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.

Palms, and Other Symbols (John 12:12-16)

 

I don’t know if you realize it or not—I think probably you do—but the cross that we use as the symbol of our Christian faith, it is an ironic symbol, one that is used almost satirically, or mockingly. Because the cross, of course, was a symbol of defeat. It was a symbol of oppression and intimidation. It was a symbol of death. 

Simply put, crosses were used to kill people, to execute people.

Jesus knew well what the cross meant. When he was a very young child, there was a violent uprising in Sepphoris, a city next door to Nazareth. Rome crushed that rebellion—brutally crushed it—and as a warning to others, Rome crucified 2,000 of the rebels. They took them down to Jerusalem, hung them all on crosses… and the roads leading to Jerusalem were lined with crosses, with bodies hanging on them. 

The message was clear: don’t challenge Rome, or this will be your fate.

Jesus challenged Rome. He didn’t challenge Rome with military might, which is probably why he was able to get away with it for as long as he did; Instead, Jesus challenged Rome by offering people an alternative way of living, a way that went against Roman ideals and mores.

But Rome could only put up with that for so long. Eventually, Jesus himself was crucified by Rome; and just like the crucifixions after the Sepphoris uprising, Jesus’ crucifixion was Rome’s way of saying, “Look: this movement that he started? It’s over. Go back to your lives.”

So the cross was a symbol—a powerful symbol—of defeat.

But, because of the resurrection, Christianity took that symbol of defeat, and turned it into a symbol of victory. Christianity took that symbol of death, and turned it into a symbol of new life. What was once a symbol of evil, became a symbol of good.

I mention this, because the palms that we wave on Palm Sunday work in a similar way.

Let me explain.

The great leaders of Jesus’ time, like Herod, and Caesar… when they had a procession, it was a daunting display of military power and might. Soldiers lined the roads; they wore their finest armor, decorated with Roman insignia; and they raised into the air spears and swords—symbols of Rome’s power and might. 

The weapons, raised in the air, were a warning to the people: obey Herod. Obey Caesar. Rome is unassailable, and you cannot possibly challenge the mighty power of the Roman Empire. If you do, you will find yourself at the wrong end of one of these swords, one of these spears, one of these weapons of death.

Well, Jesus’ followers didn’t have very many swords or spears or other weapons. On one occasion, when one of his followers did produce a sword, Jesus rebuked him, and told him to put away his sword, because that was not his way.

So, since they didn’t have swords or spears, Jesus’ followers didn’t have anything to raise in the air as he made his way into Jerusalem—except for palm branches.

Beautiful palm trees grow in many areas around Jerusalem; all the people had to do was climb up and cut the branches off the trees. 

And, palm branches were a symbol that had once been placed on Jewish coins when the Jewish nation was free. Palm branches were a symbol of Jewish nationalism, an expression of the people’s desire for political freedom.

That did make the palm branches a powerful, and potentially dangerous, symbol.

On the other hand, they were just palm branches. How could a palm branch possibly compare to a sword or a spear? Who would take a soldier seriously, who rides into battle with a palm branch, a leafy stick, as a weapon? 

And those who waved the palm branches… they weren’t soldiers wearing armor. Few of Jesus’ followers could afford armor. Instead, those who lined the roads at his procession were clad in rags and other raiment of the poor.

Then there is the donkey; or, the “donkey’s colt,” as it says in John’s gospel. A humble animal. A funny-looking animal, not as big as a horse, with a short, scrappy tail, ears that are slightly too large for its head, and which makes a funny sound: hee-haw, hee-haw.

Now, if Herod were making his way into Jerusalem, he’d be on a mighty warhorse, or in a chariot pulled by a mighty warhorse: a majestic animal, strong, with a beautiful mane and tail.

It kind of makes me think of Donkey in the movie Shrek, and how excited Donkey gets when Fiona calls him a “noble steed.” It’s funny, because Donkey is definitely not a noble steed.

Well, Herod gets the noble steed; Jesus gets the donkey.

So, you see the contrast between the two. Mighty Herod, gleaming armor, ornately decorated chariot, pulled by a mighty warhorse, processing into Jerusalem, with legions of soldiers lining the roads, raising their weapons of steel into the air as the procession passed by.

And Jesus: humble; on a donkey; without armor; without any weapons. Just a ragtag group of peasants and other poor folk, raising their palm branches.

And maybe this has you feeling sorry for Jesus. Certainly some of those who saw his procession felt sorry for him. They expected a king like King David, one who would rule in power, in place of Herod, or even in place of Caesar; one who would restore the nation of Israel and free them from Roman oppression.

In other words, they expected Jesus, on a warhorse, surrounded by a well-dressed army with enough swords and spears to drive Rome out of their land.

Those who had such expectations were, without question, disappointed.

Others, however, knew that Jesus would not ride a horse. After all, Psalm 20 says: “Some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God” . And Psalm 33:17: “The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.”

Nevertheless, there are a lot of people today who are still disappointed that Jesus arrives on a humble donkey, with no army, and no weapons. It is a hard thing to swallow. 

