Turbidity
“Turbidity”
Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year C, April 3 27, 2022 RM
Isaiah 43:16-21 John 12:1-8
First Presbyterian Church of Sandpoint, Idaho
Pastor Andy Kennaly
“Open your eyes, alert your spiritual ears, unlock your lips, and apply your heart so that in all creation you may see, hear, praise, love, and adore, magnify and honor your God.” These are words and teachings from St. (BONN-aven-chure) Bonaventure. He was born in Italy around 1217, just a few years before the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who, when asked to pray for the recovery of this young child from a serious illness, St. Francis cried out, ‘O buona ventura!’ – which means, O good forturne! At 22 years old he entered the Franciscan order and took the name, “Bonaventure.” He continued his studies in Paris, became the “close friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, and with him received the degree of Doctor of Theology. He was also friends with King St. Louis. He taught at university, and later became the general of his Order. A few years later, Pope Gregory X appointed him a cardinal, and (BONN-aven-chure) Bonaventure was the first to speak at the Council of Lyons. He died suddenly in 1274. Some theories say he was poisoned.
He had a way of uniting scholarly theology with practical living through the Franciscan teachings which not only proclaimed a God of love, but embodied this. He was a unifier, and able to connect groups that were at odds, and he brought renewal and order to a chaotic time in the life of the Franciscan Order.
One of the reasons I mention him is because of Epistemology. Epistemology. Do you remember that word? It’s the study of how we know what we know. Epistemology takes a closer look at the assumptions and attitudes we’ve inherited or developed, the things we assume, and how this knowledge shapes our reading of scripture. The Bible mentions just about everything, and people can use verses of scripture to validate almost any worldview or opinion. The lenses we view scripture through lead different people to quite diverse outcomes. In his day, Bonaventure was confronted by powerful people who didn’t like how the Franciscans were medicants, known for poverty and begging, asking people for support of their ministry and life. These critics read the same scriptures that Bonaventure read, yet he came to see and experience warmth and welcome and a deep trust in divine love, one that invites us to follow Jesus in non-materialistic ways, which promotes simplicity and a welcoming heart.
This pattern of epistemology, of seeing scripture but exploring our point of view invites us to deeper self-awareness as we not only ask, ‘How do we know what we know,’ but also ask, ‘Does what we know lead us deeper into love and unity, or are our assumptions simply defending our ego as we validate our positions, which actually prevents a deeper trust in Christ?’ Perspectives are limited, but have a way of becoming totalized as a view of reality, when really, perspectives are just one way of seeing.
As we read this morning’s scripture, we’re reminded that our existence has ripple effects. Spiritual experiences remind us of ways our created being, our presence, participates in creation, and we take up space. Kind of like a rock thrown into a calm pond, it has ripple effects. When the rock enters the water, the mass of the rock causes the water to move, to adjust, and to welcome; to us it looks like ripples. As we live and move and have our being, the word that happens is called “turbidity.” Our life has an effect and affects everything around us. Turbidity.
In Isaiah the LORD makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, and the Exodus story of Pharaoh’s army is remembered. But right after that, Isaiah says, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
In terms of epistemology and turbidity, a life that dwells on the past, wants to return to some former ideal, has a very different focus and feel than a life that is grounded in the present and accepting of what is. Like the Psalmist in 126 in our call to worship, who asks God to restore the people, “like the watercourses in the Negeb,” we see that desert image of a vast, arid landscape with one green ribbon winding its way along. Put this as a metaphor along the concept of time, and the past is a desert, the future is a desert, but the present is filled with life, and yet it flows in a connected way with what was and what will be.
Notice the images Isaiah continues with – that of jackals and ostriches, wild animals that honor God. What is it about them that teaches about honoring God? Jackals, kind of like a coyote or fox, are a type of predator, and ostriches, the world’s largest birds, are always vigilant as they look for dangers. Predators, like Jackals tend to have eyes mounted on the front of their face, looking forward. Ostriches, like most prey, have eyes to the side that gather the periphery; they keep watch all around them, including behind. Yet although Jackals look forward and Ostriches look behind, they are fully present in each moment. Applied to time, they do not dwell on the past or worry about the future, for if they did they would be distracted and miss out on what’s happening right now. God’s love, God’s Presence, God’s spaciousness, intimate and imminent, are now, here, and this is how we honor God, how we reflect God, how we welcome God, how we praise God. We remember God’s presence and in this we have joy.
Turbidity involves our awareness of the moment, that our presence affects others, like a seismic wave flowing into a larger life experience. Move along a sidewalk and you catch someone’s eye, and you smile, maybe say hello! Your welcoming presence has an effect, and maybe you softened someone’s heart or contributed to an overall raising of collective consciousness as you celebrate connection, deep down as created beings, you claim our unity as brothers and sister who share a common humanity. Your being, your living essence makes a difference.
In Bethany Jesus is anointed for his death by Mary, and the whole house filles with scent of costly perfume, even as Judas complains. Spiritual inspiration is symbolized by the extravagance of this scene, the intimacy to the point of scandal as love is claimed. Mary uses expensive perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus, and she wipes his feet with her hair, which means she has long hair and it’s draped down, visible in a man’s world of rigid rules and protocols. Her erotic actions are immediately condemned while Judas hides his greed behind a false defense of the poor.
Their immediate future looked troubling, yet the extravagance of love unites them in a moment where fear is not part of the equation. Love casts out fear. Presence helps our perspectives when relationship claims love and spiritual unity.
Judas is resisting reality, he’s resisting death, he’s resisting the power of love, and resisting the turbidity of his True Self in God. Mary is surrendered, fully present in the moment, and pours herself out for the other as love is shared, and the whole house is filled with ripples of beauty and fragrance. Mary trusts Jesus will follow him no matter what it may lead to.
May we learn and share ways to free our mind from bondage to the past or worry about the future, but to learn trust in the Now. May we claim in the present God’s Presence and a peace beyond understanding shared from Christ as a gift of grace. May we learn how to release blocks of resistance in our lives, so we may share in the movements of love, like a river through a desert bringing living waters. O Buona Ventura!... O Good Fortune! Thanks be to God for the power of dynamic life in the Spirit and the fragrance of love in Christ. May God be glorified, NOW, even as forever, and Peace and All Good be with you. Amen.