March 19, 2016

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”  John 12:1-5

There is so much happening in this story about Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  And there are so many questions we can ask: “What was Mary thinking using this expensive perfume?”, and “Is this what discipleship should look like?”.  These are questions raised by David Lose on his blog about this text.  I have added another question for us to consider: “What is so important about hair?”  Doesn’t it seem odd the thing that Mary does with her hair?  Why her hair, and why so soon after applying the ointment?

Well, it really isn’t about the hair, is it?  What Mary does is a spontaneous, outpouring of love and “worship” with Jesus that it doesn’t matter what others think — and it shouldn’t matter what we think about Mary today.  What matters is what we think about Jesus — and then how we hope to respond to Jesus, today.  Hair up, hair down, a lot of hair, no hair, wacky hair, rainbow hair, who here cares about hair?    Too many people today worry about their hair – but it is a cultural expectation – just like women wearing their hair up in public was a cultural expectation in Mary’s day.  But Mary doesn’t care about public expectations in this moment because she does care intimately about Jesus, and so she responds to Jesus.  This is what we must ponder today — and how will we, all of us, offer some kind of response to Jesus, today – spontaneous, simple, honest response to the love, mercy and Grace of Jesus.

Look, I have a son whose hair, right now, is as long as I have ever seen.  My son says he has seen the future when he looks at my hair, and so he wants to grow it as long as possible, while he still can.  However, there is something else he plans to do. He is donating his long, auburn hair to “Locks for Love”.  In his own agnostic way, he is responding to the needs of others — and it isn’t because someone made him do it, and it is in spite of the comments that he gets about looking like a hippie — it is about his plans to do a good thing.   If Mary would have worried about what others thought, or would have worried that she would be compared to a “prostitute”, we never would have had this marvelous, wonderful outpouring of devotion recorded for us that happened over 2000 years ago.

What can you do today to express your love for Jesus?

Pastor Dave