Fellowship Reformed Church of Holland

Preaching: Janelle Koolhaas
Text: Acts 17:1-9

Preaching: Janelle Koolhaas
Text: Acts 17:1-9

Preaching: Brian Keepers
Text: Acts 3:1-10

Introduction

            Even though Easter was two weeks ago, we’re in the season of the church year called “Eastertide,” which is the six weeks between Easter Sunday and Pentecost (May 15).  It is during this season of Eastertide that we find ourselves drawn into God’s Story of how the risen Jesus is on the move in the world.

            The NT book of Acts picks up the story where the Gospel writers left off—showing us how the ministry of Jesus continues by the power of the Holy Spirit in the life and work of his disciples.  As we said on Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away not so Jesus could get out but so we could get in!  So we can get into God’s Story of resurrection and new life; and get into God’s mission in the world.  And so this story of Easter continued not only with the first disciples but goes on with us today.

            Last Sunday Marlin Vis preached on these words of Great Commission from Jesus in Acts chapter one: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

            The Easter story goes on with Jesus’ disciples; the Easter story goes on with us…

            Our story today happens right after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit Jesus promised is poured out upon his disciples in Acts chapter 2.  Hear the Word of the Lord from Acts chapter 3:1-16.  Read Scripture.

A Man Lame from Birth

            Every day someone would carry him out and lay him there. By the gate called Beautiful.  A man crippled from birth.  All of his life, not able to walk.  Not able to stand or run or leap or dance.

            He’d just sit there.  From mid afternoon to dusk, he’d sit there by the gate of the temple.  With a rusty tin cup in his hand, he’d call out to those entering the temple, “Have pity on me!  Please, have pity on me!”  In other words, “Spare me some change?!”

            What else could he do?  He was totally dependent on the charity of others, forced to live off the table crumbs of those more fortunate.  His cripple marked him not only as one vulnerable and weak in society but also as a sinner.  That’s what people saw when they looked at him.  Sure, they may have had pity, but their theology told them that he was born lame because of his own sin, and even more so, the sin of his parents.

            So he sat there by the gate called Beautiful every day and begged.

            And then one day Peter and John, two of Jesus’ disciples, come passing by.  Luke tells us they were on their way to the temple for afternoon prayer.  And when they pass by the crippled man, he begs them for some spare change.  And how do Peter and James respond?  They don’t ignore him and keep walking, nor do they avert their eyes.  They interact with this lame man by the gate.   I want to highlight three key responses of Peter and James—let’s call them “missional gestures”-- that show us how we, too, might continue the Easter story in our own lives today as seek to participate in Christ’s mission. 

Missional Gesture #1: Look Intently

Here’s the first: When they hear the man call out, Peter and John stop and they look at him.  They look intently at him.  And they say, “Look at us.”

            What were Peter and John looking for, I wonder?  A sincere spirit, ready to receive more than he was asking for?  A heart full of pain and sorrow, ready to be touched by God’s healing love?  A real person who even in his current state bears the image of a compassionate Creator? 

            We’re not told what they were looking for, but there is something powerful that happens in this moment of deep eye-to-eye contact.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit’s power and ready to join Jesus in mission begins with our way of seeing—having our eyes opened to see what and who God wants us to see.   And when God opens our eyes, the Spirit calls us to simply be present to the person in front of us and really see them.  Not look down on them nor judge them nor see them as a mission project.  But really see them as a human being.  I’ve heard more than once from persons who are homeless that the most painful thing is not when others pass by and refuse to give them money but when others refuse to see them, to acknowledge their existence.  To feel invisible is the most dehumanizing thing of all.

There is a South African Zulu greeting that goes like this.  When you encounter someone, you say, Sawubona, which means “I see you.” And they respond by saying, “I am here.”  Sawubona means more than a simple “hello.”  It means I see your humanity, your dignity and respect.   Something powerful and beautiful happens in this kind of exchange.  It is by having another acknowledge that they see you that you feel affirmed in your existence—that you are not invisible but your life matters.

            This is what Peter and John do.  Before they do anything else, they show compassion by saying to this lame man at the gate, “You are not invisible.  We see you.  We see your humanity and your dignity.  Your life matters.”  And the man looks at them in return and they also feel seen.

Missional Gesture #2: Reach Out

            What happens next?  After Peter and John look intently at the man, then what do they do?  Luke tells us, “And he [the man] fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.  But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold.  But what I have, I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  And he took him by the right hand…”

            I love this part of the story.  The man wants and expects to receive a “hand out” from them—food or money, perhaps.  An act of charity that will help him survive for that day.  There is certainly a place for this kind of generosity.  But Peter and John have no money.  Yet their focus is not on what they lack.  Rather, they offer the man what they do have.  And what they do have is even better than money or food. 

            What do they have? They have the power of Jesus’ name, available to them by the Holy Spirit’s presence.  And Peter says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  Now it could have been enough for them to simply speak these words of healing over the man.  We saw this with Jesus too—that he need only speak and his words made things happen—healing, forgiveness, the dead raised.  But Jesus rarely just spoke words of healing without also reaching out and physically touching a person.  Because he is the “Word Made Flesh,” his ministry is incarnational.

            And so we see the same pattern for his disciples like Peter and John.  They look intently at this man and really see him.  Then they are agents of the Spirit’s power of healing in his life by not just speaking words of power but by reaching out and embracing this man.

            So here we see the second missional gesture of Peter and John.  Once they see the man, they reach out in the power of the Holy Spirit and embrace him.  In a real way, they continue the incarnational nature of Jesus’ ministry.             

Reaching out to others with the healing presence of the Holy Spirit is about relationships.  It’s about moving out towards “the other” and meeting them in the place where they are.  And it’s about sharing what we have to give—our time, resources, talent, friendship.  Most of all, it’s about sharing the power of Jesus’s presence—his very healing and love.  Peter and John take it one step further.  They are not just interested in giving a hand out, but they are determined to give this man a hand up.  And this leads to the third key missional gesture we see in this story.