Have you ever seen a Christian school choose a donkey as its mascot? Every Christian school I’m familiar with,.. They’re the Warriors, or the Crusaders; and often, their mascot includes the warrior or crusader sitting on a horse. 

Even the writer of Revelation had a hard time with this. A humble Jesus on a donkey just would not do for him; so the writer of Revelation re-imagined Jesus as a mighty warrior on a mighty warhorse, carrying a mighty sword.

Jesus himself was tempted by this vision...

You may remember that, at the beginning of his ministry, when Jesus was in the wilderness, he was tempted with authority over all the kingdoms of the world; all the power and might of Rome and every other nation would be his, and he would have total control, and unlimited power. 

Jesus could have had the warhorse; Jesus could have had the armies, all of them, under his command; Jesus could have had all the weapons on earth, to rid the world of injustice and oppression, and establish the kingdom of God by force.

But Jesus resisted this temptation. Jesus knew that this was not his calling. It was not the way. God’s kingdom would not be established through power or force. 

Only love would build the kingdom of God.

So the palm branches and the donkey were chosen deliberately, not just because they were “all he could get.” Jesus rode a donkey and the crowd waved palm branches, to show, in dramatic fashion, that the kingdom of God was not at all like the kingdom of Herod; that it was, in fact, something completely different; a radical alternative.

The palm branches and the donkey not only became a way of demonstrating that difference; but they also mocked Herod’s kingdom and the Roman Empire. And Jesus’ procession, his triumphant entry, mocked the processions of Herod and Caesar.

In fact, because of the Passover festival, it is quite possible—quite likely, even—that Herod was arriving in Jerusalem on the same day as Jesus; that there were, in fact, two royal processions into Jerusalem that day! 

One, with Herod riding a warhorse, and his armies, and their weapons of steel; 

…And the other, with Jesus, riding a donkey, with his “army” of people, waving their palm branches.

And all the people of Jerusalem, and all the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the festival, had to choose—they had to choose—which procession they wanted to see. 

Because Herod was probably coming in by one road, and Jesus by another. So the people had to choose: Herod, or Jesus? The kingdom of Rome, or the kingdom of God? The kingdom of intimidation and coercion, or the kingdom of compassion and love?

The people had to choose between everything Rome symbolized, and everything God’s kingdom symbolized. They had to choose between death and life, between injustice and justice, between oppression and liberation, between power by force and the power of love. 

And this is the choice we have to make every day.

After Herod’s procession, once he had arrived and had settled in, Herod probably hosted a great formal banquet, as was customary. Invitations with the royal seal were sent out, and at the appointed time, the invited guests arrived and were seated according to importance. Those without invitations were barred from entering by armed guards.

And at the meal, bread was broken, a sign of fellowship. This sign of fellowship was significant; to break bread with someone unworthy of your company, it would affect your own standing. So only those with a certain level of importance were on the guest list.

At these banquets, everyone tried to impress upon their host and upon the other guests how important they were. The banquet was an opportunity to prove one’s worthiness, and possibly even rise up in status.

And after bread was broken, a cup was lifted, in honor of Caesar. Whenever Romans gathered to eat and drink, they remembered Caesar.

Well, we know that Jesus would also soon have his own banquet with his disciples—his last supper with them. 

Those on Jesus’ guest list—the disciples—included fishermen, tax collectors, and other types of people who would not normally be invited to a formal banquet, because they were looked down upon. They weren’t the type of people with whom one would choose to break bread.

But Jesus did. And not only that; immediately after the meal, Jesus further humbled himself by taking up the towel of a servant, the towel of a slave, and washing his disciples feet, doing a lowly task that no respectable Roman would do.

And when Jesus took the cup, and lifted it, he didn’t invoke the name of Caesar, as was expected; instead, Jesus said that, from now on, when you drink from this cup, you are to remember me; invoke my name when you eat and drink together…

And finally, in the context of that Last Supper, he commanded his disciples to love. Because God’s kingdom is not about status; it’s not about power; it’s not about might…

God’s kingdom is about love.

So: now we have the donkey, and the palm branches, and the weaponless army; and we have the servant’s towel, and the command to love, and the invocation of Jesus’ name when raising the cup, instead of Caesar’s name.

These things are all connected. They are all symbols of humility, symbols of a generous, sacrificial love, and symbols of a kingdom, a way of living, that is very different from that of the Roman Empire.

But there is one more symbol yet to come, the one I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon.

The cross.

The ultimate sign of weakness and defeat.

But, out of love, Jesus willingly took on this symbol, just as he willingly took on: the palm branches, the donkey, the servant’s towel, and all the others.

And like all these other symbols, it, too, is transformed by the power of God’s love into a symbol of hope, a symbol of joy, a symbol of victory.

2,000 years later, we are still faced with a choice: do we choose the symbols of modern society: wealth, power, influence, intimidation?

Or do we choose the humble, loving, merciful qualities of the one who, instead—as a sign of his love for all the world—rode a donkey, and donned a servant's towel, and accepted death on a cross?