March 13, 2016
Lent 5
Isaiah 43:18-21
John 12:1-8
(prayer)
The people of Judah were
coming to terms with their new lives as a displaced people. The most recent world empire had deported
them from (what they viewed as) their land
of promise.
Now, they were being forced
to eek out a living by the rivers of Babylon.
They were almost 1000 kilometers from home - with no realistic hope in
returning.
'Exile and oppression at
the whim of the Empire' was the new reality for the Hebrew people of Judah.
They questioned their
faith.
Afterall, the land of
Canaan was a gift, a promise of God to their ancestors. How is it possible for it to be taken away
from them? Did God care anymore? Could God even hear their cries from so far
away?
//
It is no wonder that a
psalmist lamented that they couldn't enjoy their folks songs because it was too
painful to be reminded of home (see Psalm 137).
//
It is in to this muted
faith and muted hope that a prophet's speaks a holy message:
Do
not focus on the things of old.
I
am about to do a new thing.
Do
you notice it?
In
the dry wilderness,
I
bring new springs of water
for
my people.
You
will praise me again!
//
It is as if God understands
the people's crisis of faith.
For centuries, they have
known stability and prosperity. Even
when the previous empire from Assyria overtook lands to the north, Judah
remained - and much as it had during the greats days of King David.
God understood how the
defeat to the Babylonians upset everything the Judeans had come to know and believe about their place in
the world and the special favour they enjoyed from their God.
I am sure that there were
voices of judgment from some people (as there always is) that they were the cause of their own
calamity. If only they were stronger, or
more faithful, or (whatever), they would not be where they are.
The reality is... sometimes
calamity invades our lives to no fault of our own.
It is a sad recurrence that
there are those who get a taste of power and become obsessed with acquiring
more. Human history is littered with the
devastation wrought by the egos of those addicted to economic, political and
military power as they impose their selfish
will on entire subservient populations - ironically whom they need to maintain the
power at the top.
We have witnessed this over
the eons and have far too many current examples that come to mind.
//
The desperate brokers of
power do get their way from time to time and it is miserable for those caught
up in these webs of selfish control.
The people of Judah in the
6th century BCE knew this from experience.
But, the prophet counters
the words of judgment that write it all off as God's plan or punishment.
Instead the word is that God remains faithful (in
the present) to the people. God knows the impact of the current situation.
And... God understands that it might be easy for the people to think
that God has let them down.
And so, the prophet says,
God wants to earn your praise again.
To do so, God will nourish their
faith - in Babylon. It will not be the
same as they remember from the pre-existing days. But... they will know the compassion and
mercy of their God. God will be their
refreshing spring in the desert of their exile.
The prophet invites the people
to attune their spirits to God.
Set aside your old
assumptions. Focus. You will know that God has not abandoned
you! Do you not perceive it? A spiritual revolution is spinning.
A revolution occurs when the many no longer are willing to be
subservient to the few. For the Judeans in Babylon, the spirit was moving.
//
//
//
When the woman opened the
jar of ointment, her private act of comfort (intended for Jesus alone) got the
attention of everyone in the room. The
sweet aroma covered up the more common smells of work and table. It was a noticeable invasion into the normal
of everyday life. It was special.
As is almost always true
when something new enters a situation, people begin to question it.
Does it really belong?
Is it right?
//
The anointing of Jesus is
one of those unique stories that is told in all four of the biblical
gospels. There are three variations of
the event.
Luke tells a story about a
party crashing woman at the home of Simon
the Pharisee. The location is not mentioned. This unnamed woman was apparently known
around town as a person who "lived a sinful life". Overcome with emotion, she poured perfume on
Jesus' feet.
The judgment was
swift. This woman did not belong. And Jesus would be wise not to associate with
people like her.
//
Mark and Matthew tell about
an event at the Bethany home of Simon the
Leper - of an unnamed woman anointing Jesus head with an expensive perfume.
The judgment was
swift. The woman should not have done
this. It was wasteful. The perfume was an unnecessary luxury. It would be better sold and the money used to
help the poor.
//
As we heard today, John's
version incorporates parts of the other stories and adds in some other details. It was in Bethany (like Matthew-Mark), but
John does not mention someone named Simon as the host (either the leper or
pharisee), but instead adds it to the longer narrative he has already begun about
Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Although none
of the other gospels name the woman, John claims that she was Mary (Lazarus'
sister) who pours the expensive perfume (like Mark-Matthew) on Jesus' feet
(like Luke). Like Matthew and Mark, it
is the waste of a valuable, transferable resource that draws the swift
judgment. Unlike, M&M, who make a
point to say that several people shared the concerns, John personifies all of
the concern on to the person of Jesus' disciple (and group treasurer) Judas -
even questioning the sincerity of the concern, by assuming that Judas was more
likely to embezzlement the proceeds than to give them to charity.
//
I prefer not to focus on
the detail discrepancies of the various accounts and look at the root story:
¨
A
woman's private act of comfort for Jesus become public.
¨
She
(and by association, Jesus) are judged harshly for what she has done.
¨
Message
to Jesus: this should have never happened.
¨
Message
from Jesus: it has happened. Too late to
go back. And besides... this was a
wonderful thing to have happened.
//
It was wonderful in several
ways. The woman's anointing of Jesus was
filled with wonder. First, there is comfort for comfort'
sake. Jesus had been invited to
dinner. In some of the versions, he is
basically described as a guest of honour. The woman's action is a gift to calm and
sooth Jesus - to bring him comfort and relaxation. It was a gift of extravagant compassion -
regardless of the monetary value of the perfume.
