Lent: Where is True Life for the Weary Soul

Well, good morning.

We are in our fifth Sunday of Lent.

So this is that season leading up to Good Friday and Easter, two weeks away.

Now, 3,000 years ago in Israel, King David was dying.

And nobody knew which son would be king.

David had told Bathsheba that it was going to be Solomon, but it hadn't been announced yet.

So if all this family strife developed and then battles, eventually Solomon becomes king.

And Solomon becomes powerful.

And he builds the temple.

If you remember an image of the temple from a couple weeks ago, Solomon leads this build seven years, 180,000 men.

It's 88 feet long, 30 feet wide, 45 feet tall.

And Solomon goes on as king to become one of the wealthiest men of all time.

So he built himself a big house, four times the size of the temple.

It took 14 years to build.

I got curious this week who's the wealthiest man in the world, who's the wealthiest person in the world at this point.

And do you all know who it is?

It's not who I thought it was.

I thought it was Elon Musk, but it's not.

He got surpassed last year by Bernard Arnold.

This French guy.

He owns Louis Vuitton and like 70 other brands.

And this guy, he took 10 years to build his house, this mansion, historic mansion in Paris, 12 acres in Paris.

That's in Paris, believe it or not.

He also has this really humble coastal home down on the south of France.

That's his home there.

Now, Bernard makes about$7 billion a year.

King Solomon, poor little humble King Solomon, Solomon made 666 talents of gold per year, which in today's money is not Bernard money.

It's about 1.5 billion per year.

So that's what King Solomon, that's how wealthy Solomon was.

And Solomon also wrote over a thousand songs.

He wrote over 3,000 Proverbs.

So Solomon is Bernard and Bono to put together.

That's who Solomon is.

He had the money, he had the women, he had the house, he had the influence, he probably had the Sid Mashburn blazer that I want.

He had someone to do all his laundry.

He had someone to do the cooking and the dishes, right?

I mean.

But he was a mess.

He was always wrestling with joy and happiness.

Solomon wrote this book in the Old Testament called Ecclesiastes, which means meaningless.

And he says this.

He says, wealth never satisfies, and we toil in the wind.

He says life is full of trouble and then we die.

It's just sort of this like cynical spirit.

Ecclesiastes 5, 18 through 20 says this Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot, and rejoice in his toil.

This is the gift of God.

For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

So Solomon's just sort of unsure of any other way other than like just like make a lot of money and enjoy it as best as you can.

But notice what Solomon doesn't say.

What Solomon doesn't say is what Saint Paul says in the New Testament.

Paul in Philippians 4, 11 and 12, says this.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I'm to be content.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.

In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

So Paul says, I know a secret.

I know how to be content, whether I have a little bit or whether I have a lot.

Paul was ten years younger than Jesus.

He was well off.

He was respected.

He was from a Jewish family.

He went on to become a very religious and prominent Jewish leader.

I mean, this guy had his act together.

He had all the behaviors, he dressed the right way, he had the job, he attended the right meetings, he was passionate and committed.

And in Acts 9, Saul, who's Paul, same person.

Saul is hunting down Christians to imprison them.

And he's on his way to Damascus, and a light is this spiritual moment.

A light blinds him.

He falls to the ground.

Hears a voice.

Acts 9, 4 through 6.

And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And he said, Who are you, Lord?

And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

Now the men with Saul are frozen, they're speechless for days.

Paul's blind, can't eat, doesn't eat, doesn't drink.

Then his sight is restored.

And in this there's this transformation, this change that he begins to see Jesus incredibly different.

Not as religious opposition, not as his opponent, but actually as a savior, that Jesus is true love and forgiveness from God.

And so Paul's empowered to say radical things.

Like, I've learned in whatever circumstance, I can be content.

There's certain things inside of Paul that have already been settled about who he is and about forgiveness.

So we have Solomon and we have Paul, two very different outlooks on what brings life.

That's our question where where do we find true life for our weary souls?

So our text for today, so we can begin the sermon, is John 12, verse 20.

John 12:20

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

Philip went and told Andrew, Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

And Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Whoever loses his life, whoever loves his life, loses it.

And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Our first point is this creating true life from your own means or your production in the world is a self-defeating process.

Verse 25 says, Whoever loves his life will lose it.

The word love is to treat with affection or be enamored with.

So if you're enamored with your own life, if your heart is set to form your own life by your own means, if you do that, you'll actually never find life self-defeating.

Jesus is saying, your love is needy.

It's too needy, in fact.

Your needy love destroys the life it seeks to attain.

Last Sunday afternoon I looked at the weather and it was gonna freeze last Sunday night.

And that's not normally a big deal, but I had just bought a bunch of plants to install in my yard.

So, oh no, all those little babies are back behind my garage, they're not in the ground yet.

Here's a picture of a little hydrangea bud.

Isn't that not the most darling?

Isn't that?

Oh, I mean, that's just the most darling.

I don't want anything to happen to that little baby.

