All Poured Out (John 12:1-8)

 Do you remember middle school? (Junior high school?)

What a fun time! Right? 

Most of the leadership I’ve provided to camps over the years has been with middle school age campers… what we in the Disciples of Christ call “Chi-Rho.”

I remember one year: this was at least 20 years ago, at a Disciples church camp in northern California, a place called the Community of the Great Commission: [*****] which is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the sky is blue and the dirt is red, and the sleeping accommodations were in the form of 8 small cabins nestled beneath towering pine trees, each of which could hold one or two counselors and 6 or 7 campers.

That year, I was in a cabin with a group of middle school boys, all of whom, it turns out, had recently discovered the importance of smelling nice. 

Now, I know: many parents can only dream of having their adolescent boys embrace the importance of controlling body odor and smelling nice. Many adolescent boys have not discovered the importance of this. 

If you know an adolescent boy who you wish would discover the importance of smelling nice, send him to church camp! Who knows? He just may come home smelling sweeter than he ever has before!

But let me warn you: be careful what you wish for.

Because, that summer, twenty years ago, in that little camp cabin, this particular group of sixth and seventh grade boys decided that the best way for them to smell nice was by using copious—and I mean copious—amounts [*****] of Axe body spray.

Do you know about Axe body spray? Like many things that appeal to adolescent boys, it is not subtle. And all the teenage boys were using it. I don’t know if they still do, but they did back then.

When I was a small child, I would sometimes hear my parents complain about some old ladies at church who wore way too much perfume. Apparently, those ladies would put on their perfume until they themselves could smell it, which was problematic, since those old ladies themselves had lost their sense of smell. But for those around them at church, it was overpowering.

I mention these old ladies, because I don’t want any middle schoolers to feel singled out by this sermon… but if my parents had ever spent a week in a cabin with middle school boys who were obsessed with Axe body spray, they would never have complained about the ladies at church.

The marketing for Axe body spray boasts that it is more than a body spray. It’s a vibe. A flex. A statement. And that it will give you 72 hours of straight-up freshness. Yet these boys felt it necessary to spray themselves—and each other—every ten minutes.

All week long, they kept Axe-bombing our little, poorly-ventilated cabin in the woods, so that we were living in a cloud of Axe body spray that you could smell, see, and taste.

I remember opening the little window that was in the cabin, to try to get some breathable air to come in. The boys protested. Opening the window, they said, might let in critters: bugs, raccoons, bears!

I said, “Look: the air quality in here has a toxicity that is far more hazardous than any creature living in these woods. The window,” I said, “stays open.”

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***** The windows were probably open in the room where Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with a pound of pure nard. At least, I hope they were. 

Because a pound of pure nard is a lot of nard. 

And nard is… what is nard?

I looked it up. 

Nard is “an intensely aromatic, amber-colored essential oil and ointment” derived from the underground stems of certain plants that are grown high in the Himalayas.

Two things stand out to me about this description: 

1. Being from the Himalayas would certainly have made this perfume “costly,” as the scripture says. The Himalayas are a long way from Bethany. 

2. Being “intensely aromatic,” one probably would not need to use a whole lot of this perfume. In fact, being “intensely aromatic,” one probably should not use a whole lot of this perfume. To use more than just a tiny amount would be overpowering and overwhelming.

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Mary took a pound of this perfume. A pound! Some translations say that it was a pint of perfume… And she poured it all out on Jesus’ feet.

And the scripture says “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

No kidding!

I said that the youth I spend time with at camp teach me a lot. Well, that particular summer twenty years ago, in that little cabin beneath the pine trees, those boys helped me understand what it must have been like, to be in the room when Mary took a pound of intensely aromatic nard, and poured it on Jesus’ feet.

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So why did she do it?

Some have suggested that perhaps she had been planning to use this nard to anoint Lazarus’ body, to cover the smell of death. A pound of nard would certainly be enough. But then Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and the nard was no longer needed for that purpose…………

Jesus himself comments that Mary was saving that nard for the day of his burial. Except she’s not saving it; she’s just poured it all out… perhaps she knows that the day of his burial is very near, in which case her act becomes highly symbolic…………

It has also been suggested that maybe the nard was Mary’s dowry. If this nard really was worth 300 denarii, as Judas claims, that’s a fortune! 

