Fifth Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4-14 John 12:1-8 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who has made us his own. Amen What is most important in life? Times of transition bring this question forward, those times in life when we’re saying goodbye to the way things were and hello to new possibilities we are often forced to consider what to leave behind and what to bring forward with us. Lent is coming to an end and as we look forward to Holy Week and the beginnings and endings that lie ahead our readings for today ask us to consider, what is most important? Paul is doing this reflecting in his letter to the Philippians, he is in prison, probably in Rome, which even as he hopes to be released still puts things in perspective. As he looks back and considers his life he concludes that very little matters except for Christ. Paul in his characteristic humble brag lists all the things that he could consider important, being part of the chosen people of Israel, strictly following the law, all these things that conventional wisdom says are important especially for a relationship with God but then he says: “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ...For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not have a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.” Paul realizes that whoever he is and whatever he’s done, none of that will surpass what Christ has already done on the cross, and because of that amazing fact Paul goes on “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on the make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” Paul wants to know Christ , both the good- the resurrection- and the bad- the suffering and he feels secure in seeking this knowledge because he knows that Christ Jesus has made him his own. And that is really the crux of the matter, whether Paul came from the right family and did the right things, or whether he persecuted the church or is in prison, none of that matters in the end because Christ claimed him. And having been claimed by Christ, Paul presses forward seeking to know Christ even better, seeking to share this with all he encounters even if it means that by the standards of the world he does some pretty odd things, like letting go of status, obeying God rather than Rome, willingly suffering for the sake of love. In our gospel for today Mary wants to know Christ and it leads her to do some odd things by the standards of the world. Once again Jesus has come to dinner, he’s been hiding out a bit but now he is about to enter Jerusalem for the last time and on his way he’s stopped to have dinner with his friends. Jesus is close with this family, he’s had dinner here before, that dinner where Martha asked Jesus to scold her sister Mary for not helping her and instead sitting at Jesus’ feet. Jesus came here when Lazarus died and Jesus wept over his friend then raised him from the dead and now he’s here one last time together this group is facing the end. And Mary takes a jar of perfume that costs about a year’s wages and pours it out on Jesus’ feet, anointing them, then wipes them with her hair. The use of that much perfume is extravagant, as Judas will soon point out, and she breaks the social dress code and norms by letting her hair down and touching a man who is not her husband. It’s excessive, it’s scandalous, it’s following Jesus in a nutshell and Mary does this because facing the coming ending Jesus is what is important to Mary. Of all the people present at the party Mary is the one who has been most intentional about spending time with Jesus, sitting at his feet listening to him, she has seen him raise her brother from the dead she more than anyone is likely to believe Jesus when he tells his followers that he is the shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. So her abundance of ointment mirroring the abundance of Jesus’ love, she anoints Jesus for his burial, she lovingly sends him out to do what he says he needs to do. She wants to know Christ, she wants to join in his story and when compared with all of that, what is some money? And social norms? They are rubbish. Mary and Paul are exceptional in their abandonment of all things that are not Jesus but they are not exceptional in their desire to know Christ. At one point or another all of us have longed to know Christ, even if we haven’t had the words to understand that longing and true sometimes we are like Mary making extravagant displays of devotion but other times we are Martha who longs to know Jesus and acts on that longing by serving, continually moving around Jesus. Sometimes we’re Lazarus, we long to know Jesus and we’re just grateful to be at the table because even getting to the table with Jesus is a miracle. And sometimes we are even Judas, we follow Jesus because there’s something that catches us but we are so preoccupied with our own gain that we miss the point of Jesus and those around him. There is space for all of these characters in the story and yet, whoever we are, Christ has first claimed us as his own and nothing we do will change that, joined to Christ in his death and resurrection God promises to treat us as if we were Christ. And so whatever questions are challenging us, whatever beginnings or endings we face, we press on claimed and loved by the most important one. Amen
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AboutPastor Emily Johnson preaches weekly at Christ Lutheran. These are manuscripts of her sermons given at Christ Lutheran. Feel free to engage with them in the comments section of the blog. Archives
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