Missional Gesture #3: Raise Up

Peter takes him by his hand and lifts him to his feet, and immediately the man’s feet and ankles are made strong.  To this man’s utter astonishment, he asked for money but he received more than he asked for: he received healing.

            Peter and John see this man, they reach out to him, and then they raise him up.  Notice something else important in this story.  Notice the location of the man.  When Peter and John encounter him, he is located outside the temple, by the gate called “Beautiful.” The risen Jesus heals this man through the human agency of Peter and John, and in the act of raising him up they then bring him into the Temple with them.  “And he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” The man’s location has now changed.  Because he has been healed by the Spirit’s power, he is no longer unclean but now allowed entrance not just into the temple—the gathered assembly.  This man finds welcome in the community of God’s people.  He walks and leaps and praises God, and the people see him and are filled with wonder.

            This is the beautiful mission of the risen Jesus in the world—he moves out into the world to bring healing and wholeness to all people, drawing them to himself and into the family of God.   And we are his witnesses—the human agents of this healing and transformation.  Look intently.  Reach out.  Raise up.  We focus not on what we lack, but we courageously give what we have…or rather, the One who has us!  Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

            It strikes me that this is at the heart of what it means to be the church—a beautiful community of the healed and healing.  The 20th century missionary to India, Lesslie Newbigin puts it so memorably in a sermon he preached:

“The whole congregation is called to be a healed and healing fellowship, in which the healing love of God was ever at work to bind up the wounds of its members.  And beyond this, the healing work is to spread beyond the congregation into the community around it….Whoever touches the church, even in the most tenuous fashion, even in the midst of all the bustle and press of business—should find that he has touched the source of healing.  The healing that we receive here, as we meet in Holy Communion, is given to us for the sake of all our neighbors.” (The Good Shepherd, pp.72-3).

Whoever touches the church, even in the most tenuous fashion…should find that he has touched the source of healing.  And whoever the church—that’s us—touches as we go into our week and throughout our days…should also find that they have touched the source of healing.  The source of healing who is Jesus himself, his power and healing presence, flowing through us into the lives of others.  That’s what’s happening in this encounter between Peter and John and the man at the gate.

            Did you know that it was exactly fifty years ago this month that the Holy Spirit stirred a group of people in the Holland Classis to imagine planting a new church that could be a place of healing and hope on the north side of Holland?  June 12 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first worship service of Fellowship Church in Waukazoo Elementary School.  Five months later, on Dec. 6th, FRC was officially organized.  We want to celebrate God’s faithfulness over the past 50 years in the life of this church, starting this month.  We’re calling it “Fellowship Jubilee.” Jubilee is a rich biblical word that carries with it the idea of celebrating ever 50 years.  Think about all the lives that have been touched by the Holy Spirit’s presence and power through the people who’ve been part of FRC over the years.

            There are so many ways that I see you, Fellowship Church, embracing your missional identity and calling to be a healed and healing community in the name of Jesus.  And there is still more room to grow, yes?  God’s not finished with us yet.

I wonder…who are the people outside our gates?  Those who have not yet found welcome in God’s family?  Who are the people we pass by everyday but fail to see or choose to not see?  What if we saw them?  Reached out?  Raised them up?

So I leave you with this challenge.  As you go into your week, be attentive to the people that God places in your path.  Look them in the eyes.  See them as God sees them.  And step out in faith by making a personal contact, a relational investment, allowing the presence of Christ to work through you.  Who knows what the Spirit may do?  That’s what makes all of this so exciting.  Simply be available.  Maybe the Spirit will use your words to bring healing.  Maybe the Spirit will simply use your presence.  Maybe you will even have an opportunity to share about Jesus or to pray for healing in the name of Jesus for that person.  Remember that it’s not about what you don’t have, don’t know, don’t understand.  It’s about what you do have. 

            And what you do have is more than enough.  You have the Spirit’s presence, the power of the one who called you and has healed you and now sends you to join him in his mission to take the dry bones piled up in this world and breathe healing and new life.

            Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus from one generation to the next!  (Eph. 3:20-21).

Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

Preaching: Brian Keepers
Text: Acts 3:1-10

Introduction

            Even though Easter was two weeks ago, we’re in the season of the church year called “Eastertide,” which is the six weeks between Easter Sunday and Pentecost (May 15).  It is during this season of Eastertide that we find ourselves drawn into God’s Story of how the risen Jesus is on the move in the world.

            The NT book of Acts picks up the story where the Gospel writers left off—showing us how the ministry of Jesus continues by the power of the Holy Spirit in the life and work of his disciples.  As we said on Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away not so Jesus could get out but so we could get in!  So we can get into God’s Story of resurrection and new life; and get into God’s mission in the world.  And so this story of Easter continued not only with the first disciples but goes on with us today.

            Last Sunday Marlin Vis preached on these words of Great Commission from Jesus in Acts chapter one: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

            The Easter story goes on with Jesus’ disciples; the Easter story goes on with us…

            Our story today happens right after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit Jesus promised is poured out upon his disciples in Acts chapter 2.  Hear the Word of the Lord from Acts chapter 3:1-16.  Read Scripture.

A Man Lame from Birth

            Every day someone would carry him out and lay him there. By the gate called Beautiful.  A man crippled from birth.  All of his life, not able to walk.  Not able to stand or run or leap or dance.

            He’d just sit there.  From mid afternoon to dusk, he’d sit there by the gate of the temple.  With a rusty tin cup in his hand, he’d call out to those entering the temple, “Have pity on me!  Please, have pity on me!”  In other words, “Spare me some change?!”

            What else could he do?  He was totally dependent on the charity of others, forced to live off the table crumbs of those more fortunate.  His cripple marked him not only as one vulnerable and weak in society but also as a sinner.  That’s what people saw when they looked at him.  Sure, they may have had pity, but their theology told them that he was born lame because of his own sin, and even more so, the sin of his parents.

            So he sat there by the gate called Beautiful every day and begged.

