I wonder if you’ve ever had a memorable meal. A dinner that really sticks out in the mind. Now, maybe you can remember every meal you’ve ever eaten, but I could hardly tell you what I had for dinner last week, let alone ten years ago. But you might remember some memorable meals. Perhaps you remember the best steak you’ve ever tasted (apologies to the vegetarians). Or maybe the most delicious dessert you’ve had (all with no calories, of course!).
Sometimes, though, it isn’t the food itself that makes a meal so memorable. Something happens, and the meal will be remembered for a long time. Ages ago now, I was out for lunch with mum and dad. I had ordered chicken Maryland, and out the plate came, piled high. Chips, bacon, banana fritter, battered pineapple, peas and sweetcorn - it was all there. But what was missing? The chicken Maryland itself! They had forgot to put it on the plate!
Meals can be memorable if they’re for a special occasion - a wedding meal, or a birthday celebration. We had mum out for her birthday one time and we had ordered dessert, when suddenly a birthday cake emerged. Mum saw it coming out from the kitchen and said, oh look, it must be somebody’s birthday - and then realised it was hers!
Or perhaps you’ve had a memorable meal when a ring was presented and you asked (or answered) the question - will you marry me? Meals can be memorable because of what happens at them. And that’s what we find in our reading tonight. We’re not told anything about the food, just that Martha served it, but this meal was unforgettable because of what happened at it - an act of unashamed, extravagant worship.
Jesus is in Bethany. That’s where Lazarus lived - who in chapter 11 had died, but Jesus brought him back to life. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, served the meal, while Jesus and Lazarus and others reclined at the table. For this meal, don’t think of them sitting at the kitchen table or the dining room table. No, at this time, the table was lower, and you lay on your side, feet out behind you, eating with one hand.
Normally when you hear about Martha, you also hear of Mary. And that’s what we hear in verse 3. Mary does something unforgettable: ‘Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.’
I’ve brought along my bottle of aftershave. This is 200ml, so a pint would be two and a half of this bottle. Enough to fill this measuring jug. Except in Mary’s hands isn’t Hugo by Hugo Boss. She has an alabaster jar of pure nard. John says here it’s an expensive perfume.
So I had a look at Boots website (other retailers are available), and their most expensive perfume is (pardon my French) the Dior J’adore Eau de Parfum spray 150ml at £142. The dearest by price by millilitre is Dior J’adore L’or Essence de Parfum spray 40 ml at £112 - or £280 per 100ml. That’s dear, but nowhere near as expensive as the nard Mary brings. She must have saved up for ages in order to have this pint of pure nard.
And what did she do with it? ‘She poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.’ Mark tells us that she broke the jar. She held nothing back. She poured out the whole lot, giving her all to Jesus. This is costly devotion.
But there’s more going on here. You see, it’s not just costly worship, it’s also unashamed worship. She was anointing the feet of Jesus. For a single woman to let down her hair, to touch and anoint a single man’s feet; this was shocking in that culture. This wasn’t how you were meant to get on.
But Mary doesn’t care what other people think. She is pouring out her worship as she pours out her perfume, as she anoints the anointed one (the Christ). This is unashamed worship, not held back by what other people might think. Sometimes we can be held back because we’re fearful of what someone else might think or say. They might not like it, but don’t hold back. Be unashamed in your worship. Clap your hands if you want to! Raise your hands if you want to! Sing out even if the others around you aren’t.
This was unashamed worship - it had to be, because no one could miss what was happening. John says ‘the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’ (3) Sometimes when I’m in one of the big shops, I have to take a deep breath before walking through the perfume counters. Candle shops can be overpowering. If I spray one or two sprays of this, you’ll smell it. Imagine if I poured out the whole bottle, and then again with another bottle and a half? You’d definitely smell it!
Unashamed worship. I wonder if we’re in the same category? Is the fragrance of our devotion to Jesus obvious? Can your friends and neighbours tell that there’s something different about you? Or would people be surprised you’re here, surprised that you identify as a Christian?
Extravagant worship is costly and unashamed. But sometimes it can be misunderstood, even criticised by those who should know better.
One of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, he objects to what has just happened. He says: ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ (5) What a waste it was! A year’s wages poured out in one go - think of the hungry mouths to feed. Think of the hands outstretched to receive even a little bit of it.
Perhaps you find yourself nodding along. But the only hungry mouth Judas was worried about was his own. The only eager hand wanting to receive a fraction of the money was his own. John tells us (with the benefit of looking back afterwards), that Lazarus didn’t care about the poor. He was a thief - he helped himself to what was put into the disciples’ money bag. Judas was about to betray Jesus, but he had done that already many times before.
We’ll focus in on his story tomorrow night. But could there be times when we want to sound righteous, and look better than we really are? Caring not for anyone else, but only for ourselves.
But Jesus will not let Judas criticise Mary in this way. ‘Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.’ (7-8)
Jesus says that ‘you will always have the poor among you’ - I remember one of my teachers saying that the poor would always be with us, so no matter what we did, there would still be poor people, so we shouldn’t bother helping. That is not what Jesus is saying! In Mark’s gospel, Jesus goes on to say, ‘and you can help them any time you want.’We can and should help the poor. The GFS coffee evening for Craigavon Foodbank was a great success. Maybe we need to be doing more things like that.
But Jesus says: ‘But you will not always have me.’ Mary has anointed Jesus, has prepared him for his burial. Jesus knows that the cross is coming closer, that his death is very near. And Mary has offered her worship to Jesus, her Saviour who will die for her. She did it while she could, before Jesus went to the cross.
Jesus is worthy of this costly, unashamed extravagant worship. Jesus, who raised Lazarus from the dead, would himself die - crucified for us, dying in our place, to give us life and hope and peace. Jesus is worthy to receive our worship, and our praise, and everything we have, and everything we are - with our whole selves, we should worship Jesus, who died for us.
It was a memorable meal. No one would ever forget what had happened, when Mary poured out her worship as she poured out her expensive perfume.
Mary challenges us - will we worship Jesus?
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill in the Characters Around the Cross Holy Week series on Tuesday 16th April 2019.
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