Encountering Jesus: Extravagant Love

Meditation on Matthew 26: 6-13 for Morning Watch Worship.

In some accounts, as in John’s gospel, she is named.  John writes that it was Mary, sister of Martha, who poured the oil on Jesus' feet, preparing him for burial.  But in Matthew’s version, written before the Gospel of John, we do not know who she is…she is unnamed.  Yet her expression is bold, faithful, and extravagant.

During Lent, Morning Watch meditations will be focusing on different characters in the Gospels who have had encounters with Jesus.  People; perhaps close friends or unnamed persons, who were forever changed because of a powerful encounter with the Son of God.  So often we focus on Jesus – his actions, his message, his life – that we overlook the extraordinariness of the ordinary people he chose to be around; or who chose to be around him.

In this scene, it goes both ways.  The woman was probably a follower…since they were in a home at what was probably a more intimate, close-friends-only setting.  I bet she chose to be around Jesus and at the same time, he too chose her.  Obviously –as we know - Jesus wasn’t too picky about who he associated with.  For goodness sake, he was at a leper’s home!  Who wants to be hanging out with a leper?  In those days, it was not cool.  He chose tax collectors and insignificant fishermen to be his disciples and buddies…traveling with them, teaching them about the Kingdom of Heaven, dining with them and literally spending every waking hour in their company.  In all the Gospels we see that Jesus chose the people who would never get chosen by anyone else.  Women included.

What must it have been like to be this woman?  Surrounded by stinky men all the time.  Silently listening to their bickering and arguments over who is the greatest?  And especially in this scene, where she is reprimanded by her offering of extravagant love…. I wonder how she felt?  What she did was more than just a nice gesture.  This unnamed woman perhaps understood more than anyone in that room what Jesus was about to do…the road he was on and the painful fate ahead of him.  Did she understand why?  Who knows…probably not.  Heck, we all still struggle with the “why” part.  But she didn’t argue it.  She didn’t deny it and she didn’t betray it.  Rather, she took a big and risky step by coming over and anointing Jesus’ head with this costly ointment.  By doing this, the woman was preparing Jesus for his imminent death and burial.  And because she did it, she got scolded and reprimanded by the disciples who once again, “just didn’t get it.” 

I don’t know if you’ve glanced over the words to the song that we will hear at the end of our worship today.  It may be a weird song to play on a Sunday morning.  But something about it caught my ear when I was thinking about this text and how it applies to us today.  I read the lyrics in the viewpoint of the woman who anointed Jesus’ head, and I hope you will too.  The chorus goes,

Don't rest your weight on me now

You're not gonna change me by putting me down

My faith lies deep in the ground

How often do we let other people put us down?  How often do we allow the world and the mainline-whatever tell us what to believe and how to act?  The unnamed woman in our story today was obviously a woman greatly moved and affected by Jesus.  And she did what she felt called to do.  She expressed her love for this Son of God, and in turn for God, in a way that no other person did!  It was self-less and powerful.  And when she was criticized, I wonder if she thought – who are you to judge me?  Who are you to put me down for doing what I feel called to do?  For loving the Lord? 

What does this woman and her anointing of Jesus mean to us?  Why do we care?  Clearly we don’t really remember her in any special way.  It’s kinda funny to me that, although Matthew includes this story in his Gospel, he doesn’t even give her a name!  How do you remember someone who doesn’t have a name?!

Perhaps though…perhaps this woman stands for the people all over the world who do good and wonderful things in God’s name who we will never know.  Stories we will never hear.  Perhaps this woman and her extravagant love will remind us to open our eyes and look for the nameless in our world…. people whose voices are silenced; whose work for justice are oppressed by the powerful. 

In this world of social media and 24/7 news outlets, we hear a lot of devastating stuff that goes on in our country and in our world.  And all too often we hear Christian voices who do not sound like our own; groups like Westboro Baptist who claim to be Christian - but are as far from Christ as I have ever seen – get more airtime than they should.  Call me crazy, but I don’t think Jesus would be in their picket lines.  Their message is not the good news he talked about. 

In our story today, Jesus responded to his angry disciples by saying that the poor will always be around, but he will not.  Jesus did not mean that we should overlook those who live in poverty.  He was simply saying that, until God’s kingdom is fully here, there will always be suffering in this world.  The problem of poverty calls for action more extravagant and transforming than simply putting a band-aid on the problem with a few extra dollars (as the disciples were suggesting).  Jesus praised the woman’s act of service for him.  And in doing so, he is telling us that when we take an active role in our relationship with God – when we give to God our love and ourselves (regardless of what others might say) – then we will be changed.  Our changed lives will be remembered.  Our changed lives will impact and affect other lives…rich, poor, powerful, powerless…  And the good news of God will go on…and on…and on…

What she has done will be told in remembrance of her.  The season of Lent is all about noticing God in the everyday.  Listening to God in the silences and the noises of life.  The season of Lent is about letting go and taking on - in hopes for deeper relationship and clearer understanding of God’s vision for our lives. 

