Who are Jesus’ disciples? How many
are there?
Okay,…those are trick questions. The
Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry tell us stories about the twelve
who he gathered close to him, but every one of us is a disciple of
Jesus.
Each of us is included in God’s
infinite grace, love and forgiveness and
invited to follow Jesus and learn about
the Kingdom of God,
invited to imitate his life in our
relationships with one another,
invited to be in relationship with
the hurting world around us..
The promise of the gospel is that discipleship
is for everyone.
The story of the anointing of Jesus
is in all four Gospel accounts; in Luke’s Gospel, it’s earlier in Jesus’
ministry but in three of the Gospels, including the Gospel of John that we read
today, it is sandwiched between statements about killing Jesus and about
killing Lazarus.[i] And only
in John’s account, the anointing happens just before the story of Jesus
entering Jerusalem that we will hear next week.
The story centers on just three
people:
1)
Jesus, who
has come from Ephraim, north of Jerusalem, where he had been with his disciples
is now in Bethany, some two miles outside Jerusalem, at the house of Mary,
Martha and their brother Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.
Ironically, that
life-bringing event convinces the religious leaders in Jerusalem that Jesus must
die and they begin to plot to kill him. But here, he is among friends.
2)
The second person is Mary of Bethany, who is loved by Jesus and believes in him;
3)
and third,
there’s Judas, who is one of the
twelve closest to Jesus, who is revealed as the ‘devil’, a thief and a betrayer.
Through her actions, Mary shows us
what discipleship means – what it looks like to experience the fullness of life
through believing in Jesus.
Unafraid
of looking foolish,
Mary sits on the floor at Jesus’
feet, surrounded by a room full of people,
her hair is loosened and she is pouring perfume on Jesus' feet,
filling the house with a scent that
is something between mint and ginseng.
Unafraid
of getting hurt,
Mary doesn’t stop to think what
others will think. She doesn’t reason out the pros and cons, and evaluate whether
she might be able to use the perfume another way. It is true that the perfume was
so precious that its sale could have fed and clothed many – so no, this was not
an efficient choice that maximized the possible returns, but in anointing
Jesus’ feet, Mary makes a faithful choice, and shows her own vulnerability, and
Jesus affirms her choice, telling the others, “Leave her alone.”
Unafraid
of making others uncomfortable,
Mary makes an extravagant
sacrifice, with an ease or willingness that makes at least one of the guests
squirm. Have you ever shrunk back at an unconventional display or outpouring of
faith, love or service?
We only hear his question about
providing for the poor, but Lazarus sounds a lot like a sibling tattling on a
brother or sister…. “Can you believe what she’s doing?
What a waste, how foolish…” Mary wasn’t acting against Judas, she was acting faithfully toward Jesus.
Unafraid
of consequences,
Mary carefully and intimately
anoints Jesus,
honoring him as king and Messiah, and
preparing his body for death on the cross.
She isn’t acting blindly. She knows
what she’s doing. The resurrection of her brother Lazarus prompted the
religious leaders to decide Jesus cannot live, and at the end of today’s
Gospel, they decide Lazarus will need to die, too, because of his witness. But
she takes the risk anyway, making her adoration and gratitude public.
Unafraid
of conflict,
Mary speaks out, not with words,
but with her actions, confident that she was acting faithfully.
How much easier would it have been
for her to do something else, to help serve the meal, to stay on the periphery,
and to let someone else be the model
disciple?
Reflecting on this story of the
anointing of Jesus, what are we afraid of?
What makes us more like Judas, and
less like Mary?
“Why are we so concerned with what other
people think?”[ii]
How often do we hide our
vulnerability, act with indifference or play the skeptic?[iii]
What happens when we let fear drive
our decisions and actions?[iv]
We cheapen the cross.
Basically we say to God, and to
those who see us as Christ in the world,
that Jesus’ death on the cross
wasn’t enough,
that we don’t really believe that
God’s love is sufficient to overcome our fears.
But on the cross, and in his
resurrection, Jesus heals our brokenness, life overcomes death, and God’s
grace, love and forgiveness are ours.
Not through any understanding or strength of our own,
Not because we don’t sound foolish,
Not because we play it safe,
Not because we don’t rock the boat,
Not because we don’t risk being chastised or criticized,
Not because we take the path of least resistance.
And you know what is even more
radical? God’s grace isn’t limited
to the ones who get it right.
In a world that is quick to label
and judge, Judas is clearly the un-redeemable villain. I’m not excusing his
crime or his betrayal.
Clearly, he doesn’t get it. He
doesn’t understand what Mary is doing.
Whether he is greedy and wants to
steal the money for himself,
or whether he is merely
self-conscious, he is turned in on himself,
and his own worries and questions,
instead of turning toward Jesus.
But discipleship is learning how to
live in the grace of God despite our brokenness.[v]
Discipleship is for everyone,
regardless of what has
broken us and our relationships.
God’s extravagant and abundant
grace is for each one of us, for me and for you, redeeming and cleansing us
from all unrighteousness.
The promise of the gospel is that
discipleship is for everyone and watching Mary, we can see what it looks like.
It is Understanding Faith as a joyful
relationship with God where we are invited to learn about the Kingdom of God.
It is Practicing Faith – in worship
and outreach and learning and fellowship –
by living in relationship with each
other and learning to imitate Jesus’ life in our own lives as best as we can.
It is Sharing Faith – through our lives
with people inside this congregation and in our community – being with
the hurting world around us and not being afraid to be vulnerable with others.
When we model our lives on the
lives of people in Scripture like Mary of Bethany, we become living examples of
Christ in the world, sharing God’s extravagant love with the world.
[i]
Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen
[ii] Rob
Bell, NOOMA “Name”
[iii] Bill
Blankschaen, “5 Reasons We Choose Not To Speak Up”, http://www.ronedmondson.com/2013/03/5-reasons-we-chose-to-not-speak-up.html
(accessed March 14, 2013).
[iv] ibid
[v] Mike
Breen, Building a Discipling Culture,
Chapter 1
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