Advent Lutheran Church

"Outrageous Mary (Holy Monday)"

            Prophets in the Bible do outrageous things.  There’s Ezekiel: He eats the scroll that he’s received from God as a sign that he carries God’s word not in his hands but within himself.  There’s Jeremiah: He shatters an earthen pot in front of the religious authorities as a way of saying, “This is what God is going to do to you for your unfaithfulness.”  There’s Isaiah: He walks around naked and barefoot for three years as a warning of the captivity that’s about to befall the nations.

            And then there’s Mary. 

We usually don’t think of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, as a prophet; but she sure acts like one.  The scene is the home she shares with her sister and brother in the village of Bethany, about two miles east of Jerusalem.  It’s just days after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  They’re having a dinner party, maybe a combination of a celebration for Lazarus and a giant Thank You to Jesus.  At some point in the evening, Mary does an outrageous thing: She kneels at Jesus’ feet, snaps the neck off a bottle of extremely expensive perfumed ointment, pours the contents on Jesus’ feet, and wipes his feet with her hair.

            Those in attendance would have been shocked.  A woman loosening her hair in public?  It just isn’t done.  Touching the feet of a man to whom she is not married?  Unthinkable.  Using her hair as a towel?  Outrageous.  But most curious of all was the action Mary performed.  It was called anointing.  Anointing was usually accomplished by pouring a small amount of oil on the head; it was a sign of devotion and love, and typically the recipient was royalty or a loved one.  But to anoint the feet?  That was part of the ritual of death, and everyone knew it.

The substance that Mary used was called spikenard, and it carries a very distinctive aroma, suggesting a mixture of the scents of mint and ginseng.  When Mary broke the bottle and poured out the contents, the fragrance filled the entire house.  All Mary needed to do the job was a small amount, a palm-full.  But the whole bottle?  Why so much?  Even Judas was stunned.  That cost a year’s wages!  You can feed a lot of poor people on a year’s wages.  But Jesus adds perspective: You have the poor with you every single day, and you have the opportunity to good to them every single day.  My days, in contrast, are numbered.

We’re into economy.  Not just the economy, but economizing, being careful, being responsible with what we have.  There’s nothing economical about Mary’s action.  It mirrors Jesus’ life: There was nothing economical about his life, and there will be nothing economical about his death.  This precious substance that is Jesus will not be meticulously measured out, carefully distributed to those who are worthy to receive him; he will be poured out in abundance, to saint and sinner alike.

On this Holy Monday, Mary models Godly action for us: to love extravagantly, abundantly, over-the-top, without fear of running out.  Because where God is our supply, we will always have more than we can ask or imagine.

Amen.