Follow, Die, and Find New Life - Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (March 17, 2024)

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Psalm 51:1–12 | Hebrews 5:5–10 | ​John 12:20–33

“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.” (John 12:24).
 
Happy St. Patrick’s day!
 
Quick question: How many of us here today have some Irish ancestry?
 
I’ve been able to trace members of my family back to Ireland in the 1800’s, but according to one of those genetic tests that are now available, I’ve only inherited about 1% of Irish genes. The Montgomery clan after all, were Scots who arrived in Northern Ireland, before eventually moving on to settle in Canada. Even so, I appreciate and treasure these small Irish connections… especially this time of year.
 
And I have some good news for everyone else here today who might like to be a bit more Irish than we are: we’re in pretty good company.
 
As some of us may know, St. Patrick himself wasn’t Irish! He was born in Britain, a province of the Roman Empire, on the frontier of their vast European territory, at around the time the Roman armies were retreating from this region, around the turn of the 5th Century.
 
So how then did Patrick become so connected to Ireland, and how did he come to be a seen as a Saint?
 
The earliest source of information we have about St. Patrick comes from his own hand, an autobiographical account of his story called the Confession of St. Patrick. He doesn’t spend much time at all in this account discussing his upbringing, or background, but he begins with a few simple words about himself and his most recent ancestors: “My name is Patrick.” He begins, “I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest”.[1]

But simply being raised in a family of Christian leaders didn’t seem to endear young Patrick to the faith. He mentions not really knowing the True God in his younger days, which is not the start many might have imagined for one of the most well-known saints of all time. But as we know, hearts and lives can change in all sorts of ways.
 
Which leads us to how Patrick first came into contact with Ireland: as a victim of human trafficking. Along with many others, Patrick was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. He had his old life stolen from him, and was made to serve strangers, in a strange land.
 
According to his account, it was during his time of captivity and slavery that he began to reach out to God, and found as he did so that the Lord was reaching out to him with His divine mercy and grace. This newfound faith didn’t solve all of his troubles… but it did change Patrick’s own heart, and turn around his life in ways that he could never have dreamed possible.
 
After some time passed, Patrick recounts how the Lord eventually led him to freedom… aiding his escape across the wilds, and even providing him with a way off the island… guiding him to sailors who were willing to help this escaped slave return to Britain. All told it’s an amazing story, that we don’t have time to fully explore this morning, but I encourage you to look up St. Patrick’s Confession sometime soon, and give it a read.
 
Keeping things brief: Patrick returned to his old life, a freed man. And that’s where his story could have ended. But something significant had changed in Patrick’s life: his new awareness of God’s grace, God’s rescuing love, which found him when he was completely helpless and hopeless, had turned Patrick’s life around… and placed him on a new path.
 
Soon Patrick left Britain for what is now France, and prepared to become a priest, devoted to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Lord’s rescuing love with those in the world who, like his younger self, didn’t yet know the True God.
 
And again, the Lord reached out to Patrick… not this time to bring him freedom, but to work through Patrick to bring God’s freedom to others… specifically, to his old captors.
  
Patrick recounts how he has a vision, in which a man, representing his old Irish oppressors, begs him to return and live among them again. He took this as a call from God to go share the Good News of Jesus with the people of Ireland… asking Patrick to set aside all the plans he had made for his life, in order to share God’s rescuing love with those who he could easily had written off as enemies.
 
And so, choosing to follow the call of His Lord, Patrick goes back, and spends the rest of his days serving in Ireland… convincing their chiefs to give their allegiance to the High King of Heaven, Jesus the Risen Lord, and planting the seeds of faith to set their whole society on the path of the One True God.
 
Patrick would served there as a missionary and bishop, and though he faced opposition at times, he has been embraced by the people of Ireland as their patron saint for centuries… recognized as someone who followed the way of Jesus, and freely gave his life to share God’s saving love with them.
 
Of course, St. Patrick’s life is not just a good story, or a history lesson… it’s an example of the Good News of Jesus at work in our world… a work that is still ongoing, and which we all are invited to share in as well.
 
God’s work of transforming hearts and lives… of turning whole communities towards His holy ways… of drawing close all those who do not yet know His divine forgiveness and grace, and mercy, and rescuing love… of helping us die to ourselves, so that we can share the gift of God’s abundant and unending life in Christ.
 
