"love Has Its Reasons"

“Love Has its Reasons”

John 12:1-8

Our Gospel Lesson for this morning is really a continuation of John Chapter 11.

If you didn’t read John Chapter 11 this past week—if you didn’t see the email I sent out-- I encourage you, when you go home today or sometime in the next few days, to read it.

You see Jesus had come to where Mary and Martha lived because their brother Lazarus had gotten sick.

When Jesus arrived, the funeral was already over, Lazarus was dead, and the sisters were absolutely overwhelmed with grief.

Now, usually when a funeral is over the mourners gather for a meal.

The strange thing about this meal is that the person who died is hanging out with Jesus and the other guests at the table—and he is very much alive!!!

And that is because Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

And so, how grateful are his sisters?

Well, Martha is busy serving the food, and Mary?

Mary is so grateful that she takes out, what could well have been the family’s life savings, and anoints the feet of Jesus with it.

Then she wipes His feet with her hair.

And Judas, who is watching all this take place, gets red in the face mad and asks: “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”

Well, that’s not a bad question.

Couldn’t the pint of expensive perfume have been used for a better purpose?

It was worth a year’s wages, for crying out loud!

Couldn’t the money be used to buy food for starving people or to improve the miserable housing in Mary and Martha’s neighborhood?

I mean, they did live in the ghetto.

The name of their town literally means “House of the Poor.”

Didn’t Mary go just a little overboard?

Isn’t She kind of like those of us who choose the most expensive casket possible only to have it buried in the ground?

That’s essentially what happens to this perfume.

It’s wasted.

But instead of agreeing with Judas, Jesus tells Judas to “Leave Mary alone.”

And then He says something that sounds a bit confusing, if not downright mean.

He says: “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

What does Jesus mean by that?

That the poor can go fly a kite?

Is He giving the green light to prosperity preachers—the Jim and Tammy Bakers of this world?

What does Jesus mean by these words?

Jesus’ words are a quotation from Deuteronomy 15:11.

And the meaning here is unmistakable.

It reads: “There will always be poor people in the land.

Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy…”

In other words, Jesus is NOT suggesting that we neglect the poor.

Jesus’ ministry is all about the poor.

So what does Jesus mean?

Years ago, a friend of mine used to teach school in Camden, South Carolina.

It was a classroom for mentally challenged children and most of them were very poor.

In December, right before Christmas break, a little girl named Natasha brought my friend a present.

It was a very nice present.

It was a present that cost more than her family could afford.

My friend didn’t need the gift.

But Natasha was so proud standing there.

Her family was grateful that my friend had taken an interest in their daughter.

They didn’t need to buy that gift.

But what could my friend do but hug that little girl and say: “Thanks”?

Love has its reasons.

Lots of extravagant gifts are put in the air where they soon evaporate.

Last week, for example, the Lee University Symphonic Band was here in this sanctuary—leading our worship music.

Was that a real shot in the arm or what?

Did it make a difference in your week?

Will you remember it for a long time?

Was it extravagant and over-the-top?

It was the most beautiful and moving music I have ever experienced in a worship service.

But now it’s gone.

Sure, we can go to our church Facebook page and watch it, but it’s not the same.

It’s not the same as sitting in this room and absorbing that wall of sound.

In a similar way, a church choir might work on an intricate anthem for weeks, and three minutes later it is over with—gone.

Or a preacher might spend hours upon hours researching and writing a sermon that lasts only 20 to 25 minutes and it is never to be heard nor preached again.

A teacher prepares a lesson for 30 kids.

He or she gives the lesson, then the bell rings, and class is over.

Was it worthwhile or not?

It was costly.

It took a lot of time, talent, energy.

A pastor tells the story of the first congregation he served.