Death is Only the Beginning

In the last volume of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter – the boy wizard – is given a small golden sphere. Within that precious sphere is the secret to his future. But he has to open it. And he doesn’t know how. He has only one clue: “It opens at the end.” That’s the clue that he was given: “It opens at the end.” Armed with that knowledge, Harry tries every way that he can think of to open his precious gift.

But how do you find the end of a sphere? A sphere is a three-dimensional circle; it has no end! Finally Harry gives up trying to solve the mystery. He simply carries the sphere in his pocket while he engages in one adventure after another.

Those adventures have to do with trying to save the community of wizards from the evil designs of the Dark Lord. And Harry finally realizes that in order to save his friends, he has to die. He has to let Lord Vordemort kill him. And then the secret of the sphere comes clear to him. As he starts down the path that will lead him to the Dark Lord, he reaches into his pocket, and he lifts the sphere to his lips, and he whispers, “I am going to die.” And the sphere opens.

“It opens at the end.” The sphere opened at what appeared to be the end of Harry Potter’s life. The secret to his future was unlocked by his death. Or at least, it was unlocked by his willingness to die. It was unlocked by something like a death deep within. He had to die to his desire to be in charge, to be the hero; he had to die to his desire to save the community. Because, after all, how can you save anyone when you’re dead?

That was, no doubt, the question on the minds of the Greeks who came looking for Jesus. At least, that was the question on their minds after they had spoken to Jesus. Death was probably the last thing on their minds as they began their search for Jesus; as they made their way up to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover.

They were Greeks; they weren’t Jews. But they must’ve been from that part of the Greek community who admired the laws of the Jews: they attended synagogue sometimes, they learned from the rabbis, they embraced some of the high moral standards of the Jewish community.

But clearly they don’t want to embrace all of those high moral standards; they don’t want to follow all of the Jewish laws. Otherwise they would’ve become Jews. There’s something about this passage which makes me think that they’re looking for an easy way out. Somehow they get the idea that this rabbi named Jesus who can do such powerful deeds - like healing the sick and raising people from the dead – somehow they get the idea that he can do something wonderful for them as well and they don’t have to contribute much to the cause. Maybe they were asking, “O Rabbi, help us to become wealthy; o Rabbi, help us to find true happiness.” They were maybe looking for a good time or an easy ride. They were maybe looking for something for themselves, and they didn’t want to pay a high price to get it.

But Jesus sensed something of the self-centered motivation underneath their question. So Jesus welcomed them not with the promise of wealth or happiness or even new life. No, Jesus welcomed them with the promise of death. Not a good way to win friends and influence people. They’re asking for the secret to happiness and Jesus says, “Well, first you have to die.”

This is what Jesus means when he says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). It’s part of the unique code of John’s gospel; part of the code of John’s church. References to “my hour” and to “glorified” and to “glory” in this gospel are references to the Cross. And in case you didn’t get the code in the first sentence, Jesus makes it more clear in the second sentence: “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).

The secret of your future is unlocked by your death. If you want to experience abundant life, you have to die. I’m not talking, necessarily, about physical death. Yes, the absolute fullness of life is found somewhere beyond our physical deaths. But I’m more concerned now about the little deaths that we have to die along the way. I’m talking about the illusions that you have to let go of; the self-image – be it bloated or belittled – that isn’t quite in sync with reality; the hurtful behaviours that have become habitual over the years. These are among the things that must die. Yes, there will come the point at the end of our earthly journeys when we will have to let go of life itself. But this morning, I’m more concerned – and perhaps the Jesus of John’s gospel is more concerned – about the little deaths that we’re called to die between now and that final act of letting go at the end of our earthly journeys.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26). When we read those familiar words in context, we see that Jesus is talking at least as much about the little deaths in this world as he is about that final death which is the gateway to life beyond this world. You see, he’s talking with Martha, and Martha thinks that “resurrection” has to do only with the resurrection beyond this world. It’s the classic pattern in John’s gospel where Jesus speaks a profound truth, and his dialogue partner responds with a misunderstanding. In chapter 3, Jesus talks about being “born again.” Nicodemus thinks “born again” refers to returning to your mother’s womb (see John 3:1-10). In chapter 11, Jesus is talking about “resurrection.” Martha thinks “rise again” refers to life beyond this world. John gives to both Nicodemus and Martha the line of misunderstanding. But he gives to Jesus the line of truth. Martha thinks that Jesus is talking about the next world, but Jesus is talking, at least in part, about this world. You must die and be raised to newness of life in this world. You must die like a seed falling into the ground, and bear the fruit of abundant life in this world. Yes, it puts you on a trajectory which leads to eternity, but it begins here. You Greeks are looking for the secrets of life, you’re looking for the secret to happiness, and maybe you’re looking for an easy way to happiness; so I need you to know that there is no easy way. If you want to know the fullness of life, you have to die.

But, death is only the beginning. The end is the beginning. It opens at the end. The fullness of life opens up to you at the end; at death; on the occasion of all those little deaths that we’re called to die.

