The Waste of Grace
“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’”
John 11:3-5
Dear Friends,
Years ago someone asked me what the difference between church and Rotary was. What makes my church, a church known for charity work and justice, different from Rotary Club, a group known for charity work and justice? At the time, I wasn’t sure how to answer. I wondered, “isn’t doing good works just doing good works regardless of the motivation behind those good works?” In a similar fashion, I believe all truth is God’s truth because if it’s truth, it’s God’s. Why must we label charity work as religious or non-religious?
But friends, while a church provides charity, a church is not some charity organization. There’s a vast different between doing good works and doing life together. The church’s affection for Christ determines her actions towards others. Mary seemed to understand this difference in a way I often long for myself. I often find myself connecting with Judas in this story of abundant waste and copious extravagance. While Judas had underlying corrupt motives, his call for better usage of money, time, resources, or anything else resonates with me. There’s a practicality in his observation.
Judas seems reasonable and pragmatic in comparison to Mary’s showy lavishness.
This story isn’t primarily about Judas and his charitable ideals or Mary and her abundant extravagance, though. This story is about a person’s heart posture towards Christ. In this last week of Jesus’s life before his crucifixion, Jesus seemed more interested in a person’s affections that determined their actions instead of simply a person’s actions. For Mary, her affection for Christ determined everything. This jar of very expensive perfume—a year’s wages—was probably her dowry. Mary’s affection for Christ led her to break open and pour out her hopes and dreams—her very future. In her lavishness, she was expressing that her very identity was surrendered to Jesus Christ and nothing else mattered.
In this last week of Christ’s life, Mary broke open and poured out her future because her affection for Christ determined her actions. Her affection wafted into the hearts and bodies, the smell permeating into the very pores of home and heart. This scent would provide distinct reminders of what lavish love broken and poured out looked like—a lavish love that guides any charitable action.
Just five days later, lavish love would be broken and poured once again—terminal wounds and unstoppable flow. This broken and poured out Love wouldn’t simply permeate olfactory glands with a scent of affection, it would permeate the whole self with saving grace—extravagant and wasteful in the best ways.
Oh, the waste of grace, even in these dark days of Holy Week. Thank you, Jesus.
With (love),
Bethany