1 Lent 5 Year C 2013 Denver, CO Pastor Dena Williams Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8

First, from the Prophet Isaiah, listen as God announces: I, God, am about to do a new thing, a NEW thing. Isaiah 43:16-21 43:16 Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 43:17 who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 43:18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 43:19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 43:20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 43:21 the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. Second, from the Psalmist, hear these Words: God promises that those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy!

2 Psalm 126 126:1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 126:2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." 126:3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. 126:4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb. 126:5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 126:6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. Third, hear Pauls Word to the Church at Philipi: 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. Philippians 3:4b-14 3:4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 3:6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 3:7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.

3 3:8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 3:9 and be found in him, not having 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. 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 3:11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 3:12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 3:13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. We stand to welcome the Gospel. We sing: Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love, and abiding in steadfast love. The Gospel according to the Community of St. John in the 12th Chapter Glory to you, O Lord Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

4 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, O Christ For the Love of Christ Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We met them earlier in this Gospel: Mary and Martha, sisters whose lives were touched by Jesus. Jesus came to their house, not so many days ago. Mary and Martha asked him to come. Their brother, Lazarus, was dead. The sisters came to Jesus and said, Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died. Jesus came to their village,

5 to the tomb where Lazarus was buried. He said to the people gathered, Take away the stone. Martha said, But Lord, he will stink, I love Martha! She is so practical, so matter of fact, even in the face of grief. But Lord, he will stink, he has been dead for four days. The stench of death will fill this place. Jesus said, Lazarus, come out! The dead man walked from his tomb, alive and well. It was some days after the raising of Lazarus that todays Gospel story takes place. The chief priests and the Pharisees hear about Lazarus. They hear how Jesus followers are growing in number because of this miracle. They hear and they grow nervous. They plot and plan to kill Jesus. Yet six days before the Passover, Jesus heads for Jerusalem, to the very place where the chief priests are lying in wait for him. They knew he would come. As he walks toward the city, Jesus comes first to Bethany, a small village just two miles from Jerusalem. He goes into the village to visit once more in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. And that is when it happens. As Martha serves the table, Mary opens a jar of precious perfume, perfume worth a full years wages, and she anoints Jesus feet with the oil, empties the jar,

6 then she wipes his feet with her hair. Mary, we ask, with Judas Iscariot, why did you waste all of this perfume in such a silly way? It may well represent your lifes savings, a dowry for a marriage, your insurance for old age, an inheritance for any children you might have some day. You could have sold it and given the money to the poor. Why did you so foolishly pour out all that you had? You could have made other choices. You could have used just a little. You did not have to waste it all. As the rich odor of the perfume fills the house and fills our imaginations, we ask, Why? All her life, Marys every act is governed by the strict rules of her culture and society. The way she dresses, the way she combs her hair, the time of day she is allowed to go to the well, who she talks with, what she eats, the work she does: all these things are carefully watched and controlled by her community. How does she ever come to such an independent, extravagant, impulsive moment? With the oil Mary pours out her love and devotion. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus saved her from a life of misery. With her brother dead, she and her sister Martha would have lived precarious lives. As unattached women with no father, brother, or spouse to care for them they would have led miserable, dangerous,

7 vulnerable lives of poverty in a world that afforded decency and any rights at all to a man: no man, no livelihood, no man, no rights, no man, no protection. Mary pours out perfume in thanksgiving. Mary also knows that Jesus will give his life to save her in another way. Mary knows that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. She knows that she will not die, because he will soon give his life for her. We know that too. With Mary, we hear Gods call to us to give ourselves, our resources, time, energy, and gifts of thanksgiving, devotion, and love. Must we pour out all we have as Mary did? How will we know when we are giving enough? We will know we are giving enough, I think, when our giving makes us a little afraid or anxious, a bit unsure of ourselves. How will we know when we are giving enough? We will know when our giving brings some fear and some anxiety, but also brings great excitement and deep joy. I imagine that Mary felt afraid, anxious, unsure of herself as she summoned all her courage and poured out every last drop of her perfume in what surely seemed to others a foolish act by an equally foolish woman. I imagine she knew great excitement and deep joy in that moment as well.

8 Hear again from the prophet Isaiah: God tells us, I am about to do a new thing. A new thing . . . Newness and change comes to each of us in our lives our personal lives, our families, among our friends, and in the life of our congregation, and, in general we resist. We are afraid and anxious, We may weep, shed tears, but we know our fear and anxiety, our tears cannot stop the coming of newness and change. It is inevitable for each of us and for our community. Hear again from the Psalmist: The Lord has done great things for us, those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy! God brings newness and change to our lives. The Psalmist sings that with Gods newness comes great joy. God does a new thing and we shout for joy! God calls us to newness and renewal. God promises that we who sow in tears, will reap in joy. Hear again from the letter to the church at Philipi: St. Paul writes, 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. And, so, With fears and tears, excitement and joy, we look forward to what lies ahead. With fears and tears, excitement and joy,

9 we press on toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. We press on with love and devotion to Gods future where the stench of death yields to the fragrance of divine perfume, the sweet scent of Gods love for us and for all people. Amen