What was Mary Thinking?

Today’s Reading

John 12:1-11

12Six 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.” ⁹When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

What was Mary thinking?  What was Mary feeling?

Mary had so many things going against her, she must of been on an emotional rollercoaster.  Her brother had just died but come back to life, her sister was pressuring her to stop listening to Jesus and do some more work around the house (again), Judas was yelling at her for wasting precious perfume.  So what was going on in her head?

I would like to present a possible answer.  From time to time, for a better understanding of the Gospel reading for a Sunday I like to play out a character’s  thoughts and feelings.  This is a version for Mary:

Hello I am Mary – Mary of Bethany.  Some of you might know me better as Mary the little sister of Martha and Lazarus. The three of us made a good team – even though we are all very different from one another. My brother Lazarus is intelligent, successful, and highly respected in the community, he is even best friends with Jesus!

Martha is always very organized, she is always thinking of the other person, she wants to make sure that if we have someone over at the house the they would always feel welcome and loved.  She was a great cook and she kept the house spotless.

Then there’s me, Mary. Instead of thinking with my head, I think with my heart.  Many people have looked down upon me because I am not as smart or as talented as Martha and Lazarus.  I do not think I am stupid but some people have called me that.  I just don’t really think too much about what I do, I see something  and I go for it!

Other people call me lazy but I think of myself as a dreamer.

Lazarus is always bringing people home for a meal, important people.  I would often sneak into the dining  room to listen in on the conversations.  Don’t worry, I know my place, as a woman I was not allowed to share with people what I thought or what I felt.  Once Lazarus brought over a leader in the community, he was talking about some of the changes the wanted to happen in our little town of Bethany.  I did not like what he was saying, but I kept my mouth shut —  I did not want to upset or embarrass my brother.

But when Lazarus brought Jesus home for dinner the first time, I was amazed at his wisdom and his gentleness. He talked about the things of God as though he really knew God. I did not only want to be in the room, but I wanted to sit at his feet and look into his eyes when he talked.  It was amazing!  My heart could not stop pounding!

When I did this it made Martha  very unhappy.  She was especially unhappy with me the day that I sat down with all the men and listened to Jesus. She wanted me to help with the meal – to do what was expected of a woman. But I wanted to hear Jesus!

Jesus’ disciples put up with me because they didn’t want to offend Lazarus who was a good friend of Jesus, we also provided money and a place for them when they were in town.  I felt that  Jesus didn’t seem to mind that I hung around listening to him, he of course welcomed everybody!

Jesus spent many hours in our home, often teaching his disciples and talking about God. He became a close friend to our family.

So it was natural that when Lazarus became ill, we sent for Jesus. But he didn’t come right away and Lazarus died. Martha and I were so upset.  Four days after we buried my brother Jesus showed up. “Why didn’t you come? If you’d been here, he would not have died,” we said.  We were mad at Jesus.

But instead of giving me an answer, Jesus went with us to the tomb and wept with us. Then he called out, “Lazarus, come out!” Still wrapped in burial cloths, my brother came out of the tomb – alive! Only moments before Jesus had said to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

Now my brother who was dead, was alive! Jesus – the resurrection and the life. It was at that moment that, a lot of things Jesus had said began to make more sense. Jesus had spoken several times about his death.  I did not know what he was talking about.  It all seemed a little weird to me.   But the last time, he was so clear about it that it seemed he meant it would happen soon.

Jesus said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life.”

Jesus said that so clearly, but we never really understood what he was talking about.  But now I began to see. He was making his last trip to Jerusalem. He was on his way to his death. He showed us his power over death when he brought Lazarus back to life. He had resurrection power. He was the life. Yet he would be put to death – just as he said.

That brings back to today.  Jesus was coming over for dinner and I was excited to see him.  Once he came to the door I could instantly see a different look in his face.  I gave him a hug and this time he seems a little cold and distant.   At dinner I could see a difference in Jesus. The dinner was given in his honor, yet he wasn’t celebrating. He seemed sad, as though he knew this would be the last time Martha would prepare a meal for him. It would be the last time he gathered with these people.

I could not help it, I went into the back room and I grabbed the bottle of nard that we had been saving.  We saved our money up for so long to get it, we were waiting to use it on a special occasion -  what could be more special than this?  To prepare Jesus for his death.  So I decided to honor Jesus – in my own way. Nard is an expensive and fragrant oil often used for anointing people to honor them, but also used to prepare a body for burial. I was using it for both purposes.

I poured it on  Jesus’ head first, it ran down onto his beard and robe as well. So he carried that fragrance of nard to the tomb.

