You know the question:
If you could have anyone, living or dead, at your dinner table, who would it
be? So what about the two guys in today’s gospel: A guy who’s been brought back
to life, and a guy who’s on his way to die? Don’t you imagine the conversation must
have been interesting? It’s a pity none of the Gospel writers recorded what
else they talked about that night. But then, maybe they talked about ordinary
things: the good food, Martha’s pretty dishes, Mary’s new hairdo, and even the
weather. It’s possible the gospel writer gave us what we have because it was
the only important part of the whole meal.
What
John’s gospel gives us is the interruption to the meal rather than the meal
itself. The event reminds me of what a boss of mine used to say when anyone
would complain about customers interrupting our job. He’d always retort, “Those
interruptions are your job!” And so
Mary’s interruption of Jesus’ dinner was
the job. It was the most important act at a relatively unimportant dinner. It
was an act of supreme understanding of the nature of God.
Jesus began his
ministry with a lavish and extravagant act: turning water into wine at the
wedding at Cana. In the second chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus declares
his public ministry in this act of extravagant generosity. Jesus turned water
into wine, and not just any wine, but the best wine in an amount so great it
was contained in jars that normally hold water for washing and quenching
thirst. The beginning of Jesus’ ministry was marked by lavish and extravagant
generosity.
Now, Mary marks the ending of Jesus’ ministry
on earth by her lavish and extravagant generosity in anointing Jesus.
Everything she does shows she understands what Jesus has taught.
Mary defies
convention. She lets down her hair; something no well-behaved Jewish maiden
would do in front of a group of men. Mary knows Jesus calls us to love and act
and in lavish and extravagant ways that have nothing to do with the expected or
ordinary. Mary understands.
Mary touches Jesus.
Jesus in his ministry touched the untouchable and embraced those whom no else
would embrace. A single woman would not touch a single man to whom she was not
related; yet she touches Jesus. Mary understands.
Mary anoints Jesus’
feet. Jesus has demonstrated throughout his ministry that he is neither a king
of might nor of military power. Mary demonstrates her understanding by
anointing Jesus’ feet rather than his head. A king would be anointed on his
head; a corpse would be anointed on his feet. Mary understands.
Finally, Mary
empties the jar of costly perfume on Jesus’ feet. The perfume was so costly that it was worth three
hundred days of hard labor. Mary uses an entire pound of shockingly expensive perfume
and fills the whole house with its fragrance. She demonstrates the lavish and
extravagant God who turns water into wine, feeds a crowd with a few fish and a
couple of loaves, and pours himself out for all humanity. Mary understands.
Mary understands
the most lavish, extravagant and yes, shocking, thing of all. That God’s
extravagance became real in the flesh of Jesus. That God became flesh and then poured
out that flesh for us. That God is a God who loves us freely, lavishly,
extravagantly; without counting the cost and without hesitation.
I know you have all
experienced ways in which God has loved you freely, lavishly, extravagantly,
without counting the cost and without hesitation. So as our final thoughts to
add to our banner for Palm Sunday, please pick up one of the pieces of paper
and a marker from the aisle end of your pew, and put that love and blessing on
paper. You can write it, or draw it. It doesn’t have to mean anything except to
you. Just think of when God loved you this way: freely, lavishly,
extravagantly, without counting the cost, and without hesitation. When has God
anointed you with love the way Mary anointed Jesus?
Take a moment to
put that on the paper. Then when the offering plate comes by, along with your
regular offering, add your piece of paper with God’s love for you on it. We’ll
add all of our drawings and writings to our banner so we can carry it on Palm
Sunday. AMEN.
The
Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2016
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