Theological Truth: Disciples of the Way of Love practice mutual, reciprocal, selfless, sacrificial love.
Come Holy Spirit, and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
I’ve been aware this week of the importance of the old sports cliché about “leaving it all out on the field.” Or in the case of March Madness—the annual NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball tournament—leaving it all out on the court. Kobe Bryant’s final game is another great basketball example of leaving it all out there. He announced his retirement in the 20th year of his professional career. He was 37 years old, and it had not been a great season, for either Kobe or the Lakers. After leading the Lakers to 5 championships and being named an NBA All-Star 18 times, no one would have blamed him if he had faded into the sunset of the season. But in the last game of the year, at home, Kobe played almost the entire game, scoring 60 points and hitting the winning basket. He left it all out there.
But those sorts of “leaving it all out there” performances don’t only happen on the field or on the court. Sometimes they happen on the Senate floor. Just this past week, Senator Cory Booker gave all he had to give. He broke the record for the longest speech in recorded U.S Senate history—a 25 hour marathon prompted by what he sees as a crisis in the country, a slide towards authoritarianism, injustice, and cruelty. In order to make a statement using the tools and power at his disposal, he gave it his all. Even if you don’t agree with his politics, you have to admire his stamina and perseverance.
Leaving it all out there is difficult, but not impossible…and definitely noteworthy! Take Mary, in today’s gospel for example. She pours it all out there and definitely gets noticed! She takes that entire container of perfume made with pure nard—worth about a year’s salary—pours every bit of it out onto Jesus’ feet and then wipes his feet with her hair. She holds nothing back. She leaves it all out there.
If this story sounds familiar, but the details seem different, don’t be concerned about your memory. Today’s gospel is John’s telling of this event. All four gospels contain an account of Jesus being anointed, but there are differences. The question is what is the Spirit saying to us, today, through the words inspired by John’s telling of this event? Both the context, the characters, the setting, and the actions speak to us about the origins and actions of faithful discipleship.
For example, John places this story in the chapter after Jesus has raised Mary’s brother, Lazarus, from the dead. In that story, Mary kneels at Jesus’ feet, weeping. You may also recall that there was a smell permeating the area around Lazarus’ tomb. But now, one chapter later, the kneeling is done out of gratitude and the stench of death is replaced by the fragrance of life and generosity. Mary’s actions originate from her deep appreciation of Jesus raising her brother to life. But that’s not all she’s grateful for.
Mary also is grateful for what Jesus is about to do. Immediately prior to this story, we learn about the Jewish leaders’ plans to arrest and kill Jesus. The people are wondering, “Surely he’s not going to show up in Jerusalem for the festival.” The Chief Priests and the Pharisees, John tells us, “had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.” (11:57). And then the very next verse emphasizes the risk: “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany.” (12:1a). Can you feel the tension escalating? Mary sure did! She sees the danger. She knows what lies ahead. She bought the perfume for his burial, and now, just before he enters Jerusalem walking directly into the death-dealing power of church and state, she anoints him. Anointing as is done for kings, which is how the people will soon greet him on that first Palm Sunday. But she also anoints him for his burial. In this pivotal placement in the story, Jesus is both king and victim, shepherd and lamb. And Mary is lost in wonder, love, praise and gratitude for what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for her and God’s people. Appreciation activates her discipleship.
But there’s more for us to learn from John’s telling of this story. Mary is a model of what disciples do. Motivated, inspired and grateful for what God in Christ has done for us, disciples go and do likewise. Mary’s actions of loving service to Jesus precede what Jesus himself is about to do for his disciples in the Upper Room. Just as Mary anoints Jesus’ feet, so Jesus will wash the feet of his disciples, including Judas! This foreshadowing is more obvious in the original Greek where several of the same words are used:
- The verb describing Lazarus “reclining at table” with Jesus (indicating a festive banquet and making it possible for Mary to get to Jesus’ feet!) is also used in the description of the posture of those attending the Last Supper, particularly John, the beloved disciple.
- The word for the supper in Bethany is the same word used in association with the Last Supper — the only two places in John that they occur.
- And then there’s the action of wiping of Jesus’ feet with her hair. Jesus also wipes his disciples’ feet.
Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that night, after the foot-washing, that they should go and do the same. Mary received an early version of the discipleship memo! Filled with gratitude, she moves into service mode. Knowing that Jesus was not holding anything back and would give all that he had to give for God’s people, she also gave every bit of what she had to give…every drop. She left nothing in the jar. She doesn’t count the cost, she leaves it all out there.
Judas, however, reminds me of that old saying, “he knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.” Where Mary’s gratitude and selflessness lead her to generosity and service, his selfishness and suspicion lead him to stinginess and control. Paul on the other hand, is another disciple who has experienced the life-giving power of Jesus’ death and resurrection so he is able to write, “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.” It is with grateful, paradigm-shifting insight that Paul gives all that he has to give, even and eventually his own life. He presses on to make it his own, because Christ Jesus had me him his own.
But notice, in the heart of Jesus, the jar of Mary and the writings of Paul, what gets poured out is love and service. Disciples are called to stand up for the poor, speak out for the oppressed, reach out to those who are hurting, and call out those who would persecute the orphans, widows, and sojourners in the land. We should pour all the love we have out for the life of the world. But, let’s be sure that our nard is pure….not polluted with hatred or tainted with violence. Let us walk in love, as Christ loves us and gave himself for us. An offering and sacrifice to God, in gratitude for God and in service to God’s people.
Giving our whole selves to this way of love for the life of the world, isn’t easy, but it is the way of Jesus. This is having not only faith in Jesus, but the faith of Jesus. Over the next two weeks, we’ll have the opportunity to “contemplate those mighty acts by which God in Christ has given us life and immortality” through this way of full, selfless, sacrificial love. If we’re open to it and show up for it, then we too, like Mary and Paul, will realize, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.” We’ll pour out ourselves for the life of the world.
