THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE

April 3, 2022
5^th Sunday in Lent
Isa. 43:16-21; Ps.126; Phil. 3:4-14; John 12:1-11
Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

In March, tired of winter, we invariably look at the landscape for signs of spring. Knowing little about gardening and even less about landscape design, I wait to see what spontaneously appears in the landscape that is my yard. The previous owners had a utilitarian, low maintenance design which did not meet my expectations of what the four seasons could create in the landscape. Every spring, summer, and fall, I plant a few additions in hopes of having more natural beauty to behold in my yard. Alas, creatures have dug up most of the flower bulbs I have planted. Some of the shrubs the previous owners planted were not suited for their placement and so have grown to a size that is difficult to remove but look fairly pathetic. I admit I don’t have enough strength to do the level of digging that needs to be done to rearrange the landscape.

Landscaping requires a vision and a knowledge of plants; yet, even the most talented landscapers are limited by uncontrollable factors. Nature has its own way of changing landscapes in unpredictable ways. And, even what the eye sees in a landscape is subjective. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who created landscapes with the words of his poetry, wisely observed: “The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it…”

The word landscape is used to describe more than the physical characteristics of what the eye sees in the land. The landscape is used to express political and social climates as well. In our reading from the Hebrew scriptures, the prophet/poet, identified as Isaiah, is assumed to be speaking to the exiles residing in Babylon after the conquering King Cyrus of Persia had decreed they may return to their homeland in Judah. Most of the exiles had been born in Babylon. Many had prospered there; some had married Babylonians. Why should they go back to a land devastated by war? Today we see pictures of Mariupol, Ukraine, and wonder if the ones that left will ever want to return. The rubble that was once a vital city will need to be cleared away and every structure rebuilt. In the case of the exiled Jews, Isaiah decreed that God desired them to return home.

It may sound strange to hear Isaiah’s words: “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old.” (v.18) The word, “remember,” echoes throughout the Hebrew scriptures. The great festivals of Judaism are based on remembering what God has done for them in the past — the covenants with their ancestors, the rescue from slavery in Egypt, sustenance in the wilderness, and their return to The Promised land. These memories were foundational to their worship, obedience, and trust in God’s promises for the future.

But Isaiah’s warning was that if the people only focused on what God had done in the past, they might miss what God is doing in the present that will lead to a better future. “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.” (v.19) Like finding a single crocus poking through the snow that heralds the beginning of spring, if we don’t watch and anticipate, we might not see the changing landscape. If we busy ourselves with following a familiar path doing things the way we have always done them, we risk missing what God is doing now.

In our epistle reading, Paul is also addressing the issue of clinging to the past when God has presented a new way of being in the world. Paul was contradicting the claim of Jewish converts to Christ that they were superior to Gentile converts who were not Jews like Jesus. One group, who were known as “Judaizers,” insisted male Gentile Christians must submit to circumcision. Paul reminds the Philippian congregation how easy it is to fall into the temptation to clothe ourselves in earthly glory. Our righteousness, Paul insists comes not from anything we have done, but from what God has done for us. To emphasize his point, he presents his own credentials as one born a Jew, which he now regarded as “rubbish” compared to his present knowledge of Christ. The landscape had changed for him and all whose vision was fixed on the kingdom of God Jesus had implanted in their hearts and minds.

The kind of faith the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul encouraged in their communities was transformational. This was the transformation that Mary had experienced learning from Jesus in her home and witnessed in Jesus’ raising her brother, Lazarus, from the dead. The story of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet is found in all four gospels. (Matt. 26:7, Mk. 14:3, Lk. 7:37, and Jn. 12:1-3.) In Luke, this story occurs near the beginning of the gospel and the woman is only identified as a “sinful woman” and there is no relationship made between the anointing and preparing Jesus’ body for burial. In Matthew, Mark and John, the anointing of Jesus’ feet with expensive perfumed oil takes place shortly before the Crucifixion and foreshadows the event. In our reading from John, the woman is Mary of Bethany, sister to Martha and Lazarus. Readers from the earliest times have confused Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene. By conflating these 4 stories, Mary Magdalene became known as a “sinful woman,” though she was never identified as such in the bible.

What we see in John’s story of Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet with nard is a prophetic act, which demonstrates the important role of women in the Johannine community. We are told Martha served the meal, which is the setting for this story. The Greek word for “served” here is “diakonen,” from which we get the word deacon. This is an intimate dinner among friends. But even in this casual setting, there were rules of engagement.

