5 Lent, Year C
Sunday, March 17, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8
Today’s scripture readings don’t really
seem all that Lenty, do they? Other than
Judas, there is no focus on our shortcomings.
The passages are about praising God, the wonderful deeds God has done, and
the hope we have in the resurrection of Jesus.
Forget your past deeds, great and ill…rejoice in Jesus, in the narrative
of redemption, salvation, reconciliation, restoration, and re-creation that is
unfolding.
Mary was rejoicing in that narrative when
she anointed Jesus’ feet. She was
spending time with the Lord, rejoicing in the narrative of love and forgiveness
which he gave. Some folks say we
Christians spend too much time praying and worshipping God, too much time being
like Mary, that instead we should take that time to be out serving the
poor. Well, that’s what Judas said when
Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. Jesus’
response was, “you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have
me.” (John 12:8) Jesus wasn’t saying,
“don’t serve the poor.” Jesus spent a
lot of his ministry serving and healing the poor. Jesus also spent a lot of time in prayer and
worship.
Jesus knew that our hope lies not in
ourselves but in God. Jesus knew that if
we are really going to bring healing into the world, we must be rooted firmly
in God, with our hope resting squarely on God.
That way, when we serve the poor, we can bring healing for the body as
well as for the soul. That healing of
the soul is ultimately accomplished by God, and we have a part to play in that
healing, helping to heal people in this life, and giving people hope of God’s
continued healing in our lives after this life.
Today’s passages of scripture remind us we were formed as God’s people
to focus on our hope for life in heaven, to bring that hope to others, and to
praise God.
Our lives unquestionably have a focus and a
point right here and now, our earthly lives important in and of
themselves. Our lives are also pointing
to something more, something greater beyond this life. We’re striving for this life and for
continued life after this life.
In childhood, kids are hopefully enjoying
life, living each day purely for the joy of each day. Kids are also becoming who they are going to
be. Generally speaking, the more joyful
a childhood one has, the more joyful one will be as an adult. We’re constantly becoming who we are going to
be. Our lives and how we live our lives
are important for the here and now and for continued life after this life.
Our hope for this life and the next life,
however, is not placed in ourselves, but in God. “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?” (Isaiah
43:18-19) God spoke those words through
Isaiah to the people of Israel when they were about to be restored after their
captivity in Babylon, and God speaks those words continually to all of
creation. “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?”
“Forget your past
deeds, good and ill, God is saying, for I will make all things new. I will restore you and heal you. I will forgive you and love you.” This is the cornerstone of our hope in
God. As Paul wrote to the Philippians,
“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 3:14)
I’ve just begun reading a book called, “Revealing Heaven” by The Rev. John
Price, a priest in the diocese of Texas whom I have known since seminary. In his book, John writes about near death
experiences, about people who have died and come back to life or been
resuscitated. Over the years, John has
collected over 200 stories of people who have had these experiences, and he
wrote the book to describe what was revealed to these people about God, Heaven,
and continued life after this life. John
writes:
God loves us and understands us. God forgives us and redeems us. God takes care of us, especially in our hour
of greatest need. God is always present
in our lives. We are a soul with a
temporary body. Death is only a moment
in the ongoing life of a consciousness, of a person, of a soul. (John Price, Revealing Heaven, p. 17)
Those words describe some of the basic
elements of our faith and our hope in God, and yet it is a faith and hope which
many people, even some Christians, don’t have.
Kirk was one such person about whom John writes in his book. He was dying of cancer, and while he was a
Christian, he was terrified of death.
John met him in the hospital and shared several of the stories he’d
heard about near death experiences:
meeting loved ones, seeing a person of light, experiencing peace, love,
and forgiveness.
Hearing these stories and coming to believe
in Heaven changed Kirk. He became
joyful, rather than afraid of death.
John writes:
“It was clear to me that Kirk knew that no
matter what happened, God would take care of him. He had accepted in his heart God’s invitation
to unconditional and eternal love, with immediate acceptance into heaven after
one’s death.” (John Price, Revealing
Heaven, p. 20) Kirk died few weeks
later, joyful, looking forward to his next “Great Adventure.”
Proclaiming this good news so that others
like Kirk is a large part of why we were formed as God’s people. God formed us so that people might not
despair out of their fear of death, but might rejoice in the next great
adventure to which death is but a doorway.
“For I give water in the wilderness,” we hear from Isaiah, “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.” (Isaiah 43:20-21) We were formed as a people to hope in God and
to share that hope with others.
I started today’s sermon by pointing out
that today’s passages of scripture don’t seem all that Lenty, not a great focus
on our sin or the need for repentance.
Today’s passages of scripture remind us why we would focus on our sins and
our need for repentance. We focus on our
need for healing so that we might more fully experience God’s love,
forgiveness, peace, in this life and we focus on our need for healing so that
we might have even greater hope for a life of love, forgiveness, and peace in
the next life. We’re seeking God’s help
so that we might see clearly our hope in heaven, rather than with darkened
vision, see only this life and the challenges we all face in this life. We’re not fixing ourselves to get into
heaven. We’re seeking God’s help to fix
us so that we might unreservedly hope in heaven. Amen.
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