God is always about doing a new thing. April 3, 2022. The Rev. Kathleen M. Sturges

Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  So promises God, through the prophet Isaiah, to the people of Israel. A people who have seen some pretty hard times. Their land has been conquered, the Temple in Jerusalem destroyed, and the people themselves taken captive and forced to live in the foreign land. Life has not turned out as expected. And it’s especially painful when they look back to the days when it felt like God was with them in big and miraculous ways by rescuing them from slavery, parting the Red Sea, and providing manna in the wilderness. No matter who you are or what era you live in, it’s always tempting to look back with rose colored glasses and pine for the good old days. But as important as it is to not forget one’s past and particularly the way that God has provided, it is not good to get stuck there.  The prophet Isaiah puts his finger on this problem when he tells them to not get caught up in “former things.” Because when your focus is on “former things” you often can’t see the things that God is doing right now.

 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? God doesn’t just speak these words to the Israelites long ago. They are words that are true throughout all time. For God is always about doing a new thing. Shining light into the darkness. Seeking to bring more peace, more hope, more justice into the world. Now it springs forth. “Do you not perceive it?,” asks the prophet of us today. Can you see it? Are you open to that possibility?

 I wonder what it would look like to answer “yes” to those questions? To really trust and believe that God is doing a new thing in our lives. Maybe saying “yes” would look somewhat similar to Mary in our gospel reading today. Not long ago that Mary had had a profound experience of Jesus’ saving power in her life. He had raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Long enough for the reality of his death to really sink in and then Jesus arrives and calls him out of the tomb, bringing him back to life. It was a tremendous miracle, to say the least. The kind of thing that changes one’s life. You just can’t go on as before after something like that.

 And Mary doesn’t. But what’s remarkable is that she doesn’t get stuck in the past, in the miracle she has already received. She doesn’t live as one who solely looks back on the former things of life - clinging to Lazarus and making his restored life the center of hers. Instead, as amazing as that past was, she is open and able to perceive that Jesus is about to do something new.

 Now this dinner party which we hear about in John’s gospel doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Raising Lazarus from the dead has caused quite a stir in the community, as you can imagine. And it has also caused great concern with the powers that be. Jesus is becoming way too popular for their liking. So a meeting is called and a plan is hatched to have Jesus arrested and put to death. But the news leaks so from that time on Jesus and his companions lay low, John tells us that Jesus no longer walks openly among the Jews. Until, that is, six days before Jesus’ final Passover. He is heading towards Jerusalem but before he arrives he stops in Bethany to see friends. Martha, naturally, gets busy serving. Lazarus hosts. Still there is tension in the air. Yet, nonetheless Mary sees Jesus and is somehow able to perceive that this is more going on here than meets the eye.

 So she goes to the storeroom and pulls out a jar of pure nard - burial ointment. Perhaps it was the very same nard that she used on her brother’s dead body. Regardless, she brings this nard over to Jesus, bows down, anoints his feet, and then wipes them with her hair. The house is filled with fragrance. It’s a beautiful scent, but it also carries with it the association of death, especially in that family. But by doing what Mary does she offers Jesus a profound openness. Her, “Yes.” She is willing to go with him in whatever he will do next. Even if that next thing is death.

 Mary and Lazarus had experienced the restoration of life. Lazarus was dead, and now he was alive and, of course, that was great. But Jesus wants to do even more. Not just restore one person to mortal life but offer all of us eternal life. Yet in order to do that, first he has to die.

 And Mary was ready. Ready to let death back into her life. Ready to let go of the former things, as wonderful as they may be. She is willing to trust Jesus no matter what. And Mary models for us an amazing willingness to face the fear of change, and even the fear of the death of what we know and love, in order to prepare for the new thing that God is doing. For she believes that even in the darkest of days God is doing something good, something new. That was her truth, then.

 And that is our truth, now. For there is no doubt that God is seeking to do something new in your life today. And not just in your life alone, but in the life of our church, and the life of our world. What is that new thing? Do you perceive it? Don’t let yourself get stuck in the former things, whatever they may be - good or bad. Let that go and be open to the new thing God is ready to do. Like Mary and say “yes” to the working of the Spirit. For the way of God’s spirit is always the way of life.

 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth. With God’s help, let us not only perceive it, but the fullness of our hearts, our minds, our souls, say, Yes!