Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By Deacon Cynthia Z. Biddlecomb, M.Div.
ELCA retired
Approaching another birthday ending in zero or five can make one feel old. A lot of history got us this far. For the eldest among us, we wonder what could possibly equal the joys in our past. And yet, through the lens of our faith (and as we know from experience), there are still good things to come.
Change, we have learned, is inevitable. We don’t always like the changes we see around us. I may not like what I see in the news; I may not want to upload another app to my phone and learn how it works. But, if I bend just a bit, I find I can enjoy the benefits of the new.
This is one theme running through the lectionary texts for this Sunday. In Isaiah 43, verses 18-19, the prophet reports God’s word: “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?” (NRSV) Beyond our imagining, God is creating something new behind the scenes.
When I look back at the halcyon days of my childhood, I now realize that those decades were very difficult for a lot of people. Our open eyes can see that the many generations from which we are descended survived wars, epidemics, and natural disasters. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. Somehow, they got through it all, and we are the result.
The Apostle Paul picked up on this theme from Isaiah. He wrote to the Philippians: “…this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13b-14)
We may need to shelter our descendants from the reality of how challenging life has been for us. At the same time, we elders press on in the perennial hope that things will be better for them. We keep our eyes on that prize, knowing we are called by God to this time and place. In Psalm 126, verses 4-5, the psalmist pleads: “Restore our fortunes, O Lord … May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.” We pray in faith, and we live in hope.
Our gospel lesson from the 12th chapter of John, verses 1-8, tells of Jesus’ dear friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary, hosting a meal for he and his disciples. Mary of Bethany brings out a costly jar of perfume and anoints Jesus’ feet with it, wiping them with her hair. Jesus defends Mary, telling the disciples that she bought that expensive perfume to keep for the day of his burial. Apparently, Mary in her great love for Jesus, has sensed that his coming entry into Jerusalem will mean his death at the hands of the authorities.
We sense it, too, as this fifth Sunday of Lent leads toward Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his parting words to his followers, the trumped-up charges that will lead to his crucifixion, and his real triumph, rising from death to give us new life. Amen
Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a column written by local women clergy including The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (momaryannhill@gmail.com); The Rev. Lynn Finnegan, Associate Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org); Deacon Amy Schmuck, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (deaconamy@bethluth.com); and ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com).