The Shortest Sermon I’ve Ever Preached
John 12:1-8
April 1, 2000
I am sure many of you were relieved when you saw my sermon title this morning, The Shortest Sermon I’ve Ever Preached. I even heard someone say, “Boy ! Are we in for a treat today ! We’re about to hear the shortest sermon he’s ever preached ! On such a nice day too ! Aren’t we lucky !” Well, there’s only one thing that I can say about my sermon title this morning, April Fool’s ! Oh well, someone had to do it to you and it mine as well have been me.
Now the real title of my sermon this morning is, Selective Hearing, which I am sure many of us can relate to. Isn’t it odd how some people only hear part of what you say. Some people only hear what they want to hear and then there are others who hear you say one thing, and interpret it as something entirely different.
I heard a story the other day about a hobo who walked up to the front door of a big farmhouse, and knocked on the door until the owner answered. The hobo said, “Sir, could I please have something to eat ? I haven’t had a meal in days.” The well-to-do owner of the house said, “I have made my fortune
in the world by never giving anything away for free. If you go around to the back of the house, you’ll fine a fresh gallon of paint and a clean brush. Paint my porch and I’ll give you a good meal.”
The hobo headed off to the back of the house. About an hour later he knocked on the front door. The homeowner was surprised. “You’re finished already? That was quick! Come on in and sit down, and I’ll have the cook bring you a meal.” “Thank you, sir!” the hobo said. “I must tell you though, you really don’t know your cars. That’s not a Porch back there. It’s a BMW."
Yes, sometimes people just don’t understand clearly, and that is the case with this morning’s Scripture passage. Judas didn’t understand why Mary was wasting the expensive perfume with the anointing of Jesus at Bethany. Jesus had to explain it to him.
In order to understand this passage better, we need to take a look at what had happened just prior to Jesus showing up at Mary and Martha’s house.
About a week or so prior to this event, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. Now the Jews of the area had heard about this miraculous miracle, and as you can imagine it caused quite the stir among them. By raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was really putting the final nail in his own coffin.
The Jewish leaders of the area called an emergency meeting. They discussed the latest in a series of events that had caused such an upset in the religious community. And at the center of it all was Jesus. This man from Nazareth, who had been going around the area creating all sorts of havoc. They asked themselves how much longer could they let this man upset their religious applecart.
He was going around healing individuals by the hundreds, casting out demons, feeding hoards of people and performing countless miracles. And now this ! This time he’d gone and done it ! He raised someone from the dead ! They agreed that they had to put a stop to this. They said before they know it, all of their people would be following him, and how long would it be before the Roman’s noticed all this.
Once the Romans got involved, they would all be in trouble. The Romans would blame any problems with the people on them. They needed to get rid of him and fast ! They agree to have him killed.
One of them objected to this and was immediately put in his place by Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews who said, “Don’t you realize that it’s better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.”
They all agreed and formed their plan to do away with Jesus.
Jesus heard about the plot to kill him and decided to keep a low profile for as long as he could. However, the time of the Jewish Passover was drawing near and all the Jews were heading to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. And that is where we find Jesus this morning, on his way into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
John tells us that six days prior to the Passover, Jesus had arrived in Bethany. Bethany was a small village about three miles outside the city limits of Jerusalem. Jerusalem could not hold all of the people who had gathered to celebrate the Passover. Bethany was where the overflow of people would stay. Bethany just happened to be where Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus lived.
We read that Mary and Martha were having a dinner party and Jesus was the guest of honor. I am sure this was a party given to thank Jesus for restoring Lazarus to life. John tells us that after they had eaten their meal, they sat around the dinner table relaxing. We can envision Martha in the kitchen, busy cleaning up and Mary there with the dinner guests, by Jesus’ side. We remember from another story Martha complaining to Jesus that she was left to do all the work while Mary sat with Jesus.
Mary went and got a pint of very expensive perfume, poured it onto Jesus’ feet and then wiped his feet with her hair. Mary, the sister of Lazarus expresses her gratitude to Jesus for the restoration of her brother’s life. She offers this very expensive and lavish gift without any consideration of its cost. But we immediately hear from someone who does count the cost of all this extravagance. We hear from Judas, the one who will later betray Jesus.
Judas speaks right up and tries to take Mary to task for what she has done. He objects to what Mary has done and asks Jesus, “Why wasn’t that perfume sold and the money given to the poor ?” It was worth 300 denarii, which is a whole year’s wages. But Judas really doesn’t care about the poor. John identifies Judas as a thief who stole money from their treasury. His concern was not for the poor. He was concerned with lining his own pockets.
Jesus interrupts Judas and tells him to leave Mary alone. He tells Judas that the perfume was intended for the day of his burial, but Mary has chosen to use it to anoint him now, while he is still alive and with them. He tells Judas that they will always have to poor among them to minister to, but he will not always be with them.
Jesus knows what lies ahead of him in the City of Jerusalem. Perhaps Mary knows too. So we are left with Mary at Jesus’ feet, anointing him with this perfume of nard and symbolically preparing Jesus for his burial.
For more than a month now, we have journeyed with Jesus on the road to the cross. With this morning’s Scripture passage, we stand on the edge of the City of Jerusalem with Jesus as he looks into the following week when he will enter into the city on Palm Sunday. It has been a long journey. It has been a journey that has taken him to many corners of the region to minister to those in need. Yet, in his heart, he knew the day was drawing closer and closer, the day he would have to enter into the Holy City of Jerusalem and face what God had ordained him to face so long ago.
In the final weeks of Lent, we focus on our journey with Jesus in a more intense and concentrated way. We being to ask ourselves, “How do we walk with Jesus to the cross ? Can we walk with Jesus to the cross ?” We wonder how can we become faithful followers and disciples of Jesus, like Mary. We ask ourselves how can we avoid the pitfalls of becoming an unfaithful follower and disciple of Jesus’ like Judas. We pray that we can journey with Jesus to the cross, and not run in fear as Peter and the other disciples did.
We stand in awe of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who really gives us the model of faithful discipleship. When we examine Mary’s model for faithful discipleship, we can see that it was borne out of a profound sense of thanksgiving. She was overwhelmingly thankful for what Jesus did for her brother Lazarus. She was so thankful that she gave all that she had in the expensive perfume as a token of her thanksgiving.
I remember a time when I was about 12 years old. We were camping on our family vacation. Each of us got some spending money for the week. One day, early in the week of our camping vacation, my younger sister wandered off and we couldn’t find her. Everyone around us in the campsite began searching for her. About an hour later, a teenager found my little sister near the pond and brought her safely back to our campsite. I remember I was so thankful for him finding her that I gave him all of the spending money I had for the week. I was profoundly thankful for my little sister’s safe return.
It was Mary’s profound sense of thankfulness that caused her to throw the dinner party for Jesus. It was her profound sense of thankfulness that caused her to break open the expensive pint of perfume that was worth a year’s wages, and pour it over Jesus’ feet. It was her profound sense of thankfulness that moved her to wash Jesus’ feet with her hair. Her profound sense of thankfulness was at the very core of her relationship with Jesus.
As we approach the end of this Lenten season and journey into Holy Week next week after Palm Sunday, let us do so with a profound sense of thankfulness for what Jesus did for us on the cross. Let us look to Mary for the model of thanksgiving and faithfulness. Let us get up the courage to walk along side Jesus remembering that he is the One that offers us the true gift of everlasting life. May our profound sense of thankfulness always be at the core of our relationship with Jesus. AMEN!
