Reflection: "Extravagance"Each Sunday in Lent is carrying us closer to the horror, but also the glory, of Easter.
Today’s Gospel reading shows us Jesus having a time of respite, in a kindly home at Bethany, not far from the Holy City of Jerusalem and we know that it wasn’t long before his time of betrayal. The awareness of his impending suffering is obviously constantly with him. In a sense his final passion was already upon him. In this setting, one deeply sensitive woman, Mary, massages his feet with expensive oil, and in a wonderful outpouring of love, wipes his feet with her hair. It seems to me that in any other situation and especially in these days where awareness of sexual harassment is at the fore, this could be seen as an act of Mary getting too close to Jesus. The expensive oil, the massage, her unbound hair, would point to something erotic - but not here. This is the expression of profound agape; an outpouring of “other-centred” love. At this point I wish to draw a distinction between the acute understanding of this woman and the ongoing confusion in the minds of the men who followed Jesus. It seems to me that the male disciples where in stubborn denial regarding the coming arrest and trial of Jesus – which led to his crucifixion and death. With a mind-set which is unfortunately common among men, they didn’t want to think about the possible upcoming disaster, and they refused to face the loss of their leader. It’s as if by denying the unpleasant truth, it would go away. From the time at Philippi when Peter made his statement that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus had tried to make the men see that his rejection by the religious leaders was inevitable. From that time, he began talking about his cross, but they stayed in denial and didn’t want to know about it. The only trace of acceptance among the men comes from my favourite disciple, Thomas. On the road, Thomas openly expresses his belief that the journey to Jerusalem will end in death. “Come on,” he says to the others, “let’s go and die with him”. Here we see a grave consequence of this denial by most of the men, because hiding from their own deep fears about the possible death of their Master, meant that they couldn’t give Jesus the emotional support he needed in those last weeks and days. They wouldn’t allow themselves to be in tune with his soul. When he needed them most to understand and to support him in his resolve to keep the faith in the face of death, the men were not emotionally there for him. Jesus must have been an extremely lonely man at that time. Thank goodness for the women who were also followers of Jesus. Some of these were financially well-off and provided for Christ’s travelling mission out of their own pockets. I wish more information had survived about his aspect of our Lord’s support group. I reckon there was a lot more going on than the scant references that survive in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, however, I rejoice that the record of this incident (that is, our Gospel focus for today) has survived. We cherish the record of that evening meal at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Mary was unpretentiously empathetic, prepared to bear the pain of admitting to herself the tragedy of what lay ahead for Jesus, the loveliest person she had ever known, who was going to fall into the hands of cruel men and be butchered. This understanding must have been breaking her heart., however, she faced it stoically. No denial here - she was ready to show some expensive, expansive love. Because she wasn’t in denial, she was able to comfort Jesus as he rested in their house at Bethany. She didn’t care what the others thought, she didn’t care whether her sister, Martha, understood or not, she just did what her intuition told her to do. Kneeling down before him, and with the most expensive of oils, pure Nard, she anointed and massaged his feet, then wiped them with her long dark tresses. Jesus knew what she was doing, understood the significance, and was remarkably comforted by a woman who dared to be true to what her heart was telling her. Jesus and Mary knew that his impending death was for real. “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial”. Judas had just blurted out that pious blabber about selling the perfume and helping the poor, but everyone knew that he wanted the money for himself. It would be silly of me to use this story to superficially categorise all men as not being able to deal with sensitive, emotional issues. Likewise, all women cannot be put into the category of the sensitive nurturers. We find some of each gender in both camps. However, it’s no secret that, over many years, social pressures have tended towards shaping men to hide their emotional side, while allowing women more room to express theirs. My main conclusion, therefore, doesn’t lie in pointing the finger only at men. I’m suggesting that both female and male cannot truly support one another unless we stop the denial game; unless we take the risk and make ourselves sensitive to the feelings of others and to our own feelings in response to theirs. We must deal in emotions, not just ideas, with profound listening. Not speaking platitudes to just quickly cover our own discomfort. I remind you of the penance we’re offering during Lent - that we should get to know ourselves better, so that we can be better servants to God. This story has the same theme, plus a consequence: Know yourself and you will be better able to know others and stand with them in their time of need. It’s that expensive love, agape love, other-centred love. It’s high-risk love that allows both the highest joy and the deepest grief. I pray that you allow the lovely Mary to be your tutor. While others were in denial, she identified with Jesus and gave some of the comfort he desperately needed. Mary took half a kilogram of expensive, perfumed oil, massaged it into the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. Then the whole house was filled with the fragrance. What can you do for your Lord this day? "People of faith, watch for what God is doing in the world. See what is here and now. Hear with sensitivity. Love with deep care. Be the person God calls you to be. Move forward with hope, for there is so much more than we will ever understand. Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer God is in us, around us and before us. Let us go out with joy as we watch for the new thing God is doing. Amen" Lenten Blessings………………..Pastor Rick
1 Comment
Lena Beryl Blok
8/4/2022 04:15:29 pm
Thank you, Rick, for reminding me that in Lent we should know ourselves better, so that we can be better servants of God.
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