I am, I give, I will

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them[a] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sharing a single bathroom with only one sink with four other siblings and two parents was quite the challenge growing up in my childhood. From doing the notorious potty dance and banging on the door in desperation so that you can have your measly fifteen minutes of getting ready in the morning. Life in a household with five children and two parents had its amazing moments and more often than not, crazy ones too. One of my sisters and I would play a game with my mother where we would be in another room and one of us would yell “Mom!” She would respond with “What?!” and then we would respond with “never mind.” We would repeat this game with her for a while until she would catch on to our antics. One summer, we had a slip-n-slide that provided countless hours of summer fun. It had rained quite a bit one week so we decided to make a large mud puddle into our “pool” at the end of the slip-n-slide. Needless to say, we were a muddy mess that our mom was not too pleased with us when we attempted to come inside after playing in the mud.

These moments have become cherished memories that I still recall fondly. We were and still are really close as a family. We love to spend time together and to catch up on all of our life events. As time progresses we are finding it harder and harder to remain the family unit that we once were. We are all married and now all of my siblings, with their spouses, have children of their own. Our life dynamics have changed and now my parents are in a new life circumstance, being grandparents. All these memories serve as a fond reminder of where I came from and how it has shaped me for my future.

One of the hardest stepping stones in my life was the inevitable circumstance of leaving home to go to seminary. My wife, Natalie, and I had left both my family as well as hers behind in IL and IA to move to PA. Little did we know that when were got married on July 1st, 2017, our former lives would be left behind, our family and our friends. We were newlyweds that were married for all of eighteen days when we moved to PA on July 19th, 2017, thirteen of which we were honeymooners. Reality had not set in yet until we finally arrived in PA as our parents drove away back to the Midwest. We had left behind a lot of memories from our childhoods and we were new to living with one another making our own memories. Figuring out how this whole marriage thing works and how are lives are forever changed for the good and the bad. Although we left our dear family back in the Midwest, we have made many new friends and created a new type of family that we grateful for their friendship.

We come to understand the relationship that Jesus had with Mary’s family in the previous chapter of John. Jesus was very fond of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. Jesus cared for them deeply and even wept when he heard about the news of Lazarus’ death. Mary’s relationship with Jesus, being at the feet of her Lord and Savior anointing him with expensive perfume shows her love and admiration for him. When she anointed Jesus’ feet, she didn’t care about the laws that were sacred to her womanhood, she went all in. Yes, she still deeply cared for her family, but she gave up her earthly possession that was worth over a year’s wages to anoint her eternal King. Womanhood in Ancient Israel, had its obligations and responsibilities. To unbind and loosen the hair in the presence of outsiders was considered an indecent act. Loosening of the hair was meant for the husband and their intimate times. Hair was a sign of a woman’s honor and stature. When she lays her “woman’s honor” at the feet of Jesus, making it a towel to wipe his feet with this costly perfume, she is saying as if it is the proper place for a sinner’s head, to be at the feet of Jesus.

Although we left our dear family back in the Midwest, we have made many new friends and created a new type of family that we grateful for their friendship. Mary’s relationship with Jesus, being at the feet of her Lord and Savior anointing him with expensive perfume shows her love and admiration for him. Womanhood in Ancient Israel, had its obligations and responsibilities. To unbind and loosen the hair in the presence of outsiders was considered an indecent act. Loosening of the hair was meant for the husband and the intimate times. Hair was a sign of a woman’s honor. In the previous chapter of John, we come to understand the relationship that Jesus had with this family. Jesus cared for them so deeply and the same goes for the family because they cared about Jesus. Jesus grieved over the death of his friend, Lazarus, but used Lazarus’ resurrection to be for the glory of God. When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet, she went all in. Yes, she still deeply cared for her family, but she gave up her prized possession that was worth over a year’s wages to anoint her eternal king. Paul says in our Epistle reading, “I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.” If we hold too tightly to the things of this world, we will lose them. But if we give them back to God and/or stop worrying about these worldly things, we will find the joy that God gives us freely through our savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection.

