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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany
February 17, 2025
Janani Luwum,
Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr
John 12:24-32
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. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
Being brought out of death into life is central to the Christian story, but as we all only live once on this earth, the most literal interpretation of this imagery is sometimes lost on us. In this passage we also see Jesus exploring some of the familiar metaphorical interpretations of this trope, such is that being brought out of death into life involves our former selves dying and thus dropping everything and following him. We get the sense that the Christian life will frequently upend both our expectations and the known realities of this world as Christ makes all things new.
But what about death in a more literal sense? It’s a topic we aren’t particularly comfortable discussing publicly, to the extent that we come up with different words when someone has died: we say that they have “passed away” or “moved on” because the reality of death is uncomfortable to us. How can something so tragic and irreversible lead to anything positive?
A broader consideration of the interconnectedness of our world may help us find some comfort in this. I am inspired by ecosystems where there needs to be death and destruction in order to facilitate growth. There are certain types of pine trees (as well as Eucalyptus) that require the heat of a wildfire in order for their seeds to germinate. Death is a part of nature, and although this doesn’t make it less tragic or difficult or comforting, it is a reality that cannot be avoided.
I do not believe that we are all called to the suffering and death that Jesus faced. In many ways his death and resurrection serve as a warning to us not to inflict that suffering upon each other as well as a death which takes away the sting of death. And yet while the cross signifies torture and the worst of humanity, we know that that violence is not the end of the story. Today we remember Janani Luwum, whose death, like Jesus’s, was a part of his selfless love of others and desire for good. So while death is never happy, it is therapeutic to sometimes remind ourselves that death does not have the final say, and that good can come out of our lives even when we are gone.
Prayer
O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the sake of his flock. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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