Today the woman in our scripture poured more than a year’s wages over Jesus feet. Think of your year’s wages 2018. Do you own anything that amounts to about a years wages? Part of your house… part of your retirement fund…
This woman we hear about today had a vile of perfume that she could have sold for more than a years wages… And she took it and poured it all over Jesus’ feet. Can you imagine giving that much away in a matter of seconds. This woman seems crazy…
Every gospel does not have every story. One Gospel might have a story that another gospel might omit. The account of this woman, however, is one of those stories that gets told in all four gospels and each tells it a bit differently of course… Mathew and Mark tell us that the people who saw this woman pour perfume that was worth a years wages over Jesus feet… When they saw her hand over her 401K, they were “indignant.” They said she was wasting the money. If she was going to give it away so freely she should have sold it and given the money to the poor.
What was she thinking?
Many stories in the Bible leave women unnamed... they don't give us the background for the actions that they take, but John is very clear about this generous woman. Her name is Mary and she is Lazarus’ sister.
Lazarus was Jesus’ friend. He was ill and his sisters Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus who was near by to come quickly to heal Lazarus. When Jesus was called for he always was able to come to heal the sick or he would arrive just after someone died and would raise them up, but it took Jesus more than four days to show up after he got word that Lazarus, his good friend, was sick.…
So imagine Mary and Martha, his sisters. They send word to Jesus and expect him to come as soon as he can, but he doesn’t show up. They wait looking at the farthest point in the road for a glimpse of Jesus, but he doesn’t show up and then they turn to their brother Lazarus as he is taking his last breath… trying to comfort him and at the same time… wondering where Jesus is… Then they prepare his body for the grave and still hope that Jesus will arrive… But when they put him in the tomb… They gave up hope… their brother was past the point of being seen.. past the point of redemption… past the point of healing… Had Jesus completely forgotten about them? Where was Jesus? Where was God?
When Jesus finally shows up Martha runs out questioning him…. Mary remains in the house grief stricken… in despair wondering about God and when she hears Jesus has arrived she comes out crying…. The text tells us that when Jesus saw her weeping… “he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” And “Jesus wept.” This is the story that teaches all of us that Jesus felt grief… Though He is God, Jesus knows grief and feels the sorrow of loss….
When God seems far off…know that he is God who is not distant and removed from you… He is God who walks with you and He is God who weeps with you over the sorrows of this life…
Then Jesus miraculously raises Lazarus from the dead and there is great rejoicing…
After Martha and Mary were convinced that Jesus had forgotten about them, forgotten about his dear friend Lazarus… in the depths of grief… when they felt that there was no hope of Lazarus being healed… He was gone forever… Jesus raises him from the dead… He is alive again.
Lazarus who was dead… past the point of redemption… is now alive…Jesus has given him new life.
So Mary and Martha and Lazarus hold a dinner to thank Jesus and at the end of the dinner… Mary takes a vessel of oil that is worth a years wages over Jesus’ feet..
Jesus had brought her brother back to life, so she throws him a party and shows up at the end of the dinner with big fat check from her retirement fund… Here Jesus… I’m giving you a year’s wages…
And the people around her are indignant?
Now who looks crazy… Mary… or the people around her…
What would you do if Jesus arrived in your life just when you thought he had abandoned you… what would you do if Jesus showed up after all hope seemed lost and gave you back what you had lost….
You would want to offer him at least a year’s wages…
As I’ve stood with caregivers looking at their loved one in a hospital bed, so many have said to me… I would trade places in a second.. It shouldn’t be lazarus… it should be me in that tomb… I would trade places… I would give my whole life so that my brother would live…
Now it seems Mary is not the crazy one… the people around Mary are the crazy ones.. Had Jesus’ miracles become so common place that they had forgotten gratitude…
Mary would have given her life to save her brother… a year’s wages was not nearly enough to thank Jesus for bringing her brother back to life…
Lazarus was past the point of redemption… all hope was lost… He was past the point of healing… Jesus seemed to have forgotten about him… and then Jesus redeemed him.. Jesus restored hope… Jesus gave him new life….
Have you ever felt that you were past the point of redemption?
Have you ever lost hope?
Have you ever wondered if Jesus had forgotten about you?
And then Jesus redeems you, restores your hope, gives you new life…..