            And then one day Peter and John, two of Jesus’ disciples, come passing by.  Luke tells us they were on their way to the temple for afternoon prayer.  And when they pass by the crippled man, he begs them for some spare change.  And how do Peter and James respond?  They don’t ignore him and keep walking, nor do they avert their eyes.  They interact with this lame man by the gate.   I want to highlight three key responses of Peter and James—let’s call them “missional gestures”-- that show us how we, too, might continue the Easter story in our own lives today as seek to participate in Christ’s mission. 

Missional Gesture #1: Look Intently

Here’s the first: When they hear the man call out, Peter and John stop and they look at him.  They look intently at him.  And they say, “Look at us.”

            What were Peter and John looking for, I wonder?  A sincere spirit, ready to receive more than he was asking for?  A heart full of pain and sorrow, ready to be touched by God’s healing love?  A real person who even in his current state bears the image of a compassionate Creator? 

            We’re not told what they were looking for, but there is something powerful that happens in this moment of deep eye-to-eye contact.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit’s power and ready to join Jesus in mission begins with our way of seeing—having our eyes opened to see what and who God wants us to see.   And when God opens our eyes, the Spirit calls us to simply be present to the person in front of us and really see them.  Not look down on them nor judge them nor see them as a mission project.  But really see them as a human being.  I’ve heard more than once from persons who are homeless that the most painful thing is not when others pass by and refuse to give them money but when others refuse to see them, to acknowledge their existence.  To feel invisible is the most dehumanizing thing of all.

There is a South African Zulu greeting that goes like this.  When you encounter someone, you say, Sawubona, which means “I see you.” And they respond by saying, “I am here.”  Sawubona means more than a simple “hello.”  It means I see your humanity, your dignity and respect.   Something powerful and beautiful happens in this kind of exchange.  It is by having another acknowledge that they see you that you feel affirmed in your existence—that you are not invisible but your life matters.

            This is what Peter and John do.  Before they do anything else, they show compassion by saying to this lame man at the gate, “You are not invisible.  We see you.  We see your humanity and your dignity.  Your life matters.”  And the man looks at them in return and they also feel seen.

Missional Gesture #2: Reach Out

            What happens next?  After Peter and John look intently at the man, then what do they do?  Luke tells us, “And he [the man] fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.  But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold.  But what I have, I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  And he took him by the right hand…”

            I love this part of the story.  The man wants and expects to receive a “hand out” from them—food or money, perhaps.  An act of charity that will help him survive for that day.  There is certainly a place for this kind of generosity.  But Peter and John have no money.  Yet their focus is not on what they lack.  Rather, they offer the man what they do have.  And what they do have is even better than money or food. 

            What do they have? They have the power of Jesus’ name, available to them by the Holy Spirit’s presence.  And Peter says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  Now it could have been enough for them to simply speak these words of healing over the man.  We saw this with Jesus too—that he need only speak and his words made things happen—healing, forgiveness, the dead raised.  But Jesus rarely just spoke words of healing without also reaching out and physically touching a person.  Because he is the “Word Made Flesh,” his ministry is incarnational.

            And so we see the same pattern for his disciples like Peter and John.  They look intently at this man and really see him.  Then they are agents of the Spirit’s power of healing in his life by not just speaking words of power but by reaching out and embracing this man.

            So here we see the second missional gesture of Peter and John.  Once they see the man, they reach out in the power of the Holy Spirit and embrace him.  In a real way, they continue the incarnational nature of Jesus’ ministry.             

Reaching out to others with the healing presence of the Holy Spirit is about relationships.  It’s about moving out towards “the other” and meeting them in the place where they are.  And it’s about sharing what we have to give—our time, resources, talent, friendship.  Most of all, it’s about sharing the power of Jesus’s presence—his very healing and love.  Peter and John take it one step further.  They are not just interested in giving a hand out, but they are determined to give this man a hand up.  And this leads to the third key missional gesture we see in this story.

Missional Gesture #3: Raise Up

Peter takes him by his hand and lifts him to his feet, and immediately the man’s feet and ankles are made strong.  To this man’s utter astonishment, he asked for money but he received more than he asked for: he received healing.

            Peter and John see this man, they reach out to him, and then they raise him up.  Notice something else important in this story.  Notice the location of the man.  When Peter and John encounter him, he is located outside the temple, by the gate called “Beautiful.” The risen Jesus heals this man through the human agency of Peter and John, and in the act of raising him up they then bring him into the Temple with them.  “And he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” The man’s location has now changed.  Because he has been healed by the Spirit’s power, he is no longer unclean but now allowed entrance not just into the temple—the gathered assembly.  This man finds welcome in the community of God’s people.  He walks and leaps and praises God, and the people see him and are filled with wonder.

            This is the beautiful mission of the risen Jesus in the world—he moves out into the world to bring healing and wholeness to all people, drawing them to himself and into the family of God.   And we are his witnesses—the human agents of this healing and transformation.  Look intently.  Reach out.  Raise up.  We focus not on what we lack, but we courageously give what we have…or rather, the One who has us!  Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

            It strikes me that this is at the heart of what it means to be the church—a beautiful community of the healed and healing.  The 20th century missionary to India, Lesslie Newbigin puts it so memorably in a sermon he preached:

“The whole congregation is called to be a healed and healing fellowship, in which the healing love of God was ever at work to bind up the wounds of its members.  And beyond this, the healing work is to spread beyond the congregation into the community around it….Whoever touches the church, even in the most tenuous fashion, even in the midst of all the bustle and press of business—should find that he has touched the source of healing.  The healing that we receive here, as we meet in Holy Communion, is given to us for the sake of all our neighbors.” (The Good Shepherd, pp.72-3).

Whoever touches the church, even in the most tenuous fashion…should find that he has touched the source of healing.  And whoever the church—that’s us—touches as we go into our week and throughout our days…should also find that they have touched the source of healing.  The source of healing who is Jesus himself, his power and healing presence, flowing through us into the lives of others.  That’s what’s happening in this encounter between Peter and John and the man at the gate.

