The Scene Shifting Saviour
Isaiah 43:16-22 John 12:1-8
A curious book I thoroughly enjoyed reading some years ago was “Miss Garnet’s Angel” by Salley Vickers. It tells the story of a straight laced school teacher who finds herself suddenly retired. She has never known the intimacy of human love, she does not believe in God, is suspicious of everybody and is a paid up member of the Communist party.
She decides to spend six months living in Venice and suddenly her life becomes set to a completely new backdrop. Wonderful churches, art and sculpture on every corner and she meets the sort of people she never encountered in her safe school life.
The book is the story of her salvation – of bringing to the surface a spiritual and emotional aspect to her that had lain dormant for sixty years.
And all that was required was some scene shifting. A change of backdrop to get her drab life suddenly blossoming like a rose.
It may be unsettling for us to realise that this is what Jesus is about with the likes of you and me.
He is a scene shifting sort of saviour.
Continually calling us to see life from a fresh perspective. Lifting us from the comfortable place into the place of inspiration. Changing things around to present us with new possibilities.
Our OT reading is full of dramatic scene shifting which gave the people hints of the sort of thing he would do.
A mighty sea is becalmed to let the people cross safely.
The instruments of war, chariots, horses and army reinforcements, crumble in the dust.
The desert becomes a place of springs and wild animals become tamed.
The scene is shifted, not to shock us or make us feel uncertain. It is shifted to take away our fear.
The back drop is being changed so that the people of God might be worthy of the name.
The coming of the kingdom of God seems to require that everything be thrown up in the air, and we see where this all leads in our Gospel reading.
A woman condemned as an outcast bursts in upon a respectable supper and honours Jesus in the sort of beautiful way, the religious debaters would not have had a clue about. Her behaviour is simply outrageous.
She is able to do this for she has come to know how the scenes in her life have been shifting since Jesus’ miraculous touch upon her. Held in check by demons and a dubious reputation, Jesus offers her a freedom, if she will follow Him, and live her life to the backdrop of his promise. Here, at his feet, she makes her pledge to belong, to entwine his life’s story with her own.
One of the joys about going to the theatre is the quality of what they now call “the set”. Before ever the actors and actresses walk upon it and the drama of their lives unfold, the curtain rises to reveal the backdrop and sometimes the audience is moved to spontaneous applause before even a word of the script is spoken.
If you were to imagine “the set” to which you currently live your life, I wonder what it would contain, and can we see that maybe one of the challenges of Lent, is to allow the spirit of the scene shifting saviour in, to change or to reaffirm this backdrop.
To move you, as he moved Mary and the people of God before her, from the place of fear and exclusion to the place of joy and acceptance. RH21.3.10