Was it really a waste or something else? - March 21, 2010
WAS IT REALLY A WASTE OR SOMETHING ELSE?
John 12:1-8
“When you care enough to send the very best” –
many of you recognize that as
the one-time motto of Hallmark Greeting Cards.
Some of you remember Anita Baker’s big hit:
“Giving You the Best That I’ve Got.”
It seems that some people
have taken the concept to a whole new level.
George Boldt, a hotel baron,
made an unusual gift to his wife.
He purchased one of the Thousand Islands
in the St. Lawrence River
and had it carved into the shape of a heart.
Napoleon is said to have given Josephine
a tiara set with 880 diamonds.
King Nebuchadnezzar
created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,
one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World,
and presented it to his bride,
who was lonely for her former home.
General William Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs,
constructed a European-style castle
at the foot of Pike’s Peak for his beloved Queen (that was her name, not her title).
Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal
in memory of his wife who died in childbirth
after having been his inseparable companion
since their marriage 19 years earlier.
Throughout history, people have been known
to lavish extravagant gifts upon their loved ones,
and, in the process,
have given new significance to the act of giving.
Twice in his lifetime, Jesus was the recipient of such giving.
The first time was shortly after his birth,
when the Wise Men brought the precious gifts of
gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The second time was just before his death –
six days before the Passover
according to the Gospel writer John.
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem
and passed through Bethany once more.
He had just been in Bethany when he raised Lazarus,
but had then withdrawn to Ephraim
to escape from the crowds.
If the Passover was six days away,
then Jesus’ death was five days away,
since in John’s Gospel,
he died at the same time the Passover lambs were slain,
just before the festival began.
This was the beginning of the journey to his death.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were giving a banquet in Jesus’ honor.
Lazarus dined with Jesus;
Martha served;
and Mary anointed him –
in a singularly unexpected,
unusual,
and extravagant way.
Proper etiquette at ancient Middle Eastern banquets
called for the guests’ feet to be washed.
It was also a common custom
to provide perfumes to anoint the head.
But instead of anointing Jesus’ head,
Mary anointed his feet
and then wiped the excess ointment off,
not with a cloth,
but with her hair!
No one did that.
It was a grimy and distasteful job
to wash the feet of guests
who had walked through
the dirt and muck and mire of the open road,
the slop and refuse of the city streets.
Not even all servants could be required to do that job.
Yet Mary not only washed Jesus’ feet,
she anointed them –
and with a whole pound of expensive perfume made of pure nard.
The fragrance saturated the house!
This gift was not just costly,
it was lavish,
profuse,
excessive –
worth nearly a year’s wages.
And it made Judas furious.
He saw only waste.
Jesus, however, rose to Mary’s defense.
“Leave her alone . . . She has prepared me for my burial.”
I imagine no one in that room
was more surprised by Jesus’ statement
than Mary herself.
That was surely not what she thought she was doing.
How could she even have known that he was about to die?
Like everyone in her time,
Mary was aware that
anointing the body of one who had died
was a sign of love for that person,
a way one demonstrated
tenderly placing a person in the hands of God.
But did she even know that was what she was doing?
No, it was most likely not her intention to anoint Jesus for burial.
Hers was an extraordinary act of hospitality,
an extravagant gift of love.
It was an opportunity to give something back to Jesus
for all he had given her.
It was a chance to let him know
just how much he meant to her,
the only way she could express her feelings.
Mary simply seized the moment to give,
and offered him the very best she had,
an exquisite gift of caring.
Gently, lovingly,
she poured the perfume on his feet
and wiped it away with her hair.
She knew that the fragrance of her gift
would stay with him for days.
She did not know that before the week was through,
Jesus would give his very life for the world
in his own extravagant gift of love –
something many would consider a terrible waste.
The story of this woman who anointed Jesus
suggests that we may need to rethink
what extravagances are really wasteful.
For example:
· You hear about a beautiful, costly cathedral
being built somewhere
and think,
“What a waste,
spending all that money in a city
where so many poor people need houses.”
· You consider planning a romantic getaway with your spouse, but then think,
“No.
There are too many other things
we need the money for.”
· You hear about an exceptionally talented young adult
who has potential and opportunity in many fields,
but who decides to work at an inner-city mission,
and you think,
“What a waste of all that talent.”
· You learn of a youth
who has been offered a full scholarship
at a prestigious university.
But she decides to go instead to a local college
where she has no scholarship
so she can live at home with her mother,
who isn’t well,
and has no other family.
Are those things really waste,
or are they something else?
As far as Jesus was concerned,
Mary’s gift was one of extravagant love,
not of wasted perfume.
Nor did he take issue with the temporary nature of Mary’s gift.
He declared that it was appropriate in that moment,
particularly in light of his impending death.
He was gracious enough to receive it with gratitude.
Lots of extravagant gifts are put into the air,
where they soon evaporate.
A church choir labors to prepare an intricate anthem,
and three minutes later it is gone.
The teacher prepares the lesson,
stands to deliver,
and then class is adjourned.
Mourners provide large arrangements of flowers
to honor those whom they grieve.
Saints donate large sums of money
for their churches to spend.
Why do they do this?
Love has its reasons.
In the end,
the story of Mary and the perfume
calls us to think broadly about
that which we are quick to label wasted –
wasted time,
wasted effort,
wasted resources,
wasted commitment,
wasted life.
Some of those things may indeed be true squandering,
but we can’t always be sure.
Perhaps waste can only be rightly identified
based on the final outcome.
Sometimes what is wasted
changes the world –
or at least us –
for the better.
Some of those things we’re quick to call wasted
surely are not.
Instead,
they’re wonderful gifts of great extravagance,
poured out by love itself.
Only after Jesus’ death and resurrection did his disciples understand.
And only as they remembered his upper room command
to love one another
as he had loved them,
to do for one another
what he had done for them,
did they begin to see
that in the act of anointing,
Mary had shown what it means to be one of Jesus’ own.
Once again,
she was a model of what it means to be a disciple:
to serve one another,
to love each other,
and to share in Jesus’ death.
Mary gave boldly, unsparingly of herself in love to Jesus
and was commended for it.
She honored Jesus above worldly kings,
with her stunning gift
and the statement its outpouring made.
As she broke open the jar
to anoint Jesus with all of the nard,
the act itself spoke volumes.
It was at once a witness
to Jesus’ self-giving love
and to the boundless love
this Love inspires.
This Sunday,
formerly called Passion Sunday,
the last before Holy Week,
was well named.
It reminds us that love’s excesses have their place.
After all,
the ultimate brokenness,
and extravagant outpouring of Love
on the cross,
saved our lives.
Today,
and in the days ahead
as the story of Jesus’ Passion and death unfolds,
we will reflect on
how closely we follow him,
how much we love him,
how well we emulate him.
And we have to wonder
if we can even match
the depth of Mary’s love
and the lavishness of her giving.