“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,

it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

– John 12:24

Beloved of God,

This journey of Lent is a journey through wilderness territory, and this year we’re hearing about some contemporary experiences of wilderness that are prominent within our culture.  Oh, how deeply our world stands in need of healing!  (If it feels like a bit of a slog, imagine Israel doing this not for 40 days but for 40 YEARS!)

While within the three year lectionary cycle this is the year of Mark, during Lent and Easter we get generous doses of John.  On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays in Lent when we hear from John, Jesus gives us three different metaphors for talking about what his work is about.  (1)  He is about the deconstruction and reconstruction of access to God; (2) he is God’s love offering to the world who bring the promise of life eternal; (3) he is God’s seed which must die in order to fulfill its true purpose.  By giving us these images, Jesus is inviting us to use our theological imagination to see where God is at work engaging and transforming wilderness into Promised Land.  Whatever our particular experience of wilderness may be, Christ is there working to transform it, bringing new life.  In order to do so, something first has to die.

Ten years ago, on one of the last bits of land ringing the Polar Sea, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened for business.  Its mission: to house backup copies of all the world’s food crops – 2 billion seeds in all—and to protect those seeds for thousands of years into the future.  Built on the island of Spitsbergen, the vault lies under hundreds of feet of permafrost and Arctic rock, so that even in the worst-case scenario of global warming, the seeds will remain frozen naturally for up to 200 years. Part of an unprecedented effort to protect our planet’s rapidly diminishing biodiversity, the first deposits into the vault contained 268,000 distinct seed samples–each from a different farm or field in the world.  Together, they represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere.[1]  If seed crops are lost due to natural disasters, war or simply a lack of resources, the seed collections from Svalbard will be available to reestablish those crops, to help maintain plant diversity and, ultimately, to feed the world.

We human beings do everything we can, using all the technology we can, to extend life, and often with mixed re­sults. But the voice of Jesus in Lent declares: “Unless a grain falls into the earth and dies, it cannot bear fruit.” Jesus says this soon after entering Jerusalem for the final time with his disciples to celebrate Passover.  Enemies both within and beyond his inner circle are scheming for his arrest, and every move he makes is under suspicion.  It’s in this context that Jesus lifts up an image from the fields to tell those with him about the nature and necessity of what’s about to hap­pen, about his own impending death. “Unless I die,” Jesus seems to say, “my life, my way, my testimony, cannot bear fruit.” More simply, “The life I offer the world can only arise from my death.”

The millions of seeds cached in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault will never fulfill their purpose or potential while they’re sequestered away there in sealed, moisture-proof pouches.  It’s only when catastrophe comes, and those seeds are brought out from the permafrost and buried in the earth that they will fulfill their true purpose—because only then will they germinate, only then will they sprout, only then will they grow to produce new fruit, new seed, a new harvest, to keep humanity alive.  As we journey with Jesus to the cross and empty tomb, our calling is to put our trust in God’s logic, God’s way, which in this case is akin to nature’s way.  By journeying together, we can support each other in that process.  That gift of community, of consolation, of companionship, is a gift that keeps us going in the hardest of times.

With you on the Way,

Pastor Erik

[1] For more about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, visit their official website: http://www.nordgen.org/sgsv/