Monday in Holy Week: No Good Deed Goes Unscandalized

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 42: 1-9 (NRSV)

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD, that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

I tell you of them.

Psalm 36: 5-11 (BCP, P. 632)


Hebrews 9: 11-15 (NRSV)

When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

John 12: 1-11 (NRSV)

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Blog Reflection

In every age since the world began, God sends along someone to communicate with us on God's behalf. The covenant that God established with the people of Israel was given so that they might love the Lord their God with all their being, and love their neighbor as themselves.  Like every group of people, hearing what they were to do and doing it was no easy task.  They found themselves confronted by the choices they had made and what they meant for them as a people.  Injustice was all around them. The world as they knew it was falling apart. God did not leave them alone, but sent God's servant to them to help get the community back on the track towards holiness and justice. The hope that is given by the promise of God's servant in our reading taken from the Hebrew Scriptures today in Isaiah, is also a promise to all of us. God sends us to be God's servants in a world of injustice, oppression and to deliver those who experience isolation and prejudice.

As Christians, God's answer to us in our faith about who our High Priest is, is compared to the Priesthood described in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Because I like to avoid any hint of anti-Semitism, rather than take the path of the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews, I prefer to see it from the point of comparison and contrast. A likeness and difference that allows our Jewish sisters and brothers to worship God through their tradition, free of unfair stereotyping, just as we Christians want to do in ours.  The Priest God sends to us in the Incarnate Word who is Jesus Christ, becomes the sacrifice that would take away our sins and establish a covenant through Baptism.  As Christians continue to enjoy the benefits of the love of God in Christ, we celebrate our redemption because of his willingness to make himself that Paschal Sacrifice through which we pass from death to new and unending life.

In the Gospel for Monday in Holy Week, Mary has done a wonderful and compassionate thing.  Jesus just raised Lazarus from the dead, but the plotting to kill him is getting worse with each passing hour.  He knows that his passion and death are coming very quickly.  Mary, knowing what is going on around Jesus takes on his own nature, and anoints his feet and wipes them with her hair.  She worships Jesus, while seeking to serve him, who was becoming the biggest outcast in the community.  While more and more appear to be hating Jesus because he loved a bit differently, she loves him with a pure and holy love.

Judas, Jesus' betrayer is so filled with jealousy and anger, that he couldn't just let Mary take his moment away.  He had to be the Scrooge of the day.  Just when Mary did a most wonderful deed, Judas has to scandalize it as if it is the worst thing that had just happened.

Are there examples of Christians who have to ruin the day, when someone else has done something so wonderful and compassionate? 

I think of the day that the Episcopal Church ordained our first openly gay Bishop.  An exciting and holy moment in the life of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion world wide happened.  Outside of the ceremony and Mass where Bishop Gene Robinson was consecrated and ordained, was the group from the Westboro Baptist church with their "God Hates Fags" signs.  People chanting: "God hates the Episcopal Church."   Within our own Anglican Communion, those opposed to what happened created divisions around a moment when the Holy Spirit was uniting us with those who were seen as "unfit" for the Office of Bishop.  Such has led to everything from a temporary moratorium to not ordain LGBT Bishops, to the creation of the Anglican Covenant that was just rejected by the Church of England last week.

In States across America that have passed marriage equality laws, Christianist organizations like the National Organization for Marriage, The Catholic church, the Liberty Council and Family Research Councils, have worked to fund and pass constitutional amendments to ban marriage equality for LGBT people.  Last June when the New York State passed marriage equality, while so many of us were celebrating, the Christianist organizations had to roll in with their hate signs and money to take out any legislator who voted in favor of the legislation. 

Last week, our Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori participated in an excellent interview with the Huffington Post.  During her exchange with the reporter, she said:

"The best of scriptural interpretation is about looking at the whole document and the direction in which it is moving rather than pulling out pieces that point to your point of view or prejudice," she said. "When Christians read their scripture that way, they have much more fruitful conversations with Muslims, Buddhists and Sikhs who read their scripture that way."

No sooner was this article up, that the Bible beaters immediately began pulling out Scripture verses defending their biases towards the ordination of women, LGBT people and so forth.  They just couldn't wait to prove her point.

What was happening around Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry right to the Cross, is that his enemies could not help themselves to cease scandalizing every good word he spoke and deed he had performed.  Anything that took away from the prestige and power of those in authority over others, just couldn't be allowed to be anything other than a violation of their rule book.

Jesus goes to the Cross for all of us who have had the best of intentions, only to be scandalized, ridiculed and marginalized.  Even those of us who are LGBT people who just want to get married to the person we love for no other reason, other than the fact that we love another person of the same sex.  Our wanting to be with our spouses through those good times and bad times, in sickness and in health, till death due us part, just cannot be understood for what it is.   A gay man tending to his partner who is dying of AIDS, cannot be seen as a husband caring for his sick husband.  He has to be deemed by Christianists as a threat to the safety of children and families.  Jesus' Passion this week, is about all of us who have been there, and done that.

The Cross is about all of our sufferings and pains, every injustice and scandal that comes our way.   Not only is the Cross about accepting those things, but it is also about trusting in God even when the worst of injustices happens to us.  Even if they result in our death, when we trust in God and do God's will without turning back or giving up, there is resurrection awaiting us on Easter Day.


Prayers

Almighty God, whose dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other that the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Monday in Holy Week, Book of Common Prayer, p. 220).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen.  (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).