SouthMinister's Musings

Isa 43:16-21

Thus says the LORD,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
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.
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,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

John 12:1-11

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
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.”

When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

A Sermon Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church

March 21, 2010

In 586 BCE, Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians. The Temple was demolished. Even prior to this, some Israelites had been carted off into captivity, but after the destruction of Jerusalem, larger numbers go into exile. Exile was another devastating blow to a people whose history was marked with invasions, shaky alliances, and occupation. But this was the Big One. They lost their land, which had been given to them by God. They lost their Temple, where they met and worshipped and where God lived. The identifying marks of a people were obliterated.
In 539 BCE, Babylon was in turn sacked. This time the aggressor was Persia, led by Cyrus. Cyrus allowed the exiled Hebrew people to return to their land, to go home.

Most of us, of course, are not physically living in Babylon. We are in our homes. We were not carted off by a neighboring country. Exile may not be our physical location, but how might it be the location of our hearts? What situation in our lives is like exile?

The prophet Isaiah tells us not to remember the former things, or to consider the things of old. Only new things for Isaiah! But before we look at the new things, we should notice that Isaiah doesn’t completely follow his own advice. Because the first part of our text involves a lot of remembering and considering. “Thus says the Lord who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior….”
This is the same God, in other words, who ushered the people of Israel through the parted waters of the Red Sea, delivering them from Egypt, saving them from slavery.
So, before we NOT remember or consider the things of old, let’s make sure we have done just that. Because it is the past instances of deliverance that will call us to believe and trust and remember that it will happen again. The God who stopped Pharaoh, the God who freed a people from slavery and delivered them to the Promised Land is still speaking to God’s people today. And still has plans to deliver and redeem God’s people. Exile is not a place you are supposed to live forever.
But do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. Because deliverance will not be the same. Don’t go stand at the side of the Red Sea, waiting for the waters to part. Because they won’t.
Any further deliverance is going to be a very different kind of exodus.

In other words, “while I am the God who saved you once, that is no longer going to be the story you tell people. When you talk about your God, you will tell a new story.

So you can consider the old things only as they remind you to have hope for the new things.
We need to be clear that the New Things are not going to be newer versions of things you used to know. As spring is springing up all around us, we see signs of new life—the bulbs are blooming in the church gardens. There are new leaves on my lilacs. But they aren’t NEW things. I have great confidence that my tulip bulbs that were red tulips last year will be red tulips again. I am certain that the rose bush that bloomed yellow roses last year will do so again.
This isn’t just the next chapter God’s talking about. This isn’t even just a different book.
Do you not perceive it?

This is a NEW THING.

To all of us, no matter the kind of exile in which we find ourselves, God says, I am the one who can put water in the desert. I am the one who will make the path for you. A path where no path has been before. Even the ostriches and jackals will honor the Lord.
I don’t know about you, but if I saw ostriches and jackals, gathered together and honoring God, that would be a good indication of a New Thing ….
Whatever this New Thing will be, you can’t even conceive of it on your own.
Some of us hear this announcement of a new thing and say, ‘great! where do I sign up?’ For some of us, the past is something we would gladly leave behind for a new opportunity.
But some of us are looking for more details. “okay, God. before I sign up for this journey, I need you to be specific. The jackals and ostriches are interesting and all, but I don’t quite know what to do with that and I need some information.”
We are people who want to see the future before we get there. And if the past has been good to us, why would we want to leave it behind?

Look at our family from John’s gospel for an illustration of this.

The last time we saw this family, Mary and Martha were in deep grief because their brother Lazarus was three days dead. dead. dead. And Mary and Martha make some great affirmations of faith to Jesus as they talk to him outside their brothers’ tomb. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Yet, even now I know that God will give you what ever you ask of him.”
And our text this morning opened with “Jesus came to the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.” John is reminding us that this family can talk to us about New Things. Lazarus was buried and three days in the tomb, but is now hosting a dinner party. Jackals and ostriches spending time together probably doesn’t seem like such a big deal when you’ve watched your brother walk out of the tomb. I’m just guessing here.

