John records a little something that occurred during one of
those times when Jesus was having dinner with friends. While the setting was
'everyday' the event was not. The event was quite striking. Listen to what John
wrote. (John 12.1-8)
So, what happened? Well, one of the women there, Mary, took
some ointment, some expensive ointment, and she poured it out on Jesus' feet.
And then, if that weren't enough, she wiped His feet with her hair. What we
have here is an expression, a touching expression, of Mary's love for Jesus.
What I'd like to do this morning is to take a closer look at this to see how
what Mary did might be a model for us to imitate.
Let's start with this. What Mary did was very costly to her.
And it was costly in two ways. First, as I had mentioned earlier, this ointment
was of the expensive sort. John tells us how expensive. It was worth three
hundred denarii. Now, that probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you so let's
translate it. Three hundred denarii is about the annual income of the average
person back then. So, call to mind the number that you put on your IRS income
tax form - your annual income. Insert that number in our text. Mary took some
ointment - some ointment that cost, yes, that much - and poured it on
Jesus' feet. You see what I mean when I say that what she did was very costly.
And now, I think that you can understand a little better the comment about how
what she did was so wasteful since all that money could have been spent on the
poor. That money would have gone a long way to helping some people. But Mary
spent it all on Jesus.
There was another way that this was a costly act for Mary.
Consider the response of the others in the room. What she did was, I suspect,
pretty outrageous in their eyes. The other Gospels tell us that criticism about
what she did was not limited to Judas. And I think you can understand that.
Imagine having a guest over for dinner, and one of the people around the table
gets up and blows a year's income on that guest. A year's income. Most
of us would be aghast at such a thing. And while we might not say anything,
we'd all be thinking, 'What in the world!' I know I would. A year's income
blown, and all you're left with is a pleasant smell. I'm pretty sure that Mary
had some rather critical stares aimed in her direction. And because of how men
and women related back then, I think that this would have been a bigger deal
then than now. But even though this cost Mary both in terms of money and the
strong criticism of these others, she did it. She did it for a simple reason.
She wanted to express her love to Jesus.
This act of love was not only costly but also daring. Again,
two aspects here. First, it was over the top. Who does this sort of thing? It
was completely unexpected. And unnecessary. She could have expressed her love
without wasting the whole jar. A few drops would have worked just as well, no?
What Mary did was just too much. It was wasteful. Well, evidently, Mary thought
otherwise. It had to be over the top. It had to be the whole jar.
And then there's the second aspect of Mary's daring. What
Mary did was intimate. She used her hair to wipe His feet. It might have been
okay - or at least more okay - if she used a towel but her hair? But it had to
be her hair. That was her glory. It had to be her hair that wiped His feet. But
to all the others sitting there, this was way out of line. It was far too
personal. It was far too intimate. She knew that, but she did it anyway. It was
the best way for her to express her love to Jesus.
So, you see, what Mary did was costly and daring. It was
something that we'd have second and even third thoughts about. But it was also
commended. Jesus defended her before the others. He approved of what she had
done. Costly, daring and commended.
I suspect that for Mary, though, it wasn't all that costly
nor all that daring. Even if Jesus had said nothing, had not commended her, she
still would have thought it was the right thing to do. How was she able to
think that? Well, love expresses itself in costly ways because the lover is
convinced that the one being loved is worth it. And love is willing to do
daring things and open itself up for all sorts of criticism because the eyes of
the lover see no one except the one being loved. Mary wasn't thinking about the
cost or how daring this might be. She was only thinking of Jesus and how she
might express the depth of her love for Him in that situation.
Now, for some questions. Here's the first. Why do you
suppose the Spirit included this event in the Scriptures? There are many things
that happened during Jesus' ministry that didn't make it into the Bible, but
this does. Why? I think that one reason is that the Spirit wanted to place this
example before us. This is the kind of love that He expects us all to strive
for as disciples of Jesus. The Spirit is calling all of us to imitate Mary in
her costly and daring expression of love for Jesus. I can say that because what
Mary did is just an example of the familiar, 'You shall love the Lord with all
your heart, soul, mind and strength.' Mary's example doesn't let us skip past
what that command actually expects. Oh, it isn't about ointment and large
amounts of money. But the love that the Spirit calls for is costly and daring.
Mary shows us what that means.
Talking like this represents a shift in me. My temperament
and training led me to become someone interested in the arguments. You make
people into good Christians by presenting your case to them persuasively and
with lots of good reasons. Logic! And you hammer away until they give up and
agree or walk away in disgust. I'm seeing that while logical argumentation has
its place, love for people is more important. And love for people, a real
Christian love, is just the overflow of loving Jesus in the way that Mary did.