And so I went back there and I covered these plants with tarps to keep them safe from the freeze.

Now, what would happen if I just left those covers on those little babies forever?

Well, they would die.

They would die.

You are right.

You are listening.

They would die.

So obvious.

They would not get the space or the light that they need.

Right?

I would smother them to death with the suffocation of my own love.

See, we can so badly need to become someone, or to have someone's approval, or to have some amount of money.

We can so badly need that that the very neediness suffocates our souls from the life God intends for us.

But there's another way.

Verse 25.

There's another way.

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

The word hate means you have a deeper goal for your life than comfort or approval.

That is more than just this life.

You're also thinking about the afterlife in eternity.

And this is the difference between secular pursuit and spiritual pursuit, the worldly path and gospel path.

The worldly path says gain life by forming an identity and increasing your joy through obtaining as much material power, influence, and approval as possible.

And maybe you recognize that message from outside of you coming to you, but then as well from inside of you.

And Jesus says, be careful.

Be careful.

That needy love can suffocate you from the actual life that you're trying to attain in that pursuit.

But there's another way, gospel path.

Gain life by receiving an identity and growing your joy through the gift of God's astonishing acceptance of you in Christ.

Now, a lot of things in life are about grit and working hard.

Most of our work is, school is, exercises.

Like Jesus loves me, but he will not cut my grass.

Okay?

Jesus loves me, he will not write the report that is due on Tuesday.

Right?

So there's a lot of life that is about grit and getting it done.

But these things of the heart identity, forgiveness, wholeness, joy, the heart works differently.

These are received from outside of us as gifts from God to us.

This is what makes him so secure.

This word gospel means good news.

Good news, something accomplished outside of us and given to us.

Did you hear the good news on Monday?

Did you?

I heard it on Monday.

Our beloved Kirk Cousins became an Atlanta Falcon.

He's moving to Atlanta.

I heard he's already here.

I heard he's living in Alpharetta in his in-law's basement.

How I know that?

I don't know.

I do.

I can feel his presence.

Like my quest to be his best friend is alive and active.

The Falcons released this picture of Kurt on this week, sort of like a quarterback Jesus going.

The Falcons also released this picture.

Surprised me, but that came out this week.

And I'm I'm not saying I caused him to be our new quarterback.

I'm not saying that.

But I mean it's suspicious a little bit, right?

Because it was only a couple weeks ago that I talked a lot about him.

So if you have any other players that you want to be Falcons players, you can let me know.

So what I learned this week?

Well, I learned I will have a new BFF that it's possible and it's happening.

And I look good news comes at you.

Monday, when he signed, I got 10 texts in like seven and a half minutes.

Good news finds you where you are.

I had nothing to do with this.

And all day Monday, I was in a great mood.

Good news came at me, found me where I was.

I'm now excited to watch Falcons games.

That's a miracle for any of us to be a part of.

Gospel means good news.

Something that was done and accomplished outside of us and given to us.

That's the power of the cross.

Our sin put upon Jesus, his righteousness given to us, and this good news, his work for us, not our work for him.

There's a salvation question to do with eternity, becoming a Christian.

Have I received the gift of God's grace to me and Jesus' forgiveness and righteousness?

Am I his by his work for me, or do I think I'm his by my work for him?

And then there's the discipleship question, a growth in grace question.

These are the questions that came to me this week looking at this text.

In what ways am I trying to manufacture or earn my own identity and joy?

Those are most likely my idols, my false saviors.

That would be the areas for us to confess and repent of.

And what ways can I rest more deeply in God's acceptance of me in Christ for my identity and joy?

And as we lose our life, we find it.

And our trajectory has shifted from a worldly path to a gospel path.

Point number two is that.

For these issues of the heart?

Martin Luther, the great reformer in the 1500s, said, Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God, your functional savior.

We close with John 12, 26.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me.

And where I am, there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

This means our lives are about his concerns and his priorities.

It means effort is not over, earnings over, but in the gospel we still have effort.

Our work and our families become about him.

Our money and our giving and our gifts become about him.

We move toward giving and toward service.

We move toward volunteering.

We move toward loving others.

And yet we're not perfect in any of that.

So we have to remember the one who is speaking and teaching.

And that's where we get our last point.

As our love for our own lives is insufficient, our love for God is insufficient.

God's love for our lives is always sufficient.

And we know this securely in the cross.

We know this in the person of Jesus.

We are not loved as we should be.

We are loved exactly where we are because Jesus is enough for us.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you that in Jesus we are found, fully forgiven and fully righteous.

For all the ways we look outside of you for an identity and joy, please forgive us.

Would you reveal that to us so we might confess and repent even more, falling back into your grace?

Would you increase the trust we have in you?

That we might know a life that is about this world, but also about eternity.

And that we might have a life that is rooted in you, in service to you.

Would you flood us this morning with the riches of your gospel?

That in Jesus you see us just as you see your own Son.

But our hearts be more rooted and more formed by Him than anything else.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.