Perhaps two stories will illustrate the point. The first story comes from John’s church; from the Johannine community itself. We’ve said that John’s gospel is telling the story of John’s church more than it’s telling the story of the historical Jesus. Stories about Jesus are used as a kind of code to tell the story of this early Christian congregation. It began life as a Jewish-Christian church. We know that because such titles as “Messiah,” “Son of God” and “Son of Man” are Jewish titles; they make sense only in a Christian community that has Jewish roots. And we find these titles in John’s gospel. So this church began life as a Jewish-Christian congregation. But in John 4 Jesus has that famous conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. And it takes place in the context of a Samaritan community; and many of those Samaritans become followers of Jesus. This suggests that at some point a group of Samaritans joined this church (see John 4:1-42). So we’ve got Jewish-Christians and Samaritan Christians in this congregation. Today, in chapter 12, we find some Greeks – some Gentiles – looking for Jesus. So maybe, at another point some Gentiles joined this church. Now think about this: a group of first century Jews decide that Jesus is the Messiah and they form a church. But a few years later a group of Samaritans come along and say that they also want to follow Jesus; they want to join this church. But remember that the Jews hated the Samaritans. The Samaritans were the worst heretics in the world. And those early Jewish-Christians still thought of themselves as good Jews. And are they now going to associate with Samaritans? Are we going to let Samaritans join our church? Think of the death that they had to die before they could let the Samaritans in. Think of all the stuff that they had to let go of – the prejudice, the arrogance, the life-long lesson that these Samaritans were the scum of the earth – they had to let go of all of that. Talk about death! All sorts of things had to die before they could extend the right hand of Christian fellowship to these people who were very different from them, and together form a Christian community. A new Christian community. Because it wasn’t just the Samaritans joining a Jewish-Christian congregation. As soon as those Samaritans joined, they brought their own theology, and their own customs, and the Johannine community was re-formed. The old Jewish-Christian congregation had died. A new congregation had risen from its grave.

But there wasn’t just one death and resurrection in the life of John’s church. There was at least one more, as that group of Gentiles joined the church. Jews were forbidden to share a meal with Gentiles, and table fellowship was an important part of the life of the early church. But these Johannine Christians joined forces with those Gentiles, and they broke bread together So once again the congregation died. Once again a new congregation was born. And I suspect that process of little deaths and little resurrections happened over and over again as more new groups came into the community. So this little, close-knit, Jewish-Christian congregation becomes a larger, intercultural congregation. In the process that church evolved from a primitive congregation who could say of Jesus no more than he was the Son of God – which is actually a very low Christology; Jewish tradition knows lots of sons of God; every king when he was crowned in Jerusalem was declared son of God (see Psalms 2 and 72) – John’s church moved from saying that Jesus was the Son of God, to that glorious expression of faith in its fullness: that in Jesus the Word of God has become flesh and is living among us (see John 1:14). It is only when a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies that it bears much fruit.

Second story: The late Christian psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck, tells the story of growing up in a well-to-do family in New England. It was known from an early age that when young Scott reached adolescence, he would be sent away to boarding school. But not just any boarding school; no, he would be sent away to a well known, prestigious boarding school. That’s just the way they did things in his family; they’d done it that way for generations. So when Scott Peck reached the age of 14, he did indeed go away to school. Can’t remember which one, but it must’ve been something old and famous like the U.S. equivalent to Upper Canada College. Scott Peck went off to a famous boarding school; and he hated it. So he did a little research, and he found a small, little known Quaker school, and he decided that that was where he wanted to go.

His parents were horrified! They were adamant that no, he had to stay in the school that his forebearers had gone to for generations. Now I suspect that Scotty Peck was a good little boy who always did what his parents said. It must have been very painful for him to go against their wishes. But this time he had to say to them, “No!” And finally his parents agreed.

Scott Peck bloomed at that small school. It was like he began a whole new life; a rich and full and abundant life. But first he had to die to his need to please his parents. It is only when a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies that it bears much fruit.

Death is inevitable. Of course, our physical death is inevitable; but death along the way as we journey through this world is inevitable as well. We can choose to die the little deaths that lead to a fuller expression of life; or we can run away from those challenges and choose instead the slow, agonizing death of one who never learns to live.

The secret to your future is unlocked by your death. It is only when we choose to die those little deaths that we discern what we’re called to do in this life and we find the power and courage to get started.

And so my question to you, my dear brothers and sisters, is this: what needs to die within you? What are the things that you need to let go of in this life? If trying to answer that question is too much for you right now, that’s okay. Or if you know the answer, but you’re still looking for the courage to die that little death, that’s okay too. There is a time to be born and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2), and maybe this is not yet the time to die. But please remember this: death is only the beginning. The end is the beginning. Life opens at the end. The secret to your future is unlocked by your death. Maybe for now it is enough to simply put that mystery in your pocket as you engage in the adventures of life. Amen.


Text: John 12:23-24
Preached by Bruce D. Ervin
29 March 2009