“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12)
This week, we are looking at the story of Jesus being anointed at Bethany (John 12:1-8). As Jesus reclines at a dinner held in honour of him, Mary anoints him with perfume worth the equivalent of a labourer’s annual salary. This is an extravagent and incredibly expensive act of devotion. For Mary, devotion to Jesus is what matters most. But what do we spend our money on? Do we spend money on our personal needs? Do we support the ministry of the church to promote worship of Christ? Or do we give to charities that care for the poor? For Christians all these things are important, all should feature in our budgeting. We need to pray for wisdom on what proportion of our wealth we give to each.
How we spend our money, expresses the longing of our hearts
ABBA, Money, Money, Money
“Ah-ha
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It’s a rich man’s world”
But, what things would you do?
Apart from paying all the necessary taxes and bills, what do you do with your money? What does that say about your devotions, the longing of your heart?
If the answer is spend it on alcohol or drugs, then maybe they are the longing of our hearts. Or if most of it goes on luxurious holidays, perhaps it is travel that is our real devotion. Or if you invest everything into decorating your house, then perhaps having the perfect home is your top priority.
The way we spend our money says a lot about what truly matters to us.
At the heart of today’s reading is a question about what is appropriate to spend our money on. Mary anoints Jesus with really expensive perfume and Judas says, “What a waste! The perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Mary and Judas seem to have very different ideas about how money should be spent and their ideas show the longing of their hearts. On the one hand she spends a fortune on a lavish expression of devotion to Jesus, whilst on the other, Judas expresses a compassion for the poor.
Should we as Christians have the same attitude as Mary or as Judas? Should we be devoted more to Jesus or the poor? And how will that attitude show itself in our use of money today?
What is going on outside the house?
Before we dive into those questions, we need to go outside the house and see the bigger context of what is going on.
In John’s gospel, things are coming to a climax. The back story is that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha in Bethany had died and been in the grave for four days, before Jesus turned up. But when Jesus did turn up the impossible happened. He commanded that the grave be open, then when they did, after a short prayer he commanded Lazarus, the dead man, to come out. And he did! Much to everyone’s astonishment and joy, the man they had buried only a few days before was alive again! As the story spread so Jesus’ popularity began to grow. More and more were believing in him.
At the same time, the authorities have become convinced that Jesus needs to die. They have put a warrant out for his arrest.
So, everything is coming to a climax. This is a critical moment. As Jesus arrives at Bethany, only two miles from Jerusalem, is he coming to die or coming to bring in the Kingdom of God.
If you believed he was coming as a new king, you would rally around Jesus as many did the next day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, cheering him on. You would devote yourself to him and his cause.
If, however, you believed the game was up, that he was about to be arrested and snuffed out by the authorities, then you would want to distance yourself from him.
How would you have reacted in that situation?
Mary’s Devotion
What was happening outside the house is of course relevant to what was happening inside the house. The people of Bethany and especially Lazarus, Martha and Mary wanted to show their devotion to Jesus before things kicked off. They had done that by inviting him to a meal in honour of him.
This is not surprising. After all, Jesus had done the impossible for them, he had given them back the dead Lazarus. Wouldn’t you want to honour and show your devotion to anyone who could bring one of your loved ones back from the dead?
But, more than that this family, that were clearly particularly close to Jesus, had grasped that Jesus had power not just to bring one person back from the dead for a short time, but power over death itself. They had come to see that Jesus truly was the Son of God. What matters for them is not so much whether he can liberate them from the power of Rome, but the power of death. Indeed, can the threat of the authorities to kill Jesus really work against the one who has power over death. When Jesus defends Mary, he suggests the perfume is for his burial. Did Mary understand that Jesus’ death would not be the end of hopes of liberation, but the means of liberation from the power of the devil, sin and death?
How much of it Mary understood we cannot know, but I think from her experience with the raising of Lazarus and her understanding of who Jesus actually was, she knew better than most. Here was someone definitely worth her devotion, no matter what the authorities were going to do to him, she could trust that somehow Jesus would bring about the necessary revolution.
But the crisis is coming, time is running out, the Passover is only six days away.
