Worship with Hope, Grow with Love, and Serve with a Passion for Justice.

An Extravagant Opportunity

John 12:1-11
April 6,/7 2019

INTRODUCTION.
We continue to consider variations of the theme “Opportunity.” During the season of Lent we have thought about tempting opportunities and opportunities to be fruitful. Last week we remembered that even when we are “prodigal,” we have the opportunity to be welcomed “home” by God. We affirmed that the word “prodigal” can mean wasteful. But it can also mean extravagant and overly generous. So, we are challenged to find an appropriate balance.

I know there is a serious kidnapping story going on now in Uganda, but I heard about another one that had a happy ending—I think…A man in New York City was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $500,000 ransom. She eventually talked them down to $50,000. The man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. But think about what happened when the man got home? How did he feel about his wife’s negotiations?

A comedian reflected on her potential conversation with the kidnappers. He imagined what she might have said.
• “You want $500,000 for that guy? You’re crazy.”
• “Just look at him—old and out of shape—give me a break.”
• “You can’t be serious–$50,000 is my best offer.”

What do you think about that story? Some of us can probably identify with the wife. Someone said that his wife would make them pay her to take him back! But how many of you feel sorry for the husband? Don’t we like to think that if we were in a similar situation, there would be people who would spare no expense to get us back? They wouldn’t haggle or say: “Well, let me think about it.” We hope they would say: “We’ll do anything for you.” So…I guess there are times to be extravagant—or not.

LET’S THINK ABOUT THIS WEEK’S STORY.
We go from the “lecture to the lab” as we move from last week’s prodigal parable to Mary, a real prodigal person. In this controversial story, Jesus is in Bethany in a home with Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and some of the disciples—Judas is the only one mentioned, but we assume there are others present. It is just days before the Passover and Jesus is on the way to the cross. People are plotting against him—friends are about to betray him.

His raising of Lazarus has upset the authorities—they are upset and they want him to die—again. But Mary takes a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, which was worth nearly a year’s pay for a common worker…think minimum wage, full-time, for a year. And she “wastes” it by pouring it on Jesus’ feet. And just like last week’s prodigal parable, this act of generosity doesn’t go over very well with those who witness it.
Judas becomes the voice of criticism—and may say what the others are thinking. “Why didn’t we use this to help the poor?” “Why didn’t we use it to pay some bills—something practical?”

Judas has a point, doesn’t he? This anointing has plagued the followers of Jesus for centuries. How much do we spend on maintenance and how much should we give to ministries and the mission of the church? I remember a debate about seminary chapel improvements. A faculty member said: “With all the poverty in the world how can we justify spending $50,000 to pretty-up our chapel?” The same person didn’t object when salaries were raised, nor did he question the morality of their luxurious faculty lounge. He was posturing, just as Judas is posturing in the story.

Even so, the problem is tough—what to keep and what to give?

You have probably had similar thoughts and conversations. Many of us don’t like to waste anything—we’re wired that way. My mother’s family was dirt-poor when she was growing up. She never got over it—even when she had plenty later in her life. And she instilled all of her habits in me—they are hard to shake. I still turn everything off when I leave a room. Even though I have unlimited talk and texts on my phone, I have this urge to end any long-distance calls after a few minutes—because they used to be expensive. Now it costs more to mail a letter than make a call. But my mother’s frugality will stay with me forever.

Or how about gifts for loved ones—especially children. We give children expensive toys for Christmas or birthdays, and they have a wonderful time playing with…the boxes. What a waste, we think, even if we don’t say it out loud.

We have similar reactions to all kinds of things. We want to clean our plates and not throw out leftover food.
We want clothing to actually be dirty before washing it—we give it the “smell” test. We even have trouble discarding one-use items. We consider a romantic getaway or vacation with our family, but then think: “No. There are too many other bills to pay.” We hear about some exceptionally talented young adult. Her potential and opportunities are wide open. But she decides to work at an inner-city mission, and we are tempted to think: “What a waste of all that talent.”

