March 21, 2010
Our Future is Now
- John 12:1-8
- Dr. Teri Thomas
This morning on our Lenten journey we find Jesus and his disciples in the suburb of Bethany. Bethany is to Jerusalem as Carmel is to Indianapolis. They have been to Bethany many times before. Jesus has good friends there, Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. In fact Jesus was in Bethany just weeks earlier. Mary sent word that her brother had died so Jesus went to Bethany and after three days in the tomb Lazarus was raised by Jesus.
This miracle obviously made Mary, Martha and Lazarus very happy. But the same could not be said for the Pharisees, Scribes and Romans. This was too much for them. Jesus was getting too much attention. He had too many people believing in his hocus pocus. It had to stop. So plans were being set in motion to get rid of Jesus. When he came to Jerusalem for the Passover he would be captured and killed. The authorities knew it and Jesus knew it.
But before all the drama and the passion Jesus wanted some rest with his good friends.
So Lazarus is reclining at the table, recounting what it was like being dead. Martha is in the kitchen (as usual) preparing the dinner. She know it has to be special. Jesus saved her brother, the least she could do would be to prepare him a feast.
No one notices Mary. She is the quiet one who sits and listens. But suddenly she appears kneeling at Jesus’ feet a clay jar in her hands. She breaks the jar's neck.
The smell of nard fills the room— a smell associated with the anointing of a dead body.
Then, as everyone in the room watches her, she does four remarkable things.
First she loosens her hair in a room full of men, which an honorable woman never does. Then she pours perfume on Jesus' feet, which is also not done. The head, maybe--people do that to kings--but not the feet. Then she touches him— a single woman rubbing a single man's feet--also not done. Then she wipes the perfume off with her hair--totally inexplicable--the bizarre end to an all around bizarre act. (The Prophet Mary a sermon by Barbara Brown Taylor)
It is a costly act, a generous gift, quite unasked for, quite unexpected. But it could be seen as the wrong time, the wrong place, and the wrong gift. This is Jesus the Lord of Life, who had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead and Mary treats the Lord of Life as if he were already a dead body.
Jesus is heading to Jerusalem and to his death. He has talked about this before but it was always something off in the future. He will be dead. He will need anointing. But in the future.
When Mary pours the nard on Jesus it is as if she is proclaiming
Our future is now.
I am not going to keep this nard until he is dead.
I am not going to wait until all the poor are cared for.
I am not going to hoard it for a rainy day hoping it will increase in value.
I am not going to save it for the future.
Our future is now.
I am going to express my love for my savior now.
I am going to show my appreciation for my brother’s life now.
I am going to tell Jesus how much he has meant in my life now.
I am going to show the world what I believe now.
Our future is now.
Mary’s act is extravagant. It's excessive. She's gone overboard, as Judas is quick to note. But doesn’t love make us do crazy things sometimes?
Mary’s gesture of love and devotion and thanks is of far more value than the perfume itself.
Her gesture filled the home with fragrance, leaving the aroma of generosity , gratitude and love for all to experience.
She shows us why to give.
She shows us how to give.
She shows us when to give.
She reminds us - Our future is now.
When we think about giving-
Giving our time
Giving our gifts
Giving our money
There are always good and prudent reasons to wait.
Let’s wait for the economy to improve.
Let’s wait until after taxes.
Let’s wait for the building to be paid off.
Let’s wait for Teri to get back from sabbatical.
Let’s wait for the kid’s college fund to be full.
The problem with waiting is that - Our future is now
God didn’t wait to give manna in the wilderness.
God didn’t wait to give homes to the exiles.
God didn’t wait to raise Jesus from the dead.
But Mary poured out an abundance of oil on Jesus' feet.
She demonstrates a generosity
that reflects the generosity of God our Creator,
who gives us life now,
who forgives us now,
who gives us grace now,
who promises us- our future is now.
Mary rubbed Jesus’ feet with perfume so precious
that its sale might have fed several poor families for a year.
Her action was extravagant
Excessive
Generous
She could do that because in Jesus she saw the extravagance of God's love made flesh. In Jesus she experienced the excessiveness of God's mercy made manifest.
Her gift could not be held back to be kept and admired. This precious substance could not be saved. It had to be opened, offered and used, at great price. It was raised up and poured out for the life of the world, emptied to the last drop.
Because we have a God now.
We have a savior now.
We have a church now.
We have faith now.
We have gifts for our future.
Our future is Now.
Amen.