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The Reading
Philippians 3.4b-14
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, 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. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
John 12.1-8
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (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.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’
Scripture quotations are from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The Sermon
Prepared by The Revd Canon Dr Alan Billings.
The gospel readings on Sundays are now taking us at speed to the last days
of the life of Jesus.
Today, Jesus and the twelve disciples are in Bethany, a small village a few
miles from Jerusalem.
Next Sunday they will arrive in Jerusalem, when people will welcome Jesus,
waiving branches of palm, and shouting hosanna. By the end of the week,
Jesus will have died on the cross.
Between now and Christ’s crucifixion, the gospels record two evening meals,
two suppers, that Jesus and his disciples go to – the one mentioned in
today’s gospel and the other on the night before he died, the Last Supper.
Two evening meals - at which something unusual but similar happens. At
both meals, feet are washed. And it’s interesting to compare the two.
Let’s begin with today’s gospel and the meal at Bethany. This is at the house
of Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary.
They must be a relatively well-off family. They have a house that is big
enough to seat at table Jesus and his twelve disciples. And they have
sufficient money to buy food for everyone.
We’ve met Lazarus and the sisters before. So we’re not surprised to find
Martha doing what Martha does best – making herself busy. We guess that
she’s already done the shopping, the cooking, the baking of bread, and now
here she is, serving the meal.
Her sister, Mary, however, does something unexpected. She anoints the feet
of Jesus with a perfumed oil called nard.
Nard. Now this is not something from Home Bargains. Remember, this is a
relatively wealthy family; so this is top of the range, Prada, Dolce and
Gabbana. I looked up nard on the internet so see whether it was still sold. It
is. A one hundred millilitre bottle will set you back £600. Bathing the feet of
Jesus in nard is an extravagant gesture on Mary’s part.
It’s also an astonishing gesture because soothing the weary feet of her visitor
is not something she should be doing at all. In the more prosperous
households, such as theirs, this was something that the servants –
sometimes they were slaves – would do. Travel in those days was mainly on
foot. You walked everywhere. But the roads were hot and dusty and by the
time you arrived, your aching feet were sweaty and grubby. The servant
poured water on them, dried and soothed them. This is what Mary does.
Anointing Christ’s feet with the oil and drying them with her – presumably long
- hair.
And the fragrance fills the whole house.
I wonder whether Jesus remembered this action of Mary at the last supper. If
Mary’s anointing of his feet made an impression on him, perhaps he saw the
washing of the disciples’ feet as a way of making an impression on them.
For Jesus, doing what the servant did, made the point that he had come to
serve people – and those who follow him should likewise be the servants of
others.
Here at Bethany, Mary intends something different. She is expressing her
love for Jesus through an action.
Judas objects. He regards what Mary has done as a waste. He says the nard
could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Though the gospel
writer suggests he had no real interest in the poor. He just wanted to get his
hands on the money.
Whatever Judas’s motive, Jesus will have none of it, because he sees what
Mary does as as worthy as giving the money to the poor. He pushes the
objection aside. ‘Let her alone.’
In another gospel, Jesus goes further and says, ‘Wherever the gospel is
preached in the whole world what she has done will be told in memory of her.’
Yes, told in memory of her, but told also because it makes a point. What she
did for Jesus was a spontaneous, loving act. And that takes us to the heart of
what God is like.
When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair she was
preaching the gospel every bit as much as giving to the poor.
This is why Jesus didn’t want her story lost but told in every generation so
that we would be equally loving, caring, generous in our relationships with
one another.
It’s why we are hearing it today.
The Prayers
Prepared by Veronica.
Lord God.
As we draw near to the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for grace to observe this time with
awe and reverence as we contemplate the great sacrifice he made for us in dying on the Cross for
our salvation. We pray for the Church worldwide, that we may grow ever closer to each other as we
observe this most solemn of times for all Christians.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for the world, and for all your people experiencing war, famine, excessive heat or floods.
Help us to understand their needs and do all that we can to help them, whether as individuals
supporting charities, or as citizens of what remains one of the richer countries of the world. Your Son
told us to love one another: inspire governments of richer countries to continue to put aside .7% of
their riches to help those in dire need. We remember before you also those in our own country for
whom life at present is very difficult, as everyday items get ever more expensive, and help us to help
them also.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for our City and local community of Walkley. As local elections approach, inspire all
candidates to think of the needs of the city as a whole, and the particular needs of the area they
hope to represent. Help all candidates to think of the needs of the city, and those of the area they
seek to represent.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We pray for all who are ill at this time, and remember Lazarus whom Jesus loved. We pray for all
doctors, nurses and care-workers, both professional and family members, that they may find the will
to continue their work and eventually receive the recognition they deserve in terms of pay. We pray
for all known to us in special need of your healing grace at this time including the Pope………
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
We remember before you all reaching the end of their natural life, that they may find their resting
place with you, alongside all others who have already died. We remember by name John Hawthorne
whose funeral Alan is taking at Stannington next week. We remember those especially dear to us by
name in a moment of silence…..
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of Mary, Mark and John, and all your saints, we commend ourselves and
all Christian people to your unfailing love.
Merciful Father,
Accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) 2010 The Archbishops' Council