Sermon on Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8 St John's 10am 25 March 2007
By Paul Stone
BEING ON GOD'S WAVELENGTH
Isaiah 43:16-21
16 This is what the LORD says--he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 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. 20 The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. [NRSV]
16 This is what the LORD says-
John 12:1-8
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." [NRSV]
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." [NRSV]
Sermon: Being On God's Wavelength (Is 43 v 16-21) PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I ask that you will take what I have prepared and the words of my lips and use them to speak to our minds and our hearts to further the purposes of Your Kingdom in this place. Amen.
Heavenly Father, I ask that you will take what I have prepared and the words of my lips and use them to speak to our minds and our hearts to further the purposes of Your Kingdom in this place. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
We're continuing our series on finding Jesus in the Old Testament scriptures. That we may see God's continuous revelation of Himself and how the Old Testament scriptures point to Jesus. As I have said previously "The Old Testament is not about us, but it is written for us". It gives us pictures or illustrations of God's character and how He relates to us. How He interacts with us. So when we read these passages in Isaiah and John's gospel, how do we interpret those events of long ago in the light of today and what Jesus, God's true image reveals about Him.
I must confess that when I first read today's readings I wondered what was going through the mind of the person who put the lectionary readings together. Unlike the last passages I preached on where the Old to New Testament linkage and progression was fairly obvious - Moses and Jesus shining with God's glory - what on earth (or indeed in heaven) was the linkage between this poetic passage from Isaiah and the story of Mary anointing Jesus feet from John Chapter 12. Well I don't know if the linkage I've found is what the lectionary compiler intended, but I have found a linkage, and I believe it is something that God wants to say to us, so let's turn to today's first passage from Isaiah which you'll find on page 746 of the Old Testament section of the pew Bibles.
ISAIAH PASSAGE
Isaiah lived during turbulent times in Jewish history and prophesied about more turbulent times to come. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah deal with the time from 740 BC to 701 BC where from the time of the end of King Uzziah's reign to almost the end of King Hezekiah's reign the social and political scene in Judah changed dramatically. From a position of military strength, political stability and relative prosperity, at least for the privileged few, the changing international scene with the fall of a former super-power Egypt to the South and the rise of a new super-power Assyria to the North East meant that in 40 years Judah moved from being a dominant force in the area to becoming little more than a satellite state paying tribute and heavy taxes to the neighbouring Assyrian empire a little more than 8 miles from the walls of Jerusalem. However, the part of the book of Isaiah we are looking at today, from Chapter 40 onwards looks forward a further 100 odd years beyond the Assyrian oppression in their own country to the Babylonian exile of 587 BC when the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah were forcibly removed to Babylon as a result of God's judgement upon them for persistent disobedience to His ways and if you want to read more about that look at the closing chapters of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
So imagine the feelings of the people to whom Isaiah is speaking. They are oppressed, downtrodden whether it be in their own country under the Assyrians or as exiles in Babylon. Their Jewish identity is under threat. Pagan customs and beliefs and rituals are the order of the day. In Babylon, after a 70 year exile several generations will never have lived in the Promised Land, will not have used Aramaic as their first language. There is a crisis of identity. What did it mean to be a Jew? Only where elderly relatives remained, who had been amongst those lead captive into of the exile, would any sense Judah's history be preserved. So what does Isaiah say to such people? Basically don't look to the past!
Verses 16 and 17 of Isaiah Chapter 43 could well allude to Israel and Judah's history, of God's deliverance of His people through Moses from the might of the Egyptian Army as they escaped from oppression and slavery. No doubt there were those in Judah and Jerusalem facing the oppression of the Assyrian empire or those in Babylon and perhaps their reaction is to look back to "the good old days". How it used to be, to what is safe and familiar and comforting, but God says in verse 18 "Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing…". Don't look back, look forward to what I am going to do. Verse 19 and 20 continues "…I will make a way in the wilderness…rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people…". This passage in Isaiah Chapter 43 fits into a larger section of Isaiah starting at Chapter 40 where Isaiah speaks of God's eventual redemption and restoration of His people and their return to the Promised Land and Jerusalem. Just look to the beginning of Chapter 43 verse 1 "for I have redeemed you…", verse 3 "For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour…". Verses 5 - 7 speak of God gathering His people. Verses 11 - 14 speak of deliverance from Babylon.
