The Voice - Will We Listen?

 Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34  • Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16  •Hebrews 5:5-10  • John 12:20-33

This week we see Jesus come to terms with the cross he must bear, in all of his humanity and divinity. Like the old gospel song "I have decided to follow Jesus... the world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back," The Rev. Robert Cornwall, in "The Hour Has Come - Lectionary Reflection for Lent 5b," offers thoughts about what it means to put ego, ambition, pride and selfishness behind us, as we learn to take up our crosses and follow Jesus.

In this week's gospel, Jesus knows a cruel, humiliating death is imminent, on the path he has chosen. We see him in all his humanity, and then he, and we, hear a voice, saying, in response to Jesus' plea, "Father, glorify your name," "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." Jesus says to his disciples, and to us, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine." What does he mean? What voices do we listen to today? Whose voice do we hear? What are the consequences, the blessings?  Read The Rev. Kirk Kubicek's "This Voice Has Come for Your Sake, not Mine." 

In "Who Are We Looking For," Debie Thomas cuts through chase, "Jesus willingly took the violence, the contempt, and the hatred of this world and absorbed them all into his own body.  He chose to be the victim, the scapegoat, the sacrifice.  He refused to waver in his message of universal love, grace, and liberation, knowing full well that the message would cost him his life.  He declared solidarity for all time with those who are abandoned, colonized, oppressed, accused, imprisoned, beaten, mocked, and murdered.  He burst open like a seed so that new life would grow and replenish the earth.  He took an instrument of torture and turned it into a vehicle of hospitality and communion for all people, everywhere.  He loved and he loved and he loved, all the way to the end.  “When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

In "The Voice," The Rev. Luz Cabrera Montes tells us,"There will be days when we will not get all of the work done, days when we will not know which voices to listen to – but God will remain with us. We must take our time when listening to the voices around us and decide where we can find God in them. We must decide to love because we know that hate is too much to carry. We must continue to say, “We wish to see Jesus.” Let us continue to boldly claim this for our lives and for our world... and we are not alone.