Becoming Together through Love (MPLS)

Mark 14:3-9

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Last week Pastor Ben began his sermon with three minutes of music to set the stage for God’s word about hope. I thought I’d start with a similar approach and have asked Mark Paiser, our organist, for the assist. Instead of three minutes though, I asked Mark to keep it to about 30 seconds. So….take it away Mark

You don’t have to be a professional musician to know that something wasn’t right about what Mark just played. Something was “off”. You could hear it. You could feel it. I asked Mark to create an experience of something being slightly “off” so the feeling would be fresh in your minds and bodies.

We’ve been living with things feeling “off” for some time now, but feeling off-kilter, all the time, is not normal. It’s exhausting. Take a deep breath everyone. We’re in this together. And God who is faithful is with us.

And that’s the key to finding our way back to center, or better said, God is the way to our being centered. Editor/Publisher of The Christian Century, Pastor Peter Marty writes in a recent article that “for life to be good and beautiful and true, we have to find a way to making God central to our lives, not peripheral. God wants to be central to the ways we think, act, speak and purchase. There’s a reason why the tree of knowledge of good and evil is in the center or middle of the garden. There’s a reason why the Israelites made frequent pilgrimages to Jerusalem, where the temple was at the center. God has zero interest in being relegated to the outer edges of our lives.”

I know this is true and it’s a struggle to do. Just one example from my own life: over the years I’ve developed a morning practice that begins with reading scripture, meditation and prayer. Then yoga in which I incorporate the following prayer from John O’Donohue: “Today, O Lord, with your help may I be compassionate of heart, clear in word, gracious in awareness, courageous in thought, generous in love.” My intention is to begin every day this way. It doesn’t always happen. 

What I can tell you — is that the days that do begin this way always go better. The practice grounds me in faith and helps me to stay centered in God regardless of how the day unfolds. 

In today’s story, Jesus is at the center of a woman’s full attention. He is the reason for her act of devotion. She’s come with a purpose — to anoint him, to honor who he is and to prepare him for his death. It’s an unexpected, unsolicited act of extravagant love. She shouldn’t be there — according to the right practice for both culture and religion. But her focus is on Jesus. He is her priority. With eyes fixed on him she’s blessed with courage to sacrifice what she can for Jesus’ sake. 

The larger context for the story includes two brutal turning points of Jesus’ life. Just prior to this scene Jesus has spoken of the destruction of the temple, the persecution that’s inevitable, and that the battle between good and evil is urgent and real. Heaven and earth will pass away — only God’s Word will remain. 

Things are heating up. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Turning point 1: the religious leaders have made their decision. Jesus and the movement he’s leading is a threat to their status quo. He must be stopped. They plan for him to be arrested and killed. They’ll wait, until after Passover, to reduce the risk of a riot. But it will happen. Then right after the woman anoints Jesus is another turning point: Judas chooses to be part of the plan. He agrees to betray Jesus. The plan gets traction through him.

That’s where today’s story sits: in-between the plan to kill Jesus and a commitment made to betray him. Mixed in with what’s at work to destroy life is a glimpse of something else, something beautiful and real: an act of extravagant, sacrificial love, the fullness of which God reveals in Jesus at the cross. 

God’s love continues to show up in unexpected ways through unexpected people. This love continues to be at work in and through you. God has already chosen you and loves you. In Christ you are forgiven and set free to love extravagantly.

Courtney, who we’ll hear from in a moment, encounters this extravagant love here at Bethlehem. I’m grateful for his willingness to share a story about his experience. 

Courtney grew up in La Crosse, Wisc. as a Catholic and moved to Minneapolis for college at the U of M to study Computer Engineering. He’s worked in the software industry for the last 15 years. He met his wife, Katie, in the U of M Marching Band. She grew up in the Lutheran church. Ater they married they moved to Southwest Minneapolis and joined Bethlehem. They have two children: Evelyn (5) and Kellan (1). He still plays the sax, and I encourage you to check out his local ska and reggae band called, The Prizefighters. You may have heard them as they’ve performed in previous years at Bethlehem during Open Streets.

Hello Bethlehem, my name is Courtney Klos. My wife, Katie, and I are members of one of the small groups here at church. 

It has been a goal of ours to become more connected and involved with our friends in faith at church and we try to find opportunities to serve, give and connect. The pandemic, as it has with most things, has made that goal exceedingly difficult.

Katie told me about a church small group program being started at Bethlehem and that it could be a way for us to find that connection we had been looking for.

I had never been a part of a small group before, in fact I’ve never even heard of a church small group before, so I was not exactly sure what we were getting into.

As someone who enjoys a good sermon, I was hoping this group could be a place to discuss and expand on what I was hearing from our pastors each Sunday.

But as it turned out, our small group was so much more than that.

Our group met virtually over Zoom and the existing members welcomed Katie and I with open arms. We have discussed viewing life through a spiritual lens and complex topics like racism and housing insecurity. And through all these discussions, my perspective has grown and expanded. The folks in our small group each bring their own unique life experiences to the table and I have learned so much from all of them.

While some of the benefits of this experience were expected, what surprised us the most is the love and friendship we found in our group. Katie was almost nine months pregnant with our second child when we joined our small group.

The folks in our group would often check in with her and keep her and our family in their prayers. And in late October, we surprised the group when a days-old baby boy named Kellan popped up on the video of our weekly Zoom call.

(By the way, today is his first birthday. Happy birthday buddy.) When it came time for Kellan’s baptism, it was still not safe for our family members to travel to be there in person. We arrived at the church the morning of the big day and our hearts melted when all of the members of our small group were there in-person to celebrate. They became our surrogate family that day. Showing up and being there for one another is a great example of what love looks like.

We are grateful to be a part of Bethlehem. We are grateful to be a part of this small group. And we are grateful that God’s love can show up in unexpected ways.

Thanks Courtney. 

Small groups are an integral part of being church — a community in which you are known and loved, cared for and challenged — to live your faith and share God’s love in what you say and do.

Bethlehem, your generosity makes these small group experiences possible. Bethlehem provides resources and support to encourage these life-giving connections. Your financial commitments to the annual operating fund make a difference. We’re in the midst of our fall stewardship campaign to draw your attention to the radical acts of love that happen through our congregation and to challenge each other to join together in giving to Bethlehem’s mission and ministries for the sake of the world.

A couple of weeks ago your Stewardship team shared a notecard of little known facts with you (more available…):

In 2020/2021, our shared offerings contributed:

• Over $45,000 to address humanitarian crises through local and international organizations including Lutheran Partners in Global Mission (LPGM), ELCA Disaster Relief, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Cross of Glory Lutheran Church.
• Over $37,000 to food shelves plus pounds and pounds of food.
• Over $57,000 to support Starfish — a ministry to families in our immediate community experiencing a financial crisis.
• For over 33 years, Bethlehem volunteers have partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable homes, last year giving over $20,000.
• For over 24 years, Bethlehem’s supported ZOOM House with direct donations of finances and home goods, giving a gift of $10,000 to ZOOM House.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means — only a glimpse of what God has made possible through you. And God’s not finished with us yet. 

God continues to be at work through you to accomplish God’s purposes. It looks different for each of us but as we keep our focus on Jesus, centering our hearts and minds on what God has already accomplished in Christ your words and deeds will bear witness to God’s gracious and extravagant love.