Go and tell the stories no one pays attention to.  Go and tell the stories of true transformation in God’s name.  Don’t let anyone put their weight of condescending judgment on you.  And don’t let yourself be your worst critic.  When you encounter Jesus, do what this woman did and love him extravagantly.   For though she is nameless, she will not be forgotten.  If, like this woman, our faith lives deep within us, and if we are generous with that faith, neither will our stories be forgotten.  And indeed the good news of God’s love and grace will spread throughout the world.  It will spread on …and on…. and on….  Amen.

You say that I've strayed from the road I walked as a child

You say that my youth and my heart haven't chosen what's right

Don't tell me I'm aimless

Cause I ain't gonna fight

You bury your faith in the book you clutch in the dark

You keep praying I'll hear every word and it tears you apart

Don't tell me I'm faithless

Cause I ain't gonna fight

We both know a place

Where we know who we are

Don't rest your weight on me now

You're not gonna change me by putting me down

My faith lies deep in the ground

If Jesus exists he don't live in the pages we write

He'd say put down your books and come follow me out in the light

Don't tell me I'm crazy

Cause I ain't gonna fight

We both want to hold on

To what peace we can find

Don't rest your weight on me now

You're not gonna change me by putting me down

My faith lies deep in the ground

My faith lies deep in the ground

Side by Side

White and speckled with spots.  One with black ears and one with brown.  At first glance, you might think our dogs are biological siblings.  But upon a closer look you can tell they are both mutts, but from different breeds.

One is a mutt from the animal shelter in Fort Worth, TX.  The quietest little guy in the pound; it was love at first sight for Jeff.  It was early February 2009 and Jeff and I were counting down the days, weeks, and months until our big day.  We were your typical annoying, gitty, engaged couple.  We decided to have a longer engagement, so for the most part, wedding planning never did get too stressful for either of us - although we were living in one state and having the wedding in another - thanks to helpful family, friends, and a wedding coordinator, our stress levels stayed well below "crazy."  Anyway, I finally gave in when Jeff mentioned for the 1000th time, "I want a dog."  Since we weren't living together at that time, our dog would be living with him until I moved in, and so there was only so much I could say.  Not that I didn't want a dog.  But as I've learned over these 3+ years, Jeff is the dreamer and I am the realist.  Jeff says, "it'll be fun!" when I say, "but we have to remember how this is going to affect our lives, time, and money."  It's a great balance.

Needless to say, before long, I found myself walking along the aisles of the animal shelter, row-by-row of dogs - big ones, little ones, big-eared yappy mutts, and gentle-eyed golden retrievers.  Creations of God who either never had a home, ran away from home, or got left behind from former owners for one reason or another.  Each one of them longing for a place to be.  It was so loud in that place that we could hardly hear ourselves talk.  We had a few ones picked out as our "favorites."  And then we got to the end of the last row.  Laying down on his stomach, was a medium sized white pup with black ears and a black patch stretching just over and above his right eye.  Soft black spots faintly dotted his coat.  He just looked at us.  He did not bark, nor did he get up to lick our fingers through the gate that separated him from the world.  Jeff looked at me with that excited "It's the day before Christmas" sparkle in his eye that he gets when he wants something (as well as upon any mention of food).  "I want him," he says.  I looked from Jeff, to the dog, to the dog's info card - Bingo, lab mix, 6 months, 30 lbs, $85 - and back to Jeff.   "You want him?"  For some reason this was not the kind of dog I thought Jeff would want.  "Let's at least ask to get him out and play with him."  When a worker got the keys to let Bingo out of his gated, concrete home, we kneeled down to meet him.  He immediately put his front paws up on Jeff's shoulders and let us both scratch behind his ears.  He never barked a word and he never got overly excited. He was just happy to meet us.  I said, "let's go home and talk about it."  The next day we were back and adopting the sweetest pup in the pound, Bingo, who we quickly renamed, Patch.  It was the start of our family (along with the cats).