God is saying to His people "Don't look back, look forward to what I am about to do. I will make it possible to return across the desert to Jerusalem. I will make a way and I will sustain you". You are still my chosen people.
Let's hold those thoughts of God promising to do a new thing for the Jews and now turn to the passage from John's gospel on page 109 of the New Testament section of the Church Bibles. John Chapter 12 verses 1 - 8.
JOHN PASSAGE
You can see why it was chosen as the lectionary reading today. It's a very topical passage because like today it's set just before Palm Sunday and the Passover. Jesus and his disciples are having a meal at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the one he recently raised from the dead. During the meal Mary, takes a significant amount of a costly perfume and anoints Jesus feet, wiping them with her hair. I guess many of the disciples and those reclining at the table didn't really give it a second thought, but Judas Iscariot raises what on the face of it seems a reasonable objection. Isn't what Mary has done an extravagant waste? Couldn't it have been sold and the money given to the poor. John let's us know it isn't Judas's true motive for raising the issue, but You can almost see the Daily Mail or Sun headlines "What a waste!" "To pour or not to the poor!" There would also have been the self-righteous editorials, condemning Jesus for accepting such an act and not commending Judas for his apparent selflessness and concern for those less fortunate. But how does Jesus respond. He accepts Mary's act of worship and points to its significance. You see, I believe Mary had some understanding, however small, of what Jesus was about. Why he came. What was about to happen. She perceived in some measure the "new thing" that God was about to do through Jesus. That through His death on the cross He would provided a full and sufficient sacrifice, and through that sacrifice provide a means of redemption, a saving, not just of the Jews, but of the world, a means by which sins could be completely forgiven leading to the possibility of the restoration of the relationship between God and humankind, between God and you and me.
SUMMARY
So what can today's passages say to us. What is the linkage? I believe today's passages are very much about being tuned into God. Being on God's wavelength. Much like a radio is tuned into a radio station.
Isaiah was tuned into God, that's how he was able to write what He did. That vision of God's glory filling the temple. Those insights into the problems that separated the people God has chosen from Him. The passages that so poetically speak of God's Messiah being a suffering servant. One who is broken for us, despised, rejected, acquainted with grief, the one on whom God laid the iniquity of us all.
Mary was tuned into Jesus. She sat at His feet. She listened to His teaching, to what He had to say. She may not have fully understood it, but she could sense what was coming next, what was about to happen to Jesus. Where God's purposes were leading. That's why she made that extravagant sacrifice of love and worship.
Judas wasn't in tune with Jesus. He had his own hidden agenda. It seemed on the surface to be genuine enough and aligned with God's purposes. After all did God not care for the poor? Were not they the people that Jesus focused on? Yes, they were, but that wasn't why Judas raised the issue about the right use of resources. What He saw was a means of satisfying his own desires and greed - but it wasn't hidden from Jesus. Jesus saw right through him and what was in Judas's heart.
And what about the people of God in exile in Babylon and of us today? Just as Isaiah challenged them, so I believe God challenges us today. We may feel, like them, in a society where our faith is challenged. Where they needed to re-establish their Jewish identity we similarly need to re-establish our identity, not one that is found in our job, our house or possessions, our status in the community or even our family but rather an identity that is founded on our relationship to God in Christ. I believe that just as God spoke to the Jews in exile through Isaiah and said "Do not remember the former thing, or consider the things of old" He says the same to us. Don't look back, don't try and return things to how they were in the past. Don't stay with the safe and familiar. "I am about to do a new thing, do you not perceive it? And there, in that statement, is the challenge to us. Do we perceive what God is doing? Are we tuned into His purposes? Next week we are going to hold a special Palm Sunday Service. It's aimed at those who don't normally come to church. Whose experience of God may be very limited or even non-existent and yet are people whom God loves and wants to be part of His family. Could this be a new thing that God wants us to be involved with? I believe it is. Just look at the young families that are coming to our Little Fishes toddler group. Luke 10 "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few, therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest". What will be our response? Will we be looking to turn things back to the old and familiar, to things that meets our preferences or will we be willing to put our preferences to one side and be involved, to be labourers in God's harvest, in helping these people find Jesus and enable them like us to find God's purpose and fulfilment in their lives. Are we willing to find out if this is a means of reaching out into our community, of fulfilling God's purposes for us here in Cove. Of being in tune with God. It may at times seem like travelling through a wilderness, but God promises to sustain us. I believe Isaiah's rivers in the desert is a picture that speaks of God's Holy Spirit providing all we need to see the journey through of reaching the destination God wants us to reach.
