FOR GOD SO LOVED...Week 5

Sermon Notes, April 7, 2019

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon, the fifth in the Lent Series, was titled “For God So LOVED…Week 5.”  The scripture reference was John 12:1-8, the story of the Lazarus’ sister Mary anointing Jesus’ feet.

The sense of smell triggers memory more than any of the other senses.  The olfactory bulb runs from the nose to the bottom of the brain and is connected to both the amygdala and the hippocampus, the parts of the brain that are associated with emotion and memory.  The other senses don’t directly touch these parts of the brain. 

You may know that scent evokes memory from your own experience.  The smell of cloves, cranberries and orange may transport you to Christmas morning when you were a child.  The smell of fall leaves on a cool morning might transport you to Friday night football games in high school.  The smell of freshly baked cookies may evoke images of your grandmother. The smell of baby lotion may bring you back to the days when your children were infants.

If you really think about it, there is a distinct smell as we approach this text; and that smell is death.  This story comes on the heels of Lazarus’s resurrection.  When Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, the people were concerned about the smell.  They were worried that if the tomb was opened, the stench of rot and the pungent smell of death would waft out.  Instead of death, however, life came out of the tomb.  But Lazarus’s death is not the only death still lingering in the air.  Jesus’ death is just six short days away.

The section of scripture that immediately precedes this one is of the plot to kill Jesus beginning to come together.  Jesus knows this, even if others in the room don’t, and the smell of approaching death must have permeated the atmosphere—until Mary changes the fragrance of the room.  The aroma of perfume permeates each corner with a new scent: the scent of gratitude at the return of her brother, and the one who performed the miracle that brought his return; the scent of celebration that Lazarus was here in the room, and over the life and glory of Jesus; the scent of resurrection in the midst of death; and the scent of lavish love poured out for her Savior.

In Luke 10 we get a bit more of a glimpse into who Mary is.  She is a disciple of Jesus. She is motivated more by her desire to know Jesus than she is by propriety.  At the time, it would be the expectation that she help Martha with the chores; that would have been her duty and responsibility.  Women weren’t disciples of rabbis, and her desire and pursuit of discipleship (as well as Jesus’ allowance of her discipleship) was countercultural.  She views Jesus as her teacher and her friend.

Mary is motivated by love over law.  There was a specific law that prohibited women and men who were not related from touching each other.  This law is called “negiah,” and it comes from Leviticus 18:6 &18:19.  The Talmud expands upon this.  Women and men were not allowed to touch unless they were married, parents and children, or grandparents and children.  This means that women and men were not allowed to even shake hands, let alone touch one another’s feet with their hair.  Mary risked both her own and Jesus’ reputation by touching Him.  We often focus on the expense of the perfume, but just the act of touching Jesus would have been scandalous.  This act is very sensual, and the Jews around them would have viewed it as inappropriate.

Mary is willing to illustrate her love for Jesus through sacrifice and service.  She spent a large sum of money: the perfume she purchased was expensive. She didn’t use just part of the perfume on him; she used all of it.  The act of washing feet was for lowly servants.  This was not a glamorous task, because feet were the number one mode of transportation.  Washing Jesus’ feet would have implicated Mary’s desire to serve Jesus.

Contrasting Judas with Mary.  Judas, on the other hand, is motivated by selfish gain.  Matthew 26 and Luke 22 both reference Judas’s plan to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.  John calls Judas a thief.  Judas cared for the common purse, and he stole from it.  Judas doesn’t care for the poor; he cares for himself.  He sees this as a lost opportunity to acquire more money.  He is focused on himself and not on sacrifice for Jesus.  Judas does not act out of service and love.  Mary willfully sacrifices reputation and money to care for Jesus.  Judas, while being given the opportunity to be a disciple and learn from Jesus, is still seeking to look out for himself.  He is amplifying the scent of death and destruction by looking out for himself at the expense of others.

The Conquering Scent.  Even though the smell of Lazarus’s death still lingers, Lazarus is alive and in the room.  This is a foreshadowing of resurrection hope.  The smell of gratitude and love are overwhelming.  Even though Judas seeks to turn the conversation toward one that looks proper, it reeks of sin.  His “care” for the poor is just a cover for his own misdeeds.  Even so, the focus of the story is on the wafting scents of gratitude and love.  Mary is written as the heroine.  She is applauded by Jesus for her act of love and sacrifice.  Even though according to the law she was the one who acted improperly, Jesus again reinterprets the law, elevating love over propriety. 

While Jesus’ death looms, His love and resurrection are the highlight.  The nard alludes to His death because it is a perfume usually used in burial.  Jesus says she bought it to use for His burial, but instead of saving it, she chooses to use it in this moment.  The act of self-giving love is the highlight, and the room is permeated with it.

Our Lives as a Fragrant Offering.  We should have the same level of discipleship as Mary.  We should follow love as the law.  We should seek to embrace Jesus and others over legalism.  We should do what we can to get as close as possible to Jesus.  We should pour out our lives as a sacrifice for Christ.  Lent is a season of sacrifice, but it’s not sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice.  We should find ways to extravagantly lavish love upon Jesus through our acts of sacrifice.

The last part of the text that talks about the poor always being with us is not an excuse to not care for the poor.  Jesus emphasizes that He is not always with them, but we know Jesus speaks to what is done to the least of these as being done to Him.  This would imply that while Jesus isn’t with us, the extravagant acts of love we do for one another, and especially for the least of these, are acts of profound love done for Jesus.  We should permeate the world with the HOPE of resurrection.  It’s easy to fall into the lies as Judas did, and cover our own selfish motives with words about seeking the well-being of others.  This season, we should seek a heart like Mary’s.  We should seek to fall at the feet of Jesus, to worship wholeheartedly with love and gratitude, so that the world might experience hope in such profound ways that they can smell it for miles.