As I was doing it I had second thoughts,  everyone, including Martha was looking at me as if I lost my mind.  I started to become embarrassed.    Then Judas yelled at me for “wasted” this expensive oil and if that was not enough I realized I never put my hair back so I began to use it to wipe Jesus’ feet.

I know that a proper woman would never let her hair down in the presence of men.  My actions were that of  a slave, a servant, who washed the feet of guests and then dried them. I knew that, and I accepted that because I was a servant of Jesus Christ, I humbly wiped my Lord’s feet.

My actions were also those of one who was losing a dear friend, who was preparing his body for burial. The silence in the room was deafening. No one knew what to say. Well, except for Judas, who said I should have sold it and given the money to the poor.

But Jesus understood my actions. He knew that I knew he was going to Jerusalem to die. He knew I had finally put it together and knew this was what had to happen. I didn’t want him to die. But I had to let Jesus go. So I anointed his body with this fragrant perfume for death.

He said that my brother would rise again – and he did. He said he was the resurrection and the life – and I believed him. Whatever happened, I trusted Jesus.

Of all the people in that room, Jesus and I were the only two who knew that he would be put to death very soon.

• The disciples sat and listened to Jesus, but they still didn’t understand.
• Lazarus sat in grateful silence, having been given back his life by Jesus.
• Judas squirmed uneasily and thought about money.
• My dear sister Martha lovingly fed and served them.

And I – I worshiped my Lord. I gave him the greatest gift I could – the gift of an understanding heart – for he knew that I knew what was to come.

______________________

Dear God, We know what is to come, your death and resurrection.  In the business of our world, we pray that we take the time to sit at your feet – to listen to your words and to anoint you as our beloved.  We ask that we have the courage to stand up for you and to honor you even if everyone else is looking down upon us.  That this week we are able to follow you from the celebration on Palm Sunday to the sorrow of Good Friday and back again.

Amen

The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:  1-3, 11b – 32

15Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³So he told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’²²But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. ²⁵“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ ³¹Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a well known story.  Even those who might not be familiar with church or the Bible might have heard of the parable, or at least know the basic outline of the parable.

I want to share a “modern day” version of the parable that I used at St. Mark’s this morning.  I think what strikes me most is that the story can and is playing out in homes all across America.  The story is by the writer and theologian Philip Yancy. I have adapted the story some, but I think it is very powerful.

Jenny grew up on the west side of Chillicothe, Ohio. In her early teenage years she fell into a pattern of long running battles with her parents.  They didn’t react too well one Saturday evening when she came home with a nose ring.  They were furious when she stayed out all night without so much as a phone call to tell them where she was and her friends weren’t exactly her parent’s first choice.  One night Jenny and her folks have a huge fight. “I hate you!” she screams at her father as she slams the door to her bedroom.

That night she acts on a plan that’s been forming for some time. Once everyone has gone to sleep she gets dressed, packs a bag and goes into the kitchen. Opening the kitchen drawer she rifles through her parent’s wallets. She takes the credit cards, the cash, and their debit cards. She hops on the bus and heads to Columbus.

When she gets there she waits on the doorstep of the Bank One building so she can be the first through the door. She forges her mother’s signature and withdraws $12,500 her parents had in her college account. It’s her money anyway right? She grabs a cab to the airport and uses Dad’s credit card to buy a ticket to Dallas, Texas – she figures the last place her parents will look for her.

She arrives in Dallas and pretty soon she’s enjoying the high life – a new group of friends, plenty of parties, late nights, sleep all day, no school, no parent’s hassling her about a nose ring, let alone her experiments with sex and drugs. It doesn’t take long till the $12,500′s gone and the credit cards have been canceled.

Back home her parent’s are frantic. Her mother started working two jobs just to pay off the credit card bills! They follow her paper trail and they know that she is in Dallas and they call the police, the streets are searched, but find nothing. Her parents don’t know what’s happened. They fear the worst.

Meanwhile down on the streets things aren’t going too well. Jenny’s soon addicted to heroin and the money she stole doesn’t go too far. She moves in with a group of other women, and at the suggestion of another girl, Jenny becomes a prostitute.

One day she’s walking down the street and sees a poster on the telephone pole. It says: “Have you seen this girl?” Below the heading is a photo of her – at least as she used to look. The poster’s got her parent’s phone number on it, and asks for anyone with information to call. Jenny rips the poster down, folds it up and puts it into her pocket.

The months pass, then the years. Jenny’s been careless one time too many. At first she writes off her sickness as just another bout of flu. But the illness persists. She goes to the clinic to discover she’s contracted AIDS. The life she was living is now gone. No one wants to be with her.

As she sits lonely, tired and hungry, and homeless, she looks at the poster she’d rescued from that telephone pole so long ago. She thinks back to her previous life – as a typical schoolgirl in a rural Ohio family. “Why did I leave?” she says to herself. “Even the family cat lives a better life than I do.” She’s sobbing now, and knows that more than anything she wants to go home.

