John 12:1-8 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. (2) There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. (3) Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (4) But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, (5) "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (6) (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) (7) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. (8) You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me” (NRSV).
EXTRAVAGANCE
Text: John 12:1-8
Last week, the sermon focus was on the parable of the prodigal son and repentance. This Sunday, the focus is on Mary’s extravagant thankfulness.
Years ago, I was a student pastor of the Lynchburg Charge, (Lynchburg, St. Luke and Trinity) of the Florence District in SC from 1989 - 1993. I was soon to be appointed to my second pastoral appointment. One night after Bible study, one of my members stopped me on the front steps of the church and said, “I want to give you some flowers”. I was puzzled because I did not see any flowers. Of course, she was not talking about real flowers. She was talking about telling me how she felt about me as her pastor. She was a lot like a grandmother to me as a young pastor starting out. She wanted me to know how much I had meant to her. It was all I could do to choke back the tears. Why? Because her “flowers”---her expression of love was genuine and from the heart. Her words reminded me of some of the lyrics (just shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel) to a James Taylor song entitled “Shower The People.”
Vernie passed away back in 2006 at the age of 89. I have never forgotten the “flowers” that elderly widow by the name of Vernie Stokes gave me. I still treasure the flowers of her compliment even to this day, some 29 years later.
When Mary used that pint of expensive perfume on Jesus, she was expressing how thankful she was of what Jesus had done for her. Today, we will talk about gratitude and grace.
GRATITUDE
Why do you think Mary was so grateful to Jesus in John 12?
1) Party: In John 11 she was mad with Jesus because her brother Lazarus who had been sick, had died before His arrival in Bethany. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. There can be doubt that Mary was grateful for what Jesus had done for her and Martha in bringing back their brother Lazarus from the dead. This meal is a celebration and a tangible expression of her love and devotion for Jesus.
2) Foreshadowing: Mary’s meal seems to be a celebration but at the same time there is a foreshadowing of things to come. As someone (John Burridge) has pointed out, “Kings were anointed on their head and people normally wore perfume on their head. But Mary anointed Jesus’s feet which is incidentally the same place where “the preparation of a corpse for burial would start” (see Mark 14:1- 8). (Quoted and paraphrased from : Richard A. Burridge. Daily Bible Commentary: John. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishing, 1998, p. 153). Another clue that points toward Jesus’s crucifixion was John 11:57 because the chief priests and the Pharisees put out what we would call in modern day an A.P.B. ---an “all points bulletin” for Jesus’s arrest because they felt threatened by Jesus (see John 11:47 - 48).
How extravagant was Mary’s gratitude?
1) Priceless: Mary’s gratitude was priceless. Mary was not concerned about how much the perfume cost. Her gratitude was priceless because what Mary did had come from the heart. What Mary was doing was a blessing that was priceless. She knew that Jesus would not always be there.
2) Fat cats : I read a story about a missionary surgeon who once stopped to see one of the ladies in the village that he had once operated on. The lady and her husband were dirt poor. Their source of income was reliant upon their livestock. They had an angora rabbit and two chickens. The woman would often comb the rabbit, take is hair and spin it into yarn which she would sell to make a little money. The chickens provided the eggs that they would eat for food. Anyway, this woman insisted that the missionary stay for lunch. He accepted the invitation. He was not gone for more than an hour and a half, while he went to check on another one of his postopeartive patients. When he returned he peeped into the cooking pot to see what was for lunch. In the pot he saw a rabbit and two chickens. This woman had given up both her income and her only source for food. She had given up everything. He was so touched that he wept.
The Canadian minister who tells this story the Rev. Dr. Victor Shepherd, also told about the occasion in which he heard this story. The missionary was speaking to some university students about his work in the Gaza Strip. He told his audience that they were North American “fat cats” who knew nothing about gratitude. It was then that the missionary told this story. (John K. Bergland. Abingdon Preacher’s Annual 1992. Rev. Dr. Victor Shepherd. “What Price Gratitude?”. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991, p. 122). How far does our gratitude go for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
What is the opposite of extravagance? Is it thriftiness? Or is it thriftiness tinged with greed?
