Sermon

John 12:1-8

Give God the Best

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John 12:1-8

Give God the Best

The Rev. Dr. James D. Kegel

GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE FROM GOD OUR FATHER
AND THE LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, AMEN.

Once upon a time there was a man who had nothing. Then God gave him ten apples. God gave him the first apple so that he would have something to show his gratitude for the other nine. God gave him three apples to eat, three more to trade for shelter, three more to trade for clothing. Then the man looked at the first fruit he had received. He knew why God gave him that first apple—to give it back to God in thanks—but the apple looked bigger and juicier than all the rest. And the man reasoned that God still had all the other apples in the world; God didn’t really need his. So the man ate the first apple and gave God the apple core.

When I came to visit Central Lutheran Church five years ago I was very impressed with this congregation. The building and the pipe organ showed that the people of Central knew how to give God their best. This was a phrase we were taught in seminary. As a rule of thumb, we learned that whatever we do in a congregation, build a building or an addition, add an organ or piano, decorate the church, we should give God the very best we can afford to give.

We have a great God, the maker of heaven and earth, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us all we have. When we give back to God we do not cut corners—we give back the apple and not just the apple core. Think of the magnificent cathedrals of Europe, their stained glass windows, organs, rich tapestries and vestments. Humble peasants built these buildings ands outfitted them to the glory of God. We should do likewise.

Central is an architectural masterpiece and this congregation should be proud that we have been featured in books and magazines; we should be grateful that people thirty years ago challenged themselves to glorify God by adding the Brombaugh organ. Do you know that the Oregon Synod assembly will be worshipping at Central in May? The synod will celebrate of the retirement of Bishop Swanson and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson will preach. We were chosen by the bishop because of our outstanding worship and music and the beauty of this space.

Not all congregations are like Central. There are churches which have decided to give God the leftovers and not their best. Some years ago I interviewed at one of the largest congregations in North Dakota. The lounge looked as if it had been decorated with rumpus room castoffs—things no one wanted in their own basement recreation rooms, so they gave them to the church. Looking around our building, I am so proud of the sound system that has been added here—a very high quality system. It is my hope that the kitchen remodel project will soon get underway; we really need that. We give God the best—real things and good things, the best we can give not hand-me-downs or leftovers. Our God is not cheap with us but gave the life of His own Son. God gives us the best—God gives us Himself.

We need to give. We heard that in last Sunday’s message for Consecration Sunday. As St. Augustine once said, “Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure; where your treasure is, there is your heart. Where your heart is, there is your happiness.” The prophet Haggai (1:4-10) who preached about five hundred years before Christ, said:

“You yourselves dwell in paneled houses,
while this house (of the Lord) lies in ruins.
Now considered how you have fared.
You have sown much, and harvested little.
You eat, but you never have enough.
You drink, but you never have your fill.
You clothe yourselves but no one is warm.
And those who earn wages earn wages
put them into a bag with holes…
because of my house that lies in ruins
while you busy yourselves each with your own house.
Therefore the heavens above you have withheld their dew
and the earth has withheld its produce.”

And Jesus reminds us that we should not lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and thieves break in to steal, but to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. We should give our best to God.

Our Gospel text today speaks of God giving the best. Jesus has gone to the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. We have seen them before in the Gospels. Jesus commended Mary for choosing the better part in sitting and listening to Him. God gives the very best in sending Jesus to teach God’s Word and ways.   In the chapter just before our text, we meet Martha and Mary as they mourn the death of their brother. Martha is commended for believing in Jesus as the “Christ, the Son of God.” and Mary is consoled. God gives the very best in bringing consolation and hope to those who grieve their many losses. Jesus weeps for his friend who has died—and shows God’s compassion and love––and revives him. Lazarus comes forth from the tomb, is unwrapped of his grave bandages. God gives us the very best in promising us eternal life through Jesus.

Now Jesus is at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus is eating with Jesus. Martha is serving and Mary comes with a jar of precious ointment to anoint the feet of Jesus and wipe them with her hair. It is a text which sows giving to God—Martha is giving: she makes and serves the dinner. Lazarus gives his witness by showing himself to the guests as proof of Jesus’ power. Mary gives a very expensive, sacrificial, gift. These people who have received so much from God want to return their thanks by giving back to God—and giving their very best. Mary is opposed by Judas Iscariot. This man who will betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, Judas Iscariot, opposes her. He tells her that the ointment should be sold rather than given to Jesus:

“WHY WAS THIS PERFUME
NOT SOLD FOR THREE HUNDRED DENARII
AND THE MONEY GIVEN TO THE POOR?”

I suppose it is a good question. The perfumed lotion was precious nard. It comes from a plant which grows in the Himalaya Mountains of India, from the spike of the plant. It is harvested and would have been put on a camel caravan across the long deserts of Asia or on ships from Indian ports to sail up the Red Sea and then be brought to Palestine. It cost 300 denarii—about the wages for a worker for a whole year. A working person was usually paid about one denarius a day. Mary spent thousands of dollars on this lotion to rub into Jesus’ feet and then wiped them off with her hair. The beautiful smell would permeate the room. She had given her best to God, a sign of her love and devotion.

But Judas has a point. Not that he cared about the poor, out text makes sure we realize that. It tells us that Judas pilfered from the poor box and perhaps he would have pocketed the money from the precious nard rather than giving to the poor. We know he betrayed Jesus for blood money. But it is important to give God the best and that also means to care for the least.

Some people criticize church expenditures as too lavish—I have heard people say that our kitchen has been good enough for the past fifty years, why change it now? I know people talked about the cost of the brunch last Sunday until it was explained that all the food was donated. I have heard people complain about our mission trips—why go to Guatemala or Jamaica or Mexico when there are poor people right here? Our youth went to the national youth convention of the ELCA last summer—why go all the way to San Antonio Texas for a convention even though thousands of youth from all across the nation went to be together.

We give God the best by glorifying God in our worship, by caring for our own people with needs and by reaching out to our community and world. We give God the best. I received an e-mail this week with a quote from Steve Prefontaine : “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”   We have been richly blessed to be blessings to others. To those who have been given much, of them much is expected. Jesus does not condemn Mary, rather He praises her: “LEAVE HER ALONE,” Jesus said:

“SHE BROUGHT THE OINTMENT
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.”

The issue is not whether to spend money and time helping the poor or remodeling a kitchen, spending time and money on music and worship and youth or supporting foreign mission. It is both. We enter God’s house to worship and we depart to serve. We give God our best when we give ourselves, our time and our possessions signs of God’s great love to us.

We had dinner recently with some members from Central who have moved to the State of Washington. In looking for a new congregation they were most interested in one that was intent on serving others. I was given a book they were studying in a congregational adult forum entitled, The Externally Focused Church. The key for a vital, growing congregation, the authors wrote, is to find the right balance between worship and service and shift the focus from inside the church walls to outside. It is not either or but both.

We give God our best when show that we care about our house of prayer and the beauty of our worship; we give God our best when we care about the world around us; we give God the best when we care for ourselves and our neighbors near and far. We give God the best when we give back the best apple and not just the apple core. Amen.

Copyright 2007, James D. Kegel.  Used by permission.