You can imagine the shock of seeing Mary touching Jesus, a forbidden act between men and women in a public setting. This was not how things were done. It was a new response – an outpouring of love like God’s love for us. Where did she get the perfumed oil? Did she purchase it with all she had? Mary’s extravagant gift shocked and angered Judas. He was angry because he had his own personal plans for the money that he believed should have gone to the communal financial resources. John tells us Judas had been skimming money from that fund for his own use. A pound of nard cost the equivalent of more than a year’s wages for the average laborer then; even a little off the top would have given Judas a tidy sum. Mary audaciously bends down in front of Jesus and pours the costly perfume all over his feet and then wipes his feet with her hair. She had been saving the perfume for his burial, but she saw the present situation and was moved to perform this act of devotion. Judas says what everyone else in the room was probably thinking: “Are you crazy, woman? You should have done something more practical with all that money. Start a 401K, invest in some stocks and bonds. You wasted your treasure on Jesus.”

But that was the landscape Judas saw. He knew what Jesus had told his disciples about the kingdom of God, but he wanted his treasure on earth. He knew what Jesus had told his disciples they were to do after he was gone – they were to feed the poor, lift the downtrodden, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, free the imprisoned as Matthew 25 famously states. Jesus praised Mary’s act of generosity, saying to Judas: will always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.

By no means was Jesus telling Judas to forget about the poor. Caring for the poor was, and is, foundational for being a Christian disciple. Judas was like the legislators who promise good times for all, then consistently vote against legislation which would help the needy with such issues as exorbitant medical costs and rising income inequities, while voting for advantages to the wealthy and powerful. Every election we fall for the false promises, which are contradicted by their past behavior. We defend our support of Judas and ridicule, and even demonize, Mary.

Jesus had Judas’ number. Judas was not interested in following him to the cross. Judas didn’t buy into sacrifice for the sake of others at all. Like corporation executives who donate a miniscule fraction of their profits for charitable giving to advertise their generosity and obtain more tax breaks, while their workers’ wages continue to decline in buying power, Judas was fine with giving a little to the poor as long as he kept enough for his own comfort. In Mark’s account of this story (14:7) Jesus tells Judas regarding the poor: “and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish.” Biblical scholar, Raymond Brown noted the implication was we should always wish to do so. But in the present, Jesus was with them bodily, and Mary served him bodily. After he was gone from them, the landscape would change. Jesus had been preparing them to be commissioned to serve “the least of these” in his place.

What Jesus praised was Mary’s heartfelt embrace of Jesus’ message and mission. She anointed him because she trusted Jesus when he had told his disciples that to fulfill his mission, he would have to die. Mary didn’t know what God was up to, but she perceived that God was doing a new thing that had transformed her life and had the power to transform the world. Mary didn’t calculate the return on her investment. Jesus’ affirmation of Mary’s act sent the message: Be generous now and to Judas: “Be generous after I am gone.” There is no either-or dichotomy in Jesus’ response to Mary and Judas.

In the rabbinic theology of that time there were two classifications of “good works,” deeds of mercy, such as burial, and deeds of justice, such as giving to the needy. Both good works were foundational to the Jewish faith, but when forced to choose, mercy even topped justice. Jesus knew Judas had been embezzling community funds, but he didn’t call him out or put him down. He didn’t ask Judas for an accounting of the funds, even though he knew Judas had been spending money on himself that was designated for the poor. Jesus showed Judas mercy.

Mary understood the life of Jesus was worth much more than 300 denarii or about $50,000 in today’s currency. It would have been a complete waste to pour it out for Jesus — that is, unless it could bring people back to God. Mary asks us the questions:

What are we not willing to see that God is showing you?

Are we so caught up in carrying on in our routine ways, distracted by the mundane, that we cannot see the landscape of the kingdom of God Jesus has shown us?

Do we have our defenses at the ready, when we are confronted with the choice of what Paul described as earthly glory versus the glory of God?

As Jesus was invited to an intimate dinner with friends, he invites us to his table now as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet in the kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to envision an intimacy with himself and all our neighbors in the future and calls us to fill the empty tables of our neighbors and share with them in the present.

Amen. May it be so!

© Pastor Denise Clark-Jones, 2022, All Rights Reserved
Westminster Presbyterian Church | 1420 W. Moss Ave. | Peoria, Illinois 61606
WestminsterPeoria.org  | 309.673.8501

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“As a newcomer to Westminster,  I’ve found it to be a most welcoming fellowship.  I look forward to going to services and events and find the warmth of the congregation to be most helpful to a newcomer to the entire area.  I find sermons challenging … music beautiful and well prepared … and a dignity in the worship that is all too lacking in most Protestant congregations.  Mix this with an open atmosphere where it is OK to question and still be seen as a good Christian, and I know I’ve found one important ‘home’ in Central Illinois.”