(Preached at North Long Beach Christian Church as part of a pulpit exchange.)
It is my great pleasure to be with you this morning. Earlier this year, Pastor Heather suggested we arrange a pulpit exchange, and I’m so glad she did.
North Long Beach Christian Church and Bixby Knolls Christian Church are two wonderful congregations doing God’s work, and we have so much in common; yet I’ve also discovered that there is much we can learn from each other. When some of you joined us at Bixby Knolls Christian Church for Ash Wednesday, I realized that North Long Beach Christian Church has some remarkable gifts and strengths that we at Bixby Knolls Christian Church can learn from, and I believe that the same is also true in reverse.
Anyway, I know that I am blessed by this opportunity to be here today. Your presence in worship is a blessing to me, just as I know your presence is also a blessing to Pastor Heather and to one another. I’ll say it again: your presence is a blessing.
Pastor Heather and I are both preaching from the same scripture this morning: the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet.
When I read or hear this scripture, I always imagine that I’m watching a scene from a movie. On the screen, I see Jesus entering the home of Lazarus, with Martha and Mary and some of the disciples also present.
I see Mary take a giant bottle of perfume, and pull the cork out (pop!), and begin pouring it on Jesus’ feet. Not just a little bit - the whole jar! (glug! glug! glug!)
And the perfumed oil lands on his feet and his ankles, and pools on the floor beneath him; and Mary begins wiping his feet with her hair.
Thank goodness this movie doesn’t have smell effects; because it only takes a little bit of perfume to achieve the desired effect, but Mary poured the whole jar! The smell would be overpowering!
In my imaginary film version of this, the camera now shifts, and focuses on Judas; Judas shakes his head; he hasn’t said anything yet. But I have a friend, watching this movie with me, and this friend…
Well, his name is John, and he’s obviously seen this film before, and he can’t stop talking. You know the type, right? You probably have a friend or family member like that…
So when the camera focuses on Judas, my friend John says: “he’s the one who’s about to betray Jesus.”
Well, thanks for the spoiler!
Then Judas speaks: “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor?”
And the thing is, if my friend hadn’t interrupted the scene with that spoiler, and I didn’t know that Judas was going to betray Jesus, I would have agreed with Judas. Why wasn’t this perfume sold, so the money could be given to the poor?
And I start to think about just how much money 300 denarii is. It’s about 300 years’ worth of pay for a laborer in those days! It’s more money than most people could imagine!
My friend John (bless him!) interrupts again.
John says: “Judas doesn’t actually care about the poor; he’s a thief. He’s the one who holds the money, and he just wants to steal it.”
Here’s the thing: whenever I read the gospels, anytime something negative is said about Judas, it always seems to come from the narrator - that annoying friend who can’t stop talking during the movie.
But whenever Jesus talks about Judas, or talks to Judas: there is disappointment, there is sadness; but there doesn’t ever seem to be any condemnation, or anger. Not from Jesus.
Last week, at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I preached about the Parable of the Prodigal Son. A father had two sons; the younger one asked his father for his share of the inheritance, then went off to recklessly spend it all.
He was a great disappointment to his father.
But his father never stopped loving him. Never.
And I think that’s how Jesus feels about Judas.
We know that when Jesus showed love to his disciples by washing their feet, he didn't skip over Judas. At least, there’s no mention of that.
And when Jesus breaks bread, and says, “This is my body, that is for you,” again, Judas seems to be included.
Even though it is clear that Jesus knows that Judas will betray him.
And that part of the story - that Jesus never stopped loving Judas - is challenging for me, and it always makes me want to consider carefully how I judge Judas.
And sometimes it even makes me want to ignore the comments of the narrator - that friend who can’t stop talking during the movie.
And, at times, I even find myself agreeing with Judas - like here, when he objects to the extravagant waste of perfume.
Even if his motives are questionable, as the narrator says, don’t you think there’s some logic to Judas’ argument? Shouldn’t that much money be used to help the poor?
But Jesus’ response makes me remember that I’ve been known to miss the point. Sometimes what’s important just goes right over my head.
Did you see the movie The Power of the Dog? It’s not the easiest movie to watch. I watched it, and I recognized that it was, in fact, a good, well-made movie, but I wasn’t sure I would ever want to watch it again.
But when I reached the end of the movie - which I won’t give away - I realized that I had missed… something.
So when my son watched the movie the following week, I sat with him and watched it again, to try to catch those things that I had missed the first time around. Little clues (and even a few big ones) that point to what is really going on in the story.
I think, in today’s scripture, Judas misses what’s really going on. And because I’m so inclined to agree with Judas here, about what a waste it is to pour out all that perfume…yeah, I’ve probably missed the point as well.
