Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 29, 2009
John 12:20-33
I
When historians consider great leaders, they point to people like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who rallied a nation of Americans stuck in the misery of the Great Depression. Or Winston Churchill who embodied the determination of the British people to resist Nazi Germany in England's darkest days when night bombers filled the skis over London. Such leaders were able to lift their people and give them collective courage to accomplish deeds of heroism and courage.
It is not only presidents and prime ministers who were able to lift their nations. Gandhi led a non-violent resistance movement to oppose colonial rule and win independence for the people of India. Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity Movement, brought about a peaceful overthrow of communism in Poland that inspired similar democratic movements throughout Eastern Europe.
In our country we can look to leaders such Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony who ignited the movement to give women the right to vote. We think of Rosa Parks, whose refusal to move to the back of the bus triggered the Montgomery bus boycott. We remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who inspired the civil rights movement to end segregation and extend voting rights. These leaders helped people to rise above themselves and their private concerns to accomplish something for the larger community and the greater good.
It is no accident that many of the great leaders of history were inspired by the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Christian minister who devoted his life to applying the teachings of Jesus to oppose the political and social sins of segregation and discrimination. Throughout his career, Dr. King drew on the teachings and example of Jesus to inspire his followers and to change the hearts of those in power.
Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, also was motivated by the teachings of Jesus. Gandhi's principles of non-violent resistance to evil were taken from the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
II
When we look at Jesus of Nazareth, we see someone who set forth a movement of change: to build the blessed community, to build a world in which each person's dignity and goodness is affirmed, to transform the world and its sinful structures.
Jesus is greater than any president, prime minister, or earthly leader. Jesus is the Savior who lifts up the entire human race and brings us into the realm of God. As we heard in today's Gospel from John, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
This is John's vision of Jesus as a great magnet drawing us to himself and lifting us to the Divine. The risen Christ lifts us out of our suffering, pain, and hurt. Jesus lifts us from our mundane world and carries us to the Holy One.
This vision of Christ lifting us to a new plane, of course, is not our ordinary experience. In fact, the world often is arrayed against the purposes of God. We are like the people in today's Collect, who need God "to bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners" so that we might love what God commands and desire what God promises.
III
As we come to the end of the season of Lent and prepare next Sunday to enter the most holy season of the year, we pray that Christ might lift us up and draw us to himself. Let me suggest three ways that we can experience Christ lifting us up: first by having the right attitude or spirit; second, in our conversation; third, in our worship.
First, by having the right attitude, so that we, in the words of St. Paul, might have the mind of Christ. Jesus wants to influence the way we think – so that we find Christ in all things. This attitude is expressed beautifully in the prayer known as Patrick's breastplate:
Christ to shield me this day,
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every one who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
In this prayer Christ walks with us in the coming and goings of our day. Christ influences us to see the world with his perspective and to have his compassion, his awareness.
Secondly, in our conversations. Christ calls us to speak and listen to one another in his spirit. In our parish, we are trying to do this in six house meetings on "faith in troubled times." We will discuss how the current economic climate is affecting us and our neighbors. We will share suggestions and solutions. We will pray together. We will overcome the isolation and helplessness that many feel. We will help one another get through this crisis.
Thirdly, in our worship. I mentioned earlier that Christ is the great magnet that draws us to himself. Christ wishes to transform us into something holy. In our Eucharist today, I invite you to see the gifts of bread and wine at the offertory as symbols of the gift that we make of our lives to Christ. As the grain of wheat becomes the bread, as the grape becomes the wine, may we be transformed into Christ. We offer ourselves to Christ in the bread and wine and then Christ gives these gifts back to us as his Body and Blood. As we eat and drink, we become renewed and transformed. We are forgiven and healed. We enter into communion with the Holy. Christ lifts us out of the mundane and ordinary and merges our lives with God's light and love.
"I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
Amen.