Reflections on the Holy Land

March 18^th, 2018              “Reflections on the Holy Land”            Rev. Heather Jepsen

John 12:20-33

         I’m happy to be back with you leading worship, but imagining that I would somehow have a sermon to preach today wasn’t my best idea.  As many of you know I spent the last two weeks in the Holy Land of Israel and Palestine and I just returned late Friday night.  My mind is overwhelmed with information and ideas and my body is trapped in that strange in between space of jet lag.  I can’t wait to show you all my pictures and the treasures I collected along the way.  And I have wonderful sermon ideas for the next few weeks, but with this morning’s scripture reading I feel I am coming up short.  So, I apologize in advance for this haphazard collection of thoughts I cobbled together during a 6 hour layover in New York City.

         Our text finds us in the Gospel of John and the time is Passover.  The crowds have gathered in the city and our author tells us that some Greeks were among those gathered at the Passover.  Seeing the many levels of culture in the ancient city of Jerusalem this doesn’t surprise me at all.  Even today the city is full of people of varying religious and ethnic backgrounds.  From the people who live within the Old City’s walls to the busloads of tourists from around the globe, the city of Jerusalem is still full of people who have the same request as these folks in our scripture reading, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

         Philip and Andrew tell Jesus about these folks who wish to see him, and Jesus begins to explain that he might not be what they were looking for.  The hour is coming for the Son of Man to be glorified and it will be nothing like what the people expect.  In the convoluted language of the gospel of John, Jesus begins to speak about his impending suffering and death.  It is through this path of self denial that the Son of Man will be lifted up and glorified.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus doesn’t pray for the cup of suffering to pass from him.  Rather, he lays down his life in full control and glory. 

         These past two weeks, I found the Holy Land to be a place where people come to search for God.  And they have been searching there for centuries.  Every town that has any mention at all in our scriptures is full of churches and shrines.  In important cities like Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem churches are built literally on top of each other.  Some folks in my travel group were annoyed at their inability to get to or see the “real” place where something holy happened.  I instead saw the way people have been reaching out and grasping for God through the ages.  We are always trying to get closer to the divine, and if that means building a church within a church upon a church than we will do it.

         Of course, the Holy Land is full of tourists, and modern pilgrims reaching for the divine in their own way.  From organized catholic tour groups, to busloads of Ethiopians, to our rag tag bunch of pastors, the Holy Land is big business.  Like the Greeks in the gospel of John, these folks are all saying “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  And I’ll tell you what; it can be hard to find Jesus in the crowds of hundreds of people waiting to touch a special rock in a shrine full of icons and incense.

         Throughout my time in the Holy Land I was struck by the thought of what an ordinary simple place it really is beneath all the pageantry.  Jesus wasn’t born there because it was a special place.  Jesus was born in a normal place, just like you and me, and it is the church throughout the ages that has tried to lift it up and make it special.  The Holy Land is not really holy.  It is just an everyday land that has been populated by regular people throughout the ages.  Jesus was born there because that is where his mom was born.  Simple as that.   Throughout his lifetime Jesus would have collected a small group of followers, but the truth is that most folks wouldn’t have heard of him.  He certainly wasn’t followed by the busloads of tourists like he is now.

         At the end of our scripture reading for today, Jesus says that when he is lifted up from the earth, then he will draw all people to himself.  This seems abundantly clear to me today.  It is only in his death and resurrection that the church is born.  And it is through the church that the story of Jesus’ is spread.  When Jesus leaves Israel, in his death, is when the crowds really begin to be drawn to him.  When he is lifted up in glory, is when he draws all people to himself.  The story of Jesus of Nazareth is a local story, but in his death and resurrection as he becomes Jesus the Christ.  His becomes a story for all people for all time.

         I have so much to share with you about my trip.  I have toured the Sea of Galilee, and worshiped with Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem.  I have seen spectacular Roman ruins, and totally overdone Christian shrines.  I have heard the Muslim calls to prayer and witnessed discrimination at Israeli check points.  I have visited a Palestinian refugee camp and heard the stories of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the area.  I have swum in the Dead Sea and renewed my Baptism in the Jordan River.  I have seen the view from Masada and shared bread on the steps of the Church of the Holy Seplecure.  I have walked the streets of Jerusalem and seen the inside of the Dome of the Rock.  I have heard many stories and made new friends.  I have lots of new ideas about the Biblical Texts and lots more questions about the Israeli Palestinian conflict than ever before.

         I will work with you to plan a time to share my photos and treasures and in the months to come I am sure that stories from my visit will play a role in the sermons from this pulpit.  But for this morning I simply want to say “thank you”.  This has been a tremendous experience for me and it will continue to inform me as a person and as a pastor.  Thank you for sending me to the ordinary holy land, to gather with those people who ask “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  Amen.