Christ Lutheran Church: Welcome

The Measure of Adoration - March 25, 2007

The Measure of Adoration

Mark 14

March 25, 2007

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

Each week we have been following the next step in the life of Jesus. Last Sunday we were with Him on top of the mountain of Transfiguration. From that mountaintop high, Jesus went back down into the valleys of life and turned south toward His appointment with the Cross in Jerusalem.

Today we are with Him right outside the gates of Jerusalem in the little village of Bethany. The most famous thing He did there was to raise Lazarus from the dead. We talked about that at the Lenten service last Wednesday. But something else happened there, and it may well have happened more than once. This is where some lady poured oil all over his head.

That was supposed to be a good thing, by the way. I know it sounds a little weird to most people these days. Imagine being invited to someone’s house for dinner this summer where you’re all outside having a good time bar-b-cue when some person just walks over to you, cracks open a bottle of something and pours it right over your head. I suppose that would be ONE way to get people to interact with each other.

But keep in mind that this happened in a very hot, dusty and dry country long before there was air-conditioning or roll-on deodorant. Get the drift? What this woman was pouring on Him was perfume. This was the custom of fine hospitality, especially for very honored guests. Well, what you were SUPPOSED to do was to simply shake out a couple of drops or so. This stuff was expensive. Besides, you did not want to overdo it and turn your honored guest into a stink-bomb. (A little aside here on church etiquette: any guy over fifty who uses cologne or any woman over fifty who uses perfume should periodically ask the opinion of an honest friend who does no live with them about whether or not they are making people sit in a pew, if you know what I mean).

Well, this woman in Bethany really does overdo it. She doesn’t just shake out a few drops: she busts open the entire jar and dumps the whole load on His head – maybe as much as a pound of the stuff!

Now this was un-called for. It’s one thing to discreetly do something nice for someone: it’s another thing to go completely overboard. Like the apostles said, “What a waste of money that COULD have been used to help the poor!” Is this not what Jesus himself had been drummin’ on forever – the obligation to help the poor; to sell all that you have and give it to the poor? And speaking of Jesus…some of the people I respect the most are the ones who are uncomfortable wtih anyone making a fuss over them. Not Jesus though.

So on at least two counts I would have expected Jesus to somehow correct this woman, hopefully ever so gently. But no! Once again Jesus does the exact OPPOSITE of what I would expect. He does not correct the woman: He lambastes the others! “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. …She poured perfume on My body beforehand to prepare for My burial.” That’s sure what it looked like: she broke the jar used a huge amount which were things you did to prepare bodies for burial.

Now this is not to say that this is what the woman was intending. That really WOULD have been weird for a stranger to think, “Hmmmmm….even though this guy is a good week away from dying, I think I’ll just get an early start here and begin embalming Him now.” After Jesus explained the real meaning of what she had done, I can almost imagine the woman looking shocked and asking, “I did WHAT?!” More likely, this was one of those times when a person’s actions or words go a lot further than they ever would have imagined at the moment.

Most commentators say, and I agree, that this woman’s actions were unreasonable for day-to-day purposes for this reason: what she did was NOT an act of reason. It was an act of pure adoration: massive, totally all consuming, head over heels adoration. Last week on the mountain of transfiguration we saw the apostles fall flat on their faces when they were overcome by awe. This morning we see a woman go completely overboard when she is overcome by adoration.

One of my favorite commentators was William Barclay who wrote this: “There are times when the commonsense view of things fails. On this occasion the voice of common sense said, “What waste!” and no doubt it was right. But there is a world of difference between the economics of common sense and the economics of love. …certain things must be done when the opportunity arises, or they can never be done at all. The disciples were anxious to help the poor, but the Rabbis themselves said, “God allows the poor to be with us always, that the opportunities for doing good may never fail.” There are some things which we can do at any time; there are some things which can be done only once; and to miss the opportunity to do them then is to miss the opportunity for ever. Often we are moved by some generous impulse, and do not act upon it: and all the chances are that the circumstances, the person, the time, and the impulse, will never return. For so many of us the tragedy is that life is the history of the lost opportunities to do the lovely thing.”

Again, “there is a world of difference between the economics of common sense and the economics of love.” Reminds me of another woman who came to worship and who put into the offering only two coins. But Jesus noticed and commended her just like He commended the woman with the perfume: she gave ALL that she had…not out of obligation, but in total adoration. You know, the vast majority of worshipers here toss in to the offering plate only “convenience cash” – the least they feel obligated to give. The typical offering is only a fraction of even the $10 per person it costs to run this church. I am less concerned with what that means to our budget than what it means to Jesus. Apparently He took these kinds of things very personally as measures of what is really in a person’s heart toward Him. Our giving is not so much a problem with finances as much as it is a problem with adoration.

When we take offering during worship, what we are really doing is taking the temperature of our faith. The next time the plate comes around, be sure to check your heart rate.