            Did you know that it was exactly fifty years ago this month that the Holy Spirit stirred a group of people in the Holland Classis to imagine planting a new church that could be a place of healing and hope on the north side of Holland?  June 12 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first worship service of Fellowship Church in Waukazoo Elementary School.  Five months later, on Dec. 6th, FRC was officially organized.  We want to celebrate God’s faithfulness over the past 50 years in the life of this church, starting this month.  We’re calling it “Fellowship Jubilee.” Jubilee is a rich biblical word that carries with it the idea of celebrating ever 50 years.  Think about all the lives that have been touched by the Holy Spirit’s presence and power through the people who’ve been part of FRC over the years.

            There are so many ways that I see you, Fellowship Church, embracing your missional identity and calling to be a healed and healing community in the name of Jesus.  And there is still more room to grow, yes?  God’s not finished with us yet.

I wonder…who are the people outside our gates?  Those who have not yet found welcome in God’s family?  Who are the people we pass by everyday but fail to see or choose to not see?  What if we saw them?  Reached out?  Raised them up?

So I leave you with this challenge.  As you go into your week, be attentive to the people that God places in your path.  Look them in the eyes.  See them as God sees them.  And step out in faith by making a personal contact, a relational investment, allowing the presence of Christ to work through you.  Who knows what the Spirit may do?  That’s what makes all of this so exciting.  Simply be available.  Maybe the Spirit will use your words to bring healing.  Maybe the Spirit will simply use your presence.  Maybe you will even have an opportunity to share about Jesus or to pray for healing in the name of Jesus for that person.  Remember that it’s not about what you don’t have, don’t know, don’t understand.  It’s about what you do have. 

            And what you do have is more than enough.  You have the Spirit’s presence, the power of the one who called you and has healed you and now sends you to join him in his mission to take the dry bones piled up in this world and breathe healing and new life.

            Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus from one generation to the next!  (Eph. 3:20-21).

Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

Preaching: Marlin Vis
Text: Acts 1:1-14

Preaching: Marlin Vis
Text: Acts 1:1-14

Preaching: Brian Keepers
Text: Mark 16:1-8

It’s such a strange and abrupt way to end the story, don’t you think?  With women running out of the cemetery, their dresses hiked up to their knees, scared out of their wits because of what they’d just seen and heard.

What kind of ending is this, anyway?  I feel this every time I come to the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel.  We’ve been in Mark’s Gospel since early January.  After sticking with Mark’s fast-paced, action packed story for 15 chapters, we come to the real climax of the story, the resurrection, and then in 8 short verses it’s done.  There’s no closure! Mark leaves us hanging! Then what?  We wonder.  What happened next?

Biblical scholars disagree on whether or not this is how Mark’s Gospel really ends, or if some of the original manuscript went missing.   Could it be that at some point, early on, the original conclusion on the scroll got destroyed or was torn off by accident? 

It’s possible.  But what all biblical scholars agree is that the “extra endings” were added later by copyists who must have thought the conclusion got lost and it was necessary to fill in the gaps and wrap up loose ends.   You don’t need a Ph.D. in New Testament to read the shorter and longer endings of Mark and pick up right away that this doesn’t sound like Mark’s voice at all.

The original manuscript of Mark’s Gospel cuts off here at verse 8 with an empty tomb, an announcement from an angel that Jesus has been raised, and women running scared with their lips sealed, saying nothing to anyone.

The story feels unfinished, doesn’t it?  Whether or not this is how Mark intended to end his Gospel, in the providence of God this is the way the story has been preserved and handed down to us.  But as it turns out, it’s actually quite an effective way to end the story.  I’ll say more about that in a little while.

But first, let’s look at how the last chapter begins.  It begins with three women walking to Jesus’ tomb at the crack of dawn after the Sabbath.  These three women had watched their Messiah get crucified two days earlier, and two of them saw him placed in the tomb borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea.  Now, on the first day of the week, they were on their way to that same tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.

Let’s just be clear.  As they made their way to the tomb by early sunlight, they were not expecting to find the tomb empty and their Messiah resurrected.  They had no idea than any such thing was even thinkable.  They were going to complete the burial.  That’s what the spices were for.  This was a sad task, but a necessary one, both to honor the deceased and also to cover the stench of decaying flesh as other bodies would be buried in the same tomb according to custom.

The question that concerned them as they walked along was this:  “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”  It was a massive stone, much too large for them to roll away on their own.  How would they get inside to carry out this burial ritual?

When they arrive to the tomb, they get the shock of their lives.  The stone was already rolled away.  A young man in white, presumably an angel, is seated where Jesus’ body had been, and they are alarmed.  The angel says to them, “Don’t be alarmed.”  But how can you not be alarmed at seeing a messenger of God?  The women were about to discover, however, that the messenger wasn’t nearly as alarming as the message he had for them: “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.”  The angel says.  “He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place they laid him…”

These women come looking for Jesus with their spices in hand. They are preoccupied with death.  They watched him die.  They saw his dead body wrapped in linen. They have come to take care of his body in the place they expected to find him--a sealed tomb.

But what have we seen all throughout Mark’s Gospel?  Jesus is not a tame Messiah!  You can’t constrain him or hold him captive!  Not even the cross could ultimately nail him down, nor could a tomb seal him up, no matter how large the stone you shove in front of it or what kind of political seal you stamp on it.

How did the 9th century bishop and poet Prudentius put it?  I remember: “Neither the stone nor the bolts of the tomb / could hold Christ a captive;/ Death lies conquered by him, he has / trampled on Hell’s fiery chasm.”

I wonder if we’ve made Easter into something far too tame.  We’ve made it primarily about bunnies and bonnets and colored eggs and little girls in cute dresses.  Do we really understand what it means that Jesus has been raised, and in him, that God’s power is on the loose in the world?  No wonder the women went running out the cemetery so afraid!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

It is God’s power that has done this.  It is God’s power that has rolled the stone away.  God’s power that has raised Jesus from the dead.  A power that defeats death.  A power that forgives sins.  A power that heals wounds and assuages guilt and melts away shame.  A power that breaks addictions and wipes away tears and transforms lives.  A power that has the complete restoration of this whole world in its scope. 

