Worship on the Fifth Sunday of Lent
10:00 am April 6, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Rom Rhoad Welcoming Elder: Iris Routledge
Reader: Maddie Childs
We gather to worship God
Music Prelude
Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you
Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship
Call to worship:
L: We are here to follow Jesus
P: With halting steps.
L: And questioning minds
P: With ready hands
L: And pierced hearts
P: With joy for each other
L: And gratitude to God.
P: Let us follow Jesus,
L: And let us worship God.
Opening praise: Amazing grace (my chains are gone)
Prayers of approach and confession
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all life,
We come before you today with hearts filled with gratitude.
We praise you for the beauty of your creation, for the dependable rhythms of nature,
And for the intricate relationships that sustain us.
We honor you for Christ and the ministry we strive to imitate,
For his teachings, his love, and his unwavering commitment to justice and compassion.
By the power of your Spirit, illuminate our hearts during this time of worship,
And inspire us to spread kindness and hope to those we encounter this week in Jesus’ name.
As we gather in your presence, we lift our voices in praise,
Acknowledging your greatness and your eternal goodness.
So we glorify you, O God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all life,
Offering you our love, devotion, and service,
Today and every day, now and forever.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we gather in your sacred name today,
We are increasingly aware of your journey toward the cross,
Where love meets sacrifice and hope is born anew.
We confess that following your story is not always easy.
We acknowledge our struggles in deciding how to give, when to act, and whom to help.
At times, we find ourselves critical of those in need and dismissive of those who assist them,
Choosing comfort over compassion.
Forgive us for seeking reasons not to share our blessings,
And for holding back when we should be extending our hands in generosity,
As you have taught us to do.
Lead us to learn from your example, to embrace the call to serve with open hearts,
And to follow the path of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
May we embody your love and grace in all our actions,
Transforming ourselves and the world around us. Amen.
Response: We come to ask your forgiveness
Assurance of God’s love
Hear the good news! Who has the right to judge us? Only Christ—
And Christ died for us, rose for us, and now reigns in power for us.
He continually intercedes on our behalf, reminding us of God’s unending love.
Believe in the transformative message of the gospel.
In Jesus Christ, we find forgiveness and are set free through God’s boundless grace.
No matter our shortcomings or struggles, we are renewed and restored,
Embracing the hope and freedom that comes from being loved without condition.
Let us rejoice in this gift and share it with those around us.
We listen for the voice of God
Song: Praise I will praise (420)
Scripture: John 12:1-8
Response: Jesus remember me
Message: Spoil, Love, Pamper!
I’ve loved folk singer James Taylor’s music ever since the first time I heard it, and I’ll never forget how. I first encountered him in cartoon form. He was a guest star on the Television show The Simpsons in a famous episode where Homer (the father) becomes an astronaut. Trouble ensues as expected, and James is brought in to play a song for Homer to calm him down because Homer is almost certain to never return home again. If you know James Taylor’s music, you know why. He was chosen for good reason.
James Taylor’s got something so calming about him. I like, “How sweet it is to be loved by you”. I love “I’ve seen Fire and I’ve seen Rain”. My favorite is probably “Going to Carolia in my mind”. One of his lesser hits is called “Shower The People”.
These are a few of the lyrics:
Oh, Father and Mother
And sister and brother
If it feels nice
Don’t think twice
Just shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine
If you only will
Better to
Shower the people you love with love
Yes, and show them the way that you feel
I know things are gonna be just fine.
If you only will
Each word is a gentle nudge, urging us to embrace those we hold dear while they are still present. As time slips through our fingers like sand, I’ve come to appreciate this message more with each passing year. No, I may not always articulate my feelings as well as I wish, but the desire to express love is ever-growing.
I’ve officiated well over 100 funeral and memorial services at this point in my life, including the one for my father. And I have to say that there is a common theme at every single one of them without fail. Those tears of love, those pretty flowers we bought them, those hours and hours of diving into old pictures and sharing cherished memories and funny stories and amazing details, those deeply kind and heartfelt words we say while holding back the tears… there was always a better time for every one of them.
And while it’s always important to do and say these things as we say our goodbyes, it inevitably strikes us all – It would have been far better to look through those pictures together with the person we lost; to go over and over those favorite stories with that person present; to buy those flowers for that person when they could enjoy them most, to say “I love you so incredibly much” when the person could and most needed to hear it. At the memorial, we take those last moments to say what we didn’t say enough, to pamper and spoil and love them like we always wanted to but couldn’t do enough. At every service, that thought lingers in my mind like a distant melody.
