A New Thing – 13 March 2016 – Fifth Sunday in Lent

The LORD “makes a way in the sea…” Impossible. Mary lavishes Jesus’ feet with anointment one cannot imagine being able to afford. Incredible. And in the Epistle to Philippians, Paul claims that everything in his life, in this whole world, is “rubbish” compared to “the righteousness from God based on faith” in Christ. Too strong?

The impossible, incredible, unthinkable is exactly what God is about. It’s a new thing. Preachers have to imagine our way into this promising prospect so that those who have come to worship on this Sunday will leave with an inkling of the goodness that comes through the cross. This day is full of hinting paradoxes that will arrive with increasing force as Good Friday approaches.

John 12:1-8

The story of Jesus’ dinner with his good friends – when Mary anoints his feet and wipes them with her hair (surely one of the most exotic and evocative events in the Gospels) – could appear at first glance to be sort of normal. Friends for dinner. And yet…

The scene marks a key transition and link from Jesus' teaching and healing ministry (the gospel of signs) to his paschal ministry (the gospel of glory). The author drops many clues and prepares the reader for any number of elements of the story to come: the death of Jesus at Passover, the anointing oils of burial, the resurrection story of Lazarus, now extended into the “prequel” to the resurrection story of Jesus, and the betrayal of Judas...

The reading concludes. . . “You always have the poor with you. . .” The saying is unfortunately used to . . . excuse indifference toward the ministry of care for the poor.

An effective homily will challenge these hidden assumptions and equip the listener to challenge it appropriately whenever it emerges in conversation. . . The poor we will always have; they are not helped by theft from the common purse. And, they are not hurt (but will be helped) when Jesus completes his earthly mission and unleashes the power of God's Spirit through his risen body. – Jeffrey VanderWilt

Isaiah 43:16-21

This new thing is a liberation on all fronts.

The forty years of wandering in the Sinai wilderness is no different than the forty years of exile in Babylon. Indeed, it could be argued that the stories of Moses and the Israelites were solidified in the time of Exile precisely in such a way as to make sense of the captivity in Babylon and the difficulties faced by the returning Israelites. . . God will “make a way in the wilderness” for the returning exiles. – Jeffrey VanderWilt

Philippians 3:4b-14

Paul urges freedom from cultural patterns and cultic practices in order to see beyond temporal gain. In other words, the passages calling for the vision of the new thing come, at last, to reside in our very bodies.

Some Philippian Christians were apparently being pressed to accept circumcision, if for no other reason than to avoid persecution under Roman law; if circumcised. . . they could claim to be Jews and so be exempted from the requirement to worship the emperor. Paul's argument, in a word: do not put your trust in a sign of the flesh or even in righteousness under the law. Rather, share in the sufferings of Christ and become like him in his death, prepared to lose all things, so as to gain all things in the power of his resurrection. – Jeffrey VanderWilt

How does this focus on the “new thing” lead us to the ending of Lent when we contemplate the enter point of our faith?

Each year the readings for the last Sunday in Lent confront us with the claim that God's new thing, the new life we have together in Christ, our hope in Christ for the resurrection of the dead, for God's future, is grounded in the suffering and death of Jesus. Our own agendas are nothing next to this. Any pain we may suffer in keeping or breaking our Lenten discipline is as rubbish next to this: that the suffering and death of Jesus are essential to God's plan of salvation. Mary “got it.” Judas never did “get it.” And it is in our own “straining forward” to “get it” for ourselves that we “press on” to Holy Week and the Great Three Days. – Paul G. Bieber

Paul Bieber is pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church, San Diego, California.  

Jeffery VanderWilt, author of Communion with Non-Catholic Christians (Collegville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003) teaches at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Southern California.

Homily Service 40, no. 4 (2007): 33-44.

Baptism: A New Identity – 10 January 2016 – Baptism of Jesus

Jesus’ baptism opens the possibility of teaching about baptism as the first sacrament while also addressing the new identity we receive as baptized children of God, adopted siblings of Jesus, and people anointed for holy work in our vocations.

When a congregation has not emphasized the importance of baptism, it is easy for it to slip to the side as a sacrament that is nice but not necessary or even a rite that stands as an obstacle to inclusivity. Given the complexity of our sacramental images, teach the significance of the Holy Spirit’s coming into an individual’s life along with the many ways baptism is described in scripture and in the writings of early theologians––baptism as light, drowning, rising from the dead, new birth, belonging, love from God, acceptance, and many more.

Baptism is an essential welcome into God’s communion of saints.

Although the majority of baptized children tend to participate in confirmation years following their baptism, the level of commitment to church participation varies greatly among families in the years that separate baptism from confirmation. Perhaps a more satisfying and faithful approach is to put greater focus and emphasis on the naming dimension found in Jesus' baptism: You are marked by God's love. A parallel message is found in the Isaiah lesson: “Do not fear, for … I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” The combination of these two lessons. . . on this occasion. . . reinforce the sense of acceptance and love from God to us, a theme that cannot be told too often. – Carol J. Noren

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

John the Baptizer proclaims that this [coming] one will also bring a baptism from above, but one that will not involve water. Rather, his will be a baptism of the Spirit and of fire—images of cleansing and conviction of sin. Luke's text illustrates for us that this message was clearly received, for Herod, who had been the object of more than one of John's fiery sermons, promptly had John thrown in prison. . . .

So, the message of Christ—the “good news” God anointed him to bring—is not only about cleansing and conviction, it is also about peace. It is a life message that is preached through acts of goodness and works that bring healing.

If, on this day of remembrance of the baptism of our Lord, we are to renew our commitment to follow in the way of Jesus, then perhaps we may renew, as well, our commitments to peace, to goodness, and to healing, as well as to the naming of that which is wrong and hurtful in our world. May we hear the voice saying, “You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased!” – John Fairless

Isaiah 43:1-7

This poem is an assurance of Israel's redemption from exile. The passage begins and ends with the words: created, formed, named, and called to underscore the deep special relationship between the Holy One (vv 1, 7) and Jacob/Israel (vv 1, 4, 7). Allusion to God's protection through water and fire identify redemption from exile as a new exodus and new entry into Canaan (vv 2, 4). . . . The passage presumes all in diaspora would be reassembled as witness to the glory of God who created, formed, named, and called Israel. – Regina Boisclair

Acts 8:14-17

In the third gospel, Luke's John the Baptist claims that the one to come will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16). In Acts, the sequel to Luke's gospel, the ministry of Jesus' followers begins only after they were baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–5). From that point on reception of the Holy Spirit becomes an integral aspect of Christian initiation and is distinguished from baptism (Acts 2:38; 10:44). Neither one nor the other alone suffice. . . to mark new believers. – Regina Boisclair

God calls, gathers, names, and sends the baptized to be peace in our weary world. May this word inspire your preaching for this Sunday and always.

Regina Boisclair, a Roman Catholic theologian, is professor of religious studies, Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage.

John Fairless is senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Florida.

Carol J. Noren, a United Methodist pastor, is the Wesley W. Nelson professor of homiletics at North Park Theological Seminary. She served chuches as pastor in Minnesota for twenty years.

Homily Service 40, no. 2 (2007): 23-34.