Abundant Love Leads to Abundant Giving
Lent 5 – March 21, 2010
Have you ever seen the old joke about a church's search for a new pastor? The one I'm thinking of has the call committee addressing a memo to the leadership of the church, getting them up-to-speed on their progress so far. The chair of the committee says that they've been considering a number of applicants and then lists them... and the list is made up of Jesus and his disciples. As the call chair goes through each name, she proceeds to explain why none of them is qualified – Peter is too impulsive, Thomas has expressed too much doubt, Paul is known to flip-flop (he changed teams, you know). Even Jesus doesn't make the cut. So, they'll continue to look, but the chair wants the council to know that there is one promising candidate. He's good with money, he cares for the poor, he's got good connections with the people who count. They'll be setting up an interview with him – his name is Judas.
It's stories like the one we hear in the gospel today that give this joke its ironic punch. Because on the surface, if you didn't know what happens later in the story, if you didn't get these little tidbits from the writer of John in parentheses to tell us about his real motives, Judas looks pretty good. Jesus and the rest of the disciples thought he was trustworthy enough to carry the common purse, and from what he says here, it sounds like Judas cares about the poor. It sounds like Judas puts the needs of others even before the needs of his own group. On the surface, Judas sounds like the man for the job.
And we “get” Judas' response to what Mary does here in this story. At least I do. Because what Mary does is too much. It's just way over the top. It's beyond excessive. It's downright extravagant! “It's good that you want to show your love and devotion to Jesus, Mary. That's great! But could you have picked a less-expensive ointment to use? Maybe the common olive oil from the kitchen would have been fine for a foot rub. And if you just had to use the nard, the expensive, imported nard, don't you think you could've just poured a little bit in your hand & put the rest aside instead of dumping the whole pound on Jesus' feet? Don't you know that with nard, just a little goes a long way? The smell's about to knock us over, it's so powerful! And most of it just ran off his feet and into the ground anyway. What a waste! And then, to wipe off what was left with your hair? They make towels for that kind of thing, Mary. There was no need for you to get so up close and personal. Wiping his feet with your hair? That's just gross, Mary, I don't care how you look at it.”
Oh yeah, we get Judas' response, whether it was from his pure greed, or out of some actual concern for the poor, or just out of plain discomfort. Part of us recoils from this extravagant gift, this overwhelming display of emotion and love – especially us Lutherans, who tend to be kind of stoic and subdued in our worship, who like our hymnals so we can have something to do with our hands, who feel most comfortable when things are done in the usual, safe, predictable order, who, Garrison Keillor likes to joke, hear something funny in church and smile as loudly as possible. We aren't comfortable with this wild abandon Mary shows here, the intimate gesture of kneeling at Christ's feet. It's not just the price of the perfume that's wasted that offends our sensibilities, it's the passion that goes along with it. We prefer to keep things a little more under control. We don't know what to do when people act like Mary.
And neither did Judas. If Mary is the cool aunt who gives the best, most unnecessary gifts, Judas is the old grandpa-type who gives socks and underwear for Christmas. He's practical, he's rational, & even w/ Judas, there's probably some love there, but somehow, it falls flat. He misses the point of giving the gift, which is that gifts shouldn't be given out of a sense of duty or obligation, but rather because you love the one who is receiving the gift and want to show them the best way you can, that you want to please the recipient with your gift. And for all of his practical qualifications, Judas doesn't know something that Mary just seems to get intuitively, that abundant love leads to abundant giving – of yourself, and sometimes, yes, of your stuff, which is why Mary came and knelt at the feet of Jesus and poured an entire bottle of expensive on his feet, and gently wiped them with her hair.
Abundant love leads to abundant giving. That's what Mary learned from her friendship with Jesus, listening to him speak, watching him in action. Over and over, she has seen him give himself away without hesitation, without reserve. Most recently she has seen him call her brother Lazarus forth from death, an act that sealed Jesus' own death – because from that day on, the gospel of John tells us, the people in power planned to put Jesus to death. And now, as the end approaches, as he comes near to Jerusalem to their town of Bethany, just 6 days before the Passover, she knows that he is at risk for his life. Even if she doesn't understand what is about to happen, even if she doesn't totally grasp what he is facing in coming back to Jerusalem, Mary sees that Jesus does, and she sees that he will not hold anything back. In these last few days, Jesus will not spend his time worrying and fretting about what is practical or rational or logical; Jesus does not count the cost – because abundant love leads to abundant giving, even if it means that it will cost him his life.
Perhaps this is what Mary sees in Jesus' eyes that night, and so she follows his example. In these, his last days, she gives the best of what she has to offer in return for the extravagant, lavish, over-the-top love that Jesus has shown every day of his life. She brings to him the nard that is ointment for the dead, that carries with it the overpowering smell that is the reminder of death, and yet, on Jesus, it becomes the scent of overpowering love that stands in the face of death and will not be overcome. It is a love that gives itself away, that pours itself out, a love that shows itself in service and sacrifice. This is the love that Jesus has for us and for the whole world, a love that reveals itself as it hangs on the cross. It is a love that holds nothing in reserve. It is the way that Jesus loves, an abundant love that leads to abundant giving. May we learn from him how to love this way.
Amen.
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