The Final Frontier of Faith
Matthew 26:1-13
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.” Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
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"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship," wait, I'm sorry. That's the opening to something else, and I'm not sure if I've used that opening before, but it felt relevant to what we will be looking at together in our reading from the Gospel According to Matthew. Chances are we don't have a starship to chart undiscovered star systems, but we are making our way through a strange time and place that, in many ways, might as well be a far-flung planet. Faith is one of the last great mysteries we will encounter, and at times provides both confusion and clarity.
Faith is ultimately the final frontier. There are no scans, no notes that can be made, and no way to hold the hope that faith brings in our hands. It's a little disconcerting when you think about it. We trust our senses, for the most part, and we relate the credibility of something to whether we can see tangible results. Yet, faith doesn't operate like anything we've come to know or understand. As I said earlier, faith is the last great mystery. But the thing about this mystery is that it spurs us on to continue to try and better understand the ways that God is moving in the world.
In the reading for today, Jesus is with his disciples and once again alludes to his impending death on the cross. It doesn't say it in the passage, but it would be reasonable to assume that the disciples still did not understand why Jesus was talking about death. Yet we see the writing on the wall as those who are plotting against Jesus begin to strategize. The disciples thought that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would drive the Romans from their land with swords and military might.
The disciples didn't understand the mystery of Christ's death.
And again, in the same text for today, we find the disciples being perplexed by what faith truly means. An unnamed woman with an alabaster jar poured oil on Jesus' head, causing the disciples to rebuke her for being wasteful. However, Jesus tells them to hold off on their criticism. And once again, faith became a mystery. Was Jesus telling them that they didn't need to worry about the needs of the poor? Or was this another example of the disciples not fully understanding what Jesus was genuinely trying to say at that moment.
We know that Jesus isn't telling his disciples that caring for the poor doesn't matter. Throughout Jesus' ministry, we are given countless reminders of Jesus' great imperative to care for those who need assistance. So there is something else going on in this passage, something that the disciples don't see, which is that faith is the great mystery that asks that we juggle multiple tasks at once. Faith asks us to care for the poor, stand against injustices, grow as people created in the image of God, and yeah, also dedicate whatever remaining energy you have to follow Jesus with everything you got.
Wow! Faith looks like a journey into the unknown that asks a lot of us, but the key is that faith is not a practice that is done in isolation. It is lived out in a community that is connected either by meeting in person OR staying in touch remotely as well. As Scripture would remind us, we have each been given different gifts that help us along our journey. Therefore, we don't need to be perfect in every sense of the word, because we have a network of people whom we can rely on in our times of trouble.
Faith is a journey. It is a journey that the disciples embarked on as they set out with Jesus. And faith is a journey that we are still on during this season of Lent. And while that journey may be a little longer this year, we find hope and assurance that faith will be the element of hope that holds us all together. That is why we can be the church, even now, because the church is not only a building with four walls, but the church is made up of all of us. Our willingness to foster a deep connection with God and each other is what will sustain us until the day we meet again in person.
As we draw nearer to Holy Week, we may want to shift our minds to viewing this year's Holy Week as an extension of Lent. Not only because it feels like we are still in the season of Lent, but because it will provide us with an opportunity to hone in on the gifts. We will all have something to offer one another when the time comes to be that loving shoulder to cry on or that person who is willing to listen on the phone as they hear a friend or family member's concern.
If we view this upcoming Holy Week and Easter season as an extension of Lent, we might walk away with a deeper appreciation for our faith and the mysteries that it offers. Because when we gather once again in hope, we will certainly be able to celebrate full-heartedly the Easter joy that we take might have taken for granted in years prior. It will perhaps be an Easter celebration that we will never forget. And there may be, most likely, trials and hurdles that we face in between now and then, which is why our hope that we hold onto in our faith must be willing to help when times of crisis arise.
The disciples might not have understood why Jesus had to die, and they might not have been pleased with Jesus and his response to the unnamed woman who poured out a costly jar of ointment. Yet, the disciples followed Jesus in faith. Faith that they would enter into the wilderness with Jesus as their guide. During these times of uncertainty and fear, may we find the peace the Christ offers each and every one of us. A peace that will fill our hearts as we continue to wander in the wilderness and a peace that we can pass along to others.
So, friends, may we continue to venture into the unknown. And as we encounter stumbling blocks or dangerous snares, may the great mystery of faith fill us with the hope, peace, and love that will carry us to the place where God is leading us. Amen.