Getting Ready For The Resurrection:

Getting Ready For The Funeral"

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

(John 12:1-8)

[1] Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. [2] There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. [3] 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. [4] But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, [5] "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" [6] (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.) [7] Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. [8] You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

NRSV

INTRODUCTION:

Dick Van Dyke tells the story of a young mother who was trying to comfort her daughter after her pet kitten died by telling her, "Remember, dear, Fluffy is up in heaven now with God."

The little girl sobbed and asked, "But, Mommy, what in the world would God want with a dead cat?" (1)

I wanted to start with a laugh because death and funerals aren't easy times. Even when they are celebrations of a persons life and faith, they're not easy. I don't think any of us really like funerals.

But let me ask you this: What would you do if you knew the exact day and hour that you were going to die? Would you travel? Would you visit old friends? Would you try something daring that you never had the courage to try before? Would you say good-bye to your loved ones? You might do all of these things but then you would stop and plan how to get ready for the funeral.

First, you might begin by actually planning the service. You would want to pick your favorite Scripture and hymns. You would want to pick out the clothes to be buried in. You might want someone to give a brief eulogy. And you might pick the special music you want to be sung. That would be the easy part.

Then you would want to get your family and friends ready for the both your death and the funeral. You might start by having an intimate dinner or maybe even a big party; a going away party of sorts. During the party, you would explain to your closest friends and family the circumstances of your upcoming death. They probably wouldn't believe you. They would think you were making it up; that it was some sort of sick joke. Or that you had gone a little over the edge. People might even suggest a good psychiatrist. It would be hard to convince the folks around you that you knew you were going to die on such and such a day at such and such a time.

That's exactly the same problem Jesus had. Jesus knew the hour and day, and even the horrible circumstances of his death. He was trying to prepare the Disciples; he was trying to prepare his friends and his family for his upcoming funeral. That is why he rejoiced in the fragrant offering and gift which Mary gave to him.

I. MARY'S GIFT:

A. Last week we talked about the prodigal son and the relationship between the youngest and the oldest siblings in a family. After the service I was jokingly chided for leaving all the middle children out. So, let me ask, how many of you are the middle child? The reason I ask is that I think Mary was the middle child. Look her family. Martha was obviously the oldest, she was the hard worker. She was always doing the chores. And Lazarus had to be the baby of the family because both Martha and Mary took care of him. If so, then Mary is a wonderful role model for all middle children.

You see, unknowingly, Mary performed one of the simplest yet possibly the most profound acts that any follower could have ever performed in the life and ministry of Jesus. It was an extravagant act. Mary anointed Jesus with costly perfume. It was an expensive gift, but it was a gift which set the stage for what was to come.

And more importantly, it was a gift which would take the place of proper burial procedures in the midst of the turmoil and confusion surrounding Jesus' death. What a wonderful gift?

B. Mary didn't know really know what she was doing but she knew why she was doing it. Mary loved Jesus deeply. She obviously believed he was more than just a friend, more than just an ordinary Rabbi. She could sense something more. And sensing that something more, she didn't need to be told how to respond. She responded with love and faith. Mary lived out all that Jesus had been teaching.

II. JUDAS' OBJECTION:

A. But what about Judas? It's amazing that such a simple thing like a gift of fragrant perfume could cause such a stink. It's also amazing how quickly Judas poured cold water on Mary's simple act of love and faith. Jesus barely had time to enjoy the attentions and the intentions of Mary before Judas jumped in with his objections. In feigned concern for the poor, Judas revealed his true nature and just how far from the Kingdom he had drifted even though he has been with the King every day.

Judas objected to the extravagant cost of the perfume. "This perfume is worth 300 denarii. Why not sell it and give it to the poor?" A single denarii was equivalent to a day's wage back then. Three hundred was nearly a year's wages. He could have been a reporter on the local television's "The Fleecing of Israel" report if TV had been around back then.

He reminds me of a Shel Silverstein poem entitled, "Sharing"

"I'll share your toys, I'll share your money,

I'll share your toast, I'll share your honey,

I'll share your milk and your cookies too--

The hard part's sharing mine with you." (2)

B. Judas wasn't pleased with what Mary did or the cost of the gift but Jesus didn't allow the objections of Judas to diminish Mary's gift. It was a gift from the heart and those gifts are precious no matter how large or how small.

One afternoon three children, two boys and a girl, entered a flower shop. They were about nine or ten years old, raggedly dressed, but clean. They gazed around the store and nervously approached the owner. One of the boys said: "Sir, we'd like something in yellow flowers, please."

The man immediately realized that this was a very special occasion. He showed them some inexpensive yellow spring flowers. The boy who was the spokesman for the group shook his head. "I think we'd like something better than that."

