NO DO OVERS.
Holy Week Reading 3: Matthew 26:1-16

I’ve tried to write this so many times that I feel like I’m going in circles. I don’t get a “Do-Over”if the writing stinks. I can’t help but remember when I was a kid, playing games and sports with my friends by our own rules. When something happened that we didn’t like, we’d shout “Do-Over”, and go back and run the play again. It provided us the opportunity to shoot that last-second shot as many times as we wanted, or at least, until we got it right.

Unfortunately, nobody gets a “Do-Over” on the other side of the Corona pandemic. It’s all gonna change and we can’t go back and run the play again, even though most (if not all) of us have thought about it multiple times. I suppose we’re at the point of no return.

However, even when big and ugly monsters surface, God is still accomplishing some great work. For instance, consider our Gospel reading today. Matthew begins the story two days before the Passover, when the chief priests and elders begin to plot Jesus’ death. As soon as that meeting occurs, Jesus’ world (and, therefore, our world) changes forever. The point of no return has arrived. No Do-Overs.

God is well-aware of the surfacing evil, thereby allowing the woman in Bethany to anoint Jesus’ feet. The anointing is beautiful, but as quickly as the blessing arrives, it disappears (for now). The Gospel wastes no time, immediately moving into Judas’ agreement to betray Jesus. The first phase of the evil plan has already occurred. No Do-Overs.

The Coronavirus and Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus aren’t very much alike, except for the obvious: After each of them, the world is changed and there’s no chance of a Do-Over. Yet still, in the midst of Jesus’ betrayal (even within the really ugly readings that will surface later this week), God drops blessing after blessing. The same is occurring in the midst of the Coronavirus: God is dropping blessing after blessing. And like Matthew’s Gospel, we who have faith in Jesus Christ know that our story will conclude in absolute, perfect beauty.

Now is the time to do something. Just like the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet, it’s time to praise God and give God glory while we are able. It may not seem urgent and others might think we’re going overboard. That’s okay. Jesus only had a few more chapters of life on Earth in Matthew’s Gospel. Chances are, we have many, many more chapters in front of us and that’s precisely why we need to do what we can, NOW. As we’ve already learned from Corona, the sooner we begin doing the right things, the more lives we can help save.

It’s time to move. It’s time to get things right. No Do-Overs? No Problem.

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:13, NIV)