Our men's breakfast Bible study has been studying the lectionary texts each week. This past week, I was the presenter, so I did lots of work on the texts for Sunday's sermons (that's one of the fun aspects of studying the texts with the men prior to preaching it). I might have had too much material woven into this sermon.
this is an incredible story with so many directions the sermon could go. I had intended to set up some current scenarios with people having to make choices, as if they were having to discern like Mary did, but that gave way to all the info I had developed during the week.
During the Time with Young Disciples, I realized I had replaced "perceive" with "discern" somewhere along the way. As I preached the sermon, I had to replace "discern" with "perceive" to mimic Isaiah. That was a sermon surprise for me!
I enjoyed studying these texts and preaching this sermon.
“Do You Not Perceive It?”, April 6, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Isaiah 43: 16-21; John 12: 1-8
John 12: 1-8
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary 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. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6(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.) 7Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’
Introduction: We heard Isaiah prophesying to God’s people about God doing a new thing,
words they heard probably while they were in exile desperately hoping for a change in their circumstances.
Isaiah tells them to not focus on things that have happened to them, but instead look to what God is doing because God is doing a new thing.
Then, Isaiah asks them,
indeed, he asks any and all of us who are looking for something more from God:
“Do you not perceive it?”
Do they,
do we not perceive how God is at work in our midst?
Our Lenten question for reflection this morning is probably a familiar one because we often ask, “how can we tell what God is doing or what God is calling us to do?”
Do we not perceive it?
Move 1: to help us reflect on that question, we have the story about Mary in the Gospel of John.
A story in which Jesus confirms that Mary does seem to get it.
If the prophet Isaiah had asked Mary, “Do you discern it?” she might not have claimed to have the answer, but I suspect those around her would have said, “yes, Mary discerns it!”
How does Mary get it?
a. Maybe the first-hand experience of seeing her brother Lazarus raised from the dead gave her important insights.
1. We notice that the Gospel of John does not just say that Jesus came to the home of Lazarus,
call Lazarus Jesus’ friend, which he was.
no, the gospel of John but describes Lazarus as the one “whom Jesus had raised from the dead.”
2. A reminder that in the Gospel of John, the resurrection of Lazarus gives credence to Jesus’ claim to Martha and Mary that he is indeed the resurrection and the life.
3. Maybe Mary understands life and death in a way we should, but do not always get?
4. To proclaim that Christ has been raised from the dead;
to believe that God is a God of resurrection;
Gives us a clue for how to discern where God is at work:
Look for places where new life is springing up.
Look for how God is turning the tables on the ways of the world and inviting you to new opportunities.
Look for where God might send you to do something new and unexpected.
after all, a God of resurrection is not bound by past failures or the patterns of living that stifle and discourage.
A God of resurrection springs forth with new life.
Mary gets that Jesus, even with death looming, is the one who will lead her,
will lead us to new life.
Do you not discern it?
b. We also notice that Mary is willing to be extravagant.
1. if we were told this story a bit differently, we would probably take Judas’ side in this story.
2. Clearly, the gospel of John marks Judas as a bad guy who not surprisingly will betray Jesus in the near future.
Judas does not to waste the expensive perfume, but instead wants the money in the treasury to fund mission for the poor, or so he says.
what he really wants is the money in the treasury so he can steal it.
3. But, as the other gospels tell this story or a similar one, other disciples, not just Judas, complain that money which could be used for ministry is being wasted on perfume.
4. I think most of us recognize that argument.
5. We are called to be good stewards of our money;
we are called to minister to those in need.
to waste money on expensive perfume for an extravagant moment is not exactly a profile of good stewardship.
6. But Mary recognizes this special moment with Jesus, this critical time in his life and pivotal moment in how he engages the world,
and she acts extravagantly.
7. I have always thought a session, (for those of you who are not Presbyterian the session is the local congregation’s governing body)
I have always thought the session needs at least one good numbers person on it to look over the money and bring a bit of fiscal discipline to the church’s finances, to help the church be a good steward of its money in a responsible way;.
Likewise, every Session also needs at last one person who is passionate about mission, who will always be pushing the session and the congregation to do more to reach out to reach out to others and asking what’s next for the churches ministry.
8. But Mary’s actions do not make sense from a stewardship perspective or a mission perspective.
As theologian Justo Gonzalez reminds us: Mary spills her perfume with wild abandon for no other reason than this: Jesus is there. There is no calculation here, no consideration for efficiency, no sense that this is a waste. There is nothing but sheer love and gratitude for what Jesus has done. (https://www.christiancentury.org/article/living-word/april-7-fifth-sunday-lent-john-121-8; Justo L. Gonzalez, March 13, 2019; Christian Century)
She recognizes that this is a special moment that calls for a special response.
9. Mary reminds me that a Session needs to have good stewards;
a session needs to have and people passionate about mission;
and a Session also needs at least one person who recognize significant moments.
someone who just knows that now is the time to stand up and be counted
or usher a word of assurance in a moment of angst
or demand that this is the time for the church to ace lay claim to its calling.
10. Mary recognizes the moment and marks it for all to see, and in this case to smell.
Unlike other gospels, the Gospel of John mentions the large amount of perfume Mary uses to anoint Jesus.
We get the sense that the smell of the perfume would permeate the house and cling to Jesus.
Everyone there would know that this was a special moment as Jesus was preparing for his death and resurrection - all they had to do was take a sniff!
Do you not perceive it?
Move 2: Two important reminders as we work on our ability to perceive.
a. do not let people create false choices for you
- In the Gospel of John’s telling of this story, Judas compares Mary’s use of expensive perfume with caring for the poor.
2. In doing so, he tries to create competing choices - if you care for the poor, you have to be against anointing Jesus with perfume.
3. Likewise, extravagance toward Jesus means not caring about the poor.
4. Jesus addresses this by noting the poor will always with you.
his words appears to be a quote from Deuteronomy 15:11 where we are told:11Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.” (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, Vol. 2. David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, 145).
5. Recognizing who Jesus is and giving him the devotion he deserves does not remove us from the responsibility to care for the poor and those in need.
do not let anyone force you to choose between showing extravagant love for Jesus and caring for others.
b. Secondly, remember what God has done before?
1. Isaiah begins his prophecy with the image of chariots, horses, an army, and warriors being swallowed up by the sea.
2. An image that takes the listener back to the Red Sea when God parted the waters so the Israelites could escape from the Egyptian army that was chasing them.
as the army tried to follow the Israelites through the Red Sea, they were swallowed up by the returning the chariots and warriors as they tried to cross the Red Sea.
3. Isaiah’s prelude to prophesying about God doing a new thing is the reminder of what God had done previously.
4. As we discern what God is doing now and in the future, we can look back at what God has done to get clues for what God is going to do.
5. The God who has freed us in the past;
the God who has given us hope in the past;
the God who has given us new life in the past.
Is doing a new thing that will free us again;
Give us hope for the future;
give us new life.
Conclusion: Do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 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.
