For the second week in a row (Luke 15, John 12), we had a Gospel text that mentions an extravagant sharing of love (a party thrown for a younger son thought dead, and this week Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with costly perfume). For the second week in a row there was someone (the older brother, Judas) so wrapped up in their narrow, self-centered mode of thinking and understanding that they completely missed what was taking place in front of them.
I have been, and I am, far more often than I’d like to admit, oblivious to the extravagant exchanges of love taking place right in front of me. I’ve been “too busy,” or so wrapped up in wondering what people are thinking about me, or so interested in, “What’s in it for me?” or simply so quick to judge something as good or bad that I have surely missed countless moments of extravagant love.
When Judas remarks that the perfume should’ve been sold and money given to the poor (and to the “National Bank of Judas’ rainy day fund”), Jesus responds in a perplexing way: “You will always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
I think one of the things Jesus is getting across in this statement is an invitation to be present, to recognize and celebrate the extravagant love of God being shared as Mary anoints Jesus before he heads to Jerusalem where he will be arrested, crucified, and buried. Jesus calls Judas and all the disciples to tune into the ways God is at work in their midst.
Note: I think we also miss the point of what is going on in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus if we take his response to Judas as an excuse to not care for the poor. Check out Sunday’s sermon for more on this.
How can we tune in to what God is up to in our midst? How can we take on a wide thinking and understanding that gets us beyond ourselves? How can we not miss the moments, encounters, relationships, events of extravagant love happening right in front of us?
This is part of what God is up to in Christ. This is what repentance (metanoia) looks like – a transforming of the mind, a turning toward God. We are called to be and given the tools to be “Detectives of Divinity,” seeing, pointing to, sharing how God is at work breathing new life into this weary world.
When people give freely. When someone operates out of an abundance (there’s enough for everyone and more) mentality rather than scarcity. When family members are reconciled. When we’re able to admit we were wrong. When we take the first, messy step of forgiveness. When someone asks you a question and then listens to you without interruption or judgment.
These are moments of God’s extravagant love filling you and the world until it overflows.
Find an image of a cross near you – it could be a picture on your computer/phone, maybe jewelry, perhaps just two lines meeting on the sidewalk.
Let this be a reminder to you of the open arms of Christ who offers his life for the sake of the whole world. Let it be a symbol of how God’s grace and love stretch on into infinity in every direction. Let it proclaim to you, and you proclaim to others, that the love of God is all around us, even in the places and moments of deepest suffering and despair and grief. May this sign be a reminder that God is filling you, who have been marked with the cross in baptism, with extravagant love that will overflow and be poured out for the world.
Come to dinner (5:30pm) and worship (6:15pm) tonight as we discern and discuss what it looks like in our lives to strive for justice and peace in all the earth, which is one of our promises in baptism.
God’s grace and love for you name you beloved, remind you that you are enough, and bring you into new life.
Pastor Drew
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