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If a grain of wheat falls to ground and dies,
it produces much fruit.
There is a powerful myth about the eagle
that it can live as long as 70 years.
Around 30 or 40 years old, its beak has grown old and curled in
under its face, and its claws have become dull over the years.
At that point, it is no longer able to hunt very well
because the claws cannot kill its prey and
its beak cannot remove its talons;
it can starve to death, which will be the typical choice,
or it will break its old beak on a rock by banging it several times.
Eventually, a new beak will grow,
and then it will be able to pluck its claws out and new claws will grow.
Then it will be able to get its talons.
Once it goes through that process of over 180 days,
then it can soar again and hunt as it once did.
There are lots of examples in nature that the old must die
before new growth can happen.
Or as scripture says today, a grain of wheat must die before new fruit.
There always is something inside of us
that we have to let go for something new to grow within us.
We have to surrender to it for new growth to happen.
In fact, we believe in it so much
that we have a whole season dedicated called Lent.
We must die to so much of ourselves and let something new grow,
but it is cooperation with the grace of God
that we can move forward.
Growth seems to happen for us when we have the deepest suffering
or overcome the biggest struggles.
Whether these things happen to us or we cause them ourselves,
the net effect is the same; we have an opportunity to grow through them.
It does not happen because of our strength but most often
because of God’s grace of healing.
In this way, the way to growth is to cooperate with God’s grace
and let God heal us and restore us.
We have to “break our beaks” so to speak and allow God to heal us.
I know that is true for me in my life.
You might remember the death of my brother from two years ago.
I was angry at God and demanded answers to my pain
and the pain of my brother and his family.
Yet I had to let it all go.
I had to surrender to the pain and suffering.
In so doing, let’s the pain die, I was healed.
It did not change the fact that Paul still died
but I was no longer consumed by its pain.
As a result I was able to be a better minister to others
who were suffering with cancer or any terminal illness.
I had a deeper understanding, a closer comprehension of their suffering.
Since then, I have been able to be present to others in their suffering
in a different, more powerful and silent way.
New fruit because I allowed God’s grace to heal.
We all need to let go of something
that will allow new birth within us in a deep, spiritual way.
We all know, for example, the journey of letting go of unforgiveness.
We know that if we do not let go of that and let it die within us,
it becomes toxic within us.
We will not be able to have new life.
But if we are willing to let our unforgiveness die and to let it be done,
it most often can produce new fruit,
a fruit of forgiveness and love,
fruit of mercy and gentleness that allows us
to see the other person and often even ourselves in a new light.
The journey of Lent is one of metanoia, one of turning back to God.
In that process, we are called to reflect upon our lives
and to find the things that we need to shed,
the things we need to let go, or surrender,
to allow something new to grow within us.
What old habits can we let go of
so the new habits we can begin
that will produce much more fruit?
It is a journey that for the eagle takes 180 days,
but for us, we only give ourselves 40 days,
which is plenty, but it requires of us to keep going.
Sometimes we get halfway through Lent,
where we are now and we get tired of
what we are trying to do, and we might give up.
This is a time when we must dig a little deeper
and realize the difficult part of letting go of
what we need to let go of and then to allow the future growth to happen.
I am not sure what it is about the human spirit,
but it seems like the greatest growth comes to us
in the most painful circumstances.
Those moments when we have been hurt,
those moments when we have been betrayed,
those moments when we have lost a loved one.
It is not of itself that causes the growth,
but that once we allow it to transform us to God’s grace,
it can bring much fruit.
It is that cooperation with God's grace
that is critical, not the negative event.
It is the grace that comes from the Lord
that allows us to be transformed.
As we come to the Eucharist once more today,
we promise to become what we receive.
We promise to become the body of Christ for others.
We have to remember we have become the body of Christ broken for others;
the blood of Christ poured out for others.
In other words, we must allow ourselves to surrender that old part.
Some of the things that we no longer need,
that must die so that we can grow.
Today, we let go of something so the new growth can happen.
If a grain of wheat falls to ground and dies,
it produces much fruit.
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