She gathers up the courage to call her parents. But three straight phone calls, leads to three connections with the answering machine. She hangs up without leaving a message the first two times, but the third time she says with a trembling voice, “Mom, dad, it’s me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’ll pay you rent. It’s just until I can’t get back on my feet. I’m taking the train to Columbus. I’ll downtown at the station about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, well I guess I’ll just get another train to New York.”

The next day on the train Jenny thinks about the call, it’s been 8 years and they haven’t heard a word from her in all that time. How are they going to react when they discover I’m a junkie with AIDS? If they do show up what on earth am I going to say? The train pulls into the greyhound station at ten minutes past midnight. She hears the hiss of the brakes as the train comes to a stop. Her heart starts pounding. “This is it. Oh well, get ready for nothing.”

Jenny steps out of the train not knowing what to expect. She looks to her right and sees an empty platform, but before she can look back she hears someone call her name. Her head whips around and there’s her mom and dad and her aunts and uncles and cousins and grandmother. They’re holding a banner that reads “Welcome home,” and everyone’s wearing party hats and throwing streamers and popping party poppers, and there’s her mom and dad running towards her, tears streaming down their face, arms held wide. Jenny can’t move. Her parent’s grab her with such force it almost knocks her over.

“Dad, I’m sorry. I know…”

“Hush child. Forget the apologies. All we care about is that you’re home. I just want to hold you. Come on, everyone’s waiting – we’ve got a big party for you at home.”

This is what God tells us.  No matter who you are, or what you have done in your life, you are welcome in the loving arms of God.  We all struggle at one point or another in our lives, and we can be rest assured that God loves us.  That God has never abandoned us.

All God knows is love from a precious parent to us God’s children — love that always welcomes us home.  And it is God who sent Jesus running after us with open arms to embrace us in God’s kingdom forever.

Dear God, thank you for sending your son Jesus so that we have a better idea of your awesome love for us in our lives.  Thank you for running towards us even when we run away.

Amen

The photo above is by Rembrandt, Return of the Prodigal Son, 1662, (Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg)

HELP!

1 Corinthians 10: 13-17

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it……The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
A large part of my faith development is surrounded by music.  A St. Mark’s today, we had the youth led services.  It was great!  They did not follow the lectionary so we did not use the lessons at St. Mark’s today.

But I did study the texts this past week.  The text above is the one that resonated most with people.  It is a verse of comfort.  When I thought about the text and what it means to me The Beatles kept coming to my mind.

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me?

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.

So many times we are crying for help.  Life comes at us and sometimes we are not prepared for it.  God tells us that God will not abandon us — but what does that mean?  Does that mean we will not feel overwhelmed?

I don’t believe so.

One of the things that verse tells me is that I have a community of faith that is there for me, and supports me.  When I am feeling overwhelmed I can turn to the church, I can turn to my pastor, I can turn to God and I am not alone.  Whatever I am going through I have assurance that when I am crying out for help, when I need someone to help me, there will always be someone there.

Dear God, Thank you for giving us so many things to help us in our spiritual journey.  Amen

Five Little Ducks

Luke 13: 31-35

³¹At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³²He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ ³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!³⁵See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

I have had the camp song “Five Little Ducks” in my head all week.  If you are unfamiliar with the song it goes like this:

Five little ducks went out to play,
Over the hill and far away;
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But only four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks went out to play,
Over the hill and far away;
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But only three little ducks came back.

Three little ducks went out to play,
Over the hill and far away;
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But only two little ducks came back.

Two little ducks went out to play,
Over the hill and far away;
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But only one little duck came back.

One little duck went out to play,
Over the hill and far away;
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But none of the five little ducks came back.

But when the father duck called,

“QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!!”

Five little ducks came running back.

I like this song because it shows just how much the mother duck loved her little ones. The mother duck never gave up on her little ducks.  She called them and called them and called them, and eventually they came home.

I think this song is a good comparison with the Gospel story today.   Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” Jesus, like a mother hen, calls us his children all the time.  Even when we wonder off, Jesus is there calling us to come home.  Jesus never gives up on us no matter how far we stray away.

In the end of the song, when the “father duck” comes calling- I think that is God also calling us.  Sometimes God’s call might be a little louder.  But the call is still the same.  Come home, I miss you, I love you, Come home.

Dear God,

Thank you for never giving up on us.  Thank you for calling us no matter how far we stray from home.  Amen.

The Wilderness

Luke 4: 1-13

I have to admit I love being in the wilderness.  Growing up I spent a good amount of time hiking, camping, generally being outdoors.  I did this mainly through Boy Scouts, and my time at Camp Calumet.