Or to put that differently, it is not possible to love others without loving
Jesus first. It's easy to love people in the abstract. But when you have a
living, breathing person in front of you - or better put, when you come face-to-face
with the average person who is filled with sinful habits and attitudes, along
with a dash or two of stubbornness - loving that person can be quite the
challenge. So, when someone says that they've fallen out of love with someone,
that probably means something like, 'Now that I've gotten to know the real you,
I see that loving you is way harder than I thought. So, good-bye.' That's our
culture's way of thinking about love. And it's just no good. And that explains
why all of this is so important. Along with that first, great commandment,
Jesus also mentioned that second one about loving your neighbor. Real love for
others is the overflow of real love for Jesus.
Next question. How does someone grow to love Jesus in the
way that Mary did? Mary's love wasn't something that just popped up, out of the
blue. It was a response to Jesus. It was a response to who He was and what He
did. So, what did He do? Well, you might remember that matter of raising up her
brother, Lazarus, from the dead. And there were other things that Jesus did in
Mary's presence. But what a person does has to be connected to who he is. Mary
got to know who this Jesus is. Mary got to know Jesus as a person. And Jesus,
this person, was the epitome of beauty. I'm not saying that He looked like some
rock star. I'm talking about His personality, His character. There was
something there that just drew Mary in. Here was someone who loved the Father
and loved others, and who loved in such striking ways. And Mary was among those
whom Jesus had loved. Jesus loved her, and she knew it by the things that He
did and the person that He was. It was her experience of Jesus that caused her
response. It was her experience of Jesus that produced her own expression of
love to Him that night during dinner.
Now, all of that gets us back to our question. So, how does
someone grow to love Jesus in the way that Mary did? Well, a big part of it is
that a person needs to get to know Jesus in the way that Mary did. A person needs
to get to know Him in terms of the things that He does as well as the kind of
person that He is.
Now, there are obstacles. (Aren't there always.) For some,
Jesus is like George Washington. Washington did some important things - like
start a nation. But he did that a long time ago. He lived and then he died.
He's gone. For some, Jesus is like that: important things done, long ago, dead
and gone. But that means that He isn't someone you can get to know. And that's
why the ministry of the Spirit is so important. It's by the Spirit that Jesus
is with each of His disciples today. He's not dead and gone. And that means
that He actually is someone you can get to know. Because of the Spirit, we can
get to know Jesus as the person that He is. And we need to.
There are, though, two other obstacles to growing into
someone who loves Jesus like Mary did. Some folk get to a certain point in
their love of Jesus but then go no further. The reason is clear. To get past
that point will cost more than what they are willing to pay - and I'm not
talking about money. But Jesus was quite clear. Loving Him trumps everything.
It will be costly.
And growing into someone who loves Jesus more will also
require us to do things that are more daring than what we feel safe doing. What
will people say? And look at the risk. Yes, people will talk and the risk is
real and considerable. But being daring is not optional. That's also part of
the call to being one of His disciples. Jesus never promised that life would be
safe. But He did tell us that it would be good.
There are those who get to a certain point in their love for
Jesus, and they stall at that point. They love some, but not more than that. It
requires too much. And that's a problem. No one stands still in his
relationship with Jesus. It's either getting better - you're getting to know
Him more and thus love Him more - or it's getting worse. Nobody stands still
even if it feels like you are. And heaven and hell hang in the balance.
So, what do you do? What are some practical steps to
overcoming these obstacles and growing in your love for Jesus? I have two
thoughts. The first is simple. Get to know Jesus, the person. Don't think about
Him in religious terms. Get rid of the church words. Read a Gospel, just a bit
at a clip, and spend a little time thinking about Jesus as this man who is, in
so many ways, just like you. Consider what He may have been thinking and
feeling as He dealt with people, both friends and enemies. What do you think He
was feeling when He didn't heal Lazarus at first, knowing the suffering
that would result to these three good friends of His? He wasn't a robot. He had
feelings. That's why He cried. Think about these things and then discuss your
ideas with Him. You can call that prayer if you like, but calling it a
conversation might work better. Get to know Jesus, the person, instead of
Jesus, the doctrine.
And then spend a little time thinking about what He has
done. The religious answer is, 'He has saved me from my sins.' True! But what
does that mean in your life? What is different, now that He has saved you from
your sins? What would be different if He
hadn't done that and you were, instead, just this nice, moral person? Spend a
little time thinking about what He has done. As you do you'll find that along
with imitating Mary you'll be imitating David who wrote,
Come and hear, all you who fear
God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
So, get to know Jesus the person and what it is that He has
done for you.
And, of course, throughout all of this you need to pray. And
here's one thing to pray about. The Spirit will be calling you to express your
love to Jesus in particular ways. Pray that you will hear Him. But also pray
that He will give you the ability to do the costly and daring things that show
your love for Jesus. You will find this challenging. But, think about Mary. How
did she think about what she was called to do in this situation? Was it for her
a burden or a joy?