The Wednesday before Passover
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.’ Matthew 26: 6-17
And he was right! Here we are- again!- talking about and remembering the act of a woman not named by Matthew who did something for Jesus that was so important we are still remembering her for it.
What is remarkable about this woman’s action is that she recognized, from outside the insider’s circle, what was happening to Jesus. These were funeral ointments, perfumes used in the preparation of wealthy peoples’ bodies for burial. The disciples were seeing the death dominoes falling into place, but they still were not fully realizing what was happening in their midst. The woman did. We don’t know how she knew; the important part of what she did is, as Jesus said, that she did it. She did what she could, which is all any of us can do.
And just as the woman experienced it, no matter what we might do within the Kingdom of God, there will be second-guessers nearby, ready to point out to anyone who will listen, what we could have done better, or differently. There are three questions to ask before acting within the Kingdom that I believe make it easier when to decide when to do something and when not to do something. I have stated these principles here before in the context of how a church or community of believers can choose to implement programming within their fellowship, but I believe they also apply well to individual action, too. Here they are:[1]
Does it glorify God?
Does it make disciples for Jesus Christ?
Does it alleviate suffering?
Being able to answer ‘yes’ to any one of these questions when contemplating doing a thing for the Kingdom of God, means that it is a thing that should be done. If the thing you are proposing to do garners two or more ‘yes’ answers, you should probably stop whatever you’re doing and begin doing that thing immediately!
Remember, it is Jesus’ opinion that matters. Like the woman with the alabaster jar, you may have insights about Jesus that even those who seem closest to him do not yet have. And, also like the woman with the alabaster jar, people might still be remembering you 2000 years from now as one who did what they could do.
Because- bottom line- that is all Jesus asks of any of us.
______________________________________________
Terry Schiavo
In the last few weeks I have gotten at least five emails (of the “Forward at once to everyone on your list!” variety) urging some action to be taken on my part to:
Save the life of Terry Schiavo, or
Stop the sanctioned killing of Terry Schiavo
Schiavo is the Florida woman, of course, who suffered a stroke fifteen years ago and has been diagnosed by her doctors as being in a “persistent vegetative state” since that time. The fact that we almost all know about her speaks volumes about the manipulative power of the media in our lives and the foulness of certain shameless politicians to ride even the most pitiful of horses into the spotlight of what they perceive to be the opinion of the majority.
Why don’t we know about the other fifty or so cases around the United States of people who are being removed today from their feeding I.V.s or other artificial means of life sustenance? Why aren’t Dr. Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Gov. Bush holding press conferences about the equally difficult ethical decisions being faced at this moment by hospitals and families in towns and cities in their own backyards?
I have a theory why that is. I know you didn’t ask, but here it is anyway:
Those who depend on Christians as a part of their power base, have successfully wrapped this case in the buzzwords of Christianity.
There are “good” people- her family. There is an “evil” man- her husband. There is even an “adulterous” relationship- her husband and the woman he’s lived with for ten years. There is “filthy lucre”- a fund that supposedly exists for Schiavo’s care. “Godless” judges, “Right to Life” advocates, and the easily gathered troops who love to protest from the comfort of their easy chairs and laptops all make for a major media event. Thus, newsroom executives and politicians have had the opportunity to produce their own Passion Play in these weeks before Easter. A crucifixion is taking place in slow motion- that is what we seem to be being presented with. It’s the Pharisees and Romans against the Christians..again!
Or, is it? Personally, I think not. I think we are merely being forced to witness the kind of “rubber meets road” decision that takes place dozens of times daily among good and decent people of deep and abiding faith who are forced to put that faith on the line and make decisions about loved ones about which there are no clear cut biblical guidelines.
IVs, respirators, anesthetics, and the vast array of pharmaceuticals we have today had not even been thought of in the year 33 A.D. If they had been, maybe there would have been something said about them that we could build our own present day decisions on. What we do have are the teachings of Jesus about love and grace and eternal life that allow us to use our God-imaged and inspired intellects to argue and come to some semblance of consensus on difficult issues concerning life and death. It’s not easy. It’s the reason why hospitals have ethics committees- committees made up of doctors, clergy, and academics- to create guidelines for families and help them in making medical decisions during times when it is very difficult to have to be making decisions. It is easy to stand outside of a situation and declare with certainty what is black and what is white. Up close, however, where the edges of the shadows of death and the aura of the lights of life intermingle, the gray areas are larger, and much more difficult to navigate.
