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Year C Lent 5 : 28/3/04 John 12:1-8
12 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany,
where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner
was given in Jesus' honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those
reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure
nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his
feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the
perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to
betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money
given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6 He did not say
this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as
keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into
it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended
that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will
always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
PRAY
A mother went shopping for groceries. While she was in the store, a
fire engine raced by. She wondered, "Is the fire engine going to
my home?" She had left her baby asleep at home. Forgetting about
the groceries, she ran toward home. Her building had fire hoses aimed
at it. It was burning like a matchbox. Rushing to the chief, she cried
out, "My baby is up there." He shouted back to her, "It
would be suicide for anyone to go up there now; it's too late."
A young fireman standing by volunteered, "Chief, I have a little
baby at home, and if my house were on fire, I'd want someone to go up
to save my baby. I'll go." The young fireman climbed the stairs;
he got the baby, threw her into the rescue net, and just as he did,
the house collapsed and he was burned to death.
20 years later at a graveside a 20-year-old woman is sobbing softly.
Before her, at the head of this grave, is the statue of a fireman. A
man stopping by asks respectfully, "Was that your father?"
She replies, "No." "Was that your brother?" "No,"
she says. "That's the man who died for me."
Imagine that you were the mother of that baby when she was rescued.
What would your attitude be to the person who had saved her?
Thankfulness, sorrow that the fireman had died, perhaps even expressing
this to the family he left, even giving practical support to them.
Mary and Martha were sisters of Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from death.
This dinner was their way of thanking Jesus. This was not the first
time that Jesus had been to their home for a meal, Luke 10:38-40. Like
the incident recorded in Luke 10, Martha concentrates on the practical,
Mary on the spiritual.
The raising of Lazarus had led to jealousy and fear from the religious
leaders. They feared that Jesus would stir things up and threaten their
comfortable position with the Roman authorities. So they planned to
kill Jesus. He hid from them and it appears that Lazarus also withdrew
from public life because of the public interest.
This was the third and final Passover mentioned by John. Everyone would
travel to Jerusalem to celebrate it
Spices and ointments were quite costly because they had to be imported.
Frequently they were used as an investment because they occupied a small
space, were portable, and were easily negotiable in the open market.
Mary's offering was valued at three hundred denarii approximately a
year's wages for an ordinary workingman. Perhaps it represented her
life savings. She presented it as an offering of love and gratitude,
prompted by Jesus' restoration of her brother to life and to the family.
Wiping his feet with her hair was a gesture of humility, utmost devotion
and reverence. The penetrative fragrance of the ointment that filled
the house told all present of her sacrificial gift.
Guests usually reclined on divans with their heads near the table. They
leaned on cushions with one arm and ate with the other. Their feet would
project at the end of the divan away from the table. This made it possible
for Mary to wipe Jesus' feet with her hair without disturbing him unduly.
Her act was extravagant, loving, caring, humble, and bold, regardless
of how this looked to people there who knew her.
It contrasts to the mean, self-centred attitude of Judas Iscariot. He
had been mentioned previously in a parenthetical statement appended
to Jesus' comment on Simon Peter's confession of faith: "Have I
not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil" (6:70).
Jesus knew Judas's tendencies and was well aware of his coming defection.
Whereas many of Jesus' disciples deserted him (6:66), Judas remained
to see what material gain he could make by being a disciple and, when
Jesus disappointed him, to betray him. This episode was the final thing
that resulted in Judas decision to betray Jesus.
5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?
It was worth a year's wages." Of course, Judas had no genuine
concern for the poor. He had been appointed treasurer of the band of
disciples; and, according to John, Judas used his office for his own
enrichment. His protests over the gift of the ointment revealed that
he had a sharp sense of financial worth and no appreciation of human
values. Pouring the ointment on Jesus seemed to him an economic waste.
Mary, on the contrary, was willing to give a material expression of
her appreciation of him.
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended
that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will
always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
Jesus' reply revealed his appreciation of Mary's act of devotion and
the understanding it denoted. His words also disclose his thoughts,
for he was anticipating his own death. His comment on the poor was not
a justification for tolerating unnecessary poverty; but it was a hint
to Judas that if he were really concerned about the poor, he would never
lack opportunity to aid them.
We might address two dangers associated with Judas' comment. One is
that some people may concentrate so much on social action that it is
at the expense of worship and adoration. The other is that self-righteous
belief or religious duty extinguishes real compassion.
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus risked all they had to honour Jesus and to
demonstrate their loyalty in the face of approaching danger and death.
It is unlikely that Mary knew Jesus would die soon, but Jesus uses her
act to point to his death and the perfume that would be sprinkled on
his body by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, 19:38ff.
Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers
in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One
Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought
to himself, "Certainly the preacher won't think of anything for
which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this." Much to his
surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, "We thank Thee, O God,
that it is not always like this."
The contrast of the attitude of Mary with that of Judas is unmistakable.
Mary offered her best to Jesus in sacrificial love; Judas was coldly
functional. Jesus interested him only as a ladder for his ambitions.
I would like us to return to the illustration I started the sermon with.
How grateful would you be if someone had saved your life in a similar
way?
How grateful are you that Jesus shed his blood for you so that you can
enjoy life in all its fullness, as Jesus said ( 10:10 )? A life lived
in a right relationship with God that will last forever, a life of peace,
free from the effects of sin and the fear of death.
A couple, visiting in Korea, saw a father and his son working in a rice
paddy. The old man guided the heavy plough as the boy pulled it.
"I guess they must be very poor," the man said to the missionary
who was the couple's guide and interpreter.
"Yes," replied the missionary. "That's the family of
Chi Nevi. When the church was built, they were eager to give something
to it, but they had no money. So they sold their ox and gave the money
to the church. This spring they are pulling the plough themselves."
After a long silence, the woman said, "That was a real sacrifice."
The missionary responded, "They do not call it a sacrifice. They
are just thankful they had an ox to sell."
We need another £7,000 to balance our budget for this calendar
year. The longer that we leave it to do anything about it, the more
we have to find each week until the end of the year. It might be helpful
if we could reclaim the tax or more people using 'Gift Aid', as well
as inviting people to reconsider their financial commitment to the church.
God may not be calling us all to give extravagantly like Mary and like
the Chi Nevi. However, as you will probably know, we do need people
to serve on the P.C.C., Deanery Synod, and we need an additional Deputy
Warden and a P.C.C. Secretary.
It would be good if everyone here could come to the Annual Meetings
this evening. It will give us the opportunity to reflect on the last
year, elect people to the positions I mentioned, and to commit ourselves
to God and one another for the next year and to pray for those God has
called to positions of responsibility within this church.