And Mary, perhaps in response to this new thing that Jesus has done for her brother Lazarus, takes a pound of Nard and pours it all over his feet.
Because this action is so foreign to us, I think we miss out on the extravagance. It isn’t often, I suspect, that someone washes your feet with their hair. With nard.
It was an extravagant gift from Mary to Jesus, an offering of love that was very personal. It was a sign, also, that during all of those times she sat at his feet and listened while he talked—she actually heard what he was saying about “coming that people might have new life and have it abundantly”—she understood when he said he was headed to the cross that he was heading to his death.
Because Nard was a very expensive and concentrated resin that was used to anoint dead bodies. She is giving Jesus the gift that she didn’t have to give her no longer dead brother, Lazarus.
Judas’ comment gets us off track, I think. “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denari and given to the poor?”, he asks.
And when he puts it like that, thief and traitor that he is, we see his point. A Roman soldier at that time earned a little over 200 denari a year, so this one pound jar of Nard was worth around, what, 40 or 50 thousand dollars?
In any case, it had great value.
But Judas sets up a false choice for us. It wasn’t that Mary won the lottery, had a lot of cash, and decided to go buy some really expensive perfume as she walked by the homeless people on the street. It would have taken a long time, I suspect, for her family to save up for that pound of Nard so that they could show love, honor, and respect to their loved ones as they died.
This gift she gives Jesus shows that she understands that a New Thing is breaking into the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This man who brought her brother back from the dead is changing everything.

How many of you have received a gift that was so staggering and surprising that it caught you off guard? Mary recognized that they were receiving that kind of gift in the life of Jesus Christ and she responds with the most extravagant gift she can dream up. And while having your feet washed with embalming ointment by someone’s hair may not be what you are asking for on your next birthday, Jesus recognizes the gift.
“Leave her alone,” he tells Judas. “She bought it so she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
In other words, Jesus is letting Judas and the others know that the systems that keep people poor, homeless, and hungry will always be here. He isn’t saying it like a promise, I don’t think, to beat down the dreams of people who want to rise above their situations and those who want to help them. I don’t think he’s saying, “you’ll always have the poor with you so don’t worry about them.”
I think he is saying it with some degree of judgment. “Because of the way you steal from the common purse and pursue your own interests above those of everyone else—you will always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
These words from Jesus should call us to renewed purpose for the improvement of the lives of others. Rather than putting down the extravagant gifts that people bring to Jesus, we should all live our lives with Mary’s faith and gratitude.

Because this New Thing of which Isaiah spoke and which we recognize in the person of Jesus Christ can change lives. “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly”, Jesus says in John’s gospel.
Lazarus, who is silently sitting at the head of the table in this text, could have told us about New Life.
What is it like to walk out of a tomb, do you think?
As you may have noticed in your Year of the Bible readings, Jewish culture has a lot of taboos about dead bodies. That’s why they were buried and out of sight quickly. You weren’t supposed to spend a lot of time with dead bodies. And Jewish tradition didn’t have rules about what to do with a formerly dead person who invites you to dinner. Is the house of a formerly dead person still kosher?
Lazarus probably could have told us that the decision to listen to Jesus and to walk out of his tomb gave him new life but probably also gave him a whole new set of issues. The raising of Lazarus was the final straw for the Jewish leaders about Jesus. They are actively plotting his death from this point on. And they weren’t big fans of Lazarus either. Because everywhere he went, the people said, “Hey—there’s the guy Jesus brought back from death!” Our text even tells us this, “When the great crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.”
Living into New Life, walking out of the tombs in which we find ourselves is not without risk.
Because this world wants to keep us there.
But Mary, Martha, and Lazarus live fully into this New Thing. Lazarus walks out of his tomb and into new life with courage and confidence. Martha prepares a dinner party with Jesus, even though eating dinner with him is seditious. Mary openly declares her abundant faith in Jesus’ words by anointing his feet with perfume.
Next week, we’ll reach Palm Sunday, with the crowds who follow Jesus, shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna!” But we also enter Holy Week, when the crowds will fall away. This New Thing that will break forth in the world on Easter morning is not tame and easy to control or understand. It shatters our understanding about how the world is and could be.
I pray that we will be willing, like Lazarus, Martha and Mary, to stay with Jesus when the crowds vanish. To invite him to our house for dinner when it is not the popular thing to do. To wash his feet with nard, offering him a gift so extravagant that he sees our gratitude for this gift of New Life that we have been given.
Are there tombs you need to walk out of?
Are there gifts you need to give?
As we prepare for Holy Week, let us consider what New Things God might be doing in our midst.
Amen.