This week a friend stopped by, she happens to be Jewish and her husband is Catholic and her mother
converted to become a Presbyterian that is a long way to say we often have faith talks. This time she
asked me if I gave anything up for Lent? I said no. Now I realized this practice is one that helps us to let
go of something so that we can discover what we often hold as dear, we can do without. It helps us to see
that our preoccupation with things and practices, can turn us away from our relationship with God. It
teaches us discipline, delayed gratification and how to let go so that faith might grow. Yet have we
missed the boat with this “giving up for Lent” as a way of placating ourselves to the real sacrifice of
Jesus? Paul talks about this in very clear terms, “For Christ’s sake I have suffered the loss of all things”
(8). Paul is not saying he gave up chocolate for Lent, he is declaring how much he is willing to lose, so
that he might gain Christ. Before I go any further, I need to be very clear. We cannot earn God’s love or
grace; it is a gift. The question is do we simply take the gift for granted. I know we have people
worshipping here today who have their faith roots in the Catholic Church and for you this may seem like
old hat. But for reformed believers the idea of Christ suffering is sort of the elephant in the room. We
know what happened, but sure do not want to talk about it. Just look at our cross. We do not have a
suffering Jesus hanging for our sins. We have a cross that is empty, often bright and shiny, declaring
glorious resurrection. Our cross does not have Christ suffering. At least for Lent we have placed a dry
wooden cross much like the one Christ hung from. But as we approach Good Friday, the day Jesus
suffered and died for our sins, we need to be willing to see and feel his suffering. And even willing to
suffer with him. In other words, we want to have compassion for Christ.
Joanna Macy wrote, “Compassion literally means to feel with, to suffer with. Everyone is capable of
compassion, and yet everyone tends to avoid it because it’s uncomfortable. This avoidance produces
psychic numbing- resistance to experiencing our pain for the world and other beings.”
Are you experiencing psychic numbing with all that is happening in the world? Is your compassion
waning because you are on overload from all the crazy? As we think of Christ on the cross, I think that
we are numb to Christ’s pain and would just as soon skip right over the crucifixion of Good Friday to
Easter. Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his
suffering by becoming like him in his death…” Paul wants this suffering, desires to be closer to Jesus
through suffering. It is part of his willing sacrifice for his faith.
When have you suffered for your faith? Truly suffered? Some fast to deny themselves food so that they
can draw closer to God. That is part of the practice of giving something up for Lent. Not a trite practice,
but a time of suffering, sacrifice, to prepare for God. Fasting has a long tradition of helping us become
willing to be in the presence of God because we have suffered without food. We have put on hold our
human needs to seek God, to become purified before God and willing to be taught. Anne Morrow Lindbergh writes, “I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught,
all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.”
When we look at Jesus hanging from the cross, can we remain vulnerable? Can we suffer with him? Can
we show compassion for him? Or does what Christ did on the cross just amount to a nice gift for you, but
one that you take no part in. Yes, our salvation is a gift. Yes, we have abundant love from God through
Christ. But are you willing to suffer to gain Christ?
Paul certainly grappled with that question and placed it within the balance sheet, like a profit and loss
statement. He is weighing out the value of Christ. If you had to place a value on your relationship with
Christ, what would it be? What in the world could possibly hold up the scale opposite the love and grace
of Christ? When Paul writes, “I regard everything as a loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things” and Paul means all things! He is sitting in
prison as he writes this. Suffering is a way of expressing our priorities -do we sacrifice when we decide
what we will give to God? Do we give as much as we can or only what feels comfortable? Do we place a
value on what our life in Christ means and let our giving bear witness to that? For Paul, all he had was
loss when compared to the immense wonder of Christ. Suffering for Christ is not lip-service, it is true
dedication and discipleship.
Surrogate mothers are remarkable women. Because of their generous hearts, and their compassion for
women who would like to have their own child, these women give the gift of motherhood to strangers. A
surrogate endures morning sickness, swollen hands and feet, (the same parts of Jesus that were attached to
the cross) back pain, sleepless nights and the excruciating ordeal of labor. Her body stretches and
changes, a sacrifice most women cherish as part of becoming a mother and receiving a precious child. But
the surrogate suffers, she sacrifices, without the tangible reward of a baby. Only the love she has in her
heart motivates the gift she has given. She puts her body through all of this so that another might know
joy. Jesus was our surrogate hanging from the cross, dying for our sin, so that we might know the joy of
salvation. So, when you see the empty cross remember that Jesus was a surrogate mother for your faith,
one that came from Jesus’ great suffering and sacrifice so that you might know joy.
I got a call while writing this sermon the man was struggling with being with his parents after four years
away and seeing how much his father had diminished, suffering with Alzheimer’s. But he clearly knew
that his job at the moment was to hold space for his parents, and to love them. He was not trying to fix or
defend himself, just hold the space. Somehow, we started talking about this sermon and he helped me to
see what this suffering idea is really about. “What are we willing to sacrifice?” What are we willing to
suffer? What are you willing to sacrifice for the Lord? As we begin our walk of faith, we start with
service, giving to others. Praying, serving, helping in ways that work for us. But then our commitment to
Christ grows, we are challenged, to not just give service, but to give sacrificially.
Giving sacrificially is exactly what Mary did. Mary anointed Jesus’s body. She gave of her entire self by
wiping Jesus’s feet with her hair. She shared her perfume, her ointment, with Jesus. She did not consider
the cost; rather she generously gave it all so that she could prepare Jesus for his death. The very characters
in this story remind us of death and resurrection. Lazarus was the one Jesus raised from the dead. His
sisters had mourned with Jesus for their brother. All of this points to, not only the hope of the
resurrection, but also that Jesus’s death is coming. Mary is preparing Jesus for death and we are preparing
ourselves. You see God was working through Mary’s sacrifice to anoint the lamb for death. God used her
simple act of kindness, pouring out the fragrant perfume to prepare Jesus’s physical body. This moment
also helped prepare his followers for Christ for his death. The sweet aroma brings with it a bittersweet
reality. Jesus will not be with them long.
But of course, the disciples avoid the pain of thinking about Jesus’s death and instead they turn to the
plight of poverty. They could not stand to think of such a loss, so they argue over the cost of the perfume.
Shouldn’t we have used the money from the sale of perfume to help the poor- or so the argument goes.
Poverty versus perfume. The dichotomy of the plight of humanity versus the beauty of preparing for
death. Jesus of course defends Mary. He reminds them, “You will always have the poor with you, but
you will not always have me” (8). So, when the disciples stand at the cross, as we will soon do, they will
know suffering through the death of their Lord. Their suffering will not be abated, like ours because we
know Easter is coming. They did not. All they knew was suffering.
George Elliott the Great American author wrote, “Deep unspeakable suffering may well be called a
baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state.” Jesus invites us into this new state with his love,
and Paul reminds us that it is through suffering with Christ that we are to gain Christ. Gain the
resurrection. Gain in the hope of salvation. Gain in our intimacy with the risen Lord.
Let us pray, Mary poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The aroma filled air.
May the fragrance of Christ fill our hearts and remind us of the perfume used to anoint our Lord. May it
be a sensual reminder for our need to sacrifice, to suffer for Christ, so that we might gain in our
fellowship with our risen Lord. Amen.
