• How Your Devotion Impacts the World, John 12:1-8   (see below)
  by Rev. Karen Goltz
   

•  Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve – but Didn’t John 12:1-8, by Rev. Randy Quinn   
   

• WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO? John 12:1-8, by Rev. Rick Thompson   
   

• An Extravagant Ointment--An Extravagant Love, John 12:1-8, by Rev. Heather McCance
   

• Wholly Waste or Holy Waste? John 12:1-8, by Rev. Thomas Hall 
   

• Saved By Law, or Faith . . . or Both? Philippians 3:4b-14, by Carlton Moyer, guest preacher

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How Your Devotion Impacts the World
John 12:1-8
by Rev. Karen Goltz

The time is just before Passover.  Last week Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  This inspired belief in some, and fear and anger in others.  The priests and Pharisees have discussed the situation and agreed that Jesus must be killed before his following attracts the attention of the Romans, who would come and destroy the people of Israel for raising a king of their own.

Jesus is currently visiting Lazarus and his sisters in their home in Bethany.  He knows what’s coming.  He knows that this journey to Jerusalem is one-way, that his three-year ministry is about to end.  He knows that his disciples will betray or desert him, and scatter.  He knows that he’s going to die.  He’s indicated to his disciples what’s in store for him and for them, and they’re trying to understand what it means to worship a Lord who has set his mind on death and rising from the grave.

Given all that, it should be somewhat surprising that a feast is going on.  It would seem that more sober issues might need attention, and that is exactly true.  And it’s Mary who provides the occasion for the shift from celebration to deathly anticipation.  Mary took a bottle of perfume, about the size of a Coke can, which was worth a year’s wages for a laborer – 300 denarii for them, maybe the equivalent of 20 to 30 thousand dollars for us – and poured it all over Jesus’ feet.

There have been a few times in my life that I’ve been in the presence of large amounts of money.  The first time was when I worked at a bookstore in Harvard Square, where I sometimes worked in the accounting department.  It was my turn to check the cashiers’ reports and make the deposit to the bank, and it happened to be for the last Saturday before Christmas.  I don’t remember how much I had in checks, but I know I was carrying over thirty-two thousand dollars in cash through Harvard Square.  Have you ever tried to carry thirty-two thousand dollars in cash without looking like you’re carrying thirty-two thousand dollars in cash?  Not an easy thing.  A few years later when I was working for the Air Force, the Navy was supposed to send my office a check for a little over eleven million dollars for reimbursement.  For some reason, they put my name on the “pay to the order” line.  I won’t say I didn’t consider a sudden relocation to the Cayman Islands, or thought about where else I might be able to go where they couldn’t extradite me.  But in the end I did make sure that check went through the proper channels and was deposited in the proper account, which, sad to say, wasn’t mine.  A few months later the Navy made the same mistake with the next reimbursement check, but that one was only for five million, and not nearly as tempting.  But it was still exciting.

We’re fascinated by large sums of money; we’re giddy with it because of the potential it represents.  Most of us working schmucks can’t imagine a life where money simply is not a concern.  We hear about people who drink wine that’s worth $500 a glass, or buy clothes that are worth thousands of dollars, and we can only imagine what that would be like.  We also can’t help but think what else that money could have bought.  $500 could buy a very nice glass of wine, or it could put a well in a village, providing its people with the only source of clean water for miles.  Several thousand dollars can buy you one heck of a wardrobe, or it can educate entire schools of children in a third world country.  And this brings us back to Bethany.   [continue]