Then comes this next part of the angel’s message: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”  Go tell the disciples and Peter.  All of them, in the hour of need, abandoned Jesus.  Peter, who insisted that even if the others become deserters, he would not.  But then, when it was all on the line, he was no better than the rest and went running into the shadows to hide.

But the story doesn’t end here.  Not with betrayal, abandonment, a horrible cross and tomb.  Jesus is alive and on the move! On the move where?  Back in Galilee.  Back in the place where Jesus began his ministry.  Back on their home turf, in the place where the disciples lived and spent their time and were first called to follow Jesus.  

Even though the women fled the tomb in fear and their lips were silent, they didn’t stay afraid, nor did they stay silent.  At some point, when their knees stopped shaking and their tongues began to loosen, they must have told the disciples and Peter.  Otherwise, we wouldn’t have Mark’s Gospel if it ended in silence.  We wouldn’t be here today if it ended in silence. 

Which leads us back to our question about Mark’s strange and abrupt ending.  What is Mark doing by leaving the story open ended?  He’s drawing us into the story!  We are called to pick up where verse 8 leaves off!

Here’s the thing: God has rolled the stone away from the tomb not so Jesus could get out but so that we can get in!  Get into what?  Get into God’s Story of redemption and new life—the story in which we find our truest selves and the life we’ve been looking for.

One of my favorite movies this past year was the Martian, based on the best-selling novel by Andy Weir.  Matt Damon plays the fictional character Captain Lewis, an American astronaut who gets left behind by his crew on the planet Mars.  Lewis knows that his chance of survival is slim, being that he doesn’t have enough food supply to last until NASA can send another shuttle to rescue him.  When he establishes contact with his crew who are heading back to earth, he emails one of his crew mates:

I may need you to do something for me.  If I die, I need you to check in on my parents.  They’re going to want to hear all about our time here on Mars.  I know that…it will be hard talking to the couple about their dead son.  It’s a lot to ask.  Which is why I’m asking you.  I’m not giving up.  I just need to prepare for any outcome.  Please tell them, tell them I love what I do.  And I’m really good at it.  And I’m dying for something big…and beautiful.  And greater than me.  Tell them I said I can live with that.

Isn’t this what we all want?  We want our lives to count for something—to really matter.  Isn’t this why our hearts are so restless?  We want to live and die for something big and beautiful—something that is greater than any one of us.  And this is the good news of Easter.

Jesus has died for something big and beautiful—for the sins and brokenness of each of us and all of us and this entire world.  And he has been raised, the stone has been rolled away, so that we can enter into his life and be caught up in his story—a story that is bigger and more beautiful than a story where we’re at the center.  In his death and resurrection, Jesus draws us into a better story where he is at the center and we join in the work that he is doing in the world.

Don’t you see?  Mark’s Gospel, and the Easter Story, goes on with us!  It goes on through us.   We take our place with the women and the disciples.  The Easter story continues in the ordinary places and in the ordinary relationships where you and I live and work and play and struggle and laugh and cry. “He is going ahead of you,” the angel says to us. “There you will see him, just as he told you.”   

The Easter story goes on every time someone realizes that they’re not in control of their lives, and that it is in losing your life to Jesus that we find it.  It goes on every time a sinner is forgiven and broken relationships are mended. 

It goes on when the hungry are fed and the homeless are given shelter and when the lonely are embraced.  It goes on when the sick and the prisoner are visited, and those in grief are comforted.  It goes on when parents press on to raise their children faithfully, when husbands and wives strive to honor their vows, when business people do what is right regardless of the cost.    

It goes on every time we give up on our own selfish agendas and take up God’s agenda in the world—seeking peace, advocating justice, caring for the poor, standing with those who suffer, and calling people to put their trust in the Crucified and Risen Savior who is turning the world upside down and right side up.

Think about that.  Your story right now, no matter how insignificant or ordinary or even tragic it may seem to you, is part of Jesus’ story.  You can live a better and more beautiful story. Jesus has been set loose and is at work in your story, in your life.  He’s already gone ahead of you.  Into your marriage.  Into your home.  Into your neighborhood.  Into that difficult situation at work.  Into the classroom.  Into the waiting room at the hospital.  Into even the painful and disappointing and scary moments of your life.  He’s already there, one step ahead of us.   And he promises to bring light where there is darkness, life where there is death, healing where there is brokenness, and hope where all hope seems lost.

No, Mark never intended to end the Gospel.    In you and me, the story goes on!  So, in the power of the Holy Spirit, let us get into the Story and live this Story out for God’s glory and for the sake of the world.

Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  

Preaching: Brian Keepers
Text: Mark 16:1-8

It’s such a strange and abrupt way to end the story, don’t you think?  With women running out of the cemetery, their dresses hiked up to their knees, scared out of their wits because of what they’d just seen and heard.

What kind of ending is this, anyway?  I feel this every time I come to the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel.  We’ve been in Mark’s Gospel since early January.  After sticking with Mark’s fast-paced, action packed story for 15 chapters, we come to the real climax of the story, the resurrection, and then in 8 short verses it’s done.  There’s no closure! Mark leaves us hanging! Then what?  We wonder.  What happened next?

Biblical scholars disagree on whether or not this is how Mark’s Gospel really ends, or if some of the original manuscript went missing.   Could it be that at some point, early on, the original conclusion on the scroll got destroyed or was torn off by accident? 

It’s possible.  But what all biblical scholars agree is that the “extra endings” were added later by copyists who must have thought the conclusion got lost and it was necessary to fill in the gaps and wrap up loose ends.   You don’t need a Ph.D. in New Testament to read the shorter and longer endings of Mark and pick up right away that this doesn’t sound like Mark’s voice at all.

The original manuscript of Mark’s Gospel cuts off here at verse 8 with an empty tomb, an announcement from an angel that Jesus has been raised, and women running scared with their lips sealed, saying nothing to anyone.

The story feels unfinished, doesn’t it?  Whether or not this is how Mark intended to end his Gospel, in the providence of God this is the way the story has been preserved and handed down to us.  But as it turns out, it’s actually quite an effective way to end the story.  I’ll say more about that in a little while.