This radio here can be in several states:
We're continuing our series on finding Jesus in the Old Testament scriptures. That we may see God's continuous revelation of Himself and how the Old Testament scriptures point to Jesus. As I have said previously "The Old Testament is not about us, but it is written for us". It gives us pictures or illustrations of God's character and how He relates to us. How He interacts with us. So when we read these passages in Isaiah and John's gospel, how do we interpret those events of long ago in the light of today and what Jesus, God's true image reveals about Him.
I must confess that when I first read today's readings I wondered what was going through the mind of the person who put the lectionary readings together. Unlike the last passages I preached on where the Old to New Testament linkage and progression was fairly obvious -
ISAIAH PASSAGE
Isaiah lived during turbulent times in Jewish history and prophesied about more turbulent times to come. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah deal with the time from 740 BC to 701 BC where from the time of the end of King Uzziah's reign to almost the end of King Hezekiah's reign the social and political scene in Judah changed dramatically. From a position of military strength, political stability and relative prosperity, at least for the privileged few, the changing international scene with the fall of a former super-
So imagine the feelings of the people to whom Isaiah is speaking. They are oppressed, downtrodden whether it be in their own country under the Assyrians or as exiles in Babylon. Their Jewish identity is under threat. Pagan customs and beliefs and rituals are the order of the day. In Babylon, after a 70 year exile several generations will never have lived in the Promised Land, will not have used Aramaic as their first language. There is a crisis of identity. What did it mean to be a Jew? Only where elderly relatives remained, who had been amongst those lead captive into of the exile, would any sense Judah's history be preserved. So what does Isaiah say to such people? Basically don't look to the past!
Verses 16 and 17 of Isaiah Chapter 43 could well allude to Israel and Judah's history, of God's deliverance of His people through Moses from the might of the Egyptian Army as they escaped from oppression and slavery. No doubt there were those in Judah and Jerusalem facing the oppression of the Assyrian empire or those in Babylon and perhaps their reaction is to look back to "the good old days". How it used to be, to what is safe and familiar and comforting, but God says in verse 18 "Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing…". Don't look back, look forward to what I am going to do. Verse 19 and 20 continues "…I will make a way in the wilderness…rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people…". This passage in Isaiah Chapter 43 fits into a larger section of Isaiah starting at Chapter 40 where Isaiah speaks of God's eventual redemption and restoration of His people and their return to the Promised Land and Jerusalem. Just look to the beginning of Chapter 43 verse 1 "for I have redeemed you…", verse 3 "For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour…". Verses 5 -
God is saying to His people "Don't look back, look forward to what I am about to do. I will make it possible to return across the desert to Jerusalem. I will make a way and I will sustain you". You are still my chosen people.
Let's hold those thoughts of God promising to do a new thing for the Jews and now turn to the passage from John's gospel on page 109 of the New Testament section of the Church Bibles. John Chapter 12 verses 1 -
JOHN PASSAGE
You can see why it was chosen as the lectionary reading today. It's a very topical passage because like today it's set just before Palm Sunday and the Passover. Jesus and his disciples are having a meal at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the one he recently raised from the dead. During the meal Mary, takes a significant amount of a costly perfume and anoints Jesus feet, wiping them with her hair. I guess many of the disciples and those reclining at the table didn't really give it a second thought, but Judas Iscariot raises what on the face of it seems a reasonable objection. Isn't what Mary has done an extravagant waste? Couldn't it have been sold and the money given to the poor. John let's us know it isn't Judas's true motive for raising the issue, but You can almost see the Daily Mail or Sun headlines "What a waste!" "To pour or not to the poor!" There would also have been the self-
SUMMARY
So what can today's passages say to us. What is the linkage? I believe today's passages are very much about being tuned into God. Being on God's wavelength. Much like a radio is tuned into a radio station.
