Sunday, March 25, 2007
Is 43:16-21; Phil 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8
“It’s not worth it.” After hiking more than two hours up to
Observation Point in Zion National Park, this was the young boy’s
message to us as he passed us on his way down. “It’s not worth
it.” Less than 15 minutes away from our goal, this wasn’t
necessarily the message we wanted to hear, but we laughed and kept
going anyway. We hoped he was simply tired – that in fact, this
hike and the effort and exertion we were putting forth would be worth
it. But we weren’t sure. At that point, every step was a
step of faith.
During the rest of the hike and in the days that followed, the young boy’s words kept coming back to me. “It’s not worth it.” It’s not the most optimistic or hopeful of viewpoints, yet I admit that I have said these words or at least thought them before as well. My guess is that you have, too. So, I got to thinking, “What makes us go there?” What triggers the “It’s not worth it” attitude?
The first thing I thought of was change. Change is one of the most difficult tasks we take on in our earthly lives. I often wonder why something that is so inevitable for all of us has to be so hard. But, it is. Change takes work. So often, it seems so much easier to do what we’ve always done rather than take the time and make the effort to try something new or learn a new way. It’s often in the midst of change that the “It’s not worth it” attitude creeps in and stops us from moving through it – stops us from growing or trying new things.
The second thing I thought of that triggers this attitude in us is when we expend a lot of something of value to us. Similar to the boy on the hike, if we’re exerting our energy, we want a good view. If we’re spending our hard earned money, we want a good value. If we’re giving our valuable time, we want results. If we’re cheating on our diet, that cookie or piece of cake better be really good. When the outcome doesn’t at least match what we feel we have put into it, we might feel like “It wasn’t worth it.”
Maybe we even feel this way about our Christian life sometimes. We go to church, we put money in the offering plate, we do our best to love God and our neighbor, we pray, we take on our Lenten disciplines, yet we wonder what we get from all of this. What’s the value in our effort? These things certainly don’t insure a perfect life, so what’s the point? Why put so much effort into our Christian life? Why not just go out and do whatever we want, whenever we want?
The Old and New Testament lessons assigned for this day speak to the times when we feel like “It’s not worth it.” They reassure us that certainly we are not the first of God’s people to take on this attitude. Isaiah reminds us how God is always able to do a new thing – how God is always able to make a way in the wilderness. How God is capable of making our willingness to change and move forward worth it. Paul reminds us that we reach the goal because of faith in Jesus Christ. The prize doesn’t always come easily, but we press on – we exert effort – trusting that the promises of Christ will be worth it.
I mentioned before that we are not the first of God’s people to take on this “It’s not worth it” attitude. Actually, Judas highlights it for us in the Gospel lesson for this day as he is contrasted with Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. As he watches Mary anoint Jesus with a costly perfume, he judges her actions. Rather than use the perfume on Jesus, Judas thinks it should have been sold so the money could have been given to the poor. Basically, he’s telling Mary, “It’s not worth it.” Jesus isn’t worth it. The effort you’re putting in isn’t getting the best outcome.
This story gives us a very clear contrast of the model discipleship that Mary lives out versus the do-it-yourself model of Judas. Mary, before she could know the journey to the cross that Jesus was about to take, extends herself in love to him. Putting herself in the position of a slave, she elevates Jesus to a position of honor and displays her utter devotion to him. Every single one of her actions says that she believes that following Jesus is worth it. He is worth her effort of anointing. He is worth the cost of the perfume. Judas, on the other hand, can only be critical. He can only think of himself. Every single one of his actions says that he doesn’t think following Jesus is worth it. He’s not worth the effort. He’s certainly not worth the cost.
In our Christian lives, there are days that we’re like Judas. We know how we want things to be and we get critical when they don’t go our way. We find ourselves in a wilderness and we want to fix it in our own way instead of being patient and trusting in God’s way. We are selfish and can only think about how to get the best outcome for us above anybody else. We all have our Judas days where the thought creeps in that following Jesus just might not be worth it.
Yet, there are days in our Christian lives that we’re all like Mary as well. We grasp the true and deep meaning of Jesus’ call to love God and our neighbor. We find ourselves in situations we don’t fully understand, and are still able to act out in love and trust. We can willingly and authentically put another ahead of ourselves. We all have our Mary days, where we believe with all our hearts, minds and souls that no matter what, following Jesus is totally worth it.
We did reach Observation Point, by the way. You know, in the hike I was telling you about at the beginning of this sermon. And it was worth it as we looked out over spectacular Zion, almost feeling as if we could see the whole world. No doubt this was the same thought and attitude that Jesus had, standing next to his tomb on Easter morning. “It was worth it”. He took a long journey – a journey that we’ll travel with him beginning next week. A journey that took him through the highs of Palm Sunday to the lows of Good Friday. A journey that took him from the cross to the grave to the empty tomb. All this effort, all this giving, all this love - for you and for me. “It was worth it”, Jesus said. May we all reply in kind that the journeys of our Christian lives are worth it as well.
