Lent 5C
April 6, 2025
John 12:1-8
INTRODUCTION
Things are really heating up in the Jesus story – you can practically hear suspenseful music telling us, “Something is afoot!” Right before today’s story, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. This event was so shocking that, according to John, it was the impetus for wanting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha, in whose house we find ourselves today. Just after this story, just as in our church year, John takes us to Palm Sunday, and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and not long after that will be Maundy Thursday, when Jesus will be the one kneeling at the disciples’ feet, washing them and wiping them with the towel around his waist. Mary’s actions today, anointing Jesus’ feet, foreshadow this event – and just as Jesus’ act of foot-washing is an act of love for neighbor, Mary’s is an act of love for Jesus. Context is everything for this story!
The other readings are lovely, and I’ll just let them speak for themselves today. As you listen to all the readings, notice the ways they celebrate the abundant love and generosity God has shown to us, especially as we draw closer to Holy Week and the time when we remember the ultimate act of self-giving love. Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bad news: for the second week in a row, I find myself resonating more with the guy who appears to be the villain in the story than with the hero. Last week, it was the elder brother in the Prodigal Son parable – and his simmering resentment that his deadbeat little brother squandered his inheritance and then got a party anyway. This week, it is Judas who says aloud what I am thinking. In response to Mary’s tender, generous act of love and devotion toward Jesus, Judas scoffs, “That oil was worth a year’s wages! Shouldn’t it have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor?” Um… yeah, Jesus, shouldn’t it? I mean, isn’t that kind of what you’re all about? And honestly, Jesus’ response doesn’t make me feel much better: “The poor you will always have with you,” he says, “but you will not always have me.” What are we to make of that? Jesus couldn’t possibly care more about himself than the poor, right?
This line is one frequently taken out of context and misinterpreted. And yet at this time, when so many of the services that help and support the poor and vulnerable people of our country are seeing cuts in the name of government efficiency, it feels all the more important for us to understand what this statement means – what Jesus meant when he said it, and what it means for us in 2025.
First, what it meant in Jesus’ context. Often, what Jesus says is not original to him. Remember, he is a rabbi, a teacher of the law, the Torah, and so often he is quoting the sacred scripture of his people. And so, to understand what he is getting at, we need to look at what text and context he is referencing. This is one such case. The idea that “the poor you will always have with you” comes from Deuteronomy 15. In this chapter, Moses is giving a speech to the Israelites as they prepare finally, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, to enter the Promised Land. Moses describes what life will be like in this place of abundance, and how a society formed by God’s word should function. One guideline for this society is that every so often, every seven years, there should be what is called a “sabbatical year,” in which all debts are forgiven and debt slaves are released. It was meant to be a way to sort of reset the economy and keep the wealth somewhat evenly distributed. Still, even with this, Moses explains, there will remain some people in need. So Israel should never cease being generous. Even if they are in year 5 or 6, nearing that seventh year of debt forgiveness, do not get stingy, he says. “Do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.”
Yet even with communal systems in place to safeguard against mass poverty, there will remain some who are needier than others. And so, Moses says, “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’”
That is the line and the context to which Jesus alludes in his rebuke to Judas. It is not that Judas or any of us should not care about the poor; we absolutely should. Generosity and care for our needy neighbor is a fundamental part of the practice of faith, and it always will be. That will never change.
Ok, so, what about this other bit, about how “you will not always have me”? Well, we know, even if they haven’t yet figured it out, that Jesus is a short timer. He’s got about a week left with them in his fleshly, incarnated form. So, he’s simply saying what is true: “If you want to help the poor – and you should – you will have every opportunity to do so. Take it. But in this case, Mary has chosen to show love and generosity to me, because she will not have that chance much longer.” He is about to die, and he lifts up Mary for her faithfulness, tenderness, generosity and devotion in this sacred hour nearing his death. He has pointed out her commitment to costly love.
And yet to Judas, and perhaps to us, Mary’s act of love seems wasteful. In fact, we might see any extravagant act of love that does not yield a tangible result as wasteful. How can we tell the difference between what is waste, and what is costly love?
This brings us to how this text speaks to us in 2025. Goodness knows, the concept of “waste” has been very much in our awareness these weeks, as the Department for Government Efficiency has been looking through our government spending to determine what they deem to be “wasteful,” and cutting it – including many programs that specifically serve lower-income Americans. But this encounter between Jesus and Mary calls into question what is considered waste, versus what is better described as costly love. John points out that even things that seem like prudent financial decisions (selling the perfume and giving the proceeds to the poor) can in fact have a sinister underbelly (the possibility of stealing from the common purse such that money intended for the poor goes into someone else’s pocket instead). So, in the end, what really is “waste,” and what is “costly love,” and how do we know the difference?
Given Jesus’ reference to Deuteronomy 15, not to mention countless other references throughout scripture, both Old and New Testaments, giving to the poor is never a waste – at least not when that money is, in fact, going to the poor and not into the purse of a thief like Judas! But this story of tender generosity and devotion also shows us that any act of love is not a waste, costly though it may be. Any time we love our neighbor as ourselves, it is not a waste. Any time we put aside our own self-interest, and focus on the need of another, or the greater good, it is not a waste. Indeed, it is what our faith calls us to.
So, how does costly love look today, then?
It might look like giving a record-breaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, in which you tell real stories of real Americans in need, and quote scripture, and call upon your colleagues to rise to this moral moment and do the right thing.
It might look like joining millions of people around the country to show up to a public action even when you’d rather not go out in the rain, all to say, “We care about what happens to people who depend upon the government spending that is being decried as wasteful. We care about people’s rights and safety. We care about the poor and vulnerable, and it is not a waste to feed people, and provide them safe housing, and healthcare, and libraries.”
Costly love might be literally costly – a large donation, even one slightly beyond your usual level of comfort, to someone who needs it more than you do. As one stewardship expert says, “Don’t give until it hurts. Give until it feels good.”
But costly love could also look quieter and more private than that: It also might look like listening to your child or spouse or friend talk about something important to them, even though you are so tired you can hardly stand it. It might look like reading a book by or about a different life experience from your own, for the sole purpose of getting out of your comfort zone and seeing the world through the eyes of another. It might look like praying for your enemy, for Judas, or for whoever it is that is stealing from those in need or working against your best interest.
Of course, Jesus doesn’t ask more of us than what he himself is about to do. After this loving encounter with Mary, who gives everything she has to kneel at his feet and show him her love, Jesus will enter Jerusalem on a donkey to cries of Hosanna! He will kneel at his disciples’ feet, even Judas, and wash them, saying, “I give you a new commandment, to love one another as I have loved you.” He will willingly give himself up to the authorities, imploring Peter as he does not to respond with violence, because such behavior is of this world, not God’s kingdom. He will give himself up to die, on our behalf, and hang from a cross – still smelling of that perfume that Mary poured so generously on his feet to show her devotion. And then Jesus will rise again, to show us that nothing, not even death, will ever keep us from God’s love in Christ Jesus. This act is the costliest of love. And it is exactly what enables us to give our own costly love in service to our neighbor in need. How will we give generously, tenderly, to show our love to our neighbor, and to this world God loves so much?
Let us pray… Gracious God, we so often count the cost, not wanting to give more than is absolutely necessary. But you, Lord, gave it all. Give us hearts like Mary’s, ready to pour out whatever costly love will serve and heal the world. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.