Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 25, 2007
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8
Year C
I.N.I. (In the name of Jesus)
Are we there yet? No.
Are we there yet? No.
Are we there yet? No.
Long trips in the days of my youth were perhaps not too much different from anyone else's. Mom packed the cooler with road food, picnic lunches, and cereal snack packs, individual boxes that were perforated to open up and double as bowls. The three kids packed comic books, auto bingo, and jockey for window seats in the station wagon. Well in advance of our road trip, Dad carefully examined the maps, and calculated the distance about nine hours of driving would take us, which I guess is about as much as he could take with the car full of three kids and who knows what he would face on the roads. AAA would give us our Triptik, that spiral bound flip-chart with a marker on the roads we were to follow to get us through Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina on our way to our grandparents in Florida. For my Dad, Holiday Inns were the motels of choice, so in addition to the pestering "Are we there yet?" question, anytime we saw a motel sign, one of the Keyl kids was bound to ask "Is that our Holiday Inn?"
Oh, and when the answer was almost (are we there yet? almost), the three of us, Steve, Debbie, and Timmy would bounce up and down, counting the miles, straining to see if the motel was visible from the highway, hoping against hope that they would have a pool, and, if it were really a classy Holiday Inn,
magic fingers. Yes, magic fingers, part of the bed, which, once quarters were deposited, would soothe tired bodies as the bed vibrated at a low hum.
This winter, we have been on the road of faith this 40-day season of Lent, heading toward the springtime thaw and blossoming of Easter. Are we there yet? No. But I can tell you and anyone who is interesting in knowing the count, that we are on Day 29, and if there were a motel sign on the road, and you were to ask "Is that our Holiday Inn," the answer would be almost!
We are on the verge of our time of renewal. We packed for the trip with ashes on our foreheads, being urged to pack light by fasting, to bone up on reading material from the scriptures and all along the way to plunge more deeply into prayer, self-examination, and acts of love. I want to ask, how are you weathering the journey? Have you been filling up on weekday prayer, fellowship in soup suppers, attentiveness to Heifer International's good work, and praying and cheering for our first communion students, our new members, and our candidate for baptism, Paul Thompson?
We are on the verge of God's great welcome for weary travelers, God's great gushing of love for us and the entire world, God's opening a way for those who feel stuck in the desert.
Are we there yet? Almost!
For the weary Israelites in the no-tell motel of Babylon, the declaration of Isaiah from the First Reading was almost too good to be true. You can hear the children in the back seat complaining, "oh, no, do we have to go through this again, running from Pharaoh and his horses, getting water from a rock, beating back wild animals?" No, God is about to do a new thing. Right smack in the middle of the desert, pools of water will emerge. Wild animals will be like tamed pets.
You can hear God say through Isaiah, "you're almost there. Drink up this return from exile." God is active, working wonders, loving his people.
In the Gospel story, for those who walk with Jesus as guide, teacher, and Lord, the raising of Lazarus was almost too good to be true. You can hear them whispering in the back sit, "He's eating with someone who used to be dead. What is God up to in him, anyway?" And in this scene, we who have eyes to see discover that Jesus is on the verge of drawing the whole world to himself.
This time it's through the magic fingers of Mary's generously soothing Jesus' feet. What happens? A huge full bottle of Chanel No. 5 drained as if there weren't enough cologne in the world to give honor and love to our dearest friend, our favorite teacher, the one who holds the world in his keeping.
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.
Can't you just smell it, and take in the lavishness of Mary, Mary, so grateful for Jesus' presence in her life? Is there ever a time, a place, a moment, or for someone that you would ever give or receive extravagantly out of sheer devotion?
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.
Can't you just smell it, is there a way that you can find time, take time, just do something, to give honor and devotion to Christ, who is our dearest friend, our favorite teacher, the one who holds the world in his keeping?
Are we there yet? Almost.
The light around Jesus grows brighter and brighter, until his shining moment at the cross joins his beloved disciple with his mother, until his very blood mixed with water gushes out, signaling that God continues to do a new thing, reconciling a broken humanity, offering his very self for food and drink, to bring us to our final destination, declaring God's great Jubilee for the cosmos. Freedom gained, debts and sins forgiven, justice trumped by mercy.
As the light of Jesus brightens, Judas Iscariot stays in the dark. Stuck in the desert. Addicted to pointing a finger and missing out on promise for others, for Mary, for us, and for himself, Judas like so many of us, says one thing while doing another. He betrays Jesus. He betrays God's way of new life. He betrays the words, the gestures, the advocacy of promise for greed.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 15 to guide Judas to the light, if at all possible. Deuteronomy 15 is set within the context of Jubilee. When announcing that the poor will be with us always, and that he will not, might Jesus be saying that we are almost there, to the place on the cross and in the tomb where Jubilee is enacted once and for all, and can be claimed by those who lavish in the nearness of Christ, the oily aroma, the gushing waters of God's new life? Deuteronomy 15:11 reads,
since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you,
"Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land."
How we honor Christ in worship and prayer has a direct connection with how we honor Christ in our loving actions toward others, especially the poor. In our Wednesday review of Luther's Small Catechism, beloved brother Martin reminds us over and over that by our praying such petitions as your kingdom come we do not in any way influence God to bring about the kingdom or God's will, but that we pray these things so that God's kingdom will come about in us.
Are you passionate about something, the environment, the war in Iraq, injustice in Africa, schools in your town? Are you looking for ways to connect to others in faithful conversation? Are you interested in deepening your sense of prayer? Are you eager to speak about the choices we make in everyday life, mindful of God's new life in you?
Do something. Say something. Be always centered in Christ, who holds promise and new life ever before us, calling us not to be perfect, politically or otherwise correct, but always and continually loved and forgiven.
We are on the verge of the Great and Holy Week, the Three Days' celebration, and Easter's joys, that dear Mary unknowingly prepared Jesus for, and which loom on the horizon.
Are we there yet? Almost.
I.N.I.
The Rev. Timothy J. Keyl, Pastor
Christ the King Lutheran Church
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