St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

Fifth Sunday in Lent
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH
John 12:20-33

March 29, 2009
The Rev. Barbara Bond

New fruit

With the springtime bringing warm weather, many of us are starting to consider our gardens again. I’m contemplating the black straggly canes on my rose bushes, finding it hard to believe that they sprouted lovely roses last year, or that they will ever bloom again. They look pretty bleak. But my crocuses are up, the tulips are putting out leaves, and it seems likely that, yes, spring flowers will return. We love to celebrate Easter in this time of year, because the gardening metaphors work so well: bulbs that lay in their earthen tomb all winter are springing into life again.

Jesus was giving a gardening metaphor to his followers. He said, “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.” He was trying to prepare his followers, and himself, for his own death, a death that would bring forth much fruit in terms of faith, and wonder, and celebration. He was setting them up for Easter.

Yesterday, we celebrated the life of Ed Cox, and right there in the middle of Lent, we had Easter. In the eulogy, I told about Ed’s ups and downs, and we celebrated all that Ed meant to us, to the one hundred folks gathered. To express joy in the midst of sadness is just so dang illogical, isn’t it? It’s down-right Christian.

As we approach the season of resurrection, we are going to experience some sadness and dark times first. It is apparently a pre-requisite. Jesus warned us that the grain had to fall to the earth and die, before it would bear fruit. So let’s think about resurrection, about rising again, after a seeming disaster, after apparent death.

When Norm and I were in premarital counseling in early 2002, we spoke with Bishop Michael Creighton of Central Pennsylvania, who would be officiating our wedding that April. We told him that our previous marriages had ended, both with sadness, but that we were so pleased to have found each other at this point in our lives. Bishop Mike smiled and said, “Yes, I believe in resurrection in the midst of life!”

Resurrection in the midst of life. What a wonderful concept. We know about Jesus’ resurrection after his death. We live in hope of our own resurrection in Christ at the time of our deaths. But what about resurrection right now???

In the resiliency of the springtime, in the seasons of the earth, we become attuned to the cycle of birth, fruitfulness, dying, and rebirth, and we look forward to this season of rebirth every year. Can we look forward to the cycles of our lives with the same hope? Can you look backward at your own life, and recognize how the cycles have played out so far?

Perhaps you have suffered a devastating illness; this dark time feels as grim as Good Friday; but then a new medical technique is offered, and behold, it is like the sunrise! You feel resurrected in hope!

Perhaps you have lost a loved one, or a relationship has ended, and you are in deep despair, for a long time. And you think it will never end. But then, one day, someone smiles at you, and the lights come on.

Perhaps disaster strikes, and you struggle to find your way. And then, out of nowhere, your brother or sister comes back into your life, reconciling after years of estrangement, bringing new love and comfort.

Maybe you lose your job, and that’s pretty scary in these economic times. But you are spurred to creativity and resourcefulness you didn’t know you had, and you bounce back, better than ever.

This is what Jesus promises us – the hope of resurrection as sustaining vision throughout our lives. Even in his grimmest hour, when he was nailed to the cross and executed in pain and humiliation, he did not see it as the end, but as a vision of hope and glory. He said that was why he came to earth: his assignment was to show us that even when we think it can’t get any worse, there will be resurrection. This sign, this crucifixion, this scene of as-bad-as-it-gets, is a sign of love: Jesus draws all of us into his wide-open arms, offering us hope in the midst of despair, love in the midst of pain, new life in the midst of death. Hang on, my friends. As sure as the spring time, Easter will come again.