I’m the type of person who…

What is going on in today’s gospel passage, and why is this passage important to us on the fifth Sunday in Lent? With the impending turmoil and conflict, why are we stopping to have a leisure dinner with friends?

If you are the type of person who does not like literary repetition, this sermon may not be for you. However, I hope you are the type of person who will allow for much literary repetition and listen and contemplate with me.

Have you ever said, “I am the type of person who… likes, does, tries, supports, wants” etc. —and then you fill in the details to give someone an idea of your character, your preferences, or your boundaries?

Have you ever said, “He (or she) is the type of person who…” and then you add actions, descriptors, commentary, perhaps praise or even criticism?

At the Manhattan Arts Center directly down the street, about ten blocks to the west, I am leading an eight-week storytelling class. The participants are sharing personal accounts, episodes from their lives. These accounts include reports about parents, siblings, friends, enemies, co-workers, bosses, and the list goes on. With the hope of making their stories vivid for the listener, we are employing certain techniques for character exploration. One of these techniques is to name a figure and that person’s motivation or habituation in the following form:

My father was the type of person who came home from Republic Steel Mill on payday, carefully stepped up into the kitchen —so as not to dirty the floor from the soot on his clothing — and clipped a twenty dollar bill to the wall calendar saying, “This is for your piano lessons this month.”

This gives you an idea of his character, his motivation as a parent, his love for me, and how he looked out for my interests and desires. That is the type of person he was.

I’d like to walk through our gospel passage today with this paradigm “The Type of Person Who…” in mind.

The Characters: Jesus; The Siblings: Mary of Bethany, her sister Martha of Bethany, their brother Lazarus ––a friend of Jesus who died —and whom Jesus raised from the dead; and finally, Judas Iscariot.

What comes to mind when you hear the beginnings of these sentences? Jesus is the type of person who… Martha is the type of person who… Mary is the type of person who… Lazarus is the type of person who…. Judas is the type of person who… Let us examine who they are by what they do and what they say.

Jesus is the type of person who celebrates a friend’s restoration. Jesus is the type of person who makes time to visit his dear friend even when he knows his own life is in imminent danger.

Martha is the type of person who serves others graciously. Martha is the type of person who expresses love and care through feeding people. She and Jesus share this instinct and impulse to feed others. Martha is the type of person who once complained that her sister Mary was sitting and listening at Jesus’s feet while she did all the work — (in Luke, chapter 10). Martha is also the type of person who learned the value of human connection from Jesus.

Mary of Bethany is the type of person who anoints Jesus’ feet with costly oil and then wipes them with her hair. Mary of Bethany is the type of person who not only hosts Jesus, but who puts herself in the role of a humble servant before him. Is this a foreshadowing?

Lazarus is the type of person who welcomes a close friend into his home knowing that he may be deemed guilty by association. Jesus has caused much stirring in the community, especially as the word gets around that he raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus is living evidence of Jesus’ spirituality. Is Lazarus also a threat to the powers that be as well?

Judas is the type of person who criticizes. Judas is the type of person who estimates the value of things not in his possession and then admonishes others in regard to their use. Judas is the type of person who holds the common purse and also steals from it. Judas is the type of person who gains someone’s trust and then betrays that person. Judas is the type of person who speaks on behalf of the poor, but one who does not minister to the poor. Thus, Judas is the type of person who VIRTUE SIGNALS. Judas is duplicitous.

Mary of Bethany is the type of person who did not take offense at Judas’ criticism of her, but Jesus is the type of person who came to her defense. This is not the only time Jesus defended Mary. Recall the Martha and Mary story once again from Luke, chapter 10.

We examine the intentions of the characters, the people in this gospel passage, the people in our lives, the people we see on the news, the people with whom we interact at home, at work, in public, extended family, and maybe even the ones we rant at or with on social media.

Today, gathered at St. Paul’s we are the types of people who endeavor in community on a Lenten journey —examining ourselves, our own acts of kindness, of giving, of withholding, of willingness to trust and serve, of hesitance to trust and serve, of willingness to accept others and love them unconditionally, of reticence to accept others and monitor conditions where we pass harsh judgment. We are the types of people who entered this penitential season on Ash Wednesday acknowledging our shortcomings and hoping to do better.

We are characters in the story too, and we can discover what kind of character each of us is perhaps by saying, “I am the type of person who…” and then admit the fault, or exclaim the bold desire, the joy, the objection, the willing heart, the forgiving stance…

There is one more character important to our gospel passage. You may have already counted the five, and you may be keeping track that we have already addressed all five —Jesus, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Judas. That other important character is our storyteller, our gospel writer. Our gospel writer is the type of person who gives us a time marker — six days before the Passover. The writer orients us in time toward the most significant event that is the bedrock of our faith; I sense urgency. However, following this time marker, we pause in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.

Through this story of interactions and character motivations in Bethany, our gospel writer is the type of person who cleverly foreshadows the gathering at the last supper where the host, like Mary of Bethany, will assume the role of a servant for his disciples and humbly wash their feet. Our writer foreshadows betrayal, foreshadows women at the feet of Jesus when all others will desert him at the time of his death, and foreshadows gratitude for restoration.

As we progress through lent and into our communal holy week journey and the continuous mysteries and contemplations of the triduum, I hope you are the type of person who is open to literary repetition.