The man writes, “There was a time in my life when I thought
the church talked too much about money. So, I stayed away. But in 1991 it all
changed for me. It was then that I determined that I’ll never belong to a
church that doesn’t ask me for money. And I’ll tell you why. On July 23, 1970,
my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. For three years we had tried
unsuccessfully to start a family, and now he was here. I’ll never forget
hearing his first cry. It was right before the hospital was allowing fathers in
the delivery room, so I had to wait outside in the adjoining room. When the
nurse came in to tell me, I spoke first. I said, ‘Is that my baby?’ The nurse
smiled and said, ‘Yes, your wife has just given birth to a beautiful baby boy.’
I was on cloud nine. I had always wanted a boy, and here he was. I could hardly
wait to get him home. But the rich glow of fatherhood soon dimmed when I was
asked to go to the business office. It seems that my insurance coverage was
less than advertised, and there was a big bill to pay. In fact, it seemed like
they were going to hold my wife and son hostage until the bill was settled. So,
I drove home, grabbed my checkbook and wrote out the biggest check I had
written in years. But you know what? That was only the first check I’d write on
my son’s behalf.
“I quickly learned that children are expensive. There’s food
to buy and formula to get. And then there are all those diapers. There are
doctor visits and booster shots. There are toys and trips and clothes to
assault the checkbook on a regular basis. I quickly learned that by the time
you build a wardrobe, he’s put on another inch or two and you have to start all
over again. And as his size increased, so did the expenses. Soon, it was
baseball gloves and hockey sticks. Soon, it was dress shoes, then gym shoes,
then running shoes, not to mention the glasses and the braces. And then
disaster hit. My son became a teenager. Now it was cars and dates and brand
names. All my son ever wanted to be was an architect. It seemed like he’d be in
school until my retirement. Talk about expensive! There was tuition and books,
drawing tools and drawing tables. But, like most parents, we were happy to do
it. We never saw our financial sacrifice as a bitter burden. He was growing up.
He was pursuing his potential. He was living out his dreams, and it was a joy
to help. In fact, my wife and I felt like that’s what we were there for.
“Then one day it all changed. On a bright, sunny, horrible
day in October we buried our son, Lance, in a small country cemetery. And that
afternoon, as we walked away from the grave, I had an interesting thought. We’d
never spend another dime on him. Death is cheap. Death can be sustained without
any expense. The dead have no need of money, only the living do. Life’s expensive.
Growth costs. That’s why I’ll never belong to a church that doesn’t ask me for
money.”
You know, the man’s right. There are churches that have no
vision. There are churches that have no dreams and no plans. They set no goals
and reach them all the time. There are churches that never challenge their
people to see what the Lord has in store for them. They’re headed to the
cemetery. They’re headed to the place where there are few expenses. For you
see, its only growth that requires a cost. It’s only life that requires a
sacrifice for a fuller future. And that’s exactly what we see in Sunday’s text:
John 12:20-28.
For three years Jesus has been saying, “My time has not yet
come.” Not only has Jesus been saying it, so has John. During his description of
Jesus’ three-year ministry John has repeated the same message, “His time had
not yet come.” But it all changes in John 12:23. This verse is the fulcrum on
which the entire gospel of John rests. Everything to the left of it refers to
Jesus’ three-year ministry before the final Passover, and everything to the
right of it refers to what He does during and after it. And it’s in the
immediate verses after His pronouncement that His time has come that Jesus
gives us four secrets to getting the most out of His call on our lives. They
are four principles of living that reflect what it means to follow Him. And
this Sunday we will examine them together.
As you prepare for our study this Sunday, you may wish to
consider the following:
1. What is it that triggers Jesus’ turnaround from, “My time
has not yet come”, to “It’s here!”?
2. Why do many call verse 23 the watershed of John’s gospel?
3. What does the Greeks’ presence at the Passover mean to Jesus
and to John?
4. How does loving your life cause you to lose it?
5. What does hating your life mean?
6. How does Romans 6:1-11 inform us?
7. Why would Paul, Peter, & John have a problem with the
ubiquitous diagnosis in the church today that someone is “hurting”?
8. What’s Jesus mean in verse 24? What other Scriptures come to
mind?
9. What does it mean to see where Jesus is at work and then
joining Him?
10. How does that man who lost a son exemplify what Jesus is
telling us in this text?
See you Sunday!