But first, let’s look at how the last chapter begins.  It begins with three women walking to Jesus’ tomb at the crack of dawn after the Sabbath.  These three women had watched their Messiah get crucified two days earlier, and two of them saw him placed in the tomb borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea.  Now, on the first day of the week, they were on their way to that same tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.

Let’s just be clear.  As they made their way to the tomb by early sunlight, they were not expecting to find the tomb empty and their Messiah resurrected.  They had no idea than any such thing was even thinkable.  They were going to complete the burial.  That’s what the spices were for.  This was a sad task, but a necessary one, both to honor the deceased and also to cover the stench of decaying flesh as other bodies would be buried in the same tomb according to custom.

The question that concerned them as they walked along was this:  “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”  It was a massive stone, much too large for them to roll away on their own.  How would they get inside to carry out this burial ritual?

When they arrive to the tomb, they get the shock of their lives.  The stone was already rolled away.  A young man in white, presumably an angel, is seated where Jesus’ body had been, and they are alarmed.  The angel says to them, “Don’t be alarmed.”  But how can you not be alarmed at seeing a messenger of God?  The women were about to discover, however, that the messenger wasn’t nearly as alarming as the message he had for them: “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.”  The angel says.  “He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place they laid him…”

These women come looking for Jesus with their spices in hand. They are preoccupied with death.  They watched him die.  They saw his dead body wrapped in linen. They have come to take care of his body in the place they expected to find him--a sealed tomb.

But what have we seen all throughout Mark’s Gospel?  Jesus is not a tame Messiah!  You can’t constrain him or hold him captive!  Not even the cross could ultimately nail him down, nor could a tomb seal him up, no matter how large the stone you shove in front of it or what kind of political seal you stamp on it.

How did the 9th century bishop and poet Prudentius put it?  I remember: “Neither the stone nor the bolts of the tomb / could hold Christ a captive;/ Death lies conquered by him, he has / trampled on Hell’s fiery chasm.”

I wonder if we’ve made Easter into something far too tame.  We’ve made it primarily about bunnies and bonnets and colored eggs and little girls in cute dresses.  Do we really understand what it means that Jesus has been raised, and in him, that God’s power is on the loose in the world?  No wonder the women went running out the cemetery so afraid!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

It is God’s power that has done this.  It is God’s power that has rolled the stone away.  God’s power that has raised Jesus from the dead.  A power that defeats death.  A power that forgives sins.  A power that heals wounds and assuages guilt and melts away shame.  A power that breaks addictions and wipes away tears and transforms lives.  A power that has the complete restoration of this whole world in its scope. 

Then comes this next part of the angel’s message: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”  Go tell the disciples and Peter.  All of them, in the hour of need, abandoned Jesus.  Peter, who insisted that even if the others become deserters, he would not.  But then, when it was all on the line, he was no better than the rest and went running into the shadows to hide.

But the story doesn’t end here.  Not with betrayal, abandonment, a horrible cross and tomb.  Jesus is alive and on the move! On the move where?  Back in Galilee.  Back in the place where Jesus began his ministry.  Back on their home turf, in the place where the disciples lived and spent their time and were first called to follow Jesus.  

Even though the women fled the tomb in fear and their lips were silent, they didn’t stay afraid, nor did they stay silent.  At some point, when their knees stopped shaking and their tongues began to loosen, they must have told the disciples and Peter.  Otherwise, we wouldn’t have Mark’s Gospel if it ended in silence.  We wouldn’t be here today if it ended in silence. 

Which leads us back to our question about Mark’s strange and abrupt ending.  What is Mark doing by leaving the story open ended?  He’s drawing us into the story!  We are called to pick up where verse 8 leaves off!

Here’s the thing: God has rolled the stone away from the tomb not so Jesus could get out but so that we can get in!  Get into what?  Get into God’s Story of redemption and new life—the story in which we find our truest selves and the life we’ve been looking for.

One of my favorite movies this past year was the Martian, based on the best-selling novel by Andy Weir.  Matt Damon plays the fictional character Captain Lewis, an American astronaut who gets left behind by his crew on the planet Mars.  Lewis knows that his chance of survival is slim, being that he doesn’t have enough food supply to last until NASA can send another shuttle to rescue him.  When he establishes contact with his crew who are heading back to earth, he emails one of his crew mates:

I may need you to do something for me.  If I die, I need you to check in on my parents.  They’re going to want to hear all about our time here on Mars.  I know that…it will be hard talking to the couple about their dead son.  It’s a lot to ask.  Which is why I’m asking you.  I’m not giving up.  I just need to prepare for any outcome.  Please tell them, tell them I love what I do.  And I’m really good at it.  And I’m dying for something big…and beautiful.  And greater than me.  Tell them I said I can live with that.

Isn’t this what we all want?  We want our lives to count for something—to really matter.  Isn’t this why our hearts are so restless?  We want to live and die for something big and beautiful—something that is greater than any one of us.  And this is the good news of Easter.

Jesus has died for something big and beautiful—for the sins and brokenness of each of us and all of us and this entire world.  And he has been raised, the stone has been rolled away, so that we can enter into his life and be caught up in his story—a story that is bigger and more beautiful than a story where we’re at the center.  In his death and resurrection, Jesus draws us into a better story where he is at the center and we join in the work that he is doing in the world.

Don’t you see?  Mark’s Gospel, and the Easter Story, goes on with us!  It goes on through us.   We take our place with the women and the disciples.  The Easter story continues in the ordinary places and in the ordinary relationships where you and I live and work and play and struggle and laugh and cry. “He is going ahead of you,” the angel says to us. “There you will see him, just as he told you.”   

The Easter story goes on every time someone realizes that they’re not in control of their lives, and that it is in losing your life to Jesus that we find it.  It goes on every time a sinner is forgiven and broken relationships are mended. 

It goes on when the hungry are fed and the homeless are given shelter and when the lonely are embraced.  It goes on when the sick and the prisoner are visited, and those in grief are comforted.  It goes on when parents press on to raise their children faithfully, when husbands and wives strive to honor their vows, when business people do what is right regardless of the cost.    