Fast forward 4 years down the road...it's only a couple of months since we moved to Kentucky and settled into our new home in the semi-country.  We have just under an acre of yard and cows in the field behind us.  It was only a matter of time before I would see that "It's the day before Christmas" look in Jeff's eye.  This time the sparkle spread across his entire face - Patch needs a buddy.  We had had this conversation many times before, and both of us decided we needed to be settled before we got a second dog.  I suppose we were as settled as we were going to get!  Again, it's not that I didn't want another dog - I've always wanted Patch to have a playmate - but another dog meant more hair to vacuum, more paws to clean, and more food to buy.  I was hesitant.  But off we went anyway to Barren River Animal Welfare Association (BRAWA) one day in late January 2012.  (It doesn't help that our church secretary is an active volunteer and advocate at BRAWA - along with about 2/3 of our congregation!)  The next day we brought home a sister for Patch - a bouncy, hyper, goofy German short-hair pointer mix - Pepper.

It took a little while for the two P's to get used to each other.  Patch made sure to assert his dominance and Pepper was just elated to have a home and a friend.  There were times when their play turned to anger, and I would wonder if we made a mistake.  But it didn't last long.  In a month or so, Pepper finished growing and she turned out to be just a touch taller, longer, and bigger than her older brother.  (But Patch can still pin her to the ground in some pretty impressive wrestling moves!)  Before long, they learned how to share the couch, share their food, and share our love.  They learned that it's only more fun when both of them go outside together.  And that it's definitely more exciting to aggravate the cats as a team.  They live life together, side by side.  We've become a unit...and our house is constantly covered in white hair....  But it's totally worth every second.

I've become the kind of person who realizes that my dogs have become my children.  And until Jeff & I have actual kids of our own, everyone will have to settle for pictures of the dogs...many pictures of the dogs.  (To our parents, just be patient! - and for now, enjoy licks over baby kisses!)

This time of year marks our 4th anniversary with Patch and our 1-year anniversary with Pepper.

Love comes in many forms.  I am forever grateful for the love between humans and canines.  I cannot say it enough - "I love these pups!"

2009 - The day we met Patch.

2012 - Bringing Pepper home!

Feb 1, 2012 - "Hmm...I'm not sure how I feel about this..."

Two P's in a pod....

Feb 1, 2013 - Side by side...

Pink Sun

This morning after slapping my alarm clock silent, I rolled over to find neon pink streams of sunrise squeezing through the holes in our blinds.  I have to be honest - my first thought was, "ugh, we really need to get some curtains..."   But then I realized that if I didn't get my sleepy, stayed-up-too-late self up & outta bed, I would most certainly miss a breathtaking "good morning" greeting from God.  Wow.  The color in the sky was awesome.  And it's kinda crazy how quickly the pinks blend into oranges and then into blues, depending on the clouds and how clear the sky is when the sun makes its way into the day.
The great thing about the view from our little Kentucky home in the semi-country is that even Jeff gets to enjoy the colors of the sky.  He is not a morning person by any means, so he usually misses the early show; but he's lucky, because sunsets from our perspective are just as magical.  And he loves the outdoors and the gift of nature enough to stop and breathe it in as much as possible.
So - all in all - both our souls are fed.

It's hard to believe that Jeff & I have lived in Glasgow for over a year now.  I keep meaning to sit down and write more intentionally about this transition in life and how it has affected me.  I keep wanting to sit down and record more deeply my memories and life-lessons learned from my 5 years in Fort Worth.  And I think it would do me good to sit down and reflect upon how much I've already found growth and blessing here in Glasgow.  The good stuff and the hard stuff - I want to record it all.

Right now, Jeff is belting out some riffs on one (yes, one) of his electric guitars, and the dogs are outside running around.  The cats are appreciating this rare moment of a house to themselves, canine-free.  I'm sitting here blogging about nothing important.  We are all feeding our souls.

Today saw challenges of its own but nothing too intense that I feel the need to write about.

It must have been a writing or English course in school somewhere along the way that I learned the freedom and joy of stream-of-conscience writing.  I guess you could place this post somewhere along the streams' spectrum...And that's okay with me.

When I finally gave in and decided to try out blogging, this was one of my greatest concerns.  What am I going to write about?  What if I have nothing to say?  Will all this be a waste?

Writing doesn't always have to serve a specific purpose.  Of course, it's great when it does - and I mostly aim for that goal.  But sometimes the beauty of writing is that we can just...write.  In many ways similar to the pattern of our days...we can go along with our pen or at our computer and put language to our thoughts.  And it doesn't have to have a definite intro/body/conclusion pattern.  It doesn't even have to make sense all the time!  (At least I hope not, because I'm in trouble if it does!)  I like to write.  And in 2013, I hope to be more creative with my writing and with my blog.  I want to be serious and silly.  I want to have fun with it and learn from other people along the way.  And at the same time, I want to be relevant to our times and the events that shape the world we live in now.

