Seeing Jesus

HOMILY, ST. PAUL’S, FOLEY – FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR B

MARCH 21, 2021

 

TEXTS:                      JOHN 12:20-33

 

 

            I wonder how many of us have identified with the Greeks who approached Philip in the days leading up to the Passover in Jerusalem: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

 

            We may be much like those Greeks.  Like them, we have heard the stories.  We know of how his followers and his numinous continuing presence have bent the course of history.  The Greeks had heard of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem in the previous days.  They knew the acclaim he was receiving.  Our feelings may not be exactly the same – but the essence is precisely what the Greeks felt:  Mysterium tremendum et fascinans – the mystery which frightens and fascinates.

 

            I remember one time in particular.  I was visiting St. Joseph’s Church in Nazareth.  In the undercroft of that holy site, a quiet chamber is built just beneath the nave where services are held.  In that lower chamber, metal grates provide a lighted view to caves well below the undercroft.  It is believed that the cave was the site of Joseph’s wood shop – and the place where Jesus played as a child and labored as an adult. In that era and area, people were cave dwellers.

 

            The hair stood up on the back of my neck.  I realized how close I was. I wanted to encounter Jesus.

 

            Likewise, I can look back and see moments in which I yearned to see Jesus – thirsting like I did for cool spring water on a hot summer hike at Boy Scout camp. Perhaps you have known that yearning, too.

 

            I think all of us come here on Sundays expecting to encounter something special – maybe the mysterium tremendum et fascinans. I hope that this liturgy, this sacrament of Holy Eucharist, provides that sense of real presence that we Episcopalians say is part of this service.  I hope that something touches you in a way that allows you to leave this service a little different from the way you arrived.

 

            But we should remember we are to find the Risen Lord – the Jesus we seek – like the Greeks did: in the business of daily life, in our encounters with others, in the words that we hear and speak in our conversations.  

 

            Yes, we yearn to see Jesus. But we are called to be people of discernment – to see beyond the obvious, the apparent, the plain, that which is on the surface. To see Jesus, we are to look for and to discern the holy, the sacred, the mysterious, the redemptive power of Jesus in daily life.

 

            The Greeks who sought to see Jesus did not know there was anything special in the moment.  It would become obvious years later. That was when it was recorded. Perhaps we will be like that – we will see Jesus in looking back on life.