When Dad’s third heart attack in two days was beginning to take place, the cardiologist told my brother and me that we had a choice to make. Let it happen, and Dad would die. Stop it at some other stage before it’s completion and he would have a 50-50 chance of surviving, even though he would probably be able to do little more than sit for however many months or years he had left. The doctor could not tell us how much brain function would be lost, but assured us there would be some damage. We chose to let God be God, and not interfere with his systems of life, death, and dying. We said goodbye to dad, and the three of us- my brother, Mom, and myself- were holding onto him as he became present to the Lord.
That’s what I pray for Terri Shiavo, too. I pray that she will be allowed to experience the presence of the Lord, and the beginning of her whole and complete life in the Kingdom of God, that she anticipated she one day would. I pray for her family who must, after fifteen years, make the difficult, heart-breaking decision to let God be God. I’ve been with other families who have had to make the kinds of decisions my family did, and the more difficult decision of withholding sustenance from those who are severely brain-damaged. I’ve watched; the withdrawal of nutrition and water is, with sedatives, a gentle way of dying. It is not anywhere near the category of “Mercy killing” that some are screaming in their ignorance about this case. It is simply the elimination of extraordinary, humanly dependent means of keeping another alive, in favor of the natural processes of God.
As it is with any decision of this nature, there will come to the minds of some of those reading this, many anecdotal and logical exceptions to what I’ve just said. And I would probably agree with all of them. That is what makes the ethics of life, death, technology, science, medicine, and God so difficult. The bottom line (for me) is this: I’d rather be whole in heaven for eternity, beginning as soon as possible, than trapped in a bedroom somewhere for years and years of emotional, physical, and financial dependency on others. I’ll take whole and complete life in the Kingdom of God over half-life in a tiny bedroom, anytime.
This world, I remind myself and anyone else who needs to be reminded, is not my home.
[1] I first heard these criteria used by the planning committee of Fraser Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL.
And he was right! Here we are- again!- talking about and remembering the act of a woman not named by Matthew who did something for Jesus that was so important we are still remembering her for it.
What is remarkable about this woman’s action is that she recognized, from outside the insider’s circle, what was happening to Jesus. These were funeral ointments, perfumes used in the preparation of wealthy peoples’ bodies for burial. The disciples were seeing the death dominoes falling into place, but they still were not fully realizing what was happening in their midst. The woman did. We don’t know how she knew; the important part of what she did is, as Jesus said, that she did it. She did what she could, which is all any of us can do.
And just as the woman experienced it, no matter what we might do within the Kingdom of God, there will be second-guessers nearby, ready to point out to anyone who will listen, what we could have done better, or differently. There are three questions to ask before acting within the Kingdom that I believe make it easier when to decide when to do something and when not to do something. I have stated these principles here before in the context of how a church or community of believers can choose to implement programming within their fellowship, but I believe they also apply well to individual action, too. Here they are:[1]
Does it glorify God?
Does it make disciples for Jesus Christ?
Does it alleviate suffering?
Being able to answer ‘yes’ to any one of these questions when contemplating doing a thing for the Kingdom of God, means that it is a thing that should be done. If the thing you are proposing to do garners two or more ‘yes’ answers, you should probably stop whatever you’re doing and begin doing that thing immediately!
Remember, it is Jesus’ opinion that matters. Like the woman with the alabaster jar, you may have insights about Jesus that even those who seem closest to him do not yet have. And, also like the woman with the alabaster jar, people might still be remembering you 2000 years from now as one who did what they could do.
Because- bottom line- that is all Jesus asks of any of us.
______________________________________________
Terry Schiavo
In the last few weeks I have gotten at least five emails (of the “Forward at once to everyone on your list!” variety) urging some action to be taken on my part to:
Save the life of Terry Schiavo, or
Stop the sanctioned killing of Terry Schiavo
Schiavo is the Florida woman, of course, who suffered a stroke fifteen years ago and has been diagnosed by her doctors as being in a “persistent vegetative state” since that time. The fact that we almost all know about her speaks volumes about the manipulative power of the media in our lives and the foulness of certain shameless politicians to ride even the most pitiful of horses into the spotlight of what they perceive to be the opinion of the majority.
