The Fifth Sunday in Lent - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr

 John 12:20-33 – The Fifth Sunday in Lent 

“One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and – pop! – out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar. He started to look for some food. On Monday he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry. On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry. On Wednesday he ate through three plums, but he was still hungry. On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry. On Friday he ate through five oranges, but he was still hungry. On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. That night he had a stomachache! The next day was Sunday again. The caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better. He wasn’t hungry anymore and he wasn’t a little caterpillar any more. He was a big fat caterpillar. He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself. He stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and he was a beautiful butterfly! ”1  

Do you know this story? This is the story called The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a children’s book written by Eric Carle over 50 years ago that maybe you’ve read to a child or remember it being read to you. It’s a story about change and resurrection.  

Today, Jesus is preparing to die. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” he says. If you remember the story of the Wedding at Cana, when there was no more wine at the wedding, Jesus’ mother wanted him to do something about it. Perform a miracle of some sorts. But his reply to her was, “My hour has not yet come.” Now, today, the hour has come. Jesus is preparing for his death and preparing those around him for his death. But more importantly, he is calling those with him to discipleship. What do they do when he is gone?  

Throughout Jesus’ ministry we hear him say, “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” “Whoever does not hate your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” Today he says, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” These are phrases that we struggle with, don’t we? What does Jesus mean when he says to follow him, we must lose our life?  

For Jesus’ life, because we know the story, we know what he meant. He gave up his life on the cross. You and me…we deny death. We don’t want to think about our death. The Jewish people thought that Jesus came to conquer, but instead Jesus came to sacrifice. Through Jesus, death is necessary for new life.  

What does Jesus mean when he says to lose your life or to give up your life? I brought this question up at the Wednesday healing service. It was not an easy question for people to answer. I think we did more thinking and pondering than discussing…because we don’t know. Some said that we are to give up the luxuries and things that are not a necessity in our lives. Some said that it was submitting your life to Christ. Another said it’s living a life like Christ.  

In all of these responses, the one thing they all had in common is that they involved some type of transformation. The hungry caterpillar got up every day and ate. He was able to survive on whatever he chose. He was having a happy life. He was living. Eating pears, and plums, strawberries, and oranges, cake and ice cream, cheese and salami, he was able to sustain his life. He was able to continue living. But, the caterpillar was never fully satisfied. Every day, he was still hungry. Every day, he switched to a different food, thinking, “Maybe this will be what fulfills me. Maybe this will sustain me.” But to no avail. By Saturday, he had tried so many different things, he had a stomach-ache.  

And then, on Sunday, the caterpillar ate one green leaf and he started to feel better. It was the thing that caterpillars are supposed to eat – green leaves. It’s what nourishes a caterpillar. And thus, began the caterpillar’s transformation. He created a cocoon and inside the cocoon there started a transformation. From the cocoon came a beautiful new life…this amazingly beautiful butterfly. A release of the life hidden within him.  

This is the Easter story. Jesus died a fruitful death for us, and his end was our beginning. When we have a relationship with God, our life is made new. Our life has changed, it’s not ended.  

Biblical scholar Alice Laffey says there are three things at the heart of our Christian life. 1. Only by death comes life. As in Jesus’ story of the grain of wheat, until the seed is buried just as Jesus was in the tomb, it will not bear fruit. 2. Yes, we will exist longer if we take things easy and avoid strain, but we will never live. 3. Only by service comes greatness and only by death comes life.  

When we say “alleluia” in worship, we are saying, “Praise the Lord, or Thanks be to God.” On Shrove Tuesday, we buried the “Alleluia” as we began our 40 days of Lent. The 40 days of reflection, penitence, and preparation for Holy Week and Easter. During this time, we no longer say, “Alleluia” in our liturgy. On Shrove Tuesday, our children hid a banner, adorned with beautiful paper butterflies decorated by our members. The banner had “Alleluia” written on it. On Easter Sunday, we will bring back the “Alleluia” and the Alleluia banner will process into the sanctuary, full of butterflies, a symbol of transformation.  

It is the hope of Easter Sunday that keeps us alive. We need the hope of Easter Sunday. The good news about Christ is all about loss and the hope and promise of Easter is most powerful after you’ve walked the walk of death with Jesus on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. This is where we can begin to be fed.  

In these last two weeks of Lent, I ask you to reflect on how you are being fed. Are you still hungry, as the very hungry caterpillar, or are you being nourished into transformation? If you are still hungry, what transformation is needed in your life, to be brought to new life?  

Amen