Love’s Extravagance!
Sermon for Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009
1. Good morning. Let’s pray. O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening Comments: It’s Palm Sunday!
Many of us arrived early this morning to reenact the event of the first Palm
Sunday when a crowd waving Palms in welcome to Jesus as He rode into
You know I spoke with our Bishop yesterday at our CEC Clergy Conference and as we spoke about our respective sermons for today he commented that he hated 3 Sundays of the year – Christmas, Palm Sunday and I forget the other one . . . because after 15 years of sermons what new think can you say!
Well I asked him if he had ever reflected on the act of the
unknown woman when she broke the expensive ointment jar and poured it over
Jesus’ head while he was eating in the home of Simon the Leper in
When I read about that unknown lady I was struck for the first time by just how unusual her act really was and I sensed that our Lord wanted me to take some time to reflect upon this to see what He might want to say to us.
3. Listening to God’s Word: Now I want to encourage us all to read God’s Word
with a listening heart and an attentive mind. I have found that my heart
is perhaps the best “God detector” I have! Ha! When my heart is
stirred it often means that
God is saying “Now pay attention here – I’m about to say something that I want
you to really focus on!”
So let’s just take a few moments right now to zero in on this one section and ponder what God might be saying to us through her. Let me read it once again:
Mark 14:1 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.” So what has St. Mark told us in these two verses? The chief priests and the teachers of the law have decided to kill Jesus since he threatened their hegemony – their control over the people. He was an extremely attractive and charismatic leader and was clearly swaying the public sentiment away from the established religious oligarchy to Himself. In other words, Jesus was a political threat and had to be terminated as soon as possible but they were frightened if they did it publically a dangerous riot might erupt. The last thing they needed was to make a martyr of Him. So instead they slyly planned on a less public way of getting Him out of the picture. So let’s read on:
Mark 14:3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman – an unknown woman - came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Have you ever wondered what “nard” is – well it’s a very expensive herbal ointment from the valerian family of herbs. It’s was wonderfully pungent. It’s extremely expensive because of where it grows and the difficulty in obtaining it.
Spikenard is not native to Egypt, Punt or the Middle East. It is native to the Himalayas and grows at high altitudes. Its use in the ancient world is a demonstration of their sophisticated trade routes and of the importance placed on aromatic material: they went to a lot of trouble to obtain this little root. Spikenard was packaged in carved alabaster boxes, carefully brought down by caravan and exported over the ancient world. As recently as one hundred years ago, spikenard was imported from Nepal to Egypt for use as a folk medicine. Beyond various medicinal uses, like valerian, it has relaxing, sedative properties, spikenard was anciently believed to bear mystical and romantic powers and its fragrance was exquisite. It was sought after throughout the known world!
Spikenard apparently has an earthy, harsh wood like smell that’s slightly musty.
So please take a moment to imagine how this happened. The woman was probably a wealthy widow who had heard that Jesus was in town and was staying at the well known home of Simon who had once been a social pariah – a social outcast – a leper, but now after his healing by Jesus was a highly respected disciple of the Nazarene miracle worker.
Ask yourself this question – “What prompted her presence at Simon’s home?” We don’t know but we do know that she came with this very expensive anointing oil to specifically anoint Jesus – as an expression of her deep devotion and love!
Try to imagine how this happened. Did she just stand up and walk over to Jesus – break the anointing oil seal and pour it over His head? Remember it was meant as a sublime act of love and devotion – how would you accomplish this?
Who was Jesus to this woman that she would react in such a way?
Have you ever witnessed such an act of love?
Clearly she blessed Jesus but let’s read on:
Mark 14:4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. I can relate to these sorts of comments can’t you? Such extravagant waste! But listen now to Jesus’ response:
Mark 14:6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Did you hear that? This pronouncement is preceded by the solemn “I tell you the truth.” In an indirect way Jesus is predicting his resurrection, because the preaching of the gospel presupposes the Resurrection!
It’s intriguing to me that at the beginning of Holy Week Jesus is telling those who were listening that He was about to die but He was also about to be resurrected!
The central message of the Good News is Jesus’ defeat of sin, death, and hell by his resurrection. And anywhere in the world that Good News is preached, this unknown woman’s act of love and devotion will be remembered. Throughout all generations and today we remember her.
By the way where do you think she is right now?
Yes, close beside her beloved Jesus in glory!
And so today we remember her and we honor her for her courage – her love and her magnificent, extravagant worship!
4. Focusing in: Now what is God trying to say to you and me this morning through the example of this precious unknown woman I wonder? What is He saying to you through her?
Something – nothing? If nothing then that’s sad because Jesus wanted her to be a stimulant to our worship and devotion to Him – don’t you think?
You see she was the only one who really, in some albeit limited sense, actually got what was about to happen. The other disciples didn’t but she knew somehow that she was to anoint Him.
You see, Jesus was about to be executed as a common criminal and common criminals were never anointed before burial but here she was anointing His body in anticipation of His death and He knew it!
He knew what she was doing! So who sent her? Yes, God, the Father, in His infinite love sent her and she obediently responded!
And because her name is unknown we are being invited to become her today.
That’s the reason why she wasn’t named – you put your name in her place.
That’s the whole point – can’t you see it – we’re being invited to stand in her shin and reach out with her hands to anoint our precious Lord with anointing oil!
Now I want to ask you – can you even remotely imagine doing such a thing?
If, in fact, you and I are being invited by our Lord to imagine ourselves as this woman – can you imagine doing such a thing?
Some of us probably can, others of us – in all honesty can’t – for in fact we can probably better relate to the grumblers concerned more about her prodigal and imprudent expenditure of money that could better be used for the poor.
But, I’m convinced, that our Lord is inviting all of us today to put aside our “ISSUES” and wonder what it would take for us to do such a thing?
Just take a moment now and try to discover what it would take for you to take your entire year’s income and purchase the most expensive anointing oil in the world or the most expensive perfume (Imperial Majesty, which costs $215,000 a bottle, is the most expensive perfume in the world) and then find Jesus and anoint Him with it - nothing held back.
Can you even begin to imagine doing such a thing?
Now I suppose some of us could how about us “macho” men?
You see I believe that you and I are being encouraged today to think about entering into a new level of devotion to our God and this “unknown” woman is our model.
Do you think she’s alive now in heaven? Yes.
Do you think it’s possible that she’s praying for you right now to reach out for this gift that she wants so very much to give you?
Yes – I have to believe that she is with her Lord in heaven and is right now praying for you and me to open our hands to receive this gift of extravagant love for her Lord – for our Lord!
Do you want such an extravagant love? We, you and I, are the bride of Christ! Do you want to become a greater man and woman of God?
I do – so pray with me that we might receive some of her blessed extravagance!
Let’s pray . . . .