A young man gets a full scholarship to a fantastic school…legitimately. But he decides to go to a local college so he can live at home and care for his sick mother, who has no other family to help. We have mixed emotions about his missed opportunities.

THERE ARE TIMES TO BE EXTRAVAGANT.
Jesus is quick to jump on Judas and defend Mary’s actions. Apparently, there are “bigger” things going on here?
We are challenged to reconsider what is “wasteful.” What is “wasted” can change others—or us—for the better.
With a Judas mind-set, there might be no “extras.” No beautiful places of worship or flowers to honor loved ones. No pianos or organs or instruments to help our spirits soar. Folks wouldn’t spend anything on parties or celebrations. Young people in love would elope to save money. But the Mary mind-set says: “Sometimes in the name of love and gratitude, it’s OK—it is beautiful to be extravagant.”

Dr. Marva Dawn has been a helpful voice in this conversation. She has written books about authentic and meaningful worship. One book has a provocative title: A Royal “Waste” of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World. She asserts that worship isn’t worship if it is merely utilitarian.

So…what are Mary’s possible motives with the costly gift? Some say it is an act of gratitude in which she was thanking Jesus for raising her brother Lazarus from the dead. Others say it was a foreshadowing, an act of preparation, in which she was anointing His body for his imminent death by the end of the week. Most agree that it was an act of profound love and kindness. And the timing for the anointing is critical—if not now, when?

Like me, some of you are Jeopardy fans—and you have heard about long-time host, Alex Trebek’s, pancreatic cancer diagnosis.The news has prompted some to recall highlights of the show.One of them was in a “Final Jeopardy” round when the 2nd place player and the 3rd place player both had $8,000. The leader had over $12,000 going into this last question. But he did a remarkable thing as he made his final wager. Generally players calculate what it will take to win—that’s the point of the game, right, to win, to come in first, to get the most money. But he bet the exact amount so that if the other two players bet their entire $8000, then all three of them would have $16,000. And that’s what happened—a one in 25 million chance of a three-way tie. It was an unusual act of generosity and graciousness. But the timing for it had to be just right to make it happen.

And extravagant opportunities come up in more serious settings. A colleague has a member who is a “reverse tither”—she gives 90% and keeps 10%–but she is always full of joy and gratitude. And it’s not just about money—it’s about time and abilities too—take the dollar signs off of the story. Some of you put in full-time hours volunteering at church or in the community. Some of you trade vacation days for mission trip days.
Many of your share sacrificial, costly gifts in so many ways with family and friends and people you don’t even know. Extravagant acts of humility and love are inspiring and empowering! They remind us that though power, control and domination are the ways of the world, there are times that call for kindness. Simple gestures of caring still count and make a difference. Whenever we stand up for love and justice, people notice.

I’m going to wrap up this message today in a different way—with a prayer from a friend that was inspired by the challenging story of Mary’s gift.

Let us pray:
O Lord, I am haunted by Mary’s unreasonable extravagance as she poured the precious ointment on your feet.
Part of me agrees with those who rebuked her, that the money could have been better spent feeding the poor or paying the bills.
But you would have none of it—unembarrassed, you accepted her gift of tears and ointment that filled the home with fragrance.
This bothers me—I have learned the hard way that money is not to be wasted and that I must live with thrift and discipline.
Teach me, Lord, that there are times when love requires more—more than the routine, more than a rigid timetable, more than a balanced check book.
Lord of the dance, do you sometimes invite me to join you in spontaneous responses to life and extravagant love?
Do you invite me to be vulnerable, to make the unexpected gift, to show my love, and let go without fear of others’ criticism?
Mary knew the time had come and might never come again.
O Lord, please rescue me from my imprisoning inhibitions and help me to know when it is time to cast caution aside.
Let me fill my heart, my life, my home, the community, your Church, God’s world…with the fragrance of love. Amen.

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