Last Sunday I preached on Luke’s wonderful story of
the Prodigal Son. It could easily have
been called the story of the Prodigal Father, because in the story we saw how
extravagant the father was in his love for his son.
We talked about the father bearing his legs in
public to run to his son; how the father ignored what was acceptable behavior
for a dignified man, risking ridicule and humiliation. His love for his son was so extravagant he
was willing to risk anything to welcome him home. Jesus was telling us a parable about God’s
extravagant love for us.
Today we move away from the gospel of Luke to the
gospel of John. John also tells stories
of extravagance, and it seems that each story seems to outdo the one before it
in terms of extravagant acts. First,
John tells the story where Jesus attends a wedding where he turns six stone
jars of water into the finest wine. The
six stone jars held 180 gallons of water between them, a tremendous act of
extravagance and all for a party!
Then we read about 5,000 hungry people with only
five loaves of bread and two fish to feed them.
Jesus turns what, at first seems like scarcity, into a feast. Not only did people have enough to eat, but
they had to pick up twelve baskets full of leftovers. Extravagant gestures from Jesus that teach us
about abundance when we think there is scarcity.
Even after his death, Jesus continues to teach us
about abundance. The gospel writer John
shares the story of Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, who brings 100
pounds of expensive spices to anoint Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. 100 pounds!
Again, extravagance beyond belief!
But I should not get ahead. Let’s
take a look at our story for our lives today.
Let me set the scene a little.
Some parties are wild and crazy,
but I would have to classify this party as just being odd. According to the Gospel of John, this was the
last Saturday night of Jesus’ life. He was having dinner at the home of
friends.
While this might have looked like
a simple dinner party, it was really an extraordinary dinner party. Look at the
guests; we have Lazarus who had recently been dead for four days, until Jesus
raised him from the tomb. Imagine the dinner conversation: “So Lazarus, what’s
it like to be dead? Did you get to
heaven? Did you see folks that you
knew? Exactly what do you ask someone
who has been to the other side and is brought back?
In addition to Lazarus, Judas is
also at the party, and he is not in a good mood. Maybe he had already decided to betray Jesus
and he was sick of the charade of pretending to still be a supporter. Within
the week, Judas would lead soldiers to arrest Jesus in the garden at
Gethsemane. And then we have Martha at
the party, and she is super busy serving the food, while her sister Mary is
just hanging out with Jesus. So you ask,
with such an interesting mix of people what more could this party have. The answer is entertainment. In this instance, the entertainment comes in
the form of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus with perfume, and then wiping his
feet with her hair.
So, let’s talk about this entertainment a
little bit. Mary, we are told has taken a year’s salary, and used that money to
purchase a pound of an expensive perfume which she uses to anoint Jesus.
And what do we think about Mary’s
actions. Remember that Mary knows well
who Jesus is. She has witnessed his
power with her own eyes. She knows just
what he is capable of. She has seen,
smelled, and witnessed: not only the illness and death of her brother, but the
stench of his flesh, four days dead, as he stumbled out of his tomb. Mary has not only recently witnessed death,
she’s witnessed death defeated. Defeated
by Jesus the Life Giver. Perhaps it is not
only death for which Mary is
preparing Jesus; perhaps Mary sees beyond
the tomb. Perhaps the
extravagance of her offering is not only connected to the life Jesus once gave
her brother, or even the life that Jesus is about to give up, but rather, of
the life that Jesus will give again, and again, and again.
Mary, not knowing if she would
ever see Jesus again after this night, performs one last act of kindness
towards him. The fragrance of the
perfume fills the room as she anoints Jesus feet. And then, she performs the intimate act of
wiping his feet with her hair. One last kindness
to someone who had blessed her life.
But Judas is not feeling so
charitable, and he is not happy with what he is seeing. He tells the other guests that the money used
for the expensive perfume could have been used to serve the poor. This is a good point that Judas brings
up. But Jesus tells him to leave Mary
alone. Jesus says there will be poor
always. But we can’t drop what Judas has
said. He makes a good point; the money
used for the perfume could have been used to help the poor. So I wonder, does this mean that we as
followers of Jesus, are forced to choose between helping the poor and other
acts of kindness and mercy and celebration. There is a tension here, a tension
between Judas’s words and the words of Jesus.
The tension Judas brings to this passage highlights the tension between
works and worship. This is a tension and
drama that continually works itself out in our lives and our communities.
In Mark’s gospel, Jesus makes the
point that the poor will always exist therefore there will always be a God
given command to care for the poor. And
Jesus also makes the point that having obligations to the world does not preclude
celebration.
Jesus says, ‘You always have the
poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ Jesus not only acknowledges the
consistent presence of the poor but our responsibility to care for the poor.
Alongside that responsibility Jesus affirms the right for Mary to celebrate
because celebration is a gift that gives life and is liberating to life.
I think that Jesus was saying to
Judas, and to us, that sometimes an act of kindness and mercy, such as, helping
someone prepare for death, supersedes, but does not dismiss an act of justice
such as giving to the poor.
Just as these passages affirm
that Christ has come, and celebrate the presence and action of Christ among us;
the passages also warn us that human response to poverty and hunger, grief and
sickness also need to flow from a recognition of the presence and action of
Christ among us; a recognition that we are saved by God’s grace and as such, we
are driven by gratitude to respond with love and concern for others. We have
lessons to learn from both Mary and Judas.
Mary reminds us that Jesus is
worth an expensive perfume and more. We
sing in the hymn, Jesus is fairer. Jesus is purer. Even if our hearts our
heavy, Jesus gives us reason to sing.
This is our Savior, the One who can perform miracles in this life and
promises us resurrection in the life to come.
While Mary teaches us that Jesus is worth expensive
perfume and ALL that we have to offer, Judas reminds us to perform acts of
kindness to those most in need of help.
So, in dealing with the tension
of works and worship, let us consider what we can do to fill the room with the
perfumed fragrance of great sacrifice and great love? This is our challenge. And as we move from the wilderness towards Jerusalem
with Jesus, may we seek out acts of kindness to perform for those in need.
Queen Anne 