When Mary used that pint of expensive perfume on Jesus, she was not worried about how much it cost. What Mary was doing was giving Jesus His flowers while He was still there by her side. And it’s a good reminder to all of us.
John’s chapter 12 is the turning point in John’s gospel. While John 1-11 deals with Jesus’ ministry, from chapter 12 on, he will deal only with Jesus’ final week of life.
These events took place in Bethany, a small town blossoming with sweet figs and aromatic dates, situated just east of Jerusalem on the gentle slopes of the Mount of Olives. It’s a comforting haven where Jesus and his disciples undoubtedly felt at home.
Bethany is in the West Bank, 2.5 km east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. Bethany was originally a Galilean settlement (ossuaries – ancient coffins or bone boxes from the time, reveal mostly Galilean names on them), meaning Jesus and his disciples would have felt quite comfortable there.
According to the Temple Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Bethany was the site of three separate care homes for the sick. At least one house reserved for the care of lepers was set up by the Essenes, and an almsgiving station that fed the poor. This is interesting because this seems to be the sole reason for the town’s existence. Bethany was and still is extremely small. To date, it only has around 3000 people.
In ancient times, Bethany was a sanctuary for the ailing, offering care to the sick and vulnerable. Here, the air would have been infused with the sweet scents of blooming fruit trees.
The town smelled of sweet figs, dates, date-wine and vineyards. Palm trees lined the roads. It was here where Jesus would begin his journey down the hill on Palm Sunday, and it was here that a close reading of scripture would suggest he returned the Bethany each night for rest, even after he had entered Jerusalem.
On several occasions, the gospels mention Jesus going to a “solitary place” up the Mount of Olives at the end of the day. This is the trail to Bethany. Lazarus’ home in Bethany was also, in all probability, where most (male disciples at least) would flee on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Because the soldiers led Jesus westward through the garden of Gethsemane, his friends no doubt would flee east, which once again leads to Bethany. Yet, beneath its serene exterior, this town was witness to profound moments, like Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, an act of love that sparked both wonder and ultimately conspiracy.
Verse nine in the previous chapter tells us that word got out that Jesus was staying in Bethany, and a host of people came out to see. Jesus had kept a low profile in the eyes of the authorities in Jerusalem and spent the last winter after Lazarus was raised from the dead in and around Jericho. The problem with this crowd in this case was not that they wanted to see Jesus but that they seemed more interested in seeing Lazarus, whom Jesus raised.
Jesus lived among sign seekers. They were more interested in the signs and wonders than the One who performed them. This crowd of sightseers wanted to see the sign. Here, the One who is the Resurrection and the Life was in their midst, but Lazarus was on their minds. The verse reads painfully, “They came to see Lazarus.” This is the crowd that would have followed Jesus the next day in the “Triumphal Entry.” If you have ever found it strange how quickly the crowd turns on Jesus from cheering at the triumphal entry to calling for his death just a day later, this is part of the answer. Many of them were not his followers at all, just people caught up in the excitement of an event and later, a parade.
To be blunt, the timeline for these events is more than a bit messy. Although each gospel mentions this account, the day and anointing don’t always appear to line up. John’s telling of the story relies heavily (as his whole gospel does) on comparative organization of stories that mirror one another, unlike Luke, who seems to present a more focused chronological order of events, as one might expect for a historian. In any case, John states that the day is six days before Passover. Some have argued this as a clear place where the bible contradicts itself. However, it is worth noting that the Romans believed the day began at midnight. The Greek day started at dawn, as most of us probably think of it. And the Hebrew reckoning of the start of the day was sunset because that is how the story of creation in Genesis begins. In other words, it’s hard to tell what version of “day” and “night” the authors use or intend for their audiences.
According to John’s timeline, dinner with Lazarus and his sisters would likely have been on March 28th in 33 AD. The next day, we celebrate as “Palm Sunday” would be the 29th of that same year.
Just like in the previous story of Mary and Martha, while Mary is giving affection to Jesus, Martha works hard to serve her guests. In this case, Mary takes the job of washing Jesus’ feet with water as people would do for guests at the time. But Mary becomes distracted by his teaching and begins intently listening. All the while, Martha is working hard.