The man asked, "Do they have to be yellow?" The boy answered, "Yes, sir. You see, Mickey would like 'em better if they were yellow. He had a yellow sweater. I guess he'd like yellow better than any other color."

The man asked, "Are they for his funeral?"

The boy nodded, suddenly choking up. The little girl was struggling to keep back the tears. "She's his sister," the boy said. "He was a swell kid. A truck hit him while he was playing in the street." The boy's lips were trembling now. The other boy entered into the conversation. "Us kids in his block took up a collection. We got eighteen cents. Would roses cost an awful lot, sir -- yellow roses, I mean?"

The man smiled. "It just happens that I have some nice yellow roses here that I'm offering special today for eighteen cents a dozen." The man pointed to the flower case.

"Gee, those would be swell! Yes, Mickey'd sure like those."

The man said, "I'll make up a nice spray with ferns and ribbons. Where do you want me to send them?" One of the boys responded, "Would it be all right, mister, if we took them with us? We'd kind of like to, you know, give 'em to Mickey ourselves. He'd like it better that way."

The florist fixed the spray of flowers and accepted the eighteen cents and then watched the youngsters trudge out of the store. And within his heart he felt the warm glow of the presence of God.

Mary's gift was like that. Oh sure, there's some truth in Judas' objection, it might have been very extravagant by worldly standards but not when compared to the extravagant gift of God's love and Grace or the gift of forgiveness we are given through Christ. If anything, Judas' objections raised the importance of Mary's gift and pointed to the depth of Mary's faith and her love for Jesus. That love helped Jesus get ready.

III. THE GIFTS WE BRING:

A. During this Lenten season, it's important for us to get ready. It's important for us to look at the gifts which we bring to God and God's church to express our love for God. Mary's gift should be our example. God's extravagant gift of Christ should elicit extravagance in giving for us. It should elicit extravagance in praise and worship. Our faith calls for an unselfishness in all areas of life and giving, an unselfishness like Mary's. And there are any number of gifts which we can bring:

First there's MONEY: That was Judas' big concern. His motive though was greed. It was all about him. For us the motive should be giving; giving as a way of expressing our thanks, expressing our love, expressing our commitment to Christ Jesus our Savior.

Richard Manley likes to quote something that he heard during our building campaign. He says we shouldn't give until it hurts like the old saying says. Instead we should give until it feels good. John Wesley put it this way: "Gain all you can, save all you can, so you can give all you can." When we give with that spirit then our gift is like Mary's.

TIME and SERVICE are also great gifts. Mary's was a great service, something that no one else could have performed. It was her genuine expression of love for and her faith in Jesus. What is it that you bring as a genuine expression of you love and faith?

Money, Time, Service, all of these are important to our life as individual Christians and to the life of the Church. It's important that we be good stewards of the gifts which God has given us and that we be a part of the stewardship of God's Church. It's important that we use our gifts to express our love and faith.

B. I also think that sometimes God calls us to make extravagant gifts. Gifts that are as meaningful as Mary's.

The recent episodes of violence against children by children has me totally bumfuzzled. The events in Arkansas tore at my heart and have confused my spirit. I've never seen children act so cold blooded in all my life. But it has gotten me to thinking and praying.

I love action and adventure movies but action and adventure movies by their very nature are violent. I used to love playing Space Invaders, and have beaten every level of Duke Nukem. I still laugh when Moe bops Curly in the head with some tool and Curly says, "Oh, look!" and the tool is bent out of shape because of his hard head. But recently I've begun to question all that violence and what it's doing to our kids. Has this cartoon and movie violence so dulled our children's minds and spirits to the pain and suffering it really causes, that they can no longer make good moral judgments?

If so, what do we do? I know whom to turn to! But what do we do? What action do WE take? That's what puzzles me. We're not going to find a simple, overnight solution to the violence in our streets, in our schools and in our homes. But maybe that's the gift our Savior is calling for right now in American society, our efforts to curb that violence. I don't know what form that will take. But maybe that's the most precious gift we could give to God, to our children and to ourselves right now. Maybe that's what we need to pour out at the feet of Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

Jesus didn't get the Disciples ready for the funeral. It turned out to be a rushed affair with only a few in attendance. The rest ran for their lives. There was no formal service, only a few last words by Jesus and a brief eulogy by the centurion: "Surely he was the Son of God." (Matt 27:54). But Jesus was helped to be ready through the gift and faith of Mary. What will help us be ready, not for the funeral but for the resurrection and Christ's triumphant return? What gift should we bring?

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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1. Dick Van Dyke, Faith, Hope and Hilarity (Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1970) p. 88.

2. Shel Silverstein, FALLING UP: Poems and Drawing by (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1996)

3. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 236.