Sermon 11/16/08
Extravagant Generosity: Extravagance - John 12:1-8
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Today is a special Sunday this fall for us – special, in that it is the one Sunday we’ve had since the beginning of October where we aren’t celebrating something specific other than being together in worship. We’ve had World Communion Sunday, Anniversary Sunday, New Member Sunday, Laity Sunday, CROP Walk Sunday, All Saints Sunday, and Church Conference Sunday. And today, we pause for a breath, and take stock of where we are. Next Sunday is Thanksgiving Sunday, when we’ll celebrate and anticipate Thanksgiving Day, and gather in our harvest – gatherings of food, friends, and family. And the Sunday after that – just two weeks from today, seriously – is the first Sunday of Advent. We need a day, don’t we, to remember where we are and what we’ve been about? We’ve been talking about practices of fruitful congregations: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission and Service. And today, we turn our attention to our last practice – Extravagant Generosity. What does it mean for us to be generous, as people of faith, as a congregation? And what does it mean for us to be extravagant in our generosity?
These questions about generosity and faith are timely questions, I think, not just because Thanksgiving Day is almost here, but because of where we are as a nation and as a global community. This week, you either have gotten or will be receiving our annual Thanksgiving letter. In the letter, I mention that for me, Thanksgiving is especially important and significant this year. We’ve been experiencing some extraordinarily difficult times that affect all of us, and especially those who already have little to start with. “We’ve watched giant corporations fold under economic pressure, we’ve seen announcements of thousands of workers being laid off, we’ve seen people lose their homes and despair, and we’ve seen our country’s leaders struggle to find direction and solutions. Locally, we’ve seen CUMAC close it’s doors for the first time in their history due to lack of food for hungry people. Personally, many of you have probably felt the impact of these economic hardships.
In such a time, as people of faith, we have some decisions to make, some questions to ask ourselves. How do we respond? We can lament the way things are, and we can hold on even more tightly to what we have, for fear that we will lose what we have left. It’s tempting to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves first. But the gospel of Jesus Christ carries a starkly different message: the first shall be last, and the last first. We’re called to be servants of all, called to a love, like Jesus showed to us, that always puts other before self. That can seem like a tall order in times of struggle, but it is exactly in these times that the gospel of Jesus is most needed. And so, we have another way we can respond: with deepest thanksgiving. The harder things get, the more important it is for us to count our blessings and give thanks. What are you thankful for?
We ask ourselves these same questions as a congregation, too. Do we lament our struggles? Focus on how little money we have? Focus on how hard it is to keep things going, or how frustrating it is when we feel like we never have enough – time, money, people? Or, do we focus on serving, giving, loving, as much as we can, giving thanks for the gifts God has given to us? What will we do? What are we thankful for at FLUMC?” What does it mean for us to be generous, as people of faith, as a congregation? And what does it mean for us to be extravagant in our generosity?
Our gospel lesson today is certainly about extravagance in some ways. Jesus is at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Mary is anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, and Judas criticizes her for being so wasteful. This scene takes place shortly before Passover, with Jesus at the home of dear friends. There, Mary takes this costly perfume, and anoints Jesus' feet with them, and wipes his feet with her hair. Judas, upset, intervenes, and asks why the money was not spent on the poor instead. The gospel writer interjects to tell us that Judas only said this because he was the treasurer of the group, and hoped to steal what was put into it. But Jesus responds, "leave her alone. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
In stories like this, which appear in several of the gospels, I sometimes read the other versions of the story, to see what similarities and differences there are, what details can add to my understanding of a passage. Matthew and Mark also record the anointing, with an interesting difference. Both Matthew and Mark have a group of disciples complaining about the woman's actions, not naming Judas (or Mary for the matter) individually. Why, then, does John lay the blame on Judas alone? Some have suggested John simply wanting to represent what he saw as the total evil nature of Judas in scenes like this. But I think that interpretation makes it too easy for us to write Judas off as different than we are. Better, I think, to ask ourselves if we are not just like Judas in more ways than we'd like to admit.
