Creekside Church Sermon of March 16, 1997 "A Glamour-less Glory " John 12:20-33	Rev. David Bibbee
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The reason for the preferential treatment came down to dollars and cents. He was by far Warner Brothers biggest star. There were several times during the silent era that the company was on the verge of going under, but the revenues earned from this one performer alone covered all the other losses--even such as films starring John Barrymore. He always got the good guy, hero roles and always appeared in the movie at precisely the right moment to save the day. In 1926, he eclipsed Charlie Chaplain, Rudolph Valentino, and Douglas Fairbanks in the polls. This was the period before the Oscars, and he was voted the most popular performer of the year.

Wanting to convey the best image, the public relations pundits made him out to be always kind, considerate, good to his mother and children. A family values guy. In reality he was temperamental. He had well-known scrapes with fellow stars, stage hands, and directors. He didn't drink, but his raucous behavior made it seem that he had.

But because he was so loved and respected, and because of his box office appeal, his indiscretions were largely overlooked. At the height of his career he received 12,000 fan letters a week.

Warner Brothers number one, the fickle star who won the hearts of the nation, the most popular movie icon in 1926, the performer who kept the company afloat while others were sinking, and carried the studio into the talkies, was himself unable to talk, although he could speak. He was German...a German shepherd named Rin Tin Tin.

Listening to this description you would have no idea the actor was a dog. Sometimes the one at the center of attention turns out to be different than we first perceived. It was Passover. Jesus came to Jerusalem in a palm parade. There were some Greeks there. Perhaps they were converts to Judaism. Maybe just inquisitive spiritual sightseers. They said to Phillip, the disciple with the Greek name, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

It's not hard to imagine why. They had heard Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Maybe they were in the temple the day Jesus cleaned house. They wanted to meet this wise beyond measure teacher, this powerful healer and worker of miracles. Maybe he would share some of his secrets, then they could bask in the glamour and glory. Phillip didn't seem sure of what to do, so he went to Andrew, and Andrew took them to see Jesus. Back at verse 19 the Pharisees said to each other, "The whole world has gone out to him," and the arrival of the Greeks signaled an important moment.

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified," he said. Finally. No more hiding his identity. No restraining his power. When Jesus said, "The Son of Man", hearts began racing. The Son of Man was that fantastic figure God would send to the world to settle accounts and set things right. He would wield the kind of power no kingdom could withstand. Everything contrary to the will of God would be crushed. The hour had at last come for glory. The Jewish faithful could start chanting, "We're number one! We're number one!" But what they heard and what Jesus meant by glory, was very different.

When we hear the word glory, we think in terms of power, position, and achievement--a moment to shine in the spotlight. Junior graduates magna cum laude. The singer bows to a standing ovation. Reggie White hoists the Super Bowl trophy over his head. A scientist receives the Nobel prize. The Hebrew word for glory is "havod", which means "a weighty presence." Presidents and CEO's have havod. They are often large and authoritative people who throw their weight around. When we speak of God's glory, we mean that God is the ultimate weighty presence; the supreme substance to which everything is subject. God is holy. God is absolute. God is high and lifted up--the ruler of the worlds to whom all praise belongs.

"We want to see Jesus." And Jesus said, "The hour has come for me to be glorified." And as they held their breath, Jesus said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the dirt and dies, it's alone. If it dies it bears fruit. You want glory? Then live and die for someone besides yourself. Serve me. Follow me. The great, high, omnipotent God came down and showed us a way to glory unlike any glory or glamour we have ever seen. God's definition of glory is very different from ours.

We come to church offering our praise and glory to God on high, expecting some of that glory to trickle down on God's creatures here below. And it does. It's just that we forget how Jesus was glorified. We come to him seeking something for ourselves, not a lot really...just some self-assurance, self-confidence, and self-esteem and a blessing to go with it.

An English teacher asked a student to identify what parts of speech my and mine are. He said they were "aggressive pronouns." He was right. To the extent that I am concerned about my and mine, I cannot focus upon him, nor upon you and yours.

There are two types of glory to live by. The Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene had an interview with the actress Meryl Streep, one whose name is synonymous with fame, glamour, and glory. "You were on the cover of Time Magazine." He said. "That's an American icon." "It's just a role," she said with a tone of discomfort. "Everybody's on the cover of time." She was blushing. "Everybody?" "What I mean is that they have fifty-two weeks a year to fill and they have got to have somebody on the cover every week. But my next door neighbor had her picture in a magazine. It was an article about mothers who are balancing parenting and work. It shows her kissing her daughter good- bye as she headed for work. That was impressive to me. It made me feel that I knew someone famous."

