A Special Gift

 

Sermon March 17

Old Testament- Isaiah 43:16-21

Israel’s present languishing in exile is, in the poet’s imagination, sandwiched between the memory of the exodus from Egypt and the hope of a new exodus from Babylon.

The Lord says: “I am about to do a new thing: now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

God has done so many wonderful things in your life. Yet, when you are going through that dark trial or storm it can be hard to remember the good times because you are so surrounded by the darkness. Yet, you can read a word from scripture, or someone can say something that brings hope. That is the message we want to focus on this morning, Hope.

Psalm  126

Psalm 126 is a psalm of two moods.  It begins (vv.1-3) in happiness, with the people of Israel looking back at the good old days, when it seemed that their dreams had finally come true.  After years of loss and exile, God made a way for them to come back home – Home!  God restored them to a land they loved and had lost, to livelihoods and neighborhoods.  Restoring their city walls and structures was like restoring their very sense of community.  People pulled together then.  They remembered, and laughter and shouts of joy filled their mouths, filled the air, and floated like helium balloons carrying the message far and wide.:  “God has done great things for us!”  Surrounding nations, though they worshiped other gods, were drawn into Israel’s rejoicing and said in response: “The Lord has done great things for them” v.2.

Epistle- Philippians 3:4b-14

If Lent is, among other things, a time to reconsider – a time to set aside distractions in order to focus on our relationship with god and with Christ’s church a time to let the Holy spirit work on us in order to remold us into the image of God as individuals and as the body of Christ – then the passage from the letter to the church in Philippi brings the season to its peak.

This passage encourages us to make a life assessment, creating a ledger as to “losses” and “gains”.

While there are social, cultural, economic, political, familial values to be cultivated and refined, during lent we discover other values that outrank those we work so hard to attain.  During Lent we look again at what shapes our identity and gives us security and against which we are held accountable.  Such Lenten reconsiderations have brought us to this text on the Fifth Sunday of Lent and to the reality that we count as “loss” all that we have striven to achieve, because of the surpassing worth of Knowing Jesus Christ.

As Paul so wonderfully states it:  Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Gospel -)  John 12:1-8

Nothing will begin a conversation like an extravagant gift.The setting is: “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany” “There they made him supper” Who?  Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.”

This was after Lazarus resurrection. The one whom Jesus wept for. The one whom Jesus raised from the dead (after 3 days in the tomb). Surely Lazarus was still trying to figure out how to live the rest of his resurrection life. 

Then there was Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. Wanting to absorb every word the Master said. Then she took the extravagant costly oil and anointed Jesus feet and wiped them with her hair. An extravagant act of devotion. The fragrance filled the room. Sort of like EsteLauder if you have ever smelled that perfume.

Tension enters when Judas objects…..His sanctimonious attitude is noticed. Because we know what he does later.

I know of a church where a family was burned out across the street from the church. They took an offering of $150 to give to the family. (But they are sitting on  over $50,000 of CDS just gathering dust.. )

Extravagance…..such as Mary’s love for Jesus. Think about it.  A life without such extravagance, a life dominated by caution, careful calculation, and cost-benefit audits, is terribly sad and constricted – actually the word that comes to mind is constipated.

How can we hang around Jesus for very long and not catch the spirit of reckless abandon?  Jesus called the Zebedee boys away from their boats, nets, and family –and they went!

Jesus counseled the ardent young man to sell all his possessions, revolutionize his life, and follow Jesus – but “prudent calculation” stopped him.

Jesus offered the honor of his company to the swindler Zacchaeus (instead of to any honorable folk), and Zacchaeus responded by promising to pay back fourfold whatever he had cheated anyone of (which was going to leave Zacchaeus with little).

Jesus was warned that Herod was gunning for him, but Jesus immediately dismissed the warning and stayed his course.

A fews days after accepting and Praising Mary’s lavish gesture of love, Jesus gave his disciples his last commandment – to love one another in the same manner that he had loved them, and indicated that the measure of that love is to lay down one’s life.

Over the top!  Always over the top!  How can we be under the influence of Jesus and not be extravagant.?

Prayer:

Father, as human beings we are up and sometimes we are down. When we are in the downward spiral it seems we always turn to you and when we are up we neglect to do that.  Help us to stay steady on the course that you have set for us. Forgive us for being wishy washy and open our hearts and minds to hear what you are telling us to do. In Christ name we pray.