It goes on every time we give up on our own selfish agendas and take up God’s agenda in the world—seeking peace, advocating justice, caring for the poor, standing with those who suffer, and calling people to put their trust in the Crucified and Risen Savior who is turning the world upside down and right side up.

Think about that.  Your story right now, no matter how insignificant or ordinary or even tragic it may seem to you, is part of Jesus’ story.  You can live a better and more beautiful story. Jesus has been set loose and is at work in your story, in your life.  He’s already gone ahead of you.  Into your marriage.  Into your home.  Into your neighborhood.  Into that difficult situation at work.  Into the classroom.  Into the waiting room at the hospital.  Into even the painful and disappointing and scary moments of your life.  He’s already there, one step ahead of us.   And he promises to bring light where there is darkness, life where there is death, healing where there is brokenness, and hope where all hope seems lost.

No, Mark never intended to end the Gospel.    In you and me, the story goes on!  So, in the power of the Holy Spirit, let us get into the Story and live this Story out for God’s glory and for the sake of the world.

Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  

Preaching: Janelle Koolhaas
Text: Mark 11:1-11; 14:3-9

The Anointing at Bethany

3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news[c] is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Have you ever received a gift that was given, the meaning of which far out-valued the cost of the item?  A quilt from your mother? A piece of woodwork lovingly crafted by your dad? Something your grandmother knitted for you? A crumbling glitter covered ornament made by your child in preschool, the first gift they ever gave you? A worn thin ring that cost a fortune at the time, and was reminds you of promises and a thousand valleys and mountaintops that make up a lifetime with your beloved?

Shirley Percival’s cross-stitched quilt was shared at her memorial yesterday… did any of you stop to marvel and the countless hours that went into all that needlework? As she stitched each square telling a piece of the good news of Jesus and his resurrection, imagine all of the quiet hours in spent immersed in their truth. What an extravagant use of her time to express something profound from her heart. Funny how items like that are the ones we treasure and save, often much more so than the ones that came with price tags and instructions.

So what was it exactly made this scene of the woman’s gift to Jesus so unforgettable?

Was it the potent feelings this scene evoked?

The overwhelming perfume?

The awkwardness of a woman so boldly and compellingly breaking the social rules--and Jesus defending her?

You probably could hear how the folks at the party were not pleased with that she did. She should have kept to her place. She should not have wasted such a valuable possession.4 Some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

They were thinking, “How inconsiderate” of her to make such a display during a festival when their people made a point of giving something extra to the poor as a sign of devotion to God? (Isn’t it so, that our own food pantries and toy drives are flooded during the holidays, while shelves go unstocked at other times of the year?) And there in Bethany, a village home to many folks who were too poor or too sick to manage life inside the city walls … so unseemly. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.

He must have been thinking: ‘Don’t hide behind the calling you have everyday to avoid what God is showing you right now.  Don’t get sucked into an abstract dilemma about justice. You’ve had every day before, and you’ll have every day after to work to give comfort to the poor. But this is a moment unlike any other; you will not get it back!’

 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.  9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news[c] is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

This must have felt like a punch in the stomach to James and John given all their attempts to make themselves important to Jesus and have a legacy in his kingdom (Remember their jockeying for first place a few weeks ago? Remember their insistence that they were with Jesus no matter what, they could handle the cup he would drink, etc!) But here was this woman, who had done “nothing” except this crazy, frankly embarrassing spectacle of adoration. What has she done that they hadn’t?

She believed him without hesitation…In faith she took him at his word that he was who he said he was, and was filled with worship, love, and gratitude and she didn’t hold back.

The disciples had wanted so much to earn Jesus’ praise and commendation for their loyalty and courage on his behalf, they were parsing and trying to make logical sense of what Jesus spoke about himself, the Temple, the times, the terrifying thought of his death which must have sounded like defeat… but it was this woman whom Jesus commends. “She has performed a good service for me.” In the Greek, it says ‘kalon ergon’-- a beautiful, praiseworthy, upright work. Kalon is one of the roots of a word like calligraphy— writing that is ornate and striking, a thing of beauty… maybe even a little over-the-top, but in a manner that shows honor and lifts up something important.

She did the best thing she could think of. She didn’t brag, posture, promise, reason, or flatter Jesus with empty words, nor pester him with cunning questions and observations.  To show who Jesus was to her, she took stock of all she had and who he was, and she wordlessly gave him this over-the-top, ridiculously expensive gift, and not just a symbolic few drops but poured out its entire content in a few seconds of stunning devotion.

I feel like it is one of those “thin places” where curtain of mystery that covers God’s planning and timing is pulled back for a moment of extraordinary meaning and illumination.  This believer is profoundly moved with affection and pours out a gift that is all she has to honor him-- precisely as the reality that he would soon die was heavily upon him, and no one else could see it.  What must this have meant to Jesus? How lonely was he in his fear and dread of what being handed over to his enemies, of death?

You see...What we don’t quite get by singling out this story in the course of the Mark narrative is what the writer tells just before, and just after.  

• Booked ended by the scribes and Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus, just as soon as they can get him away from all the crowds that had filled the city
• What follows in the verses right after this story is Judas, mad, fed up, and impatient for a little more action than just talk about a new kingdom… Judas will slip out of the dinner party to go to make a deal with the religious leaders who are delighted to have an insider who will help them get Jesus right where they want him-- alone.  

If we only had those stories, we could easily be led to believe that Jesus arrest and death were the direct result of cunning human scheming.  Merely a “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, like the title of that famous novel.  We might be tempted to wallow in the pitiful betrayal, and entertain “what if’s”... but there were no mistakes. It doesn’t mean that Jesus was calculating each step, or that he knew what to expect next. But this story is placed in the here in the gospel to remind us that there was no point when human plans got ahead of God’s plan. There was more going on than met the eye. I believe this woman was saying yes to God’s Spirit at work in her for her own sake, for the guests, and listen to us now, even for our sake.

