Because you’re worth it

•April 18, 2011 • Leave a Comment

John 12:1-11

At Bethany

1Six days before Passover Jesus went back to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from death. 2A meal had been prepared for Jesus. Martha was doing the serving, and Lazarus himself was there.

3Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house. 4A disciple named Judas Iscariot was there. He was the one who was going to betray Jesus, and he asked, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” 6Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it. 7Jesus replied, “Leave her alone! She has kept this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.”

A Plot To Kill Lazarus

9A lot of people came when they heard that Jesus was there. They also wanted to see Lazarus, because Jesus had raised him from death. 10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus. 11He was the reason that many of the Jewish leaders were turning from them and putting their faith in Jesus.

Jesus is here. It’s almost Passover, the time when we remember God coming to rescue his people from the mess they were in.  He’s come for a meal.  Martha is serving it – isn’t she always.  She shows her love and care by doing things.

I wanted to do something for Jesus, something to show him how special I think he is.

I’ve got this lovely bottle of perfume.  Special it is, I’ve been saving it for the right occasion.  And do you know what?  I’ve decided this is it.  Who better to share it with than Jesus.

But I’m not just going to give him a splash, a quick squirt on his wrist.  Oh no, Jesus deserves something far more extravagant.

And so that’s what happened.  I just couldn’t help myself.  When I thought about Jesus and all he meant to me I had to pour it all out, every last drop.  Then I wiped them with my hair – my precious hair!  How else could I show him how much I appreciated what he was, all that he had done – for my family, for us all…  I just needed to make some kind of gesture, an offering to Jesus.  This is what I had and I gave it.

Judas isn’t happy though, I can tell you.  He’s moaning about the waste of money.

Doesn’t he get it?  Has he never felt such passion that he just has to try to show it somehow?  Does he have no feeling of how special Jesus is?  I just had to do something, and if he can’t grasp that, I feel sorry for him.  He has been in the presence of Jesus all this time, yet he doesn’t understand that I need to pour yourself out in offering to him.

Lord

today

I bring my offering to you,

pour out my life before you.

I worship at your feet

and bring my thanks,

my praise,

my love

to you.

But then Jesus said something really weird.  He started talking about his burial.  He said we wouldn’t always have him there?  I wonder what that’s all about?…

Posted in Jesus, love
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Who is this?

•April 17, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Matthew 21:1-11

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

1When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead. 2He told them, “Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. 3If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, `The Lord needs them.’ Right away he will let you have the donkeys.” 4So God’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said,5“Announce to the people

of Jerusalem:

`Your king is coming to you!

He is humble

and rides on a donkey.

He comes on the colt

of a donkey.’ ”

6The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. 7They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.

8Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches which they had cut from trees. 9Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting, “Hoorayfor the Son of David! God bless the one who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Hooray for God

in heaven above!”

10When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be?”

11The crowd answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

What a celebration!  Today everyone wants to cheer Jesus on. Here is the one they had been waiting for, coming to set them free.  he is their Saviour, their hope, the one in whom they can trust.

Perhaps today is the day to decide what Jesus means to me.

Posted in Jesus, Uncategorized
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Missing the most important

•April 16, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Matthew 21:33-46

Renters of a Vineyard

33Jesus told the chief priests and leaders to listen to this story:

A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

34When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. 35But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. 36He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.

37Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. 38But when they saw the man’s son, they said, “Someday he will own the vineyard. Let’s kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves.” 39So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

40Jesus asked, “When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?”

41The chief priests and leaders answered, “He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time.”

42Jesus replied, “You surely know that the Scriptures say,

`The stone that the builders

tossed aside

is now the most important

stone of all.

This is something

the Lord has done,

and it is amazing to us.’

43I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken from you and given to people who will do what he demands. 44Anyone who stumbles over this stone will be crushed, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces.”  45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. 46So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to, because the people thought he was a prophet.

So this is the inside story on what had happened to the vineyard.  How the grapes that should be so sweet have become so sour.

The owner thought he could trust the tenants.  He gave them clear instructions on what to do, how to keep the ground fertile, he left all the equipment that was needed, and left them to care and tend.  Yet when he sent his people to go to see the progress and collect the harvest, they were beaten and killed – each and every one of them – even the son.

God has left us in charge of the world.  We are charged with caring for the whole of creation.  How good a job have we done?  How have we responded when he has come to look?

Jesus was the most important thing that had happened in the history of the world.  He was the key to getting it on the right track again.  Yet he was rejected by those he came to save, tossed aside.  They missed what he was bringing to them.  They were too busy trying to make things happen the way they wanted it to, and missed the way of Jesus, the way he offered to them too.

The ordinary people had realised what Jesus was about, but the “powers that be” were having none of it.  They didn’t realise that without what Jesus brought, they could build nothing.

Do we sometimes miss the obvious?  Do we easily dismiss the one thing or person who may be the most important?

 

Lord

sometimes I fail

in the task you have set me.

I do not tend for the world,

my community,

my friends – and those I would not call friends,

as you ask me to.

May I not be so quick to judge,

to decide who and what is important.

May I not fail to see you –

and what you are doing.

 

Posted in Jesus, Lectionary, lent
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