Jesus shows you that he had not forgotten… that he has remembered you…
Isn’t this what he does for all of us?
Hasn’t he brought all of us back to life… when we were past the point of redemption… when we lost hope… when we had died inside… when we had sinned and gone astray… Did he not hang on the cross to give us new life… to bring us out of the grave of sin… Did he not stretch out his arms upon the cross to bring us all out of death into life… out of sin into righteousness… ?
Hasn’t Jesus done for us what he did for Lazarus…?
I’m sorry to say that I’m sure most all of you have had the experience of losing someone you love… To get to the funeral or be at the bedside as your loved one is dying, you have booked flights last minute.. missed other important events... cancelled doctor appointments… I know one woman who missed an interview for a funeral. … you have moved heaven and earth to be there..
and none of the rearranging felt anything like a sacrifice because that is exactly where we wanted to be…
This is where Mary is today in our Gospel reading… giving Jesus a year’s salary was a sacrifice… but an obvious one… I bet she wished she could have done more… It didn’t feel like a sacrifice to her… because it was nothing compared to what Jesus did for her….
And it is nothing compared to what Jesus has done for each of us…
And many of you here what Mary has done and you may not think it, but you have responded just in the same way. This is a little church with a big heart after all and all of you in one way or another has given of your time, talent, and treasure for this place of God… You have poured out your hours, your efforts, and your donations over Jesus’ feet and some people around you may have thought you were crazy to do such a thing.
Why do you spend so much time at the church? Why do you do so much for that place? I bet some of you have even been warned… or told… “You are giving too much.” Remember the people around Mary were “indignant.” They saw what she gave and they scoffed at her… how could she give so much… but she knew it was the least she could do in response to what Jesus had done for her and her brother…. And you know that when you give it is the least you could do for what Jesus has done for you….
We are a church full of Marthas, but at the heart of it we are a church full of Marys.. giving out of love for God and all he has done … giving out of love for one another…
In addition to affirming what we do, I wonder if Mary here challenges us in a couple of ways…
When you are giving so much, have you lost sight of why you are giving? Has the giving just become sacrifice and nothing more?
In my work as a chaplain I help staff deal with all the trauma and death that they face on a daily basis. We put so many demands on our staff and much of that needs to change… we need better nurse to patient ratios… we need to create more opportunities for nurses and physicians to sit at the bedside rather than chart in a computer at the bedside… There are things we need to change… there are ways in which the staff are sacrificing so much that all they feel is the bitter sting of regret, burden, too much sacrifice and they have forgotten why they do the work in the first place. So, I have run workshops where I sit staff down and ask them to write for five minutes finishing the sentence… “I do this work because…”
“I give to this church because….”
Have you lost sight of why you give? Is Mary reminding you today of why you started giving in the first place? Because you knew so deeply how Jesus has given you new life that any giving at all never seemed like enough… never even seemed like a sacrifice.
How else is Mary challenging us today? I wonder is there any place where you wish you could give more. I know I have at least area that has been on my heart for months… where I would like to give more… I would like to express my gratitude for all that Jesus has done for me because it never would be enough…. Is there some place where you would like to sacrifice… but ultimately know that that sacrifice is nothing compared to what you have received… Maybe it’s that you want to set aside 15 minutes every morning to dwell in scripture… Maybe you want to try to volunteer… maybe you want to donate… Is there a jar of oil on your shelf that you would really like to take down and pour on Jesus’ feet.? Others might think you are crazy… but you have wanted to give in this way…. Mary and Jesus invite you to move in this way… to take that step..
So in the week ahead… notice where you have been giving… notice the sacrifices that you have made for God that might not even seem like sacrifices… Particularly if others are telling you, you are giving too much, but you feel you are not giving enough… you are having a Mary moment… notice these Mary moments… notice and honor the ways that you do give…
Notice also where Mary might be challenging you.
Have you lost sight of why you are sacrificing? Does your giving feel only like sacrifice… In the week ahead… get back to the reason you doing what you doing…. Reconnect with Jesus who gave you new and unending life… remind yourself that Jesus, God’s love is why you are giving…
And… Is there a jar of oil on your shelf that you have wanted to give to God? This week as yourself what is holding you back and take a step in emptying that oil out… this week make a new commitment to give to God…
