The other day we were visiting some friends who were in the process of preparing seeds and starts for when the temperatures are warm enough to plant them outside. I was fascinated by the process. While I grew up growing plants, we almost always bought them after they had been started or they were simple seeds like carrots that I could help my dad plant into the garden beds in our backyard. As I’ve mentioned before, I have never really had a green thumb, but I enjoyed our little gardens, partially out of spite because my dad once told me that I could never grow fruits and vegetables in pots on our deck, so naturally I had to prove him wrong. So, when I saw our friends’ shelves of seeds and starts, I was amazed by the amount of preparation that goes into getting certain seeds ready for planting. For example, I saw snap pea seeds that had sat in water for at least a week and needed to be checked for any little sprouts before the seeds could be planted. I know this is probably really simple gardening knowledge, but I was amazed. And, I couldn’t help but think about that in connection with our Scripture readings today and the other signs of spring that are all around us.
When people plant seeds, it is with the understanding that the seed must die and be buried in order to grow into whatever plant it is supposed to be. The seed changes to produce fruit, vegetables, flowers, and more seeds so that they can continue to multiply. But none of those things would happen if we kept the seed in the packet and never planted it. I think about this in relation to our life of faith because as people who believe in the resurrection, we are putting our trust in the understanding that new life can spring forth, even from grief, pain, and despair. Sometimes change happens whether we are ready for it or not, while others time we are more than ready for the change, and still at other times we can resist any idea of change because we already have the things that make us feel safe and comfortable.
We see all of that happening within the Gospel reading for today. The disciples, as usual, seem a bit confused and don’t really realize what is happening around them. While Mary is preparing for Jesus’ death in the only way that she knows how, by anointing him. In preparation for the care that they will give his body when it goes into the tomb, when he will be anointed with oil and spices, she pours out this costly oil upon him and does it in such a way that she is connected with him. It’s not like she just pours it and runs away, but she pours it out and uses her hair to spread it around (John 12: 3). Now I know not all of you have had long hair before, but let me tell you as someone who has, that once that perfume is in her hair, every time she moves in the following days, she will smell it and remember what she has done. And, we have Judas who is vehemently opposed to what Mary is doing. The reading tells us because he wanted the money that would have been put in the common purse (John 12: 5-6), but I also feel like there has to be more to Judas than that. This is trying to help us view Judas as the traitor that he later is, but I also can’t help but think about how he must be hurting a bit too, after spending so much time with Jesus and knowing what is about to happen. Despite his role in it, I don’t think he is ready to acknowledge that Jesus is soon going to die. Yet, no matter how the people gathered around Jesus are feeling and why, it doesn’t change the fact that he will soon die, whether they are ready for it or not.
The radical act of hope and trust that we put in God through our faith is exemplified in the story of Mary and Jesus in today’s Gospel. At its heart, this story is largely indicative of Mary preparing Jesus’ body for burial. It is a recognition of what is to come for him, and her trust that despite the pain and grief of this experience that his death will lead to something that the people have never experienced before. By pouring out this costly perfume upon his feet, she recognizes who he is in a way that mirrors the three magi bringing him gold and perfumes upon his birth. Just as we prepare seeds for planting, Mary is preparing Jesus body for burial. It is an act of love and hope, in spite of the fact that none of them know what is to come.
Then we also get the reading from Isaiah, when he spoke to the Israelites on behalf of God, “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?” (Isaiah 43: 18-19b). This isn’t a dismissal of things that have happened in the past, after all much of our Scripture, and our faith, spends time recalling events of the past, but is a reminder that God can and will do things that are beyond even our imagining, but we sometimes have to be willing to plant the seed to see what new things spring forth, as opposed to holding on so tightly to the ways of the past that we are not able to witness all the ways God is working in and among us now. Our faith is not just one of the past but is one of the present and future too. We are to trust that what God is doing, what God is calling us to witness and be a part of, is different than anything that we have ever seen before. We don’t necessarily know what it is going to look like, yet we are called to tend to it all the same, as we wait to see what new things spring forth.
This is part of why I love the imagery of seeds, because there is really nothing that quite visualizes this act of hope for the future than the act of planting seeds. After all, so much of the initial growth happens underground and we have no way of seeing or controlling what is happening. We just have to trust that we are tending to it well and that the seed will grow. Honestly, our faith lives are quite similar, since it’s not always easy to see the tangible growth of our faith, yet we continue to trust in our relationship with God and one another as we grow along the way. We trust that something new is springing up, even when we cannot see it, and we continue to hold onto the hope of what the seeds of our faith can bring about in our lives and in the world.
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Sunday March 30th, 2025 Worship