Sunday 21 March 2010
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Brodhagen
Text: John 12:1-8
Theme: Look whose coming to dinner! Did
you ever see that movie staring Spencer Tracy; Sidney Poitier &
Katharine Hepburn. 3 big names in the movie business – Only one of
those big stars is still alive today. This was a movie made and set in
the mid 1960’s in America.
The movie concerns a young woman named Joanna Drayton and a man, John
Wade Prentice, with whom she's had a whirlwind romance while on holiday
in Hawaii. The young man is a doctor and the young couple plan to marry
and live in Switzerland. What’s the big issue in the movie? Well this
is the 1960’s in America, and the young women is white, and the man is
black. The movie is called: “Guess Who’s Coming to dinner”. Do you
remember it? As you can imagine, that dinner was a
fairly tense event. In a way we could think about the supper with Jesus
and his friends as a fairly tense event. But the conflict following
Judas’ remark is only part of the story.
So maybe a movie about this event might be called – “Look Who’s Coming
to Dinner”.
I was once asked a question about organising a dinner party and if I
could invite anyone – dead or alive, from the current era or from times
past, who would I invite?
I’m not sure I remember all of the people I would have chosen – but who
would you invite? Well
I checked this out on the Internet – yes are there several lists and
here’s some names that that appeared on several lists: John Lennon, Che Guevara, Hilter, Cleopatra, Jesus , Elvis,
Princess Diana, Einstein, Mozart {To see more of the lists try in Google: which people would you invite to dinner – dead or alive } Now
also on most of the lists some other guests appeared: Grandma and
grandpa or parents that had died – and one person’s list had her Dad
that had disappeared a few years ago.
This last more personal category is interesting because of the reason’s
sighted for inviting parents or grandparent, and that is: So that they
can see what I’ve made of myself. Well the dinner party that was being held a Lazarus’ house had an interesting set of dinner guests: - We had Martha who did the cooking and the serving –
there she was hair tied back to keep it out of the food,
with her apron on,
and flour on her fingers
and maybe even on her forehead
as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
The open fire for that fine olive and 7 grain loaf was pretty hot.
And the mixed spices and oils would have scented up the whole house.
- Then
we had Lazarus – well every dinner party needs some who’s got an
exciting story to tell and who better than Lazarus. This is the man who
had been dead – was now alive again. And not just heart stopped and
quickly revived kind of dead that we sometimes hear about in our modern
emergency room – No! This was the DEAD FOR THREE DAYS kind of dead. So
Lazarus had quite the miracle story to tell. Many folks talk about
receiving a new lease on life – especially after a major medical
miracle or even a near miss and how they life a NEW life – so you can
imagine that the resurrected Lazarus would be transformed – a new life
literally and figuratively
.
- And then there was Mary –
Mary who seemed to be the one who
was most attentive to Jesus and his teachings –
Mary who always seem to “GET” the spiritual nature
of what was going one.
I’m sure there’s someone at your own dinner parties
or family get-togethers
that might do or say some surprising?
At this meal, it was Mary and her extravagant
gift of extremely expensive perfume –
Nard is the fragrant oil from a plant
that grows in North India,
it is sweet, red coloured, and
smells like gladiola perfume.
Twelve ounces of nard cost about a year's wages.
In Ontario the average wage is about $46,000.
Now that THAT IS EXPENSIVE PEFUME!
And Mary takes the whole lot and anoints Jesus feet.
That is a very intimate action.
And that is not the end of Mary’s surprising behaviour –
then she rub his feet with her hair.
That is intimate too!
This was a very spiritual gift too.
It anticipates Jesus death
which is only about a week or so away from this meal –
It also anticipates Jesus’ last meal with the rest of the disciples
when he washes their feet.
Mary is honouring Jesus and giving care to Jesus.
(For further reading try http://www.mary-and-martha.com/)
- Then there was Judas.
This was a character who would soon hurt and harm Jesus.
In my opening remarks about the guests
to a modern dinner party you heard the name Hitler.
There were several lists that included the man who
caused so much harm to much of the world in
the late 1930’s and 40’s.
So with that in mind – we have are not-so-welcome-guest of Judas.
But I would imagine if Judas was at your dinner party
you might have some questions for him.
But also here is Judas here to foreshadow
what is about to happen to Jesus.
As Mary was there anticipating Jesus death
and the need to anoint him,
here we have Judas at the dinner party
anticipating the betrayal of Jesus.
But what is all this so us?
How do we fit into this dinner party held in Jesus honour?
Like last week gospel story of the “Lost Son”
we can look for ourselves in each character at the dinner party:
We have : - Practical Martha who looks after the stuff that needs doing,
- Betraying Judas who looks after himself and his own needs,
- Lazarus who finds new life in Jesus’ workings and miracles,
- Mary who gives generously and puts worship of Jesus first.
That is quite a cast for the dinner party,
And might even see ourselves in Jesus place –
Yes I know you ain’t Jesus and neither am I,
but as I have said many times before –
we can be the face of Jesus to each other.
So how can we be Jesus in this story?
Look at his actions –
some one gives him perfume to anoint his feet –
perfume that cost a year’s salary.
So what might you say if you were given such an extravagant gift?
There are many things you might say like
“I can’t accept this” -
which really means:
I can’t accept this because then I would owe you too much
and I can’t repay you,
or I don’t want to be left in that position of owing anybody that much.
Or you might say “You shouldn’t have” –
meaning you can’t possibly afford such a gift –
or it might mean – “I am not worthy of your generosity”
or we might react as Judas did saying:
”What a waste … think of all the good we could have done with that money.”
But how does Jesus react?
Well the full response is
“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."
But in short I could paraphrase Jesus as saying
“Thank you – you honour me with this generosity.”
So yes … we can afford to see ourselves in Jesus.
A gift given in kindness and honesty and in love
should only provoke response
“Thank you – you honour me with this generosity.” But we also need to recognise that each of the guests at dinner
have their own stories to tell –
and to be honest –
there is probably a bit of each of them in us.
The need to be practical.
The self centeredness of our own actions and desires.
The realisation of the life giving power of Jesus.
The need to be extravagant in our worship of Jesus.
The ability to accept extravagant love and kindness. That is quite a list to cope with.
But I’ll give you some questions you might share with others this week: - Which five people would you invite to dinner – dead or alive?
And why would you invite them?
- And then as second part to that question:
What five biblical characters would put on you dinner guest list – and why?
So I’ll set a final and harder task to reflect on this week: - First can you see yourself in dinner guests of
Martha; Judas; Lararus; Mary and Jesus.
You might wish to share those thoughts with others –
but that is a tall tall order –
or maybe you can simple do
some self searching and evaluation.
Amen
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7
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