Jesus went on to say: “she has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. You know the saying, “missing the forest for the trees?”  Here they were grumbling about wasted perfume, and political correctness, and Jesus’ stomach was in knots, his heart racing at the realization that what her anointing was a foreshadowing of what was come… he too would soon make an immeasurable sacrifice, and be poured out for all of them. For all of us.

If there is anything that we can learn from this story, it is to step back in worshipful awe of the selfless, messy and stunning way that Christ gave all of himself for is on the cross. What a gift! What a cost!

As we now come to celebrate at the Lord’s Table, let us come with hearts full of love and gratitude for the One who spared no cost for our sake’s.

Amen.

Preaching: Janelle Koolhaas
Text: Mark 11:1-11; 14:3-9

The Anointing at Bethany

3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news[c] is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Have you ever received a gift that was given, the meaning of which far out-valued the cost of the item?  A quilt from your mother? A piece of woodwork lovingly crafted by your dad? Something your grandmother knitted for you? A crumbling glitter covered ornament made by your child in preschool, the first gift they ever gave you? A worn thin ring that cost a fortune at the time, and was reminds you of promises and a thousand valleys and mountaintops that make up a lifetime with your beloved?

Shirley Percival’s cross-stitched quilt was shared at her memorial yesterday… did any of you stop to marvel and the countless hours that went into all that needlework? As she stitched each square telling a piece of the good news of Jesus and his resurrection, imagine all of the quiet hours in spent immersed in their truth. What an extravagant use of her time to express something profound from her heart. Funny how items like that are the ones we treasure and save, often much more so than the ones that came with price tags and instructions.

So what was it exactly made this scene of the woman’s gift to Jesus so unforgettable?

Was it the potent feelings this scene evoked?

The overwhelming perfume?

The awkwardness of a woman so boldly and compellingly breaking the social rules--and Jesus defending her?

You probably could hear how the folks at the party were not pleased with that she did. She should have kept to her place. She should not have wasted such a valuable possession.4 Some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

They were thinking, “How inconsiderate” of her to make such a display during a festival when their people made a point of giving something extra to the poor as a sign of devotion to God? (Isn’t it so, that our own food pantries and toy drives are flooded during the holidays, while shelves go unstocked at other times of the year?) And there in Bethany, a village home to many folks who were too poor or too sick to manage life inside the city walls … so unseemly. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.

He must have been thinking: ‘Don’t hide behind the calling you have everyday to avoid what God is showing you right now.  Don’t get sucked into an abstract dilemma about justice. You’ve had every day before, and you’ll have every day after to work to give comfort to the poor. But this is a moment unlike any other; you will not get it back!’

 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.  9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news[c] is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

This must have felt like a punch in the stomach to James and John given all their attempts to make themselves important to Jesus and have a legacy in his kingdom (Remember their jockeying for first place a few weeks ago? Remember their insistence that they were with Jesus no matter what, they could handle the cup he would drink, etc!) But here was this woman, who had done “nothing” except this crazy, frankly embarrassing spectacle of adoration. What has she done that they hadn’t?

She believed him without hesitation…In faith she took him at his word that he was who he said he was, and was filled with worship, love, and gratitude and she didn’t hold back.

The disciples had wanted so much to earn Jesus’ praise and commendation for their loyalty and courage on his behalf, they were parsing and trying to make logical sense of what Jesus spoke about himself, the Temple, the times, the terrifying thought of his death which must have sounded like defeat… but it was this woman whom Jesus commends. “She has performed a good service for me.” In the Greek, it says ‘kalon ergon’-- a beautiful, praiseworthy, upright work. Kalon is one of the roots of a word like calligraphy— writing that is ornate and striking, a thing of beauty… maybe even a little over-the-top, but in a manner that shows honor and lifts up something important.

She did the best thing she could think of. She didn’t brag, posture, promise, reason, or flatter Jesus with empty words, nor pester him with cunning questions and observations.  To show who Jesus was to her, she took stock of all she had and who he was, and she wordlessly gave him this over-the-top, ridiculously expensive gift, and not just a symbolic few drops but poured out its entire content in a few seconds of stunning devotion.

I feel like it is one of those “thin places” where curtain of mystery that covers God’s planning and timing is pulled back for a moment of extraordinary meaning and illumination.  This believer is profoundly moved with affection and pours out a gift that is all she has to honor him-- precisely as the reality that he would soon die was heavily upon him, and no one else could see it.  What must this have meant to Jesus? How lonely was he in his fear and dread of what being handed over to his enemies, of death?

You see...What we don’t quite get by singling out this story in the course of the Mark narrative is what the writer tells just before, and just after.  

• Booked ended by the scribes and Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus, just as soon as they can get him away from all the crowds that had filled the city
• What follows in the verses right after this story is Judas, mad, fed up, and impatient for a little more action than just talk about a new kingdom… Judas will slip out of the dinner party to go to make a deal with the religious leaders who are delighted to have an insider who will help them get Jesus right where they want him-- alone.  

If we only had those stories, we could easily be led to believe that Jesus arrest and death were the direct result of cunning human scheming.  Merely a “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, like the title of that famous novel.  We might be tempted to wallow in the pitiful betrayal, and entertain “what if’s”... but there were no mistakes. It doesn’t mean that Jesus was calculating each step, or that he knew what to expect next. But this story is placed in the here in the gospel to remind us that there was no point when human plans got ahead of God’s plan. There was more going on than met the eye. I believe this woman was saying yes to God’s Spirit at work in her for her own sake, for the guests, and listen to us now, even for our sake.

Jesus went on to say: “she has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. You know the saying, “missing the forest for the trees?”  Here they were grumbling about wasted perfume, and political correctness, and Jesus’ stomach was in knots, his heart racing at the realization that what her anointing was a foreshadowing of what was come… he too would soon make an immeasurable sacrifice, and be poured out for all of them. For all of us.

If there is anything that we can learn from this story, it is to step back in worshipful awe of the selfless, messy and stunning way that Christ gave all of himself for is on the cross. What a gift! What a cost!

As we now come to celebrate at the Lord’s Table, let us come with hearts full of love and gratitude for the One who spared no cost for our sake’s.

Amen.