The nard was likely kept in an alabaster jar. The only way to open the jar would be to break the seal. Once you do that, the jar cannot be resealed. In other words, any leftover nard cannot be saved.

Maybe that’s why she poured it all out.

By the way, Axe body spray does not have to be used all at once. If you only use a little bit, the rest will remain safely sealed inside the container until it is needed. Just so you know. You don’t have to use it all on one occasion!

Judas thinks all the nard should have been saved. It could have been sold, and the money would have helped so many people who were poor. 

Judas expects Jesus to agree with him. I hear Judas, and I expect Jesus to agree with him. Judas is right.

But the narrator of this story wants us to know that Judas said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and would steal what was put into it.

***** …I think this story is about more than just nard. I think it’s about love.

In pouring out all that nard, Mary was really pouring out her love.

She was even willing to abandon reason, and break all the rules, to pour out her love. She poured out her love in a way that was extravagant; over-the-top; and reckless. She poured out her love in a way that many did not approve of.

Women were not supposed to approach a man who was not their husband in the way that Mary approached Jesus… Women were not supposed to be in conversation with men without their husband present; yet Mary, we know, liked to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him teach… Women weren’t supposed to let their hair down in the presence of a man who was not their husband.

And women were definitely not supposed to use their hair to wipe a man’s feet.

Yet Mary was willing to break all these rules, in order to show Jesus how much she loved him.

Jesus, meanwhile, was known for breaking many rules himself, to show his love. 

He broke the rule about the Sabbath, because he believed showing love and expressing compassion was more important than observing religious laws. The law about the Sabbath was not a bad law; but it is superseded by the command to love. 

Jesus also broke the rule about how men and women were to interact. 

Earlier in John’s gospel, we read of a time when the disciples arrived and found Jesus and a Samaritan woman talking beside a well, with no one else around. And the disciples were shocked. Because as I said, men and women weren’t supposed to engage in conversation without the presence or permission of the woman’s husband. 

And Jesus broke many other rules, when love demanded that he do so. 

And Jesus’ love was so overflowing, so reckless, that not even death by crucifixion would stop him from expressing that love.

He poured it all out. His love. His life.

Most people would stop short of that, especially for someone they didn’t know well, who was not a part of their family or a close friend.

But Jesus loved the whole world, and was willing to die for us all, for every person on earth, so that we all could have life through him.

Jesus’ love is overflowing. It is abundant. It is recklessly excessive.

Just like the outpouring of way too much nard.

Or… way too much Axe body spray.

Because, when it comes to love, there is no such thing as way too much.

Although, I confess, I don’t always think that way.

Sometimes, as a pastor, or just as a human, I wonder how I should react to a certain situation.

And the first question I often ask myself is: 

What is it that people expect me to do?

Or, What is the proper thing for me to do?

Or, What is the safe thing for me to do?

And these questions lead me to portion out my love… they lead me to conserve my love… to be judicious; to show restraint. 

I treat my love the way I would treat a jar of perfume, using just a little bit, so that it would last. Or the way I only push halfway down on the liquid soap dispenser on my bathroom sink, because pushing all the way down gives me more soap than I need; I don’t need the full amount, and if I only push down halfway, then that bottle of soap will last twice as long.

Do you manage your love this way? Do you only push halfway down? Do you only pour a little out at a time? Are you afraid of spending all your love in one place? Are you afraid that you will look ridiculous, or overly-emotional, or that others will say you have a “bleeding heart,” if you love too much?

Mary shows us that you cannot love too much. For followers of Jesus, there is no such thing as too much when it comes to love.

When it comes to love, the true follower of Jesus will pour it all out. Just spread that love everywhere. Spray that Axe spray all over the place. Let it fill that cabin, that campground… let it fill our church, our community… and keep spraying it until the whole world is filled with love.

Because the more you share God’s love, the more you have. You won’t ever run out. 

That’s good news when it comes to God’s love. It’s maybe not such good news if we’re talking about Axe body spray. But we’re talking about love.

So share it recklessly. Excessively. Like a seventh grade boy who’s just discovered the importance of smelling nice. Like an old church lady who keeps applying perfume until she herself can smell it. 