Something I would like to do, as I mentioned before, is write more specifically about my time in Fort Worth, TX.  It was a life-changing time and I made lifelong friends and colleagues.  I feel like I owe many of my friends and mentors the small act of saying thanks by recording how important they are to me.  Whether they read it or not...

So - like the colors of the sky, writing provides endless amounts of joy and gratitude.  It is freeing and healing.  My prayer is that everyone, everywhere can find something that frees them of the heavy weights life can bring.  Something healing...something fun....something bright and colorful...much like the neon pink light that streamed in my window this morning and called me to greet the new day.

Those Wise Ones...

For anyone who will be in early worship tomorrow morning - here's my meditation on Matthew 2: 1-12.  (We'll watch the video first.)  This doesn't mean I want you to skip out on church (!!), but since I'm finding it hard to be a consistent blogger these days, I thought I'd share the thoughts I'll be preaching with the blogosphere.

So about those wise ones…
Regardless if you do Facebook or Twitter or use the Internet much at all – haven’t you ever wondered what the Christmas story would look like on a modern canvas?  How would the communication happen?  How would the word spread?  It’s amazing, simply amazing, that this many years later – the word is still spreading…still changing lives…still changing the world…still turning worldviews upside-down.  I just had to share this video with you.  Because even though camels were cars and the only GPS available was a bright and shining star…. something pretty amazing happened.  And here we are today, on YouTube and in church, to tell the story again. 

 There’s a whole lot packed into these 12 short verses.  First there is the curious wonder and the journey of the wise men from the east; bringing their gifts to the recently born Son of God.  And then there is the fear and the evil intentions of King Herod.  This unruly ruler wanted no one to threaten his power or his throne.  Following these verses, we see his rage lived out in the slaughter of every male child under 2 years old.  We see the terrified flight of Mary & Joseph to Egypt to protect young Jesus.  And so, not only do we hear today a story of complete wonder and humbling beauty, but also a story of fear, of violence, and of darkness.
  

What can we learn from it?  What does this story tell us about the God we worship…and the world in which we live?  It tells us a lot.  More than I can squeeze into a Morning Watch meditation!  More than we can squeeze into our human brains, really!  For one, Matthew’s story of Jesus’ eastern visitors reminds us of the vast inclusion of God’s message.  Where in the world did these wise ones even hear of the Son of God being born?  They came from a completely different part of the world!  They risked their lives and broke all their commitments to make a journey that was foreign to them from the start.  They were faithful to a God they did not know.  And when they got to the home of Mary & Joseph, they knelt down, they worshipped, and they gave their gifts.  And so the obvious questions here are – 1. Who does God not include in the hopeful promise of Jesus Christ?  Anyone?  (Matthew shows us radical inclusion as opposed to exclusion.)  And 2. – What do we bring to our Lord?  What are our gifts?  How is our life like a journey to find the Babe of Bethlehem?  Are we praying?  Are we engaging scripture on a regular basis?  Are we sharing the love God has placed in our hearts with all we meet?   Take just a few moments now…to think about your life and who God created you to be.  What can you give…what do you give…as you live out your faith?
  

After taking a close, very personal look at this wondrous story of the star and the wise men and the gifts…we have to zoom out.  If we don’t zoom out then we miss 95% of the message God wants us so badly to hear.  Zoom out from a personal perspective to a communal, worldly perspective of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Look at the situation to which God came.  After Jesus – the Son of God – was born, King Herod ordered the deaths of numerous baby boys.  The holy parents had to flee for their lives and for the life of their son.  And when Jesus grew up and lived out his ministry, he was persecuted, put on trail, and executed.  Look at the world in which the Gospels were written.  The Temple – the centerpiece of the Jewish faith – had been attacked and destroyed and God’s people were left hopeless; picking up the pieces of their religion and questioning how to move forward.  Zoom out and see the darkness of the world in the days of Jesus….in the centuries that followed….and even today, in the world of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and GPS Navigation Systems.  Zoom out and look at the world God came to…. and the world God continues to come. 