//
In another way, we see
wonder in how Jesus received the gift.
He was gracious and appreciative.
From all accounts, Jesus was not prone to acts of selfishness. At most, he craved some alone time - but
there are no stories of Jesus seeking out creature comforts or material
possessions.
If someone had brought him
the unopened jar of perfume and asked him, "What should we do with
this?", I doubt that he would have said, "Ooo, gimme, gimme!
Let me pour that on my feet."
It is reasonable that he
might have seen the possibility of selling the ointment and using the money in
some outward caring way. Jesus'
disciples likely were being consistent with his attitudes when they chastised
the woman for not thinking of that herself.
But... when the jar is
opened out of love and care, in spite of (what may have been) Jesus' natural
aversion to self-catering, it is wonderfully compassionate that he receives the
gift with graciousness and humility. He
says nothing about other theories of what else might have been done with the
perfume, he just let's the cool touch and aroma sooth his feet and head.
Try
not to get worried.
Try
not to turn on to
problems
that upset you.
Let
the world turn
without
you tonight.
The woman's generosity was
not time for a judgment or a teaching moment.
Until...the complaints were
raised.
Then, it was a time to
teach: not the chastisee, but the chastisors.
Jesus comes to the woman's defense, but more so, he defends seeing what
she has done as an act of charity on par with helping others in need. To be given the gift of relaxation and rest
is a thing of wonder.
Jesus takes the attacks on
her personally. He basically tells the
others that if they want to criticize her, they have to criticize him as well.
That is made very obvious
in the Luke version, where the host adds the complaint that Jesus must not be very wise or prophetic if
he doesn't realize how untouchable this woman is.
//
//
//
It can be hard to carve out
times of calm and peace, because there is always a noble reason to stay busy.
Even at out noblest, we can
be fooled into believing that we can should set aside our own needs for
rejuvenation in favour of continuous outreach.
When Jesus says, "you
will always have the poor", he is not absolving his followers from the
duty to ensure that everyone in society is cared for, he is adding to their
responsibilities.
Have
a wide focus for your compassion!
Including an appreciation for her act of graciousness.
I am struck by how (in the
Luke tradition) the vilification of the woman became the focal point of the
story. It was not just her extravogant
actions that were criticized. Nothing
about her was acceptable.
In all of the versions,
Jesus simply does not accept the reasons for criticising the woman's actions - whatever they were.
//
Instead, Jesus praises his
generous caregiver. "What she has
done should and will be
remembered", he said.
And it was. Twenty to seventy years after the fact, each
of the gospel writers knew of this event - even if the details had evolved over
the years in the different places it was told and retold. The basic tale of unjudged, generous comfort
remained the stuff of early Christian folklore.
//
Sometime after Jesus' death
and resurrection, the act itself became a metaphor for honouring the steadfast
commitment of Jesus - even unto death.
Two of the gospels (Mark
and Luke) mention that on the Sunday morning after Jesus was executed, some of
Jesus' followers brought spices and ointments to annoint the body. The women never got the chance, because the
tomb was empty. the body was gone. Jesus had been raised...
resurrected.
And so, the earlier story
of the woman's generous annointing of Jesus' feet/head took on the symbolic role
of a pre-heat burial anointing. All
three of the accounts that name the financial value of the perfume as the
complaint (including John, which we heard today) make a direct comment about a
burial annointing.
Poetically and
theologically, these gospel authors are writing to their post-resurrection
churches to draw a parallel between the woman's generous sacrifice and the
eventual sacrifice of Christ, himself.
The gospels are full of these kinds of literary foreshadowing.
//
//
So, what do we have here?
//
We have a conflict over
what is appropriate in the moment.
On one hand, we have the
complainers who point out that the work of ministry is never complete.
Jesus agrees... and does
not want any of his disciples to think that their work is all done.
Yet... Jesus models an act
of self-care and generosity, that he hopes his followers will embrace. as well. It is a visual parable.
Take
time within your work to rest, rejuvenated and to be grateful. It is a retelling of the call to honour a sabbath rest.
//
In Isaiah, the prophet laid
out a hope for the exiled Judeans:
Your
lives (in this moment) are to be more than simply struggling to adjust to a new
land - to eeking out a basic survival.
You will 'praise' again, the prophet says.
//
To be the people of God we
can be, we need to be filled ourselves,
even as we seek to bring a sacred fullness to a world in need.
We can better serve the
work of Jesus, when we seek inspiration and rejuvenation for ourselves.
That is one of the main
functions of our regular gatherings here on Sunday morning: to take a break
from the rest of life's busyness and recharge our own spirits.
Earlier we repeated words
together that reminded us that our calling to be the church includes:
²
Loving
and serving others;
²
Intentionally
living in respect with creation;
²
Actively
seeking justice and resisting evil.
But it also says that a
call to be the church will be lived out as we:
²
Simply,
celebrate God's presence; and
²
Proclaim
Jesus as our highest hope.
In our work and in our
play,
in our service and in our rest,
God is with us.
//
It is a sign of a healthy
faith to seek renewal and to simply offer and receive gratitude...
God
being our helper!
//
Let us pray;
God, you surprise us with your grace
and compassion no matter what. Help us to live out that love boldly in our lives. Amen.
#326VU “O For a Thousand Tongues”
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