We see this work unfolding in our first reading from Jeremiah, as God addresses His unfaithful people who had repeatedly broken their covenant with the Lord, and who were now headed for disaster and the horrors of Exile. But even this hopeless situation was not going to be the end of their story, because in mercy and grace the Living God promises to transform the hearts of His stubborn people, pointing forward to a day when they would be truly turned around and find new life in Him.
 
Jeremiah 31:33-34, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”.
 
God promises them a new covenant… a whole new way of life with Him, not written on stone, but on their hearts… that is, transforming their very desires and understanding… realigning them inside and out by God’s own rescuing love, and setting them free by His forgiveness.
 
This is the hope that Israel’s prophets bore witness to… a hope that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and that continues to shape the lives of those who will trust and follow Him.
 
In our Gospel reading this morning, St. John shows us something remarkable: after spending His life bearing witness to the children of Israel, now Greek Gentiles were beginning to seek out Jesus as well. Gentiles, members of the various nations all around Israel, who did not yet know the Living God… who didn’t have a covenant with Him, or follow His holy ways… the nations who had repeatedly oppressed and offended Israel, God’s chosen people… now even they were coming to Jesus, and begging for Him to meet with them.
 
The disciples don’t quite seem to know what to do. This wasn’t really a part of their plans. But by His response, we know that Jesus knows what it will take for the whole world, Jews and Gentiles alike, to meet with Him:
 
John 12:23–28, Jesus says, “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.
 
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
 
In order to bring to fulfillment His mission to rescue and reconcile the whole world to God, Jesus knew it would cost Him everything. He would have to die. To give up His life, like a seed buried in the ground, so that through His death we all might come to taste and be transformed by God’s New Life. So that our hearts might be changed for good. So that our own desires and understandings might be shaped, not by selfishness, but by God’s self-giving love… so that
we too might be set free from our own slavery to sin and shame, and instead to find true forgiveness and peace… not just with God, but with one another… as Christ gave His body to be broken at the cross to put our whole human family back together again… reconciling estranged communities, and even enemies, through His blood shed for all.
 
What Jesus accomplished at the cross, once and for all, has changed and will continue to change the world… and He’s calling you and me to take part in this… to truly be His people, now set apart to share in this new covenant, this new way of life made possible by His blood, shed not just for some, but for all the families of the earth.
 
And as our Lord said, if we are to serve Him, we must actually follow Him… not just to our ultimate destination, sharing in the joys of His everlasting Kingdom… but also following Him to the cross… sharing in His suffering here in this life… dying to ourselves, in all sorts of ways… through transformed behaviours, through faithful choices, through selfless sacrifice… and for some, even literal suffering for the sake of Jesus… all so that God’s Holy Spirit can bear His good fruit in and through us, to bring God’s rescuing love to our world.
 
St. Patrick’s story is one of God’s grace and mercy at work in surprising ways, bringing forgiveness, freedom, and new life to the people of Ireland centuries ago… all possible because God’s love had truly changed Patrick’s life, and God’s holy ways were now written on Patrick’s heart… and so he could follow his Master, die to his old life, and bear the fruit of faithfulness.
 
What about our story? Each of us here have our own journey… our own path where God’s love has reached out to us, and now calls to us to take up our part in making this rescuing love known to, and in, our world.
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And together as a Parish family, we have a shared path to take… and important choices to make, about how to answer the call of God to share the Good News of Jesus with those in our community. We may feel ill equipped at times… or too small, too simple, too insignificant to make much of a difference. But as St. Patrick’s story reminds us, God loves to work with those who seem hopeless and helpless, to make His surprising grace, and mercy, and forgiveness known to all who will trust in Jesus… transforming even our hearts and lives to share His love with everyone.
 
So like Patrick, may we entrust our hearts and lives to the Good News of Jesus Christ our Saviour. May we be willing to follow Him wherever He might lead us. May we be open to sharing His forgiveness and love, even with those who have hurt or wronged us. And may we die to all that keeps us from bearing the fruit that will last for God’s eternal Kingdom. Amen.   


[1] Confession of St. Patrick. Quote cited from the website St. Patrick’s Confessio: https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#