One commentator I read tells us that there’s a reason we read the Luke version of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Eve.  He says, “Matthew’s nativity moves quickly from the glad moment of the adoration and gifts of the ‘wise men’ to a darker, more ambivalent world of political intrigue, deception, and fear-induced violence.”  He goes on to say, “If Matthew’s account is more sober, it is also realistic.  We live in a world riddled by fear, a world of devastating super-storms and elementary school massacres, a world where innocents die everyday to preventable illness and hunger….Matthew renders an accurate if also difficult picture of the world.  And that is what is at the heart of Matthew’s darker, more adult-oriented story of Jesus’ birth:  the promise that it is precisely this world that God came to, this people so mastered by fear that we often do the unthinkable to each other and ourselves that God loves; this gaping need that we have and bear that God remedies.  Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, the living, breathing, and vulnerable promise that God chose to come live and die for us, as we are, so that in Christ’s resurrection, we, too, might experience newness of life.”[1]

Newness of life.  Today we celebrate a new year…. while in the same breath we speak to the promise of God’s light in a dark world.  Where do we find newness in our personal and public lives?  Look for it.  It is different for each person; and yet, because we are a community of faith, we take part in a communal life of discipleship.  It is because we have seen the light…because we have been guided by the star…we’ve followed our GPS and we’ve followed God’s call to this very moment…it is because of this that we can honestly say “yes, there is more to this life than fear and darkness and violence.”  “There is more to God’s story than me, & yet I am a critical part of it.”  Because God chose to come to this world in the form a tiny, crying baby, there is another way…there is love in a powerful and intimate way.  And because of that bright and shining star…because of those wise ones…we can sit here today, in the social media world of 2013, and humbly claim our role in the bigger-than-life, awesome, and inclusive story of the God we worship.  The light is shining, friends, and the darkness does not overcome it.  Let us live this promise everyday.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

---

[1] David Lose, Workingpreacher.org.

Cry. Hope. Imagine.

A blank screen.  I guess I shouldn't try to force it.  My eyes are beginning to hurt from the brightness of the computer screen in a room lit only by one lamp and Christmas tree lights.  Busyness and agendas have kept me from the blogosphere these past several weeks.  And now I sit here, and wonder....what do I say after the events of last Friday?  What can I say that hasn't already been said?  What sorts of comforting words can I give that haven't already been given?  What kind of prayers can I offer that haven't already been offered?  I have read so many articles and blogs and Facebook posts and prayers by people I know and strangers alike.  People who have spilled forth their love and sorrow through poetic words and comforting insights; honest lamentations and heartfelt questions.  And all I can think of now is why...and how...

Why did this happen?  Why did children and adults have to die?  Why do these violent acts keep happening?
Why?

How do we move forward?  How do the families heal?  How do we stop such terror from unfolding again? How can we unite alongside people of all backgrounds and situations and faiths and non-faiths and come together on at least this one thing?  The safety of all.  The life of all.  Too many precious lives have been taken from this world.  Too much possibility.  Too much potential.  Too much beauty is gone.  How do we move forward?

I will never be able to answer the why.  My only attempt is to say that no matter the why - God is and continues to be here.  In this season, especially, we are reminded of this simple and comforting truth.  God comes all the time.  God never leaves our side.  God cries with us.  God wants us to have life.  God never wanted for this to happen.

In the how, I find comfort in the memory.  Not the memory of the deaths, but the memory of the lives.  Goodness and love comes from each life that is taken by violence.  And even though that physical life is gone, the goodness and love that came from it will never go away.  And I think, even more than the memory, we will always have the spirit of the beloved.  And my faith teaches me that the spirit can do amazing things.  It can breathe in new life; it can be in many places at many times; it can bring warmth and healing and hope.  It can live forever.

Because of this...all people who have died will never be forgotten.  Their lives will continue to live on in powerful ways.  But it takes work from the rest of us.  We have to allow our hearts to heal and our spirits to soften from the pain and the agony and the anger that follows these kinds of losses.  It takes time...it takes a lot of hugs and tears and laughter...and it takes prayer.  

In the days to come, through the tears of grief and sorrow, I look forward to hearing the stories of how these lives are carried on.  I look forward to hearing and watching our country and our world be blessed and strengthened by the lives of those we lost from Newtown, CT...and Aurora, CO...and Portland, OR...and from all places where untimely deaths have met the violent decision of someone who needed help more deeply than we will ever know. 

Nobody ever said it was going to be easy.  Why does it have to be so hard?  We will never have a satisfying answer.  How we deal with it and how we heal from it is, at least, a place to start.

I don't think it is time, yet, to begin on the how.  But soon it will be.  For now people of lost loved ones grieve and mourn and console one another.  But soon....soon we will hear how the spirits live on.  And I believe that can bring the kind of healing, and the kind of hope, and the kind of strength that even God could wish for out of a situation like this.  

A lot of conversations will take place on a lot of different issues and topics because of the shootings.  My prayer is that the lives lost can be remembered in ways that carry the goodness of their lives and the light of their spirits to the darkest corners of the earth.  And the darkness will not overcome it.