However, in all my times in the woods, I can’t say that I ever fasted for 40 days.  Now if I did, I have to be honest; if I was tempted by the devil, with food, or power I might of taken the devil up on his offer!

We can sit back and say — “I would never give into the devil” -  “It must of been so easy for Jesus”

I honestly do not think that it was easy for Jesus, remember Jesus was not only fully divine but he was fully human as well.
Think back to the last time that you were “really hungry” – I am sure that it was not 40 days or even 40 hours between your last meal.  I know for me once something is off physically, I start to get cranky, irritated, and if one of my kids comes up to me and asks something and I don’t want to deal with it, I am usually more agreeable.

How about you?

I say all that to say this…..

Whenever I read the Bible and try to put myself in to Jesus’ “shoes” I have more and more respect for what Jesus did/does for us.

Jesus shows me over and over again how amazing he is and Jesus shows me over and over again how far I need to go in my life.

I am continually tempted and I continually fail.

Instead of getting up early and going to work out.  I am tempted by more sleep, so I turn the alarm clock off.

Instead of following all the traffic laws, I am tempted by speed (because I am usually late) I tend to drive fast.

Instead of watching what I eat, I am tempted by cookies, cakes, or sausage gravy with biscuits and I enjoy my share.

I know that I have a long way to go, I know that I am not perfect when it comes to temptation in my life.

But I also know this……

I have a God who loves me, I have a God who cares for me no matter how fast I drive, or how many times I turn off the alarm clock or how many cookies I eat.  God knows i am sinful, and not perfect and God gave me Jesus anyway.  God gave me a chance to be loved and forgiven.

As we venture into our first full week of Lent, let us think about the temptation that Jesus went through and all the temptations in our lives.  Let us be thankful for a God who is with us before, during and after the temptations in our lives, no matter how we fare.

Dear God,

Thank you for being with us, thank you for your presence in our lives.  Be with us Lord, in with and under all the temptations in our lives.  Give us the strength to make it through the difficult decisions in our life.  Help us when we are confronted by evil in our lives. Let us know of your unending and unfailing love in our lives.  Amen

Transfiguration of Our Lord

Welcome to Many but One!  Now that you have had a chance to get to know everyone I am excited to start us off this devotional blog.

It is very tempting for me to post my sermon here, since we are using the daily readings as our guide during this Lenten Season.  But I won’t do that   I want to take our times on Sunday preparing ourselves for the upcoming week, looking at themes in the texts, or questions that might not get preached on.

Luke 9:28-43

This week I want to ask the question – why transfiguration before Lent?

The Book of Common Prayer collect for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany suggests why the Transfiguration of Our Lord is celebrated when it is:

O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer according to the use of the Episcopal Church, 1979, page 217. Book of Common Prayer is public domain material.)

Transfiguration is the bridge from Jesus’ public ministry and the passion of Jesus.

Transfiguration for me is change.  The disciples changed the way they saw Jesus, they changed the way they saw God.  What kind of change is in my during this Transfiguration Sunday?

Lent for me is also about change.  It is about the journey that I take with Jesus, to the cross.  During Lent I do try to invoke change in my life.  I don’t go crazy about it, sometimes I am successful, other times I am not.  But for me it is about the journey.

I hope you continue to journey with us during this Lenten season.  I pray that you feel the spirit in your life as you embark on change.
Let us pray:

Good and gracious God, we join the disciples at on the mountain top as you show yourself to the world.  Shine in our hearts and on our lives as we journey together this Lenten seasons.  We thank you for giving us the opportunity to gather both near and far – to come together as your beloved children, as a community of faith.  Sustain us, lead us, and let us know of your love in our lives.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

Who do you say that I am?

I have had a lot of identities in my life. Some people know me as that boy who grew up in Rutland, Vermont. “Remember when….” they would say. I am the guy who went to church alot, played football, played in the band, jazz band, and sang in the choir among other things.
Others know me as that guy from Calumet – where I spent 10 summers of my life (and three years) as a camp counselor and host of retreats.
Some might say that I am Joe from school – either Luther College where I started my studies, or Concordia University where I finished my college education or The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia where I earned my Masters of Divinity.

Some might say that I am Joe the guy with the two great kids and the beautiful wife.

And you know what?!?!
They would all be right!  I am that guy, and I am much more as well.  It is all the people and experiences in my life that has made me who I am.  I am spending time diserning what the means for me, I am looking more and more at the characteristics of God that are inside of me waiting to come out.  I explore that more and more on my own blog.

I hope you enjoy this blog – I hope we are able to bring some kind of God’s presence to you in the midst of the Lenten season.