What glory matters most? What's the cover of Time compared to a mother's expression of love for her child? The cover of Time is for a week. The acts which shape our lives go on. The glory of God which Jesus revealed isn't about standing a notch above others, it's about stooping to wash another's feet. It's not about exultation. It's about humiliation. It's not about climbing the ladder of success. It's about being elevated to the height of a cross and seeing the world as Jesus saw it. We are about a glory that is very different.

I sat on the deck of my good friend's house. A beautiful home. Exquisite interior. A Mercedes and Explorer in the garage. Gorgeous neighborhood. All the marks of making it. Then came conviction time. My friend said, "You're probably thinking about how nice all this is. It is, but it's really all just a part of a show. It's nothing. Some of us were talking the other night about the old gang and what everyone has done. We all agreed that you're the one whose made it. You're the one who knows what's important." "I have much to learn." I said. I routinely have to convert my measuring stick.

Our glory is tied to our willingness to be cast to the earth as a grain of wheat. Death is the great meaning maker of life. Come the end of your life, what will be your claim to glory. Will you wish you had worked more or loved more? Will you wish you had received more or given more? Will you regret not having made more money, or more use of your precious time for what matters most? The world gives glory to top dogs, to champions, to somebodies. Jesus said glory is for those willing to give their lives over to what matters little in the world's eyes. There is a woman who takes her ill, aged mother into her home to care for till the end, rather than place her in a nursing home because she says, "My mother cared for me when I couldn't care for myself. It's only right that I do it for her." A father declines several promotion offers because it would mean less time to spend parenting his children. I know a professor who could have been a college president at several times the salary, but who, because of his commitment to his students, remained his whole career at a little mid-western college. There is a woman who hasn't been to an adult Sunday school class for thirty years because she feels it's more important for her to spend time with children teaching them the story of Jesus.

Sir, we wish to see Jesus. And the word became flesh...and we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only son from the father. He wasn't what we expected. He showed us that God is not just in some distant heaven, but in the muck and majesty of this world. He didn't show us a God who was anxious to get even, but who blessed us even as we cursed him, who did it in order to draw the world to himself. The glory, the havod, the weighty presence he bore was equal to the weight of a cross.

Shusako Endo is a Japanese Catholic writer who is captivated more by the mystery of God's pain than God's power. In a book called The Silence, he tells a story from Japan's past. When the Jesuits came to Japan in the 1500's there was a mass conversion to Christianity. But with the subsequent arrival of other Europeans, and their arrogance and insensitivity, there was a backlash against Christianity and a terrible persecution. Rodrigus is a Jesuit priest who has gone back to Japan to see why his beloved Japanese teacher has disavowed his Christian faith.

But Rodrigus is himself locked in a spiritual turmoil. Despite his rigorous discipline of prayer, contemplation, and Bible study, God was silent. It all seemed empty--as if Christ had turned away. Shortly after arriving in Japan, Rodrigus is placed in a tiny prison cell. There he hears what sounds like snoring. He assumed it was the drunken, sleeping guards, until he was told it was the labored breathing of former Japanese Christians who had been tortured, and renounced Christ, but who, even still were tortured by being hung upside down with their faces half buried in excrement.

Rodrigus is horrified at the thought, so his captors propose a deal. The prisoners who said they were no longer believers, would be freed, if Rodrigus would reject Christ. "If you recant, they will walk." His teacher is one of the prisoners. Unlike those Japanese Christians who died rather than reject Christ, the teacher saved his life by turning his back on Christ.

Rodrigus is taken from his cell. The guards place before him a small bronze figure of Christ. The process was simple. Just put your toe ever so slightly on the image and the prisoners will be freed. Thousands of toes had touched it before him, but his impulse was to pick it up and kiss it.

He lifts his foot and immediately feels a dull, heavy pain. It would be no simple thing...he would have to trample what he loved; what for him was the most beautiful thing in life from which all the good and ideals of his life had come. But at that moment the long silence was broken. The bronze Christ speaks to the priest. "Trample, trample. I more than anyone know the pain in your foot. I came to be trampled upon. It was to share your pain that I carried the cross. Go. Put your foot down. Trample on me." And Rodrigus put his foot down upon the Christ.

"For this purpose I have come to this hour." His purpose was to be cast on the earth as a grain of wheat, to show that the leader served, to be lifted to the height of a cross, to save us by the drawing power of God's love.

Changed from glory into glory...that's our goal...to be converted from the world's glory to God's glory who calls us to give without thought of getting, to sacrifice without regret, to lay down our lives for others and for him.

"Father, glorify your name." And a voice said, "I have, and will glorify it again." Some said that it thundered, but others heard angels.

Thanks to Paul Harvey for "Warners' Number 1" and William Willimon for the story of Shusako Endo.

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