Laura S. Mendenhall, in FEASTING on the WORD (C 2:134): “Lent is…a time to set aside distractions in order to focus on our relationship with God and with Christ’s Church, a time to let the Holy Spirit work on us in order to remold us into the image of God as individuals and as the body of Christ….During Lent we look again at what shapes our identity and gives us security…” Scripture passages to be read this weekend confront us with the eternity of Grace and the responsibility of living as God’s person.
The Prophet ISAIAH addresses the barriers which exist between God’s perfection and our own wilderness. In 43:16-21 he writes encouragement to those exiled in Babylon, now on the brink of returning to what they think they remember. To land-locked Jews, he points out that the Sea has been a life-shaper, and that even in the desert there will be rivers of life. But what about the barriers which enslave us today? God is “about to do a new thing” for each of us by helping us across the barriers of old history… Does that mean giving up our past? What ancient goods do we keep in storage? Why?
St. Paul writes to the PHILIPPIANS (3:4-14) that although born “rich” he is now throwing it all away, consigning as rubbish “the vain things that charmed us most” in order to make room in his life for knowing/participating in Christ. “Trusting solely in God’s grace, we give up past certainty for future hope.” (Mendenhall, ibid., 136) Where is God bringing resurrection even today? And do we shy away from the suffering which precludes it?
The Gospel lesson is a story told only in JOHN (12:1-8), where Mary (sister to Martha & Lazarus) anoints Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair. Is this also a part of God’s New Thing? Jesus is preparing for his revelation through resurrection, certainly an alternative to death as usual. Lazarus is present because he’s already done the trip; Mary rejoices in promised life, and spares no cost in announcing this New Thing. Her action came in the midst of a System promulgated on consuming resources and celebrating what WAS, not that which is to come.
I confess that I’m a person who admires the Past, and deals in the Good in which I was brought up. I mourn Today’s Wealth–although I enjoy modern things and snazzy inventions… Can I throw away all that I am–should I?–in order to make room for that which is to come? Questions about my possessions continue to haunt me… Should I change my name as Saul/Paul did? In all of it, I hope to receive this New Thing which God is about to do, and is already doing.
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Join us each Tuesday to explore the scriptural passages assigned by the Common Lectionary to the upcoming weekend: at horacebrownking.com
does that mean giving up our past?
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