Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 29, 2009 - Fifth Sunday in Lent
[Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33]Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Gardening is one of my hobbies. Right now my house has several tables with sprouting plants on it. (I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all of it since I'm moving to Austin, TX, in a month or so!). The reason is that I insist on growing plants from seed instead of going to a nursery and buying the plants to set out. The image that Jesus uses about the seed dying and bearing much fruit is one that I witness year after year - like any farmer or gardener. (Sometimes the fruit can be a problem - ask anyone whose zucchini or tomatoes all begin to ripen at the same time!) All three passages of scripture today seem to aim at the question of obedience - of giving up our own will for the sake of something greater or more important. It could be the covenant that Jeremiah mentions, or the obedience through suffering that Hebrews mentions, or the dedication to his mission from his Father that Jesus mentions. In all these cases, obedience requires a kind of "dying to self." Some see this negatively, as if such obedience is subservience. Others see it more positively as a kind of self-transcendence. I'm in the latter group. Dominican friars actually make only the vow of obedience to the Master of the Order. This vow includes by reference to our Constitutions all the other obligations of religious life. The vow of obedience does not appear to me as a restriction but as a liberation! I can be part of something much larger than myself - the worldwide mission of the Order of Preachers. A husband and wife vow themselves to each other in order to create something bigger than the two of them - a marriage and family - a witness to God's love. In accepting his mission in obedience to his Father, Jesus goes beyond the narrow confines of his own personal survival to do something much greater than one person can do ordinarily. Like any human he finds it daunting: "I am troubled now." The temptation to ask for a change of mission is there: "Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour." These words come right after the image of the seed dying in order to bear fruit. His obedience to his mission is the seed that dies. We, the Body of Christ, are the fruit of this obedience. We, in turn, bear fruit in our witness to his teaching. This requires self-sacrifice and a resistance to the temptations of our secular culture. The death of the seed and the resurrection of the plant are a natural reminder to us of God's greater economy of salvation which is accomplished by the glad obedience of all who turn to God in faith! AMEN
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