Why don’t we know about the other fifty or so cases around the United States of people who are being removed today from their feeding I.V.s or other artificial means of life sustenance? Why aren’t Dr. Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Gov. Bush holding press conferences about the equally difficult ethical decisions being faced at this moment by hospitals and families in towns and cities in their own backyards?
I have a theory why that is. I know you didn’t ask, but here it is anyway:
Those who depend on Christians as a part of their power base, have successfully wrapped this case in the buzzwords of Christianity.
There are “good” people- her family. There is an “evil” man- her husband. There is even an “adulterous” relationship- her husband and the woman he’s lived with for ten years. There is “filthy lucre”- a fund that supposedly exists for Schiavo’s care. “Godless” judges, “Right to Life” advocates, and the easily gathered troops who love to protest from the comfort of their easy chairs and laptops all make for a major media event. Thus, newsroom executives and politicians have had the opportunity to produce their own Passion Play in these weeks before Easter. A crucifixion is taking place in slow motion- that is what we seem to be being presented with. It’s the Pharisees and Romans against the Christians..again!
Or, is it? Personally, I think not. I think we are merely being forced to witness the kind of “rubber meets road” decision that takes place dozens of times daily among good and decent people of deep and abiding faith who are forced to put that faith on the line and make decisions about loved ones about which there are no clear cut biblical guidelines.
IVs, respirators, anesthetics, and the vast array of pharmaceuticals we have today had not even been thought of in the year 33 A.D. If they had been, maybe there would have been something said about them that we could build our own present day decisions on. What we do have are the teachings of Jesus about love and grace and eternal life that allow us to use our God-imaged and inspired intellects to argue and come to some semblance of consensus on difficult issues concerning life and death. It’s not easy. It’s the reason why hospitals have ethics committees- committees made up of doctors, clergy, and academics- to create guidelines for families and help them in making medical decisions during times when it is very difficult to have to be making decisions. It is easy to stand outside of a situation and declare with certainty what is black and what is white. Up close, however, where the edges of the shadows of death and the aura of the lights of life intermingle, the gray areas are larger, and much more difficult to navigate.
When Dad’s third heart attack in two days was beginning to take place, the cardiologist told my brother and me that we had a choice to make. Let it happen, and Dad would die. Stop it at some other stage before it’s completion and he would have a 50-50 chance of surviving, even though he would probably be able to do little more than sit for however many months or years he had left. The doctor could not tell us how much brain function would be lost, but assured us there would be some damage. We chose to let God be God, and not interfere with his systems of life, death, and dying. We said goodbye to dad, and the three of us- my brother, Mom, and myself- were holding onto him as he became present to the Lord.
That’s what I pray for Terri Shiavo, too. I pray that she will be allowed to experience the presence of the Lord, and the beginning of her whole and complete life in the Kingdom of God, that she anticipated she one day would. I pray for her family who must, after fifteen years, make the difficult, heart-breaking decision to let God be God. I’ve been with other families who have had to make the kinds of decisions my family did, and the more difficult decision of withholding sustenance from those who are severely brain-damaged. I’ve watched; the withdrawal of nutrition and water is, with sedatives, a gentle way of dying. It is not anywhere near the category of “Mercy killing” that some are screaming in their ignorance about this case. It is simply the elimination of extraordinary, humanly dependent means of keeping another alive, in favor of the natural processes of God.
As it is with any decision of this nature, there will come to the minds of some of those reading this, many anecdotal and logical exceptions to what I’ve just said. And I would probably agree with all of them. That is what makes the ethics of life, death, technology, science, medicine, and God so difficult. The bottom line (for me) is this: I’d rather be whole in heaven for eternity, beginning as soon as possible, than trapped in a bedroom somewhere for years and years of emotional, physical, and financial dependency on others. I’ll take whole and complete life in the Kingdom of God over half-life in a tiny bedroom, anytime.
This world, I remind myself and anyone else who needs to be reminded, is not my home.
[1] I first heard these criteria used by the planning committee of Fraser Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL.
posted by D.Barry Weber at 9:03 PM
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