Sermon Notes for March 13 John 12, Is. 43

March 13 lent 5-Is. 43:16-21, Phil 3:4-14, John 12:1-8, Ps. 126

Do not remember the former things-what former things?The character of our god has not changed. God’s grace and power have sustained us in the past, will see us through the present and guide us into the future. I am reminded of the poem “A Homecoming” by Wendell Berry:

…In the trust of old love, cultivation shows a dark and graceful wilderness/at its heart. Wild/in that wilderness, we roam/the distance of our faith/safe beyond the bounds/of what we know. O love,/open. Show me/my country. Take me home.

“Safe beyond the bounds of what we know” is as apt a description of a faith journey. In times of of disappointment with the present and the prospects of the future, Isaiah 43 urges us to be alert for the signs of God’s continued presence, It is not on the past as the past that the prophet wants the people to concentrate. The prophet aims to create an imaginative space in the minds of the people so that their conception of the past can transform their understanding of the present and, thus, the future: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” In a seemingly hopeless situation, the prophet calls on the people not to lose heart but to look with anticipation for the signs of God’s approaching redemption, for the “new thing” that is coming.(Callie Plunket-Brewton)  Water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert in verses 19b-20 suggest a link between the Exodus journey. Wild animals populate the  the wild places, the uninhabited and uninhabitable land, and yet, the prophet assures the people that they need not fear such places. Even the wild animals that live there are amazed at the marvelous deeds of this god who “gives water in the wilderness.” The Creator God cares for all things, all of creation.A journey through the wilderness will be hard, but the grace and power of God prevailed in the past and will do so in the future.  

Already Jesus is under direct threat, for the miracle of bringing life to Lazarus, so he is in a safe house. John’s story of the anointing-(Skinner)-The fragrance of the perfume is overpowering and expensive and shocking. she does a new and different thing is with the burial perfume. It is a prophetic demonstration of Jesus' death and burial. We are in the home of the risen Lazarus whose own body had begun to decay.. Mary does not anoint Jesus as king or Messiah; she anoints a dead man walking, a soon to be corpse. Smell is a most evocative sense, especially with memory. We are transported back to an aunt’s kitchen when we catch a whiff of an old recipe. If the beautiful scent and ugly crucifixion seem incongruent, then we are onto John's strange logic whereby Jesus is lifted up onto a cross so that he might attract all to himself (12:32).Lavish devotion contrasts critical stinginess., to honor Jesus in extravagant ways, perhaps even by giving a massive donation to the poor.Love produces extravagant gestures.

The God of time is not bound by the past. We may well learn from the past, but we do not follow a God who repeats endless cycles. The future is in God’s hands. the future is shared by the work of our hands.Paul famously called us a new creation. the church too is a new creation. The church can be and will be a new creation.God transforms the old into something vibrant and alive, even in the face of death.