Amen.
During the rest of the hike and in the days that followed, the young boy’s words kept coming back to me. “It’s not worth it.” It’s not the most optimistic or hopeful of viewpoints, yet I admit that I have said these words or at least thought them before as well. My guess is that you have, too. So, I got to thinking, “What makes us go there?” What triggers the “It’s not worth it” attitude?
The first thing I thought of was change. Change is one of the most difficult tasks we take on in our earthly lives. I often wonder why something that is so inevitable for all of us has to be so hard. But, it is. Change takes work. So often, it seems so much easier to do what we’ve always done rather than take the time and make the effort to try something new or learn a new way. It’s often in the midst of change that the “It’s not worth it” attitude creeps in and stops us from moving through it – stops us from growing or trying new things.
The second thing I thought of that triggers this attitude in us is when we expend a lot of something of value to us. Similar to the boy on the hike, if we’re exerting our energy, we want a good view. If we’re spending our hard earned money, we want a good value. If we’re giving our valuable time, we want results. If we’re cheating on our diet, that cookie or piece of cake better be really good. When the outcome doesn’t at least match what we feel we have put into it, we might feel like “It wasn’t worth it.”
Maybe we even feel this way about our Christian life sometimes. We go to church, we put money in the offering plate, we do our best to love God and our neighbor, we pray, we take on our Lenten disciplines, yet we wonder what we get from all of this. What’s the value in our effort? These things certainly don’t insure a perfect life, so what’s the point? Why put so much effort into our Christian life? Why not just go out and do whatever we want, whenever we want?
The Old and New Testament lessons assigned for this day speak to the times when we feel like “It’s not worth it.” They reassure us that certainly we are not the first of God’s people to take on this attitude. Isaiah reminds us how God is always able to do a new thing – how God is always able to make a way in the wilderness. How God is capable of making our willingness to change and move forward worth it. Paul reminds us that we reach the goal because of faith in Jesus Christ. The prize doesn’t always come easily, but we press on – we exert effort – trusting that the promises of Christ will be worth it.
I mentioned before that we are not the first of God’s people to take on this “It’s not worth it” attitude. Actually, Judas highlights it for us in the Gospel lesson for this day as he is contrasted with Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. As he watches Mary anoint Jesus with a costly perfume, he judges her actions. Rather than use the perfume on Jesus, Judas thinks it should have been sold so the money could have been given to the poor. Basically, he’s telling Mary, “It’s not worth it.” Jesus isn’t worth it. The effort you’re putting in isn’t getting the best outcome.
This story gives us a very clear contrast of the model discipleship that Mary lives out versus the do-it-yourself model of Judas. Mary, before she could know the journey to the cross that Jesus was about to take, extends herself in love to him. Putting herself in the position of a slave, she elevates Jesus to a position of honor and displays her utter devotion to him. Every single one of her actions says that she believes that following Jesus is worth it. He is worth her effort of anointing. He is worth the cost of the perfume. Judas, on the other hand, can only be critical. He can only think of himself. Every single one of his actions says that he doesn’t think following Jesus is worth it. He’s not worth the effort. He’s certainly not worth the cost.
In our Christian lives, there are days that we’re like Judas. We know how we want things to be and we get critical when they don’t go our way. We find ourselves in a wilderness and we want to fix it in our own way instead of being patient and trusting in God’s way. We are selfish and can only think about how to get the best outcome for us above anybody else. We all have our Judas days where the thought creeps in that following Jesus just might not be worth it.
Yet, there are days in our Christian lives that we’re all like Mary as well. We grasp the true and deep meaning of Jesus’ call to love God and our neighbor. We find ourselves in situations we don’t fully understand, and are still able to act out in love and trust. We can willingly and authentically put another ahead of ourselves. We all have our Mary days, where we believe with all our hearts, minds and souls that no matter what, following Jesus is totally worth it.
We did reach Observation Point, by the way. You know, in the hike I was telling you about at the beginning of this sermon. And it was worth it as we looked out over spectacular Zion, almost feeling as if we could see the whole world. No doubt this was the same thought and attitude that Jesus had, standing next to his tomb on Easter morning. “It was worth it”. He took a long journey – a journey that we’ll travel with him beginning next week. A journey that took him through the highs of Palm Sunday to the lows of Good Friday. A journey that took him from the cross to the grave to the empty tomb. All this effort, all this giving, all this love - for you and for me. “It was worth it”, Jesus said. May we all reply in kind that the journeys of our Christian lives are worth it as well.
Amen.