The Death of a Grain of Wheat

Scripture reading: John 12:23-26.

Introduction

Welcome to our youth and young adults service.

I’d like to share a message based on John 12:23-26.

John 12:23–26 ESV

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 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. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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.

What do you think this passage is about?

If I could summarize this passage, it would be “You reap what you sow.” Or “You reap what you love.”

When Jesus says whoever loves his life loses it, that’s what He’s talking about. All the effort we put into this life, that’s us sowing.

And in the end, we reap what we sow.

Jesus describes two kinds of people here. There’s the person who loves his life in this world, and the person who hates his life in this world. Meaning that he’s invested in the world to come.

By the way, when Jesus says love this and hate that, He’s not talking about hatred in absolute terms, as in, you must hate it completely. He’s comparing the two, and saying you should prefer one over the other.

The first person prefers this present world, and sows to the things of the world. You devote yourself and exert yourself toward your ambitions for the next 50 years. The second person sows to the things of the Spirit. You invest yourself in to the world to come.

Which of these are you? I believe we are here because we are sowing in the world to come. Amen?

But let today be a reminder and a refresher as to why we should sow to the things of the Spirit, and what that means for us practically.

Galatians 6:7–8 ESV

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

We must learn what we need to sow, and how to sow it, so that we can reap the fruit that we want.

But before we talk about what to sow and how, let’s first think about what fruits we want to reap from our lives.

What do we want to reap?

We are all youths and young adults here. Which means that we’re probably full of hopes and dreams for the future.

And if we were to summarize our hopes and dreams, it might be something like this:

I want to be recognized.

I want to my life to mean something.

I want someone to see deeply into me and love me for who I am.

I want people to respect me as someone important.

Do you agree? Is it just me?

In order to achieve these things, we invest huge effort in our studies, in our work, our family, friends, romantic relationships, and so on.

These are what keep us going. Without love, without someone to recognize your existence, what’s the point of living?

But imagine this with me. Imagine you’re an atheist. In your mind, God doesn’t exist. There’s no afterlife. In the end, all of these things don’t last. They just vanish after awhile. We might get some of it during our lifetime, but after that, it disappears.

That’s what the book of Ecclesiastes calls hevel. Some translate it as vanity, or meaninglessness. But literally it means mist. Something temporary that fades away.

The Bible calls this a cursed life. It’s a life of wasted, misplaced effort.

Last Sunday, Pastor Sam talked about being scammed. You sow many years’ worth of hard-earned money, but because you sowed in the wrong place, you reap pain and regret and gnashing of teeth.

The devil is a scammer. And if we sow to the things of the world, we will get scammed of all our efforts.

I want to read this passage for you. It’s from Deuteronomy 28, where God describes the life of a person who rejects God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 28:30–33 ESV

You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless. A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually,

What’s the theme here? It’s a wasted effort. You invest yourself in the things of this world, and inspite of your labor you reap nothing. You’re fruitless. That’s the curse of sin (Gen. 3:17-18).

I hope that none of us fall for the devil’s scam.

On the other hand, what will we reap if we sow to the things of the Spirit?

Jesus says that God the Father will honor you.

John 12:25–26 ESV

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.

The word “honor” here is timao, which means to have high regard for something. To place a high value on something. It means that you become God’s segula, His treasured possession. You will become the apple of His eye (Ps. 17:8). And for how long? For eternity.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Don’t you want this?

I’ll let you in on a secret. God wants this. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit want this for you. That’s why the Father sent Jesus to break the curse of sin.

Galatians 3:13 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

In love, Jesus bore our sin and died a cursed death in our place. And then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we would sow to the things of the Spirit, and not to the flesh.

So what do we reap? Eternal life in heaven. Eternal honor from the Father. Eternal fellowship with the saints. Don’t you want this?

If so, then what must we sow?

What must we sow?

John 12:24 ESV

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.

John 12:26 ESV

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.

Jesus here gives us the instruction: “He must follow me.” Follow Him in what way? In falling into the earth and dying, and bearing much fruit.