What does it mean to betray someone? In the case of Judas, the definition of his actions which I found to best fit was this: "To prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive; as, to betray a person or a cause." (1) We may find it hard to believe that after spending three years as a disciple following Christ from place to place that we'd then turn Jesus over to men we knew were trying to kill him. On the other hand, we may not find it so hard to think of ways that we betray Jesus, perhaps even on a daily basis. If to betray means to prove faithless, then we are indeed very much like Judas. Judas, for whatever reason, did not have faith enough to believe in the path Jesus was following. We do not have enough faith for a great many other things. Sometimes we don't have faith enough to believe that God has called us for plans beyond our imagination. Or we don't have faith enough to invest ourselves, our money, our time, and our gifts into God's care. We don't have faith enough to believe that God gives us grace, a gift there for the taking, without our needing to do something to earn it. And our lack of faith betrays Jesus.
But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. The figure three hundred denarii, which Judas suggests as the value of the perfume, probably does not mean much to us. But in fact, this figure represents approximately one year's salary in Jesus' day. Imagine a bottle of perfume that cost a year of your income. Then imagine using it up, all at once, on the dirty feet of a weary traveler, not even on a special occasion. Judas rightly pins Mary's actions as quite extravagant. But Judas thinks Mary is showing extravagant wastefulness. If we didn't know who these characters were, if we didn't know what would ultimately happen to Judas, Mary, and Jesus, we'd probably side with Judas. Who could justify a year's wages on perfume? Or half a year's wages, or a quarter of a year? Not many of us. Judas suggests the money could have gone far for the poor - imagine, instead, spending a year's wages on the poor. A sacrifice we're not likely to make, but one we could affirm and admire in others who would give in such a way. Any way we look at things, we can't deny the sheer extravagance of Mary's actions.
Jesus responds to Judas with words I wish he'd phrased just a bit differently. He says, "the poor you will always have with you, but you won't always have me." And for thousands of years since, Christians have somehow seen this as a justification for doing less than we could to help those who are struggling and in need. After all, didn't Jesus say we couldn't do anything about poverty anyway? We unfortunately twist a passage about something else altogether into a passage about frugality and indifference to the poor! So what does Jesus mean in saying such a thing, since surely he does not mean for us to turn a blind eye to those who are struggling?
I think that this passage, Jesus' response - we're dealing with intentions. Jesus knows that Mary's intentions in her actions, however extreme, are to show extravagant love to her teacher. Jesus knows that Judas' intentions, however they appear, are not motivated by love at all. Mary is the one who is putting her whole heart into serving God, even though the way she shows her faith is unconventional. This passage is about extravagance: not about spending lots of money, or about wasting things needlessly, but about love and service for Christ, extreme love, over-the-top love, extravagant love.
Jesus does indeed call us to live and love extravagantly. He said, just before this scene of anointing, that he came that we might have abundant, full life. And we are called to live faithfully. We are called to be faithful in our extravagance, and extravagant in our faithfulness. Our world is filled with extravagant living, but like Judas, we too often direct our energies in the wrong directions. We can never seem to get enough: enough possessions, enough food, enough money, enough time. We spend extravagantly - we use up our time, we use up our money, we use up our gifts and talents - but we are using it all up in the wrong direction. Like Judas, our words say that our concern is for our neighbors, but too often, our actions tell a different story. When it comes down to Mary and Judas, he might have the right words, but in the end, it is Mary who shows the faithful behavior, time and again. So, in your own life, what is speaking louder - your words, or your actions? What is your life saying? What kind of extravagance are you indulging in?
With each practice that we’ve looked at this fall, I think it’s been helpful to look at the practice not only from our perspective, but to also remember how we can apply the phrases to how God acts towards us. God is radically hospitable towards us, radically open to receive us, and because of God’s hospitality, we have a model for welcoming others. God is passionate about us, inspiring our passion for God. God is intentional in planning good and blessings for us, and God takes risks with us, and so we can act with boldness too. Beginning to understand how God acts toward us will guide us as we seek to employ these practices in our ministries and missions. Likewise, I think we need to look at this last practice from both angles, the practice of extravagant generosity. God is extravagantly generous towards us. No matter how often we mess up, God loves us still, and unconditionally. No matter how unfit we seem, God calls us and plans for us. No matter how little we deserve it, how ungracious we can be, God still blesses us with abundance. God is extravagant in generosity to us, even giving us Jesus, God in human form, so that we might more fully understand how much we are loved. We are called to be a little extravagant in return. Live a little extravagantly. How extravagant can you be? Extravagant mercy. Extravagant grace. Extravagant love for God and neighbor. Extravagant generosity. Amen.