Mary knew that Jesus was about to be persecuted and die. She took all that she had and gave the best that she could possibly give. On the one hand, Judas mocked her and said 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” But his heart was not in the right place. He lived for these earthly possessions because he did not care for the poor but cared about the money that his greedy hands would soon get ahold of. Mary, on the other hand, had just been through a traumatic situation with losing her brother, Lazarus, and then he having been raised from the dead. She knew what it meant to lose someone near and dear to her heart. She gave all that she had in order to praise her Lord.

Paul says in our Epistle reading, “8b For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” In this Lenten season, as we approach Holy Week, we are deeply moved to be at the feet of Jesus, laying our earthly possessions at his feet so that we may taste and see that the Lord is good. If we hold too tightly to the things of this world, we will lose them. But if we give them to God, we will find the joy that God gives us freely through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection.

The Lord says, “19b I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21  the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.” The Lord is the great I am, who was, who is, and will be forever. He gave his life as a ransom for many, taking on our sin and bondage to the cross. And now He welcomes us to the altar, His table, to be part of the banquet feast. And we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy LORD God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.”

Paul says in our Epistle reading, “8b For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,”

In this Lenten season, as we approach Holy Week, we are deeply moved to be at the feet of Jesus, laying our earthly possessions aside so that we may taste and see that the Lord is good.

One of the hardest stepping stones in my life was the inevitable circumstance of leaving home to go to seminary. My wife, Natalie, and I had left both my family as well as hers behind in IL and IA to move to PA. Little did we know that when were got married on July 1st, 2017, our former lives would be left behind, our family and our friends. We were newlyweds that were married for all of eighteen days when we moved to PA on July 19th, 2017, thirteen of which we were honeymooners. Reality had not set in yet until we finally arrived in PA as our parents drove away back to the Midwest. We had left behind a lot of memories from our childhoods and we were new to living with one another making our own memories. Figuring out how this whole marriage thing works and how are lives are forever changed for the good and the bad. Although we left our dear family back in the Midwest, we have made many new friends and created a new type of family that we grateful for their friendship.

When Natalie and I moved across part of the country to go to seminary, we went all in for the Kingdom of God. We gave up spending some time to be with families to be at the seminary. The amazing thing is though, God provided us a new family. God gave us what we needed before we even knew it. The community life that surrounded us at the seminary enabled us to push through the difficult times when we were missing our biological families the most. The best part is that God continues to say that I will give you all that you will need to be formed in my likeness. In this Lenten season, as we approach Holy Week, we are deeply moved to be at the feet of Jesus, laying our earthly possessions and fond memories at his feet so that we may taste and see that the Lord is good. If we hold too tightly to the things of this world, we will lose them. But if we give them to God, we will find the joy that God gives us freely through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection. Amen.

When Natalie and I moved across part of the country to be at Trinity School for Ministry, we went all in for the Kingdom of God. We gave up spending some time to be with families to be at the seminary. The amazing thing is though, God provided us a new family. God gives us what we need before we even know it. The community life that surrounds us at the seminary enables us to push through the difficult times when we are missing our biological families the most. The best part is that God continues to say that I will give you all that you will need to be formed in my likeness. Because God gives us all that we need, we then give back to Him our most precious possessions, just like Mary.

In this Lenten season, as we approach Holy Week, we are deeply moved to be at the feet of Jesus, laying our earthly possessions at his feet so that we may taste and see that the Lord is good. If we hold too tightly to the things of this world, we will lose them. But if we give them to God, we will find the joy that God gives us freely through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection. Amen.

When Natalie and I moved across part of the country to be at Trinity School for Ministry, we went all in for the Kingdom of God. We gave up spending some time to be with families to be at the seminary. The amazing thing is though, God provided us a new family. God gives us what we need before we even know it. The community life that surrounds us at the seminary enables us to push through the difficult times when we are missing our biological families the most. The best part is that God continues to say that I will give you all that you will need to be formed in my likeness. Because God gives us all that we need, we then give back to Him our most precious possessions, just like Mary.