5th Sunday in Lent

Unbroken: God delights in our goodness and judges sin

Worship for April 6, 2025: the Fifth Sunday in Lent

IN-PERSON and ONLINE at 10:30 a.m.

The Rev. Matthew Emery, lead minister, preaching

Isaiah 43:16-21 and John 12:1-8

God announces the goodness of all of creation, from the smallest fish to the largest elephant, to you and me. God celebrates the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given each of us to serve our neighbor and the world in need. Yet there is evil in the world, which God condemns and works against. Sometimes we are a part of that evil, caught in webs beyond individual choices of right and wrong. Sometimes we are recipients of that evil, through actions of others or networks in the world. God judges sin, but always in service of love for all of God’s (good) creatures.

In this week's reading from the gospel of John, Mary celebrates the goodness of God she finds in Jesus, anticipating what is to come through his death as she anoints his feet with costly perfume in preparation.  And yet, also present in the scene is one who seems to know the price of everything while completely missing the worth of this act of devotion... and moreover, the worth of what God is up to in Jesus.  Still, though, even this one finds that there is enough room at the table!