This grain of wheat is Jesus talking about Himself and His crucifixion. But He now tells us to follow Him in doing the same.

Jesus had every right not to die. But He did it for us. He is the grain of wheat, and we are His fruit.

Jesus sowed His life. We must sow our lives. What does that mean?

First, it means we need to let go of our hopes for this world. Jesus taught us to pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.

Second, it means that everything we have is at His disposal. It belongs to Him, and we must be ready if He calls upon it. Whether it’s our time, our effort, even our money.

How do we sow?

John 12:26 ESV

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.

We can sow by serving Jesus and doing His mission.

This means we need to know Jesus’ mission, and be His coworkers. What’s the mission?

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

To make disciples of all nations. To baptize and to teach all that Jesus has commanded.

How can we sow to make this happen?

If we are not sure how to share the Gospel, then we must sow in this area. Learn how to share the truth of Jesus Christ.

If there’s someone we want to evangelize, we can sow our time, money, and energy to buy them a meal.

We have to serve Jesus while following Him.

Next, Jesus says that if anyone serves me, he must follow me.

John 12:26 ESV

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.

So there’s a way of serving Jesus while following Him, and there’s a way of serving Jesus without following Him.

What’s the difference?

To serve without following means you do the work of God, but your heart is far from God.

Matthew 15:8–9 ESV

“ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

Many of us have duties to perform in the church. But we must constantly check our hearts. Am I serving God while my heart is far from Him? Am I doing the right things in the worship service, but I’m not there to meet with God?

When we serve Jesus without following Him, we give only of what we have, rather than of what He has. We serve in our own strength, rather than the strength that God supplies.

1 Peter 4:11 ESV

whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

To serve God without following Him is to appear godly on the outside, without being constantly renewed and transforming on the inside.

The Apostle Paul calls this having the appearance of godliness, but to deny its power.

2 Timothy 3:5 ESV

having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Jesus gives us a terrible warning against serving Him without following Him.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Finally, a symptom of serving Jesus without following Him is when we have a lack of initiative. We serve only when you’re called upon. We might even be doing a lot for the church already, but we don’t take any initiative to do God’s work.

There may have been other adults with 10 loaves and 4 fish. But it was the boy who showed initiative.

When there’s no more initiative in a relationship, it means that the focus is only on duties and responsibilities. The love has run dry.

And we start to have a bare minimum attitude.

If my wife said to me, “Nick, can you wash the dishes, I’m tired.” And I say “Honey, is this a divorce issue?” She says “Are you crazy? Of course it’s not.” And I say “If it’s not a divorce issue, I don’t wanna do it.”

She says, “Honey, can you do the laundry? I’m really tired.” And I say, “Honey, is this a divorce issue?” And she says “Of course not.” “Well then, I don’t wanna do it.”

Every single thing that my wife asks, “Woah, divorce? No? I don’t wanna do it.” How long is that marriage going to last?

But sometimes, we treat God worse than that. “Lord, is this a salvational issue? If not, I don’t wanna do it. What’s the least I can do?”

Conclusion

So in conclusion, let us not sow into the things of this world. The more we sow into it, the more attached we become. And then it becomes even more painful if we separate from it.

Back in sec 3, one of my friends dropped a 10kg dumbbell on my left big toe. Fastforward a couple of weeks, the toenail turned black, and I remember going to Bernard, and lifting up the toenail in front of him.

But lifting my toenail didn’t cause me any pain. Why? Because it was already dead to me. It wasn’t part of me anymore. My body literally wasn’t holding on to it anymore.

When we stop loving our lives on this earth, and stop holding on to the things of this world, our service to Jesus becomes less painful and more joyful.

Philippians 3:7–8 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Does the Apostle Paul sound sorrowful or sad or gloomy here? He is rejoicing. This is what it looks like to not love your life in this world.

So what’s the secret? Just let go of your hopes for this world and hold on to God’s kingdom.

I pray that our young generation of Zion Church will not sow into the things of this world, but will sow our time, efforts, and resources into the eternal world. And may each of us receive honor from the Father as His treasured possession.