Tag: Mary

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Spam and the Finest Wine – John 12:1-8

The gospel of John is in part built around seven signs of Jesus’ divine identity, starting with water into wine and culminating with the resurrection of Lazarus. Each of these signs is followed by a reaction from the religious leaders.

  • Turning water into wine (John 2:1-11)
  • Healing a royal official’s son (John 4:46-54)7
  • Healing at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15)
  • Feeding the 5,000 (John 6:1-15)
  • Walking on water (John 6:16-21)
  • Healing a man born blind (John 9:1-12)
  • Raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-45)

The final sign is the story of Lazarus – Jesus goes to Bethany despite the threats to his life by the Pharisees, doubts from his followers and the stench of death, raises Lazarus from the dead.

In this story we have a counterpoint to that stench of death, with the fragrant nard that Mary anoints his feet with.

A variation of this story is told in each gospel, but the details of each are very different – different places, different people’s houses, different parts of Jesus anointed and different objections and objectors.

Zeroing in on this story, though, we have Mary, anointing Jesus’ feet in gratitude for raising her brother from the dead, while also, unknowingly, preparing Jesus for his own burial. It also calls ahead to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, a story only in John. It may even be that Jesus was inspired by Mary in this action.

All of this demonstrates the humility Jesus modeled and calls us to – “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Mary’s act, in some ways a contrast, is extraordinarily lavish – the perfume she uses, we are told, is worth a year’s wages. It gives us an insight into the economics of the region and era, and also confirms that Judas’ objection is reasonable, as far as it goes.

Judas is tapping into a biblical truth about care for the poor. Think of all the meals and shelter that could be provided by a year’s wages. But of course, we know from the passage that Judas was really just a grifter – in reality, he just wanted access to the money for himself.

It is easy for us to use scripture to seek things that benefit ourselves – ironically, this very passage is used in exactly this way, with people pretending to biblical values but only for their own ends. “The poor you will always have with you” is not a license to ignore the hundreds of scriptures calling us to care for the poor. It is specifically in contrast to the unique opportunity Mary has to lavishly serve her messiah in the flesh. We know from Matthew 25 how we are to do the same thing today – “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

The lavishness of Mary’s action also echoes the lavishness of Jesus’ own sacrifice. Mary gave something priceless for Jesus’ dirty feet – Jesus gave his own priceless life for our dirty souls. We are called to do the same for the weak and poor and oppressed all around us. And not the bare minimum, but the best – spam cooked in the finest wine.

This is the core of Jesus’ command – “love each other as I have loved you.” We can be soft hearted and compassionate, we can serve and give regardless of what is happening in the world – because Jesus went before us and built us a firm foundation with his example and his sacrifice.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 6, 2025

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Overflow – Luke 1:39-45

The Incarnation at celebrate at Christmas is an overflowing of the love of God into a real tangible, concrete way. God knows we are not merely intellectual creatures, but need touch, need facts, need reality.

God could have done things differently but the fact that He descended, “became flesh and dwelt with us,” tells us something about His nature, and also ours. The Good News came in embodied form, so that we could encounter it in a personal way.

Scripture also tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Humanity was made to long for things – want and desire are core to our nature. They are on one hand healthy and good, but on the other hand when left too long will make the heart sick. Hope, when combined with fulfillment, bring healing. The birth of Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment, both as the “consolation of Israel” and as the answer to the “groaning of creation”.

The nature of God is relational – the Godhead exists in trinity, an eternal relationship that we replicate in our own relationships. The coming of Jesus was followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Person by which we enter into relationship with God, and by which we are bound into the Body of Christ, the Incarnation of Jesus now into His church.

Today’s passage is called the “Visitation,” the meeting of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth immediately after the Annunciation when Mary learns of her blessing and challenge. In this passage we get a picture of the physicality of the Incarnation. Jesus could have come like the Terminator, showing up as a fully formed adult but instead He began His humanity as all humans do, as a handful of cells replicating within His mother.

But even in that form, Jesus’ presence has power to bring joy, as the baby in Elizabeth’s womb reacts with rejoicing. This connection – between Mary, Elizabeth, the unborn John and the three unborn Christ is the first stirring of the church. The rejoicing comes in relationship and in community – and in diversity. The two women are in completely different stages of life, but are brought together by the work of God and ultimately the coming of Christ.

This relational aspect extends to our lives today, as we are told that Jesus is also in a way incarnate in the “least of these” around us. When we serve others we ultimately serve Jesus.

This Christmas, let us live out the rejoicing at the fulfillment that the coming of Christ brings – and let us also seek to bring that fulfillment to those around us.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, December 22, 2024

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The Magnification – Matthew 1:46-55

Let’s take a look at Mary’s situation here. We don’t have the full context here but we can try to get a better understanding. Mary would have likely been very young by our standards, 13 or 14. She was betrothed to Joseph, probably as an arranged marriage. Then suddenly she finds herself in this new situation, completely upending her life socially, physically and more.

We aren’t told what happened between the annunciation and visiting her cousin Elizabeth. It is possible that she ran away to Elizabeth or was cast out from her family. But when they came together the baby in Elizabeth’s womb – also a prophesied child, John the Baptist – leaps with joy. That is the context of this song.

This song is the first of four songs in the first two chapters of Luke – the others are Zechariah’s song in Luke 1:67-78, the angels’ song in chapter 2:14 and then Simeon’s in 2:29-32. There are notable parallels with Zechariah’s song in particular.

This is actually a key aspect of Luke, who regularly and purposefully pairs stories about men with stories about women. This is true both in terms of miracles and in person interactions but also parables – notable because women in that age were deeply oppressed and never treated as equal in the way that Luke does here. It’s a radical affirmation of the equality of men and women in their access to the love of Christ and the work of God m

The song opens with essentially a statement on the nature of praise. Mary’s soul and spirit are what are erupting into praise and rejoicing.

It follows as a song of reversals. The rich and powerful are brought down but the poor and lowly are raised up. This is particularly relevant for Mary herself who is arguably in the lowest state possible, a member of an oppressed people group, a young woman pregnant out of wedlock. It also closely parallels the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel, the story of a barren woman given a son devoted to God. Both are stories of reversals and the glory of God. Both point to the nature of God as Someone who loves the lowly and casts down the mighty.

This is who God is. God sees you when you are are at your lowest and when, like Mary, your life is spinning out of control. In Genesis another woman at her lowest, Hagar, calls Him “the God Who Sees” – and He sees Hannah, He sees Mary and He sees you.

On that note, the song is in past tense despite the promise of Gabriel being future-tense. She places herself and her story in the broader context and history of God’s relationship with humanity, calling back to Hannah and Hagar and all the work of God that came before.

It’s also and a song that calls us to participate in this work of feeding the hungry and empowering the powerless.

In this Advent season, it is easy to see these concepts of Hope, Peace, Joy & Love as the worldly, two dimensional versions all around us. But we have access to deep and full realities. Hope is more than wishful thinking, but a sure security in the person Ave return of Christ. Love is more than the conditional emotional state or the transactional engagement of the world. Rather it is a participation in the unconditional, sacrificial and eternal love of the Creator for His creation. Joy is more than feigned happiness and peace is more than the absence of conflict.

Let us rejoice along with Mary in the works of God past, present and future. Let us seek the hope, peace, joy and love God offers us.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, December 17, 2023