Posted on Tue Apr 04 2006

Kelly Sasser

Looking for a Loophole?
April 2, 2006
Watts Street Baptist Church
John 12:20-36

They say it was hard to distinguish between the character W.C. Fields played in the movies and the man himself.  His comedy reflected his hatred of children, his love of wine, and his cynicism towards all of life.  But as W.C. Fields lay dying in a hospital bed, a visitor actually caught him reading the Bible.  When the friend asked him what he was doing, the dying comedian replied, “looking for a loophole”.

“Looking for a loophole.”  This same line was used in “Dead Man Walking”, a movie based on a true story about a nun’s interaction with a man on death row.  When Sister Helen Prejean pays Matthew Poncelet a visit just days before his execution, Poncelet tells the nun that he’s been reading his Bible, looking for a loophole.  Sister Prejean then trumps his punch line when she asks, “did you read anything about Jesus in that Bible?”

To be certain, Jesus, as described in the Gospel of John, did not look for an easy way out.  He faced his own death with courage, faithfulness, and a strong sense of purpose.  But when it comes to discipleship, to truly following Christ, I wonder if many of us are not secretly looking for a “loophole”.

By definition, a loophole is “an ambiguity that makes it possible to evade a difficulty or obligation.”  And while the scriptures may appear to be ambiguous on some things, we can probably all agree with Mark Twain who said, “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”

Yes, we are all attracted to the Christian themes of love, community, and fellowship.  But this somber season of Lent, this time of self-examination and confession, or these words about dying in order to bear fruit, really tempt us to cry out, “Father, save me from this hour!”

In our text today, however, Jesus shows us another way.  With the cross seemingly in sight, Jesus shows us how to be faithful even when our desire for self-preservation comes into conflict with God’s will for our lives.

First, it is important to note that Jesus understood the severity of the situation he faced.  He was aware that the chief priests and the Pharisees were plotting to kill him but nonetheless, he had entered Jerusalem, attracting a great crowd.  When even the Greeks came asking about him, it seemed to signal to Jesus that the time to lay low had passed and that the hour, his hour, was truly at hand.

“Now my soul is troubled” Jesus acknowledged.  And with this statement, we get a glimpse into Jesus’ humanity, his vulnerability, even his internal fears.  The Greek word for troubled, “tarasso”, is the same word used to describe a ship on agitated seas.

At this point, we can directly relate to Jesus.  Are there not many times when we feel tossed about, when we find our hearts conflicted, our minds full of commotion, our souls agitated and unsettled?

Our natural instinct, in these moments, is to protect ourselves, to take the path of least resistance.  When the church talks about tithing, we give leftovers rather than first fruits.  When the unpopular, socially awkward person latches on to us, we look for ways to slip away rather than befriending.  When a need for social justice makes itself known in our community, we wait for someone else to take the lead rather than stepping up and sounding the call ourselves.  When faced with persecution for righteousness sake, we simply find it easier to say that we do not know this man, Jesus.

We’ll even justify our in-action by thinking, “If I make a little more money, I’ll be able to help more people.  If I protect my reputation, I’ll be able to have more influence.  If I save up my energy and my resources, I’ll be able to help with something that really matters later on.  If I lose my health or my life, what good will I be to God?”

But when Jesus says his soul is troubled, he is echoing Psalm 42:5 when the psalmist declares, “Why are you downcast, o my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

And just as the psalmist moves from grief to hope, Jesus moves from questioning his commitment to God to questioning this part of his soul that is troubled.  “And what should I say – ‘Father save me from this hour’?”  By answering with a resounding “No”, Jesus is able to recognize the moment for what it is, an opportunity to glorify God.

In the parallel text in Mark, this conflict between self-preservation and faithfulness is expressed even more strongly when Jesus prays, “Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:34-36)  This is the mark of a true disciple.  Not the ability to avoid the storm but with God’s help, to lean into the storm.  It’s not that we are never allowed to wonder “How long, O God, how long?” but it’s the faithful disciple who finds a way to move towards “We trust, O God, we trust.”

How do we develop this ability to be faithful when it’s most difficult?  How do we prepare for when the hour comes?

First, by acknowledging the difficult demands of the Gospel and by asking for forgiveness for those times when we looked for a loophole.  If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that the Gospel goes against our normal way of behaving.  This is part of our focus during Lent.  To recognize that we truly need God’s grace and while this grace is a free gift, it is costly and not cheap.

Deitrich Bonhoeffer said, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

Thankfully, for all of our sakes, Jesus didn’t look for a loophole.  In a response of love, let us seek to be faithful disciples, never looking for the easy way out, never cheating God on what belongs to God, but giving our lives, our complete lives, to God’s glory.

This requires discipline, but discipline is a part of discipleship.  Discipline involves consistently choosing the higher good over self-preservation.  And it starts with those little decisions we face every day.  We may not ever be asked to die on a cross or recant our faith at gunpoint, but we have been asked to die to self in order to bear fruit.  And if we take our discipleship seriously, the way we go about things in this life does matter:

Fred Craddock tells the story of a mother who came up to him one Sunday after church and said, without blinking an eye, “Let’s see now, was it next Sunday that my daughter was going to be baptized?”

Craddock responded, “Yeah, next Sunday.”

The mother went on to say, “Well...she has dance lessons next Sunday.”

"But this is Sunday morning.”

“Well…the dance lessons are at 10:30” 

Craddock asked again, “On Sunday morning?” 

“Yeah. The studio has classes on Sunday morning.”

“Well then,” Craddock said. “You have a decision to make.”

May we, as learning, growing, living disciples of Jesus, 
develop the discipline to not look for loopholes in the Gospel 
but to make regular, daily decisions that are consistent with our faith, 
so that when the hour comes, we can say along with Jesus,
“Father, glorify your name.”

Amen.

  Discussion: Looking for a Loophole?

Flat ViewPost Message

You must first create an account to post.

Contact: - Search - Log On

Copyright © 2010, Watts Street Baptist Church