Isaiah was tuned into God, that's how he was able to write what He did. That vision of God's glory filling the temple. Those insights into the problems that separated the people God has chosen from Him. The passages that so poetically speak of God's Messiah being a suffering servant. One who is broken for us, despised, rejected, acquainted with grief, the one on whom God laid the iniquity of us all.
Mary was tuned into Jesus. She sat at His feet. She listened to His teaching, to what He had to say. She may not have fully understood it, but she could sense what was coming next, what was about to happen to Jesus. Where God's purposes were leading. That's why she made that extravagant sacrifice of love and worship.
Judas wasn't in tune with Jesus. He had his own hidden agenda. It seemed on the surface to be genuine enough and aligned with God's purposes. After all did God not care for the poor? Were not they the people that Jesus focused on? Yes, they were, but that wasn't why Judas raised the issue about the right use of resources. What He saw was a means of satisfying his own desires and greed -
And what about the people of God in exile in Babylon and of us today? Just as Isaiah challenged them, so I believe God challenges us today. We may feel, like them, in a society where our faith is challenged. Where they needed to re-
This radio here can be in several states:
o It can be turned off. That's the state of many people. The Bible talks about it being "…dead in trespasses and sins…" Ephesians 2 verse 1. No spiritual life what so ever.
o It can be turned on, but not tuned in and all you pick up is unintelligible static and noise and there are many people that. They have a vague idea that there may be some God or life-force but they can't really make head or tail of it.
o It can be turned on and tuned to lots of different stations. There are lots of religions and beliefs out there and today in our post-modern culture people like to channel-hop. Pick and chose a bit of what they fancy, what suits them and end up with a right jumble of subjective ideas.
o Or it can be tuned in to a specific station, that we can verify by reference to a radio guide is the right station.
Tuning into God is a bit like tuning into that specific station. As we spend time in prayer or perhaps a quiet time during the day seeking Him. As we read of God's revelation of Himself and His character in the Bible we can check that our experience of God is genuine, just like reading the radio guide we can confirm we are tuned into the right station.
And although this is something that should be part of our daily lives, is not this time of Lent, a special time when we can assess how well we are tuned in to God and His purposes.
Shortly we will be gathering around the Lord's table to meet with Him in the bread and the wine. Symbols of a body broken and a life poured out for you and me, that we might be tuned into God, to be in communion with Him. So as you and I come, I invite you to offer a prayer, that like this radio is tuned in to a specific station we may become tuned into Christ so that You may hear His voice and God's purposes may be fulfilled in your lives.
Let's pray.
CLOSING PRAYER
"I am about to do a new thing;…do you not perceive it?" Heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit, help us to be in tune with Your will and purposes. As we seek your face, reveal Your purposes for us here at St John's. Give us a vision of what You want to do to establish Your kingdom here in this place and give us grace and strength to achieve it. Amen.
AMEN
And although this is something that should be part of our daily lives, is not this time of Lent, a special time when we can assess how well we are tuned in to God and His purposes.
Shortly we will be gathering around the Lord's table to meet with Him in the bread and the wine. Symbols of a body broken and a life poured out for you and me, that we might be tuned into God, to be in communion with Him. So as you and I come, I invite you to offer a prayer, that like this radio is tuned in to a specific station we may become tuned into Christ so that You may hear His voice and God's purposes may be fulfilled in your lives.
Let's pray.
CLOSING PRAYER
"I am about to do a new thing;…do you not perceive it?" Heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit, help us to be in tune with Your will and purposes. As we seek your face, reveal Your purposes for us here at St John's. Give us a vision of what You want to do to establish Your kingdom here in this place and give us grace and strength to achieve it. Amen.
AMEN
Paul Stone © 2007