Isaiah
43:18-19; John 12:1-8
“Do not remember the former things of
old, I am about to do a new thing.” Some
of the most inspirational poetry in the Bible is discovered between the 40th
and 55th chapters of Isaiah.
Rich with metaphor, these passages bring hope to a people coming home after
decades of enslavement. This was an astonishing
promise. The God who brought the Jews out of Babylon
would lend a holy hand in the reconstruction of Jerusalem.
But with the promise came a warning.
Things were not going to return to the way they had always been. Their new life would need to be accompanied witha
new attitude. What worked in the past
would no longer be acceptable. A new day
had dawned.
I believe Jesus loved 2nd
Isaiah. His approach to life often
crossed a line that challenged his contemporaries and continues to confuse
us. Jesus envisioned possibilities where
the disciples saw only dead-ins. Jesus
was always in the process of doing something new, something unheard of, and
something revolutionary. Jesus completely redefined the meaning of the word,
“Holy”. And he did so in a way that
baffled his contemporaries as well as those who continue to follow him 2,000
years later.
John 12 explores one of those inexplicable
moments. What does it mean to selflessly
yet almost carelessly give a gift to God? The story before us is filled with
complexities that challenge the best theologians. And yet it is a story even a child can
understand. Mary comes into a room, and
without a word, breaks open a jar of extravagant perfume. She pours it into her hand and begins to
massage the feet of Jesus. As the
fragrance fills the room, Mary wipes his feet with her hair. Realizing that everything in the book of John
is symbolic, where do we begin? Perhaps
Mary is presenting a holy example of the new role for the disciples. In other words, as a servant she is washing
the feet of the one she will serve.
Maybe it is more than that.
Perhaps she is signally the imminent death of Jesus. Her actions declare she is aware of what the
disciples refuse to understand. Jesus
must die in order that the world be saved.
Perhaps it was just an extravagant gift to an extravagant man. Or perhaps it was something greater than that.
Perhaps Mary somehow understood that the feet she washed belonged to God Incarnate. I suspect any of the following are
adequate. What is important for us to
understand is Mary was forgetting the old and doing a new thing. Mary was sacrificing something extravagant
for something on which no price could be placed.
This act did not go unnoticed. Judas, the treasurer of the group, saw the
act of love as a bit irresponsible. There
were mouths to be fed, bodies to be clothed.
Why spend money on worship when the mission of the church is always so
poorly funded? We still struggle with
that today don’t we? This passage seems
to lead us to an impossible impasse. When
do we worship, when do we serve and how do we tell the two apart?
A thin reading of this text does not
help us out. Jesus proclaimed, “The poor
will always be with us.” That pours gasoline
on any blazing fire. That one sentence
has served to excuse involvement in any arenas of social witness. But a richer, thicker, reading might be even more
dangerous.
I share a story I stumbled across that
will send shivers up the spine of anyone who has ever served on a stewardship
committee. It took place at a gathering
of pastors who had come with the explicit desire to discuss how they might
increase the generosity of their congregations.
One presenter spoke about offering a gift directly to God. He captured the attention of his audience by pulling
a $100 bill from his wallet, setting it on fire and praying, “Lord, I offer
this gift to you, and to you alone.”
As you might image, the reaction was
electric. Clergy began to fidget in
their chairs, watching the greenback go up in smoke as if it were perfume. One preacher whispered it was illegal to burn
currency. Another murmured, “If he has
money to burn maybe he will give some of it to us.”
“Do you not understand?” asked the
speaker. “I am offering it to God. That
means it is going to cease to be useful to the rest of us.” It was a very anxious moment, but a moment
that raised a difficult question. “Aren’t some gifts given and then they are
gone, never to be captured again?” Perhaps, and that moment, that incredible
moment, is both holy and unforgettable.”
Sometimes this happens to the choir. A
piece of music is brought out and the choir reads through it. There might be a murmur or two suggesting it
is not the right piece or it is too difficult to sing. It is rehearsed, and
rehearsed and rehearsed, until it can’t be rehearsed anymore. Finally on Sunday
it is offered, not as a performance, but as a gift. And as the piece is being
sung something happens. It can’t be explained but the piece sounds and feels different.
When the choir sings to God, and only to God, what is heard, and felt, seems
unexplainable.
And
yet we must explain it. I know each of you understands what it means to truly
give of yourself to God. You don’t do it
expecting something in return. You offer
your gift because you believe God to be Holy above everything you know or
imagine. You offer your gift as an
expression of your love and adoration. You
offer your gift as a response to God’s grace.
You offer your gift out of faith, not expectation. That is when it truly
is a gift.
I am not sure you realize it but collectively,
you, the members of this church, are a gift from God. Our primary purpose for being here is to
proclaim the good news of God’s grace through the extravagant gift of Jesus
Christ. We accomplish this through
worship, through missions, through educational programs, through prayer, and
through your commitment to serve this community. But sometimes we stumble when
we only consider what is useful, what is practical and what is cost effective.
When this happens we don’t leave room for the marvelous surprise that arises when we freely and
generously wash the feet of Christ. When it comes to the life of faith, we may
discover our hearts are greatly diminished if the budget is our first concern.
It is the gift of your heart, the gift of your soul, the gift of the
extravagant that truly defines you as a gift from God.
Remember the gift of Mary. There was nothing useful, or practical or
cost effective about what she did. But
the gift tells us everything we need to know about Mary. Are we surprised that
she followed Jesus all the way to the cross?
Are we amazed that she is one of the women who went to the tomb? Are we stunned that she is the one who tells
the disciples that Jesus has arisen?
Somehow Mary, as she opened that bottle of perfume, understood the
possibilities of tomorrow rest on what we believe today. Her generosity was not
a one time gift but rather a continuation of a lifetime of giving. She worshiped and then she was overwhelmed by
the possibilities that God lay before her.
In all that we are and in all that we do
we must first begin by celebrating Jesus as the gift of God. Jesus was sent into this world, not at our
bequest and yet he acted entirely on our behalf. This gift of grace is the fulfillment of
God’s promise to do a new thing. And now
it is our turn. Open your hearts to
Jesus and give him your all. Become a
gift of gratitude. Live your lives
abundantly in the presence of the risen Christ through acts of compassion and
generosity. Worship and love Jesus recklessly,
allowing for the possibility that in you, God will do a new thing.
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