1) Contrasting Judas and Mary: Judas never had a relationship with Jesus because of his displaced and misplaced values. In contrast to Mary and her sentiments, Judas would later betray Jesus. Judas was focusing on the cost of the perfume and not the meaning of the act of humility. Where Mary was expressing her devotion to Jesus, Judas was revealing who he was. Judas was hung up on cost saying that the price of the perfume was the cost of a year’s wages (John 12:5). Sometimes we are like that. Sometimes we get hung up on cost. Sometimes we misplace and displace the value of things. John 12:6 calls Judas a thief.
2) Buyer’s remorse: Later, in Matthew 27:15 Judas made a deal that he regretted when he sold Jesus for the price of a slave (see Exodus 21:32). When Judas realized that he had betrayed Jesus and saw that He was being condemned, he wanted to renege but the chief priests and elders refused. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then, he went and hung himself (see Matthew 27:4 - 10).
3) Clever pranksters. Max Lucado tells the story of some pranksters who entered a store after hours not to steal but to play a huge prank. . They re-arranged some prices. “These clever pranksters took the tag off a $395.00 camera and stuck it on a $5.00 box of stationary. The $5.95 sticker on a paperback book was removed and placed on an outboard motor. They repriced everything in the store. … The craziest part of the story took place the next morning. … The store opened as usual. Employees went to work. Customers began to shop. The place functioned for hours before anyone noticed what happened. Four hours! Some got some great bargains. Others got fleeced”. (Quoted and paraphrased from: Max Lucado. No Wonder They Call Him Savior. Sisters: Multnomah Press, 1986, pp. 31-32). At least the people in the department store only went four hours before they discovered the mistake. Judas was with Jesus for three years, but he never really had a relationship with Jesus. He never discovered his mistake until it was too late.
GRACE
Is God’s gift of grace extravagant?
1) Extravagance of God’s love: God’s grace is extravagant indeed because we could never be able to do anything to be able to merit God’s forgiveness! It is freely given for all who will receive it. Jesus came to us as God in human flesh, fully human and fully divine as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Without realizing it the High Priest Caiaphas had it right when he said “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than for the whole nation to perish (John 11:50 NIV).
Hebrews 2:14-15 says, Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death (NRSV).
He died on a cross to take away our sin and give to us the gift of His righteousness (II Corinthians 5:21) wherein “we have been justified by his blood, [and] will we be saved through [Jesus] from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9).
2) Legalism: The Pharisees had their rules and regulations, but they were relying on salvation to come through the law. The apostle Paul put it this way: “… know that a man is not justified by the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16 NIV). … if righteousness could be gained through the law then Christ died for nothing” (Galatians 2:21 NIV).
3) Unmerited: You cannot do anything to make yourself right with God on your own terms. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast (NRSV).
4) No greater love: Jesus said “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends” (John 15:13 NRSV).
5) Priceless: “Although out of pure grace God does not impute [credit] our sins to us, He nonetheless did not want to do this until complete and ample satisfaction of His law and His righteousness had been made. Since this was impossible for us, God ordained for us, in our place, One [The Lord Jesus Christ] who took upon Himself all the punishment we deserve.
“He fulfilled the law for us. He averted the judgement of God from us and appeased God’s wrath. Grace, therefore, costs us nothing, but is cost Another much to get it for us. Grace was purchased with an incalculable, infinite treasure, the Son of God Himself.” [Martin Luther, Daily Walk, May 5, 1992] Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Who else but our High Priest as God’s only begotten Son could do that once and for all (see Hebrews 5:5, Hebrews 7:26 & Hebrews 10:10).
6) Application: Jesus calls all of us to be saved through grace! Jesus wants us to embrace the gift of His love for us and remember that He gave us a new commandment to love one another (John 13:34 -35; John 15:12).
7) Nothing withheld: Jesus did not withhold anything in demonstrating His love for us even when we were His enemies (Romans 5:8) because of our sinfulness!
How are we applying the extravagant gift of God’s grace?
Are we like Mary who held nothing back? Or, are we like Judas who counted the cost of material things?
Do we let God have the things that hold us back? Or, do we love God with all of our heart soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves?
Does today’s text make us examine our priorities in how we are worshiping God?
Mary's perfume symbolizes God's grace through Jesus because like the perfume that was poured out of the bottle, His blood was poured out for you and me for the forgiveness of our sins. There is no greater and more extravagant love than that that Jesus exemplified for us on the cross!
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
