Sermon on John 12: 1-8.
by Josh Olds
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been focusing on the season of Lent that we find ourselves within. A season that is more than just going without chocolate for 6 weeks; we’ve been reflecting on how Lent is essentially a time of self & spiritual reflection as we slowly move our way toward Easter…
At this point, we’re only a couple of weeks away… Easter is almost upon us… I wonder how you react to that?
Is it a sense of –
- Easter?! Where’d that come from, how are we already a quarter of the way through the year?
- Ah yes, Easter… between the hot-cross buns, and the Easter egg displays it’s been on my radar for a while…
- Or maybe you’re somewhere in between – you’ve been aware it’s coming, but haven’t found the time to pause and reflect on the Easter events…
This morning our reading tells a story that takes place only days before the Easter events, 6 days before the Passover – which is when Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and eventual resurrection occur. The focus of the scene in our passage is on Mary, who in this intimate act of love and devotion to Jesus, washes his feet with her hair and expensive perfume…
As Jesus says in this passage, this somewhat strange act of Mary is deeply symbolic. It points towards Jesus’ impending death – the anointing with fragrance was part of the process of preparation for burial. However, while Mary’s interaction with Jesus is the focus of this scene there are other figures that also feature in this story, other people who engage with Jesus in different ways to Mary.
This morning, as we continue to use the season of Lent as a reminder to pause in reflection and preparation for Easter, I want to use the figures in this story as prompts for us to consider the question – “How is it, that we each come to Easter this year?”
It’s easy to end up moving through periods in our lives on auto-pilot – as things happen around us that require things of us, it’s easy to lose touch with what’s going on within us, so I invite you to pause for a moment and consider how you come to Easter this year, take moment and just gather some initial thoughts and feelings, and then we’ll continue reflecting on this through the figures in our passage
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One of the first people we encounter in the story is a woman named Martha. From other gospel stories, we know that Martha is the sister of the perfume-pouring Mary. The scene in our passage revolves around a dinner table, a dinner given in Jesus’ honour with those close to him. Martha is the one serving those at the dinner table. She is primarily concerned with ensuring others are taken care of – making sure the dinner happens as it should – people are getting enough food, empty plates are cleared out of the way, that sort of thing… Martha is busy, maybe even frantic, moving about with pace, aware of all that is happening, and all that needs attending to. As she serves the needs of others, I wonder how aware she is of her own needs…
Perhaps you come to Easter this year feeling a bit like Martha. Carrying responsibilities, shouldering the load of ensuring other’s needs are met, feeling like one of the ones keeping it all going and afloat. It can be tiring, it can feel heavy. If this resonates with you, how do you think Jesus invites you to come to Easter this year?
Serving others is commendable, something we’re all called to do. But sometimes it’s easy to get caught up so invested in the needs of others that we forget our own. Perhaps Jesus invites you to come to Easter this year with an awareness of your own needs, with honest consideration of how you’re feeling, perhaps he wants to meet you there…
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We also read that Lazarus is present at the dinner with Jesus. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha and he’s a bit of a living testament of Jesus’ miraculous power. Earlier in the gospels, we read of the dramatic account of Jesus raising Lazarus back to life after he’d apparently died.
Lazarus is reclining at the table with Jesus, enjoying being in his presence. Jesus… the man who literally saved him. I’m sure Lazarus is deeply grateful for Jesus, and lives with a sense of amazement never far from his mind…Maybe you come to Easter this year a bit like Lazarus, with a sense of awe and gratitude for the work of Jesus in your life. Perhaps like Lazarus reclining at the table with him, you come to Easter with a strong awareness of the presence of Christ near to you.
This is good, and if this is you, enjoy it! Knowing the presence of Jesus personally isn’t something to take for granted! We might even say that it is the basis for any expression of mission and ministry – Jesus invites all of us first to himself, and then to go, to participate in sharing his goodness with the world around us
If the figure of Lazarus resonates with you, what might Jesus’ invitation to you be? What might it look like for you, knowing the presence and goodness of Christ deeply in your life, to share the peace and presence of God you know with others this Easter?
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Our reading also includes the figure of Judas… We know Judas’ reputation, and how the rest of the story goes. In this scene, Judas’ primary concern is pragmatism, at least on the outside. He questions whether Mary’s use of expensive perfume for this purpose is really appropriate – “wouldn’t this have been of more benefit to the poor?” Judas asks…
While Judas’ motivation for this question is itself questionable – given his part in the rest of the Easter story, at face value, this doesn’t altogether seem that inappropriate of a question!
Jesus’ response to Judas that the poor will always be present, but that his bodily presence will not, feels a bit blunt, and maybe even uncomfortable, but I think there’s a lesson in priorities captured within it, something similar to what we just reflected on in relation to Lazarus… The basis for loving others begins first with knowing something of the love of God through Christ. It’s the whole faith and works dynamic.
Perhaps as you come to Easter this year, you find yourself distracted by all that needs doing around the place, understandable given the season we find ourselves in as a Parish! That part of the building needs fixing, that roster needs filling, that report needs writing, that program needs energy! Sound familiar?
If this resonates with you, what do you think Jesus might be inviting you to this Easter?
All of the practical facets of being a church in this day and age are important, I don’t want to appear to be minimising them. They’re also often urgent and can’t always afford to be ignored. The point here isn’t to neglect the pragmatic facets of our church but to keep the main thing the main – simply put we might say that the Easter event is why we even have a church in the first place, to share the love and hope of God that shines through at Easter to the world around us. What might it look like for you to reflect on God’s love and hope in your life this Easter, and come back to the “why” question of the practical tasks…
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Finally, we come to Mary, who pours expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and cleans them with her hair. This is a deeply symbolic act in which Mary is expressing heartfelt, intimate, and extravagant love and devotion to Jesus. She isn’t concerned with social conventions or pragmatism. Mary recognises the significance of knowing Jesus deeply and expresses that in a unique way meaningful to her. It’s bold, it’s brave. It’s inspiring. It’s vulnerable. Mary’s display of affection is motivated by a deep and personal love for Jesus.
Perhaps the figure of Mary resonates with you, if so – that’s wonderful. In expressing yourself you will inspire others. Or perhaps you’re a bit like me and Mary resonates with you, but in a more aspirational sense. I don’t know about you, but there’s part of me that really wishes to know Jesus in such a deeply personal way as Mary that I’d be able to care so little about what others thought.
But that’s not always the reality, I find myself self-conscious about expressing my faith at times, and I find it hard to be open about it in some settings. I aspire to be as drawn to Jesus as Mary, but I’m not there yet… If this resonates with you, what might Jesus’ invitation to you be? Perhaps to pause with him this Easter, to commune with Jesus afresh, to get more deeply acquainted, or to get acquainted again. The invitation is there, the choice of how to respond is up to us…
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However you come to this Easter, Christ’s invitation finds all of us, and meets us where we are at, wherever that may be. It’s good to pause and take stock of the spaces and circumstances we find ourselves in. May we all encounter Jesus afresh as we come again to Easter this year. Amen