I was asked to give the homily today, as Gayle was worn out from her ordination and a bunch of other “stuff.” Here it is:

Homily – 28 Mar 04 – 5th Sunday of Lent

Readings:

Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

“Passion Sunday”

Lord, take [our] lips and speak through them; take [our] mind[s] and think through [them]; and take [our] heart[s] and set [them] on fire. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen [W.H.H. Aitken]

This is a very confusing Sunday. Traditionally, it is called “Passion Sunday,” which is not the same as the “Sunday of the Passion,” which is next week.

The 5th Sunday of Lent is called “Passion Sunday” as the Church, following the example of Jesus, ends its concentration on His public ministry, and begins to focus on the events which lead to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. It begins a two-week period known as “Passiontide,” the last part of which is “Holy Week.”

It is not surprising, then, to discover we have a confusing Gospel.

All four Gospels have a story of a woman anointing Jesus, but there the similarity ends.

Two Gospels have the incident in the home of Simon the Leper instead of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Two have the incident within two days of Passover instead of six days before, and one has it much earlier in the ministry of Jesus. Only John has Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, a very devoted person, doing the anointing, where the other three have a “profoundly sinful woman,” possibly a prostitute, doing this.

What is going on here? Are the oral traditions jumbled? Have one or the other Gospel writers erred and put it in the wrong place? Was there more than one anointing?

Believe it or not, I can provide a definitive answer to this, as simple as it is unsatisfactory:

Who knows?

The trick is: that is not the point of today’s Gospel. If we focus on these issues, we, to use a profoundly trite expression, “cannot see the forest for the trees.”

The point of the Gospel is to get us to do what the Church has done, to focus on the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Everything which we read in the next two weeks is seen in this focus.

That is the true meaning of Mary’s actions.

In all the Gospels, Mary and all the other women seem to have a better understanding of Jesus’ mission than any of the men. The men have little understanding of what Jesus has been telling them about his final trip to Jerusalem. Mary, however, not only understands it, but also embraces and enacts it.

She also does a very, very personal thing. She lets down her hair.

In 1st Century Judaism, following the statements of the Torah, it was believed a woman’s hair was her crowning glory, and unbound hair was reserved for the intimacy of marriage. A “proper” Jewish woman would never be seen in public with her hair unbound.

There is no modern equivalent to this action. The closest would be nakedness, but, in modern America, that has a sexual component not found in the Gospel.

Regardless, Mary embraces Jesus’ mission, performs what is the equivalent of “last rites,” and does it all in a significantly extravagant way. However much Judas was wrong on other matters, he was right about the lavishness. Figure whatever the average U.S. yearly wage is, and 75% of that is the cost of the perfume.

The actual point is that God wants us to understand and embrace the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ in that same profound and intimate manner as did Mary.

And, as all four readings and the Collect point out, we are not to do so in the semi-masochistic sense as is portrayed in the Medieval Passion Plays. There was massive pain and suffering, but that is not the Good News, and would leave us with no cause to action.

What is the Good News?

Let’s look at this Gospel in the light of the Collect and the other three readings the Church has chosen for this Passion Sunday:

The Collect asks God to give us Grace, so we can desire what God has promised, and our hearts may be fixed where true joys may be found.
And what is it God has promised?

Isaiah speaks of it. War and pain is extinguished, as is a candle. God is doing a new thing, making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert – not just water, but rivers. Indeed, the wild animals will submit to the newness, even the ostrich.

The Psalmist speaks of it. Our mouths are to be filled with laughter, out tongues with shouts of joy. God has done a great thing for us.

St. Paul speaks of this. The true Christian wants to know Christ, the power of his Resurrection, and the promise of our own resurrection from the dead. This is all possible as Christ Jesus has made us His own, and wants us to strain forward to what lies ahead, the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

You see, the ultimate meaning of Passiontide is not revealed in the Passion, though that is certainly part, but in Easter. We are to embrace its message of hope and renewal as passionately and intimately as did Mary, let down our hair, and, with her, do all in our power to bring it to fruition, in ourselves, in others, and in the world around us.

Lord Jesus Christ alive and at large in the world, help me to follow and find you there today, in the places where I work, meet people, spend money, and make plans. Take me as a disciple of our Kingdom, to see through your eyes, to hear the questions you are asking, to welcome all with your trust and truth, and to change the things that contradict God’s love. By the power of the Cross, and the freedom of your Spirit. Amen. [John Taylor, Bp. Of Winchester]