Fifth Sunday in Lent

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +

Text: John 12:1-8
Theme: Service and Devotion

Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,

Jesus has spoken repeatedly of His impending arrest and crucifixion. There was no question that His time was nearing its end. Mary seems to sense this. As a touching and poignant act of love she wished to anoint Him with perfume that would generally be used at burial. Judas condemns her act as wasteful. The poor could have been helped, he said. But his motivations were far from pure. Judas was a thief. The sinner always finds a better use for someone else’s possessions. But Jesus does not reprimand him or reveal his transgression. Instead He commends Mary’s act of devotion. God will judge. God will bring all things to light whether good or evil. But it was not quite Judas’s time.

One of the early preachers of the church speaks of the folly of all who would follow in Judas’ footsteps. “They indeed defraud you of your money, but they strip themselves of the good will and help of God. And he that is stripped of that, though he clothe himself with the whole wealth of the world, is of all people most poor, just as he who is poorest of all, if he has God’s help, is the wealthiest of all.”1 But who in the world really believes this? How many would forego material luxury to acquire spiritual treasure? Are we any different than those who lived centuries ago? The more things change the more they stay the same.

There will never be a utopia on earth because people are utterly selfish and sinful.
One person is lacking food, while the next is starved for attention. One person is given physical support while the next remains bereft of emotional help. Perhaps the stomach is indulged while the soul withers. Or one individual is granted great personal freedom but becomes enslaved to his own lack of self-control. We selfishly confuse our wants with needs and people uncharitably make judgments about what is best for others. These complexities of human existence and sinfulness will always be with us. Christians are called to be bearers of mercy and hope. But we harbor no naïve ideals about the perfection of the human race. Pure sacrifice seeks no hope of having the favour returned. The Christian serves others because there is need, not because of reward. And we do it not to build people’s confidence in the goodness of the world but to point them to Christ.

What does the Bible say? “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”2 This power is the Word of God. Oh, what confidence has been lost in the word of God! How seldom we find it taken seriously. The bible is scarcely viewed as anything more than a dusty collection of stories of a by-gone age. Even amongst many Christians the biblical accounts are often marginalized as nothing more than harmless moralistic stories for children. Such attitudes betray the degree to which arrogance and unbelief so easily rule hearts and minds. Satan doesn’t need overly-cunning deceptions or temptations to outwit humans; he need only maintain enough cynicism, ignorance, or apathy to render God’s promises ineffective.

But the Word of God still commands its own audience and the Holy Spirit gathers His own followers. God works despite our foibles, faults, forgetfulness, and faithlessness.
Lent draws us right into the fray, and, angst, and paradox of remembering that we may forget. That is, of recalling Christ’s suffering that our sins may be forgotten; of claiming the reason for His crucifixion, that we might be identified with Him in the resurrection; of appreciating the past to make sense of the present and look toward the future. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”3 And the prophet says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”4

Dear friends, we believe that the doctrine of Christ crucified and risen has far-reaching consequences. Christ initiated a great reversal which presses on in the face of ridicule and doubt and is often unobserved. Sometimes we are privileged to witness great flashes of God’s power but more often than not the gospel does its work quietly and always in the midst of struggle and tension. By it the Holy Spirit converts hearts and transforms minds; yet our righteousness is by declaration and our holiness not our own, but Christ’s. And though this righteousness seems less tangible because it isn’t fully grasped by human senses, it is all the more certain because it rests on Christ’s work alone. He claims you as His child in baptism and no one can gainsay His testimony or overturn His claim. He declares to the penitent that his or her sins are forgiven and nothing can give greater freedom. He provides His own body and blood, and better nourishment for the soul cannot be found.

Even in the midst of decay the old is being made new. In the midst of dying the power of life gathers force. In the face of despair hope springs anew. The Christ hidden from our senses nevertheless lives in our souls. Human eyes search vainly in the darkness but the eyes of faith plainly behold the image of the cross. God is no less Creator now than He was in the beginning. Darkness fled when He commanded light to shine. Demons still flee whenever and wherever the Light of the World holds sway.

That which is broken can be repaired. Those who are estranged can be reconciled. All who have transgressed can be forgiven. The lost are sought and found. The enslaved are identified and freed. The weak are given strength, the ignorant wisdom, the sorrowful joy. Those whose appreciation for the beauty and elegance of creation has gone pass all memory are reintroduced to a remade Eden. The thankless are given a reason to praise. This is the work of the gospel even now. Mary’s act of devotion will always be remembered because Christ says it will.

Christ does all these things. Now in the piecemeal manner that suppresses our arrogance, subdues our selfishness, and increases our dependence on His mercy. Only in this manner is our faith now served. As the apostle says, “Not that I have already attained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”5 But then, on the Last Day, at the last trumpet, in dramatic and comprehensive fashion, when we see Him face to face and as He IS- then will the consequence of sin and evil of death be swallowed up by life. Amen.

+ in nomine Jesu +

Fifth Sunday in Lent
21 March 2010 Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Chrysostom
2 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
3 Hebrews 13:8
4 Isaiah 43:18-19
5 Philippians 3:12