Surrender
“Surrender”
Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 John 12:1-8
Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, April 7, 2019
Pastor Andy Kennaly
Sandpoint, Idaho
Today we’re going to look at a biography, a definition, a reading on friendship, and explore the title of this sermon, “Surrender.” This process will, hopefully, take us below a surface-level reading of the scripture stories as they point to God through metaphor, using images and literary techniques to share deeper truths, which help shape our faith.
“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 and 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 Bonaventure was the first to speak at the Council of Lyons. He died suddenly in 1274, and 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 Franciscan Order.
One of the reason I mention him is because of Epistemology. Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know, takes a closer look at the assumptions and attitudes we’ve inherited or developed, 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.
Kind of Pope Francis in our time, as some people think he’s a breath of fresh air, while the Catholic Church itself is quite divided over him and conservatives really don’t like him. This pattern of epistemology, of seeing scripture from our own points 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?
The definition that comes to mind through these scriptures is a word that’s used when we have spiritual experiences that remind us of ways our created being, our presence, our participation in creation takes 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, to welcome, and 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.
As we look at Isaiah we see 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, asking 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. If one dwells on the past or is fixated on some future ideal, this is an indication that they are not content in the moment, not able to rest in who they are right now, not open to God continuous action of love poured out, right here, right now. Dwelling on the past and worrying or idealizing the future does promise one thing that gets played out in the present moment: misery. Despair is what we are left with when we resist what it is that we are facing in the Now, and this resistance leads to negativity.
Notice the images Isaiah continues with – that of jackals and ostriches, wild animals that honor God. Jackals, kind of like a coyote or fox, are a type of predator, opportunists, and ostriches, the world’s largest birds, are always vigilant as they look for dangers. Jackals have eyes looking forward, and ostriches have eyes that gather the periphery, and they keep watch all around them, including behind. Yet although Jackals look forward and Ostriches look behind, they are fully present in each moment. 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 is happening right now. These images, as metaphor, are a calling to receive God’s love, God’s Presence, God’s spaciousness, intimately and imminently, and this is how we honor God, how we reflect God, how we welcome God, how we praise God.
Turbidity is a way of raising our awareness of the moment. Walking along a path and the birds shuffle out of the way? Your presence is affecting others, like a seismic wave flowing into a larger life experience. Moving along a sidewalk and you catch someone’s eye and you smile, maybe say hello? You’re welcoming presence has an effect, and maybe you softened someone’s heart or contributed to an overall raising of collective consciousness as you celebrate fraternity, our unity as brothers and sister sharing a common humanity. You never know what the ripple effect will lead to in life, but your being, your living essence makes a difference. I call this “turbidity.”
From an unknown author, here is a reading on friendship that’s titled, “Always look on the Inside”
I remember reading a story once about a man who was exploring some caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled up some clay and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn’t look like much, but they intrigued the man so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, to pass the time, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could throw. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone. Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have had tens of thousands, but he just threw it all away. You know, sometime, it’s like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn’t look like much from the outside. It isn’t always beautiful or sparkling so we discount it; we see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure hidden in every one of us. We are wonderfully made. Not just our physical bodies, our spiritual selves, which are sometimes hidden from others by the ‘earthen vessel.’ But if you take the time to get to know that person, (or yourself) and if you ask the Spirit to show you that person the way God sees them, then the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.
[then the big finish!]
The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when she or he discovers that someone else believes in him or her and is willing to trust him or her with friendship.”
“The glory of friendship is the spiritual inspiration that comes through a willingness to trust friendship.” This is the context of that scene in Bethany as Jesus is anointed for his death by Mary, even as Judas complains. It doesn’t say which Mary is doing the anointing, and there are several. Although Church tradition has largely ignored her, it is quite likely that it’s actually Mary Magdalene, who is the Apostle to the Apostles and of all the disciples, possibly the one who went the furthest into the depths of love with Jesus as he shares the living Christ with the world. The 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 behind a false defense of the poor, or at least is made to look like he’s a thief by the gospel writer because decades after Jesus died the church was still looking for scapegoats, to assign blame to others, like Judas, in hopes that it made themselves more acceptable and respectable and worthy of invested power.
Mary and Jesus have a soul connection, spiritual intimacy, the extravagance of love uniting them in a moment where fear is not part of the equation. Love casts out fear. It’s important to for us to remember this scene as we are on the verge of the Passion and Easter narratives, when the Church tells the story of Jesus being arrested, and the disciples abandoning him because they are afraid. Even Peter denies the Lord, three times, as predicted. But there is another Easter narrative that parallels the party line, and that is the one with Mary Magdalene. She does not desert Jesus, doesn’t run from fear, but claims love and spiritual unity, all the way to the grave as she continues to seek anointing the body of Jesus.
This story of that dinner in Bethany is a dramatic visual of the dynamic showing the change of heart which is possible when one moves from resistance to surrender. Judas is resisting reality, he’s resisting death, he’s resisting the power of love, he’s resisting the turbidity of his True Self in God. Mary is surrendered, fully present in the moment, pouring herself out for the other as love is shared, and the whole house is filled with fragrance. Mary trusts Jesus and is willing to follow him no matter what it may lead to.
May we continue to discover God’s light shining from within, cracking open our hearts to give spiritual inspiration to ourselves and to others. Like saints throughout the ages, may we be grounded not only in good theology that expands our trust in God, but deeper into love that unites us with a great cloud of witnesses giving praise to God. Let’s continue to 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, claiming in the present God’s Presence and a peace beyond understanding. As we surrender our hearts to Christ, let’s learn how to release the blocks of resistance in our lives, so we may more fluidly share in the movements of love, like a river through a desert bringing living waters which nurture from turbidity as it flows from moment to moment to moment, trusting the journey of friendship as we partner with Christ in the depths of love. 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. Amen.