Dear Christian friends:

Have you ever met a person who planned on failing at an endeavor? We man not always achieve our goals, but the plan is never to be a failure. Did the man who just lost his job due to a corporate takeover plan on being unemployed at age fifty with kids in college? Of course not! People desire to achieve, to succeed to reach the top in triumph, whether in sports, academics, business, or marriage. The problem is that often we cannot or do not achieve what we want in life.

People seek triumph through many means. There is a great variety of strategies and methods people use to achieve success.

Some have suggested that the strategy for triumph in life is taught in kindergarten: share your possesions, play fair, don't hit people, put things back where you found them and clean up your own mess. (Robert Fulghum, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten")

These rules provide a simple, workable strategy for the early stages of life, and, some suggest, guarantee success for adults as well. Yet climbing the Mount of Triumph despite life's trials, failures, and sufferings requires more than this.

Others advocate more sophisticated strategies. One pastor and best selling author asserts that the deepest needs in every human are for self esteem, self worth, and personal dignity. (Robert H. Schuller, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation) This pastor argues that in order for churhes to prosper and grow, they should proclaim a message that affirms the personal worth of every person.

He says that churches should talk about how great we are going to become as we make the effort to walk with Christ through life in triumph. He believes that success comes through our own efforts to think positively and live with a Christian lifestyle.

The amazing personal success of this pastor and the size and prosperity of his church are offered as proof that this formula results in triumph. This is a clear example of the theology of glory which is deceiving many people today.

The Greeks in our text who wished to see Jesus knew all about self help religions. Their Hellenistic culture was full of religous philosophies that promised success in life through rituals, secret knowledge, membership in exclusive organizations, and maintaining certain lifestyles.

These Greeks had been exposed to all these methods, and probably had tried some of them. But apparently they had come to the conclusion that it was all futile.

And they came to the right conclusion, for all humans, efforts to please God and win his favor are doomed to failure because of our sin. No matter how hard we try, how sincere we are, how smart we may be, or how much success we may achieve, it is inevitable that we will have disappointments, meet with failure, suffer and eventually die. These Greeks were wise to turn in a new direction: to Jesus. "We would see Jesus," they said to Philip.

The coming of the Greeks indicated that Jesus' hour had come (verse 23); the time for him to be glorified as he gave his life for the eternal salvation of all.

Jesus had mixed emotions. The thought of suffering the wrath of God for the world's sin caused him deep distress, but it was for this very purpose that he had come into the world.(verse 27)

The Father spoke to him, assuring him of triumph and glory, but Jesus said that the heavenly voice was more for our benefit than for his. (verses 28-30) The Father's words point us to Jesus as the one who would be triumphantly glorified. And if we seek triumph, we must seek it through Christ. Like the Greeks, we need to "see Jesus!"

Jesus described his strategy for triumph using a simple, earthly analogy: "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (verses 24-25)

The farmer who hopes for a harvest must first plant the seed into the ground. There it "dies," buried in the earth. But later it springs forth with new life, yielding an abundant harvest, providing life for many animals and for people as well.

This miracle of nature points to the miracle of Christ's own death and resurrection. If Christ had given in to the temptations of the devil and sought triumph in worldly terms, seeking fame and fortune instead of death on a cross, he actually would have been a failure. He would not have completed the mission the Father had entrusted to him.

But Christ was faithful to the Father's will. He knew that through his obedience and submission to death, he would be glorified, the glories of heaven which were his from eternity would be restored to him, and he would be proclaimed King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And not only this, his death has resulted in new life for millions who believe in him. The death of the one Jesus Christ has yielded a rich harvest of many souls to eternal life.

This same miracle of life through death, glory through humility, and triumph through apparent defeat also occurs in the lives of us Christians. In the paradox of God's kingdom, we live and triumph only if we first die.

God's law serves as a mirror of our thoughts, words and deeds, showing our imperfections, revealing what needs to die. We are baptized into Christ's death. St. Paul says, "I had not know sin, but by the law: for I had not know lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet... I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." (Romans 7:7-9)

We are also baptized into Christ's resurrection. While the Law makes us die to sin, the Gospel raises us up with new life, eternal life. God is killing and giving new life even now as you hear his Word proclaimed, as you confess your sinfulness and sins, and as you look to Jesus lifted up on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. As you rejoice in his grace and mercy with praises and thanksgivings, you are led to humbly serve him and the Father.

Glory comes through humble service. Christ says in our text, "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." (verse 26)

The lives of true Christians are often ordinary and routine. The world will see nothing glorious about our lives. They may even call us losers etc. We may have more problems and "defeats," according to the world's way of thinking, than they have.

Jesus never promised us otherwise. We cannot expect more worldly success than he himself had. But Jesus does promise us that if we daily take up our cross and follow him in humble service, one day we will end up where he is, in glorying everlasting.

Because of Christ's triumph on the cross, we who die with him will rise again in triumph.

Amen.