Share that love like Jesus, who held nothing back when it came to spreading and sharing God’s love… who even gave his life, so that you and I could know just how great God’s love is, and how much we ourselves are loved by God.

God's Currency (Luke 14:7-14)

 Life in the first century—much like life today—was largely transactional. What that means is that anytime someone gives you something… they’re expecting something in return. 

You don’t get something for nothing.

In the first century, Caesar gave the people security. He used his army to prevent any rebellion or invasion from disturbing the peace of the land. Caesar also gave to the people by distributing bread, and hosting sporting events: gladiator contests; the famous “bread and circuses” of the Roman Empire.

Caesar didn’t do this out of the kindness of his heart. He didn’t do it because he loved his people. 

He did it, so that he could get something in return.

Caesar made it clear that the people were expected to work hard, and pay hard. In exchange for the peace, the bread and the entertainment they received, they were expected to give back. 

The people owed Caesar a literal debt of gratitude, which they paid through the high taxes they were charged.

They received and now they must give.

It was a transactional relationship. The whole Roman society was governed by transactional relationships.

And if you were to give a shape to all this, it would be a pyramid. Caesar is at the top, and all the poor people who must work to support Caesar’s wealth and power are at the bottom. It was very hard to move up, because the higher up you go, the less space there is. But you still were expected to support those at the top through your labor and the taxes you paid.

***** When Jesus saw how guests arriving at a banquet chose their seats, he realized they were stuck in a transactional mindset. They all agreed to come, because they expected to receive something. And they all wanted that place at the top.

The host wanted to impress his guests, because then they would be in his debt… they would owe him… and he could use that to his advantage.

The guests wanted to impress their host… and each other… because the more impressive one was, the more that person could demand from others. The guest who made the best impression would be able to attract the most distinguished guests to his own banquet, when it was his turn to host.

So the impression one made was important. The better the impression, the higher your status, and the more favors you could expect to come your way. The better the impression, the more others would owe you a debt of gratitude. 

I imagine there were many things that went into making a good impression: The clothing you wore. The greetings you offered…

And, the seat you sat in. The closer you sat to the host, the greater the impression you made. The most honored guests sat right next to the host; the less-honored guests sat farther away. …

Apparently, at this particular banquet, there was some confusion about where the guests should sit. The host should have told them exactly where to sit; but, for whatever reason, he didn’t.

So the guests kind of jostled for their seats. They all chose the highest seat they dared. They all wanted to be as close to the host as possible. They all wanted to be seen as more important, so that they would be able to demand greater favors from those who found them more impressive, more powerful.

As I said, things are much the same today. Our president likes to reward those who flatter him, and punish (or fire) those who don’t. Whatever you think of that, there’s no doubt that that is how things work in this world, especially among those with wealth and power.

*****  Well, as you might expect, in the kingdom of God, things are different. In the kingdom of God, relationships are not transactional. In the kingdom of God, one doesn’t give in order to receive, and one doesn’t give in order to repay a debt. 

In fact, in the kingdom of God, all debts are forgiven. No one owes anyone anything…

Except to love.

***** The apostle Paul says as much in his letter to the Romans. In Romans 13:8, he writes: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

The currency of God’s kingdom is love. Every transaction in God’s kingdom is a transaction of love.

If you were to give a shape to all this, it wouldn’t be a pyramid. The shape of the currency in God’s kingdom would be a circle.

So if love had been the motivation behind how the guests chose their seats, how do you think they would have chosen? 

They probably would not have pushed each other out of the way in order to get the best seats for themselves.

Instead, they would have humbled themselves, and sought to honor each other. The kindness they showed to one another would have been grounded in love.

And the hospitality of the host would have been grounded in love as well. He would have offered his food and his hospitality to his guests not because he expected something in return; he would have done it as a gift of love. 

And no one would have been impressed by the seat one was given, or the clothes one wore, or the food that was served. Instead, the only thing that would have impressed them was the love that was shown.

Jesus breaks the pattern of transactional relationships. 

The life that Jesus gives to us, and the love we receive from God, are gifts freely given out of love. 

And the gifts we give back to God, we give out of gratitude. We do not give out of compulsion. We do not give in exchange for anything God has given to us or that we hope to get from God. We give out of gratitude. We give out of love. 

