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Into the Darkness

Only the seed that has died and is buried
lives to bear fruit, Jesus said.
Lead me then into the darkness and dying,
so you can raise me up from the dead
Jesus, help me die and rise.

All of my living, my loves and desires,
all of the things that I cling to,
now I surrender to die and be buried.
Raise me in following, serving you.
Jesus, help me die and rise.
Portions of a song by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Lent this year, for many of us has been a time of slowing down – a time to be still and to be present to the God who loves us more deeply than we can imagine. It is a time of letting go – to relinquish the things that hold us hostage – and to be free to live fully into the person God has created us to be. It is hard to be silent – because if we truly look deep into our hearts, silence can remind us of our own death – the quiet darkness that can be so overwhelming. So we cling to life – fists tight – hold on. And we miss some of the most profound joys that Jesus has for us as we continue to follow him to Calvary.

We have become so busy – hustling and bustling everywhere - clutching things that are just not that important that we lose sight of the central message from our Gospel this week. Jesus reveals in the moment the Greeks came to see him just how far and wide his ministry would extend. His time has come. And he tells us what this looks like by foreshadowing his own death. “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.”

So let us slow down. The time has come for us to walk with Jesus – with open hands, allowing all the seeds of love that we have been given to fall into the soil – to die. Like the tiny grains of wheat – which, when sown in good soil multiply beyond our imagination. Letting go – Let go of our own need to be in control and allow God’s love to grow more deeply. Death into life by slowing down – dying to ourselves – getting out of the way – opening our fists in surrender and trust. Together, let’s follow Jesus  - to the cross. And “they will know we are Christians” by our open hands and abundant love.

On the journey with you,
Deacon Claire