The text says, Martha was “doing many things” and picking up the slack. When Martha complains, Jesus lovingly uses her name twice, “Martha, Martha,” as was a custom of affection, and lets her know that it’s good for her sister to sit listening to him. Now, at this point, far too many sermons will tell the congregation that the point of the story is to be a Mary and not a Martha. But this is not fair, to be honest. Martha is said in the text to be (de-ok-a-neh-oh) for “serving,” but this word is also the basis for the word Deacon in the church. In other words, what she is doing is the work of the Church. Martha’s service is no less important than her sisters’. It’s just different.
Similarly to the previous story, Jesus and Lazarus are described as reclining at the table while Martha is hard at work, and Mary can be found at the feet of Jesus. But this time is very odd. And it’s very dark. John’s language recalls not a banquet but a funeral.
Mary goes to Jesus’ feet and pours half a litre of rare spikenard from a flower that grows atop the high mountains in northern India. It is described as being “undiluted” or pure. At the time, these jars were alabaster and sealed at the top. The only way to open one was to break the neck of the bottle.
The passage says that she “anointed” his feet with the perfume, but of course, anointing is done to a person’s head and not the feet. Anointings were done on the head before parties or on the heads of kings at coronations. But there is one time when people poured oil on a person’s feet. They did it during the burial preparations, beginning with the feet and working their way up the body to the head.
John’s storytelling is far darker than a first reading might suggest. In his telling, Mary breaks the neck of the jar and begins preparing Jesus’ body for burial. Next undoes her fair and wipes his feet dry with it.
Now you have to understand the culture a bit here. Jewish women never unbound their hair in public. Women untied their hair if they were undressing for a new husband, at the time of bathing and just for one other reason. Can you guess what that is? I suspect you might have picked up on this. It’s done at Funerals.
It seems as if Mary may have assumed what others had not yet deduced – that Jesus would soon enough be dead.
In response to this extravagant act of love. Judas protests that the perfume could have been sold and the money used to help people experiencing poverty. And at first glance, his objection seems not only fair but also very fitting, being that Bethany is the site of its very own house of almsgiving. He’s not exactly wrong. Though we know, there is more to the story. The year’s salary this perfume was worth wouldn’t have all made its way to the poor. Judas, it seems, was stealing a share of everything that came through.
Jesus’ response, “You will always have the poor,” is essential. This is a quote. It comes from Deuteronomy 15:11, which reminds us that our duty will always include care for the poor. In other words, though Jesus’ words seem a bit harsh at first, his comment isn’t that it must be one or the other. It is that “this too is good”. He notes, “You will not always have me”. Mary’s hunch that this is indeed a funeral is correct.
In the song “Shower the People,” Taylor beautifully encapsulates the importance of showing love while we still have the opportunity. As we gather to remember loved ones, we often realize a poignant truth—we tend to celebrate our loved ones’ lives most profoundly, without their presence.
In our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to postpone expressing our feelings, believing we will have more opportunities later. But as life teaches us through bittersweet farewells, tomorrow is never promised. The clarity that comes from reflection, especially moments like those spent at memorials, can often reveal just how fleeting our time is with those we cherish. There’s a profound lesson in Mary’s unapologetic act of love—she understood the urgency and immediacy of affection and acted upon it.
If we harbor feelings of gratitude or love, let’s not wait. Speak them out loud. Let’s shower them with praise and acknowledgment if our friends or family have impacted our lives. The power of the spoken word is transformative; it can uplift, heal wounds, and forge deeper connections.
As James Taylor so beautifully illustrated in “Shower the People,” love is a gift that thrives in the present. It’s a reminder to celebrate those we cherish while they can still hear our words, see our smiles, and feel our embraces. Doing so creates a symphony of connection that sings long after the music fades.
Find the people you love and show them how you feel. Pamper them, say you love them, and spoil them while you can, and remember to do the same for the God who not only would but did die just for you. Amen.
Song: I give you my heart
We respond to serve God.
Our time of giving
Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
Gracious God, even as Mary poured out her love for Jesus,
he was preparing to pour out his life on the cross for her and for us all.
We are grateful for such love, given and received, then given again.
Accept the gifts we bring and anoint them with your Spirit
so that they will flow into the world, refreshing others with your mercy and love.