There is no debt of gratitude that we must repay. God will not punish us or withhold love from us if we do not return the favor. God’s love is given freely.

And the love we give must be given freely as well.

If love is not given freely, then it really isn’t love at all, is it? If someone captures you and locks you in a cell and tells you “You must love me or else!” Well, you might pretend to love them, in order to escape punishment, but that’s not really love. 

Love is always given freely. Love can only be given freely.

Jesus obviously can’t make these guests treat each other with love. He can’t make them take the lower seats, because love doesn’t work that way. 

Love never tries to exert control over another.

***** As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13: “love is patient, love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way.” 

This is a familiar passage to many. But I think we’ve oversentimentalized it. 

And I think we should spend more time meditating on it, and pondering what it means, and how our own love can be like the love Paul talks about; the love of Christ.

Because (I’ll say it again) love is the currency of God’s kingdom.

***** Let’s talk about another Bible story you may be familiar with. 

Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he… he climbed right up a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see…

(Who knows how the rest goes?)

The story of Zacchaeus appears in Luke 19. As the song explains, Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was passing through town.

What the song doesn’t explain is that Zacchaeus had spent his whole life trying to climb to the top of the social pyramid. In fact, I think him climbing that sycamore tree might be symbolic of how he tried to climb to the top of the social pyramid.

Zacchaeus even turned his back on his own people by becoming a tax collector, one who took wealth from the people, kept some for himself, and sent the rest of it on up that pyramid to Caesar, hoping it would pull him up as it went.

But at some point Zacchaeus became dissatisfied with the transactional nature of life. It didn’t bring him the happiness he longed for. So when Jesus came along, saw him in that tree, and said: “Zacchaeus! Come down from that tree!”

…what Zacchaeus heard was: “Stop trying to climb to the top. You won’t find what you are looking for there.”

So Zacchaeus came down out of the tree; and he and Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house. And Zacchaeus was so impressed by the idea that love is the currency that matters, that he decided then and there to give half his possessions to the poor, and that if he had defrauded anyone of anything (which, surely, he had, because that’s what first century tax collectors did), that he would pay it back four times.

He was done with the transactional economy. He was done with trying to move up the pyramid. He embraced the kingdom where the only currency that matters is love. He embraced the kingdom that is shaped like a circle, not a pyramid.

*****  At that banquet, Jesus said to the host: “instead of inviting those who you expect to pay you back—those from whom you can demand favors, those who might be able to help you move up the pyramid—what you should do is invite those who cannot repay you: the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 

Then Jesus told the host and the guests a story. The story he tells is the next chapter in our devotional, and since I’m preaching on the scriptures from our devotional, I should save it for next week… but I realized that I’m going to be one week short if I don’t combine two of the chapters. So I’m doing it today. 

Which means if your small group is using the devotional book, I might now be a week ahead of you, starting next week. But this way I’ll end on Easter Sunday.

So Jesus tells a story to all these banquet guests, and in that story, someone is hosting a great dinner, and he invites people who he thinks will be good guests to have; friends, relatives, rich neighbors, and those from whom he might be able to demand a favor. Because that’s just how it was done.

But all those would-be guests made excuses. Apparently, they didn’t see what was in it for them. Maybe they didn’t see how attending that banquet could improve their own status or help them move up the social pyramid.

So they all made excuses as to why they couldn’t attend.

So then the invitations were sent out to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame; those who could not repay the host for his hospitality.

And that is what banquets in God’s kingdom are like.

God invites us into worship, and invites us to take our place at the table. At the table, we receive the gifts of God: life and love in abundance. 

We are poor, in that nothing we have could ever repay God for what God has given to us. Which is OK, because what God gives, God gives freely. There are no strings attached to God’s love.

And yet, as we come to the Lord’s Table, we do make an offering: of ourselves, our lives, and our resources. We bring what we can.

We do not do this out of guilt or obligation. We do not owe any sort of debt that must be repaid.

But we offer up to God what we have out of gratitude and love.

Because love is the currency of the kingdom of God. Radical, self-giving, affirming, welcoming love. Love that lifts others up. 

The only debt we owe is the love we show one another.