Not in the Jar, But in the Soil

John 12:27-33

Years ago, when the Betty Crocker Company first began selling their cake mixes, they offered a product, which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to the mix, which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake every time.

It failed. No one bought it and the company could not understand why, so they commissioned a study, which brought back a surprising answer. It seemed that people were not buying the cake mix because it was too easy. They wanted to feel that they were contributing something to it. Therefore, Betty Crocker changed the formula and required the customer to add an egg and oil in addition to water.

Immediately, the new cake mix was a huge success. ¹

There is no INSTANT CROSS. There is no “powdered” Christianity that when you add water you can have a new product. There is no SHORTCUT in Christianity. There is no easy way in following Christ. It is COSTLY. Even adding “the egg and the oil” will not help.

A person once called an electrician to fix his electrical clock. After examining it, the electrician found nothing wrong with the clock. “The problem is,” he said, “you did not plug in.” The person said, “I don’t want to waste electricity, so I only plug it in when I want to know what time it is.” ²

You see many of us are “Christians” in this way. We are plugged in to God when we want to. It does not work that way. We live unplugged and we wonder where God is. We wonder why we do not have the power to continue our daily life. The Christian life is a daily walk with God, plugged to God, born from ABOVE. Reexamine your life daily; get empowered from God daily. So you need to plug in. But how?

Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…… 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.” (vs. 23, 24)

Jesus was plugged in to his Father. He was in a constant relationship. The hour has come that Jesus will be glorified. How? By going to the cross.

The seed needs to die, the kernel of wheat needs to go to the ground and die.

It reminds me an illustration from Egypt. The Pharaohs built great tombs for themselves. Thousands of years later, one can go and see these pyramids, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Some years ago, the archeologists and excavators discovered some peas in one of the pyramids. These peas were 3000 years old! They were found in a jar. After taking them to lab, they put some of them in the soil. They bloomed and gave fruits!

For 3000 years nothing happened to the peas. NOTHING. NOTHING will happen to the church if it does not die. Lose it, in order to find it. The seed need to die in order to give life. No Easter without Good Friday.

Theologian H. Richard Niebuhr, although I do not agree with many of his theological ideas, condemns “cross-less” Christianity whether liberal Protestantism or the evangelical "feel good" seeker-sensitive churches promote it. With biting sarcasm, he describes such beliefs as, "A God without wrath bringing men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross." In a word: There is no Christianity without the Cross! ³

Philip Yancey is great Christian author. I have read many of his books. One of his famous books is titled: “Where is God When It Hurts?” I recommend this book. If you have problem of understanding why there is pain in this world, go to this book.

Philip interviews diverse people. He concludes that there are two types of people: stars and servants.

Stars are the NFL football players, movie stars, music performers, famous authors….

We like to watch what they wear, what kind of food they eat, and what kind of perfume they use.

Yancey says that many of those had bad marriages; many of those helplessly depend on psychotherapy.

There are others like Dr. Paul Brand who went to India to work within the poorest of the poor, leprosy patients in rural India; or others who spend time in translating the Bible to people who do not have even their alphabets; or others who are ready to die for the sake of the Gospel. Even today in Afghanistan, this brave Christian who is ready to confess Jesus Christ as personal savior, who went to his country to see his children . They were under custody of their mother who complained to the authorities that her husband is Christian - whenever they showed him he had the Bible in his hand and his life was in danger.

It is the same message for five weeks. We need to die near the cross in order to have a new life.

Poet John Donne, who was Dean of St. Paul’s from 1621 until his death in 1631 was the author of the beautiful and moving poem, “No Man Is an Island.” His memorial bears the following writing:  “He gave his strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, his heart to God.” 

Have you seen the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus? It is about a musician who wanted to be a composer and not a teacher. He ended up being a music teacher. He was a great teacher who worked with not very brilliant talented kids, yet he spent hours in teaching them. He wanted to compose music, but he did not have time to do it. His work was always interrupted. He ended up being an ordinary person. His students became important people in the society. Even one of the clarinet players became the mayor of the city. One day all of his old students gathered and found the music that he had started writing. They played it to him in a surprise concert. The opus was played finally after years. It was not the greatest music composed. Yet, that day the best music was played. Why? Because he had invested in people. Instead of writing music on paper, he had composed wonderful harmonious music in the hearts of his students.

What needs to die in your life?

Your Ego? My Life. My style in leadership. My ideas. My recipes. My, my, my...In the USA you learn my rights. In the Bible you learn how to live in the right way with the others.

Your Fears? Maybe your fears need to die in order that you will not be paralyzed. Because of fear, many do not do anything. Fear of liability, maybe that person will sue me one day! Maybe that person has bad intentions! It is wise to be careful but to what extent?

Your Doubts? Doubts that need to die in order for you to have a new vision. Doubts that stayed with you for years and you do not want to solve them. Some of us are expert in getting stuck with doubt and not moving forward.

Your Independence? Maybe you are too independent from everyone and everything. Maybe you need to bring your independency to the cross and let it die so you will really be a new liberated person who understands independency and lives by choice of sacrifice in order to live a new life.

Are you in Jar? Are you in use? You need to die. The soil will give you new life.

1 Illustration from eSermons.com

2 Rev. Jean M. Hilton, Chaplain, Presbyterian Homes, Phillipsburg, Pa.

3 Blair, Bert. When A Grain of Wheat Falls. P 3.