Lutherans and Catholics; Baptists and Evangelicals; Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims; and even the likes of you and me. 

As Christians we believe that God reaches out to us in love through Jesus. Jesus offers light for our deepest darkness. Jesus promises love no matter what. And he promises to keep searching for us until he finds us. That’s good news, because there are lots of hairpin curves just around the bend. We need to keep trusting that, in the end, love wins. Amen.