So, Mary takes an enormously expensive amount of perfume, worth probably something like £20,000 in today’s money, and pours it on Jesus and specifically his feet. This is an amazing and powerful expression of devotion to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, the one with power over death. She holds nothing back, not her most costly perfume, not even her dignity as she wipes his feet with her hair.
And her act of devotion impacts the whole house. Perhaps in a lovely bit of eyewitness detail, John says, the whole house was filled with the smell of the perfume. Not surprising. But perhaps this detail also hints at something else. News of the beauty of her act of devotion will diffuse more widely.
In Mark’s version of this story Jesus says,
“Truly, I tell you wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:9)
- The impact and beauty of one person’s devotion will spread and draw others to the same level of devotion. When we show devotion to Jesus, then others will see and others will be drawn to value Jesus for themselves. We may struggle to find opportunities to talk about Jesus to our families and friends, but if they can see our devotion to him, that in itself will have a powerful impact. People are drawn to desire what other people desire. A powerful devotion will eventually draw others in as well.
Judas’ Priorities
What about Judas? Doesn’t he have a point with his comment. The perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Isn’t this something Jesus would have wanted. After all, Jesus did not seek riches and wealth like the kings of his day, he did help the kind of people that the rich and powerful of his day would have nothing to do with. He even told one rich man to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor.
And Jesus does not dismiss Judas’s point completely. When he says, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” He shows us that there needs to be an ongoing generosity to the poor.
But again, the ‘You will not always have me,” seems to hint at the coming end of Jesus’ time on earth. He seems to be saying to Judas, yes the poor matter, but what matters at this moment of crisis, is whether you choose to be devoted to Jesus or run in fear because you think the authorities are closing in.
Judas had been one of the Twelve, one of Jesus’ closest group of followers. He had seem the miracles and the raising of Lazarus from the dead, yet he is too focussed on the powerful forces closing in on Jesus to destroy him.
Judas is about to switch sides. Mary may spend 300 silver coins worth of perfume to express her devotion to Jesus, but Judas will accept a tenth of that, 30 silver coins, to betray him and hand him over to the authorities that want him dead.
Judas may still express devotion to the poor, but he has lost his devotion to Jesus. Which is why he cannot understand or accept Mary’s act.
But did he even care about the poor? John says, actually Judas helped himself to the funds that were collected for the poor. The truth was that his lack of devotion to Jesus, went hand in hand with a devotion to money or wealth. The poor were an excuse to get more money, not the real concern of his heart.
Sadly the history of communism shows us that what is often expressed as a concern for the poor, can quickly turn into a grab for personal power and the associated wealth. The ideal of helping the poor is quickly overtaken by a greed for money and power.
In contrast, when the heart longs not for wealth or money, but is devoted to the one who gave up everything to die for us on the cross, then genuine concern for the poor soon follows.
Our Devotion and Priorities Today
I started by highlighting the contrast between Judas and Mary. It felt like the question was should we be devoted to Jesus or concerned for the poor. The reality is that it is not an either or question. Both are necessary. True concern for the poor arises from devotion to Jesus and the church at its best has demonstrated that through history.
So, what about us today?
Are you devoted to Jesus like Mary? Do you understand the gift of life for you and your loved ones that only he can bring? Will you express that devotion in visible ways in your life, so that others may become devoted to the one you are devoted to?
And does that devotion show in the way you spend your money? If not why not? The church exists to express devotion to Jesus and to encourage others to do the same, but it can only do so, when people give financially to support it. What percentage of your income do you give to the work of the church? Is that enough to show a real devotion to Jesus? It is easier than ever to set up regular giving to the church. Just of to the website and click on ‘Donate’ and you can set up regular giving to the church through that.
But are you also devoted to compassion for the poor? You may like Judas be keen to see other people give to help those in need, but do you give a significant amount yourself? How much do you give to charities like Christian Aid, Compassion or Tearfund that are working to help people out of poverty around the world? Does your budgeting really express your devotion in these areas.
I think all of us should be budgeting to give a significant proportion to the work of the church and the needs of the poor, but I know that for many where the bills are high and it is hard to make ends meet, this will be necessarily limited. But for those where that is not the case, I leave you with the words of Paul in 1 Timothy:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
(1 Timothy 6:17-19)
St. George's Church Ramsgate 