Which means I need to go back, and watch this film again.
Part of the challenge is that this is only one scene in a much longer film. If you just watch one scene from a movie - if you watch just one scene of Power of the Dog, and not the whole movie, there’s no way you’re going to understand what’s really going on.
In this scene from John’s gospel, it helps to know that, in an earlier scene, Lazarus (the brother of Mary and Martha) was dead, but Jesus raised him back to life.
That’s a pretty important thing to know if you want to understand what’s going on here.
We also know that many films have more than one version. How many films have there been that tell the origin story of Spiderman, or Batman? And each one puts a different spin on the story…
In the Bible, we have four gospels. Each gospel writer has their own interpretation of the events and the meaning of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.
In Luke’s version, there are two sisters named Mary and Martha, who appear to be the same Mary and Martha who appear here in John’s version.
But in Luke’s version, there’s a scene where Martha is busy preparing the house and the meal for Jesus and his disciples, doing all the things that are expected of her - while Mary throws out all those expectations, and sits right down with all the disciples, listening to Jesus teach and tell stories.
That sounds like the same Mary, because here, in John’s gospel, she is again defying expectations; because certainly, one would expect that an entire jar of perfume worth that much money would be used prudently. You want to make it last.
But Mary defies expectations. She does not do what is expected. And Judas calls her out on it.
And, initially at least, I’m inclined to agree with Judas.
Or, I’m inclined to agree with Martha, in Luke’s gospel, when she complains about Mary not doing what’s expected of her.
Because I also feel compelled to always do what’s expected of me. No more. No less.
When I preached last week about the prodigal son, I mentioned how I tend to identify more with the older brother - the one who stayed home - the one who did what was expected of him. He did what was considered right and proper. He tried the best he could to be the perfect son.
And for those of you who joined us at BKCC on Ash Wednesday, you may remember I talked about expectations; particularly, the expectation to be perfect. Many of us are trying to live up to those expectations, just like the older brother in that parable from last week.
Pouring out all that perfume all at once - one just didn’t do that. It’s not what was expected.
But Judas’ objection to the pouring out of all this perfume is like the older brother’s objection to the big party thrown for his younger brother’s return.
The older brother didn’t think it was right for the father to throw a party at great expense for a son who had already taken his whole share of the inheritance, and squandered it.
The father in that story had to go out and plead with his older son - he had to go out and talk some sense into him.
And here, in today’s scripture, Jesus has to plead with and talk some sense into Judas, because Judas - like the older brother - has failed to see the bigger picture.
They’ve both missed the point.
Well, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who misses the point!
So what is the point? Mary has poured out a reckless, extravagant amount of perfume. Judas sees a waste of money. But Jesus sees an expression of reckless, extravagant love and devotion.
And Jesus sees beauty in that. And Jesus sees God in that.
Because, when it comes to love, God doesn’t portion it out, a little bit at a time. God doesn’t hold any love back, saving it for another day. God doesn’t withhold love from any person, for any reason.
“Oh, but what if you spoil them with love, and they get too accustomed to it?”
No. You can’t spoil anyone with love. There is no such thing as too much love. Not with God.
And, yeah, there are people who just can’t wrap their head around the idea that God’s love is so extravagant, and they even get offended by the generosity and unconditional nature of God’s love.
I don’t know what to tell them, other than: I understand where you’re coming from. It’s a challenge for me, too.
But just look in scripture at how generously God bestows love!
It’s not what’s expected. God’s love flows endlessly, like a giant bottle of expensive perfume poured out, flowing down upon one’s feet, pooling on the floor.
And I know that sometimes, I still get caught up in expectations, and that sometimes those expectations limit the amount of love I’m willing to give. It’s true in my family, it’s true in my church, it’s true in my community. I don’t want people to think I’m crazy in love! Let’s keep things reasonable - right? Let’s not overdo things…
But… that is, in fact, the path I am called to follow. Isn’t that the path Jesus calls us to follow? The path of crazy, reckless, extravagant love?
The love God shows to us and the love we are called to show to one another isn’t just a few drops. It isn’t a tiny stream tickling down. It’s an ocean. A mighty ocean of love!
And I am so thankful, that at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, and here at North Long Beach Christian Church, and in many congregations here in Long Beach, and in many congregations in our Disciples’ denomination, people are learning to follow the path of crazy, reckless, extravagant love. We’re learning to grow in love. We’re learning to just pour it all out - every last drop - and not worry about running out.
Because when we give God’s love away, there’s always more where that came from. God’s love never, ever runs out. And nothing - nothing! - will ever separate any of us from God’s love.
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