February 17, 2015

“Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarius and given to the poor?” Jesus said, “Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” John 12:3, 8

“I would not hesitate to give the name of “the fifth gospel” to the musical interpretation of the story of redemption, which reaches its highest point in Johann Sebastian Bach. Very deeply do the Passion According to St. Matthew and the Mass in B Minor enter into the mystery of suffering and redemption. These are not the musings of an amateur musician. They are set forth here in order to assert that Bach, and other musicians in their degree before and after him, are thinkers and in the true sense theologians; that is to say, they have knowledge of G*d and his redemptive work, and express it in music. The marvel of this music is power made perfect in weakness. The last and highest tones are those of the eternal triumph.”

“Pastoral Letter on J. S. Bach’s Music” in The Death and Resurrection of Christ by Nathan Soderblom.

The “weak” and the “poor” – two words that have nothing to do with success – at least according to our 21st century understanding. But these are two words used in the readings above to talk about the work of Jesus – in ways we might not expect. Jesus says we will always have the poor with us, an interesting statement since he was always concerned with the plight of the disabled and the poor. And the power of Bach’s music is not divinely rendered, but instead comes from the weakness of the human condition. Both are connected to the redemptive work of Jesus. How?

Well, Jesus says we will always have the poor and so working with the poor will be a constant ministry that will never end. That seems depressing when we think about it, and yet we have seen this reality played out over the millenia. So, we are challenged to ministry by Jesus in two ways: first we need to be in the presence of Jesus to learn his ways, to feel his love, and to be filled with his presence. And second, we need to go into the world being the hands and feet of Christ to help the poor and those in need. Because the world is dependant on humans to distribute all the resources of the world, there will never be an equal distribution of those resources. Why? Because we are sinful, selfish, greedy people by nature, innately worried only about our own needs and desires, and so it will always be a challenge to share what we have.

And then we have “weakness. In the Passion Story of Jesus, we see how Jesus uses the weakness of the human condition to redeem all of humanity. G*d came to earth in the Incarnation, in the form of Jesus, and so became weak so that we can be strong in the Lord. And so, we continually see how people, who are divinely inspired, continue to produce writings, and music, and art, etc. to express to us the passion and the inspiration of the Passion story. Through the means of music, Bach is able to lift us up to the heights of heaven and connect us to the “All-Powerful”. It truly is a gift from G*d – the music of Bach, and others.

We do not lift up the gifts of “weakness” and “being poor” in society as things to achieve, but in these conditions we can be connected to Jesus in powerful ways.

Pastor Dave