This week’s Prayers and Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Passion Sunday
The Collect for this Sunday
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this Sunday
Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do also for you: give us the will to be the servant of others as you were the servant of all, and gave up your life and died for us, but are alive and reign, now and for ever. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 126
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. 4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb. 5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday is from the book of the prophet Isaiah 43: 16-21
16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild animals will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Second letter of St Paul to the Philippians Chapter 3, verses 4b-14
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel according to St John 12: 1-8
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to You, o Christ !
The Sermon for today comes from the Reverend Laura Brinicombe
In The Bin game at start of service:
Ask everyone to choose between the following options:
Cheese or chocolate? Tea or coffee? BBC or ITV? Meat or veggie? Too hot or too cold? Late night or early morning? Save the whales or save the trees? Big salary or easier job? Self-sufficiency or luxury living? Health or wealth? Peace or justice?
Our passage today is a feast for the senses!
Mary wanted to care for Jesus through actions, rather than words.
As Mary poured the expensive perfume, Jesus would enjoy the cool, smooth oil on his skin. He’d feel the touch of her hair. The beautiful smell of perfume would rise and everyone would see this caring, humble woman bending down to anoint Jesus. I imagine, if we were in the room, we’d hear the sound of the jar opening, the liquid being pouring out and the gasps of those watching.
The scent in this scene is extremely powerful, it has a profound impact on all those gathered at the table - we’re told ‘the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’
It is good to engage our senses when we worship God. So, this morning, let’s think about smell!
Smell can have a big effect on humans.
When you’re eating, as you chew, the food molecules make their way backwards and your nasal areas picks them up. So a lot of the beautiful, complicated flavours we taste are actually recognised by our sense of smell.
Scent also has a big psychological effect. The way our brains are designed means emotion and memory are all very closely intertwined with smell. Odours take a direct route from our noses to our limbic system, which deals with recall and feelings – so humans often store smell and emotion as a combined memory.
Fascinatingly, smell is the only fully developed sense a foetus has in the womb and it’s the one that is the most developed in a child through to the age of around ten, when sight usually takes over – so childhood tends to be the period in which you create the basis for smells you will like and hate for the rest of your life.
And, did you know, a lot of people smell in colour?!
I love that our gospel reading captures some of the deep bodily impact that our senses have.
I think it’s perfect for the start of Passiontide because having a strong response to touch, taste, smell, sight and sound is something we usually associate with passion, isn’t it?!
Our reading invites us to not only think about what we know and understand about God and the world in an academic way, but to explore what we feel about God and the world. Do we live with a passion for God?
At the start of our service, I asked you to choose between some options and spend a bit of time deciding what mattered most to you. Let’s think about making choices again.
What are the things you really care about - not in a distant way – but in your body, in the pit of your stomach? Where do you feel God nudging you, challenging you, stirring you to speak His word or shout out His praise? What calls are you hearing from God that you long to answer?
For some of us, our passion might be obvious. Maybe there’s a group of people you are desperate to advocate for or an issue God has placed on your heart to tackle? Perhaps there’s a way of serving or welcoming or discipling that calls to you? For others, it might be something more general – a sense that we are present to foster unity or encourage forgiveness and reconciliation? Or maybe, we feel a deep desire to pray?
Can I encourage all of us to pay attention to the passion God is stirring in us and if we’re unsure, then let’s make time to ask the Holy Spirit to ignite that passion inside us and direct it in the right way.
Our scene in John 12 smells very sweet but there is something sour in the mix as well.
As Jesus describes, Mary’s perfume is intended for use on the day of His burial - she is anointing Jesus for death.
This beautiful scent that fills the room has a note of rot and decay in it.
As we journey through Holy Week, we’ll have front row seats to the suffering and sacrifice that Jesus’ passion would lead him to on Good Friday. The smell then will be of blood, sweat and tears, as Jesus carries our cross up the hill and dies for our sins.
Easter is a season of tragedy and triumph, passion and pain - a time when life and death meet together in the person of Jesus Christ.
I think this tells us something very important about passion.
Passion isn’t simply a feeling or a desire. It is to care about something enough that we would sacrifice for it.
When I asked each of us to choose between options at the start, we gained one but there was the loss of something else wasn’t there? The process was bitter and sweet.
If we seek to live a life of passionate faith, then there will be a cost involved.
Judas raises the issue of cost in our reading. He is concerned about the price of the spilled perfume. In a way, it’s good that he’s mindful of cost – he’s completely wrong about the calculations and recognising what really has true value- but he does at least raise the topic!
Cost and sacrifice are not popular subjects in our culture of consumerism. We are encouraged to go after what we want and often told we can ‘have it all!’
But this is not what a life of passion looks like.
I think Saint Paul can help us to think about cost. In our Philippians reading, Paul makes the most tremendous statement about sacrifice when we look at it through the lens of real passion.
‘Yet, whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the SURPASSING VALUE of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.’
I wonder, if I held the choices from the start up again but one of the options had been Jesus - would we have been willing to stick all the other things in the rubbish bin?
God calls us to be as passionate about His mission as He is - to love as deeply and unconditionally as He does. When we explore our passion for God, we also have to think about what we’re willing to let go of to pursue that passion.
Like Paul, are we willing to sacrifice the rules for righteousness?
Are we willing to let go of the familiar, to take hold of the new thing God is doing?
Are we willing to look away from the things around us, to focus on the race ahead?
I see such incredible passion and sacrifice throughout our churches. I want to especially encourage those giving up their time, energy and their worship space and personal preferences to make room for other people to come to know Jesus. This love and loss is passion – let’s celebrate it!
Unfortunately, sometimes our passion cools down doesn’t it? When we claim to be passionate about God’s mission and spreading the Good News but only turn up and join in when everything is done the way we like it– we’ve gone cold. This is not passion. It’s not passion if we back out when there is cost involved or when we expect somebody else to follow-through on ideas without our support.
John 12 captures a passionate scene. Those gathered around Jesus get to experience the beautiful smell of perfume because Mary’s love of Jesus is beautiful. And we are reminded that God’s love for us is beautiful – passionate! Perhaps we have a tendency to think of God as distant or dry or unfeeling but that is not who we meet in Jesus. In our reading, Jesus is sitting and enjoying a meal with His friends. We’re told one of these friends is ‘Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.’ This is the same Lazarus Jesus had wept over.
Jesus knew great passion and it hurt! Loving in a broken world does hurt and we will not be entirely free of that sour note until Jesus returns and the beautiful scent of holiness fills every room.
This Easter, it is my prayer that every single one of us can fall in love with Jesus all over again! May we remember that Jesus’ passion for us is a love so strong it breaks the bonds of death and remakes the world.
When Mary poured out that perfume, she knew that living in God’s love and looking forward to an eternity with Jesus mattered more than anything else.
Let’s take a deep breath now – in through your nose! As we breathe, let’s remember that when Jesus died and rose again, He did away with that stench of death. It doesn’t linger on us anymore!
We smell of something different now. It’s called Grace, Mercy and Peace: The new fragrance by the Holy Spirit. It is beautiful and powerful and it fills every room we enter!
As we journey on with God, may we breathe in and be reminded of what matters most and let Jesus’ passion fill our lives, like the sweet scent of perfume.
Amen