O God, in whom we live, move, and find our purpose,
We come to you in prayer, trusting that you are with us
Through the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows of these challenging times.
We give you thanks for every sign of your presence among us:
For every unexpected act of kindness,
Every word of comfort or encouragement,
Every display of courage in the face of injustice,
Every hopeful step toward reconciliation amid conflict,
And every moment of healing in the presence of danger or disease.
Thank you for your unwavering presence in all things.
In this unpredictable world, we lift up those
Whose lives are entrenched in chaos or oppression,
For those who live in fear, unable to walk freely,
And we remember all who feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty of our times:
May those living in fear find the courage to continue on,
Knowing they are not alone in your company.
As the stories of Jesus lead us toward the cross, O God,
We pray for those who walk the road of suffering.
We remember before you those
Whose lives have been plunged into sorrow or despair
Due to tragic loss, critical illness, or chronic pain,
And those facing complex problems that seem endless:
May all of these individuals know your comfort and compassion.
O God, the stories of Jesus remind us
That he faced the demands of many and the pressures of critics.
We pray for all who are exhausted these days,
Juggling more responsibilities with fewer resources at work or home,
For those who feel they can’t get anything right,
And for all facing unfair criticism and high expectations
In the burdens they bear on behalf of others:
May all of these be strengthened by your Spirit of justice and mercy.
O God, we seek to embrace your presence in our unique ways.
Anoint us with your Spirit of healing and hope, and bring peace to our lives and to this world you cherish. Amen.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
Invitation
Friends in Christ,
We are invited to the table of grace, a sacred meal prepared for all who seek to know God more fully. This is not a table for the perfect, but a place for those who recognize their need for forgiveness, healing, and renewal.
Come, not because you must, but because you may.
Come, not to testify to your goodness, but because you acknowledge your need for God’s mercy and grace.
Come, as you are, and partake of this holy meal,
Knowing that in Christ, all are welcomed and loved.
Song: You satisfy the hungry heart (538: vss 1,2,3,5)
The Apostles’ Creed (539)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended to hell.
The third day, he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Communion Prayer
Gracious and loving God,
We gather at this table, united in our faith and need for your presence.
With hearts full of gratitude, we thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Who walked among us, teaching us the ways of love, kindness, and humility.
He showed us the depth of your love and the promise of redemption in his life and ministry.
As we partake in this holy meal, we are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice he made for our salvation.
We are thankful for the bread, which symbolizes his body, broken for us.
And the cup, representing his blood, was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
In this sacred moment, we pause to reflect on the grace offered to us,
And we acknowledge our need for healing and renewal in our lives.
May this bread and cup nourish not only our bodies but our souls,
Filling us with your Spirit and inspiring us to be agents of your love in the world.
Help us to carry this love into our communities,
To serve those who are marginalized, to comfort those who are hurting,
And to bring hope to those who are lost.
In the quietness of our hearts, we confess our shortcomings,
And we seek your forgiveness, knowing that you welcome us with open arms.
May we, in turn, extend that same grace to others,
Living out the call to be peacemakers and advocates for justice.
As we share this meal, draw us closer to you and to one another,
Strengthening our bonds as a community of faith.
May this communion transform us, renewing our commitment to follow you,
And empowering us to share the good news of your love with all we encounter.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we pray. Amen.
Sharing of the Bread and Wine
Song: One bread one body (540)
Prayer after Communion
Song: O love, how deep, how broad, how high (205: vss 1,2,3,6)
Sending out with God’s blessing
As we depart from this sacred gathering,
May your hearts be filled with the promise of renewal and hope.
In this Lenten season, may you walk with courage in the path of compassion,
Embracing the call to serve with love and humility.
Let the light of Christ guide your steps
As you carry the message of grace into the world.
May you find strength in the journey,
And may peace accompany you in every moment.
Go forth, knowing you are held in God’s unwavering love,
Now spoil the ones around you. Amen.
Response: Benediction (As you go)
May the Lord grant you peace. May His love shine down, love shine down, and meet your every need, and keep your feet from stumbling. And fix your eyes on the mark, on the prize. As you go. May you rest in Christ
As you go, go with God, go in peace.
Music postlude
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The Communion liturgy is based on the liturgies of the PCC’s 1991 Book of Common Worship. Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).
The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.