The Lens Of Mary

 John 12:1-11 April 2, 2022 Lent 5

 

There are different lenses which we use to look at the

world around us and the events around us.

These lenses, the way we view the world,

end up guiding what we do and how we act, especially in crisis.

These lenses determine the choices we make, the things we say.

Sometimes they make us act without us even noticing it.

Sometimes we have been wearing the lenses so long

we don’t notice we’re wearing them.

 

One of the lenses is the lens that says “Get all you can now.”

There is not enough for everyone.

Grasp onto what you have and don’t let go.

The only thing that counts is me and mine.

My family, people, my feelings, my survival, my happiness, my way.

It’s the one that tells us to save everything for ourselves

and don’t share because it might be gone tomorrow.

It’s the one that says that the most important thing

is to get the upper hand over the competition.

that’s is all that matters.

The one that says that we must overcome others to save ourselves.

In the face of a threat, the only options are to fight or to run.

You either destroy the enemy or you lose.

 

This is the lens that the religious leaders and the Roman Empire of

Jesus time saw things through. They have decided

that Jesus is a threat to their way of life and that

the best course of action is to kill him.

If you haven’t noticed, we’ve flipped over to the gospel of John.

Instead of Luke. And back in chapter 11 of John,

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. And this was the last straw.

Enough was enough.

They believed was a threat to the orderliness

of the Empire and a threat to their leadership.

 

They’ve seen Jesus does some wonderful things with their own eyes

But instead of realizing that he was sent from God,

all they can see is that it is a threat to their bottom line,

a competition to their way of life.

So they plot to kill Jesus and they plot to kill Lazarus.

The proof that Jesus can bring life out of death.

 

Even Jesus own disciple, Judas, looks at the world through this lens.

He doesn’t like the way Jesus is doing things.

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Jesus is not acting quickly enough.

He’s not using his position to overcome

the Empire and get power for all of them.

He doesn't think that Jesus is being strong enough ruthless enough.

And so, he gets what he can and he joins the plot to kill Jesus.

 

This lens might sound very familiar to us because it is the one

that rings loudly in our ear.

It’s the one that the world works by

it’s the narrative that commerce and the market runs by.

That nations and institutions run by.

And if we’re honest, it’s the one that churches see life through.

Often, Christians have looked through this lens

and we’ve turned into the very things we’ve hated the most.

 

That is one lens to look through.

Some people might tell you that it’s the only way to look at the world.

The only way to approach things in life.

often fall back onto when we’re under stress.

 The only way to survive.

But there is another lens. Another story to tell.

This is the lens that says that if we give it away,

we get more back.

The one that says there is enough for everyone.

That more is gained out sharing than keeping for ourselves.

The one that tells us that the poor are blessed.

The one that says in losing our life we gain it back.

And that the biggest gift comes in caring for those

who can’t give back to us: the poor, the dispossessed, the stranger.

This is the lens that says that there are other

ways besides just winning and losing.

The one that says don’t fight, and don’t run,

but stand there and turn the other cheek.

The lens that says love your enemy and pray for those

who persecute you.

This is the lens of the Gospel.

 

This is the way of Jesus.

Who even though he is under threat of death from the chief priests

he decides not to run in fear and not to fight.

he decides to return to Bethany, to the house of Mary and Martha

and Lazarus in Judea openly to see his friends.

 

This is the narrative that Jesus has passed on to

of Mary and to her brother and sister

Even in the midst of danger – in the middle of the threats

against the lives of Lazarus and Jesus – they have a dinner party.

They don't lock themselves in their house

in fear and tell Jesus to go away.

They open their house up and they invite in Jesus

– the eye of the hurricane –

to come out to their home and share a dinner with them.

 

And In the middle of the storm,

When most people would be acting fearful,

Mary opens herself up in trust and love.

In a time when most people would have saved everything,

just in case, Mary brings out her most expensive possession:

A bottle of pure perfume, and offers a beautiful display

of love, devotion and gratitude to Jesus.

 

Three hundred denarii might have been

as much as one year’s salary.

She was probably saving it for something very special.

But this was their last supper.

Not THE last supper. But the last supper that Mary and Martha

and Lazarus would share with Jesus.

And Mary seems to know that this was as special an occasion as any.

 

This is the lens that say that the sparrows

don't worry about where their next meal

is coming from so why should we?

The one that says that we overcome evil

with love and openness.

There is enough for us, so sell all that we have and give it away.

This is the story that says that even

in the midst of danger, we can throw a party.

The one that says that we can laugh,

even in the face of death.

 

Notice that Judas tries on the narrative of the Gospel,

claiming to want to give to the poor,

but he just ends up sounding like one of those politicians

who pay lip service to God's values,

but never backs it up with any action.

 

Now, when Jesus responds,

“the poor you will always have with you”

He is not saying not to help the poor.

I don't think that Jesus is defending

those religious leaders who would rather spend their money

on lavish worship centers and expensive

jets and gold toilets rather than using their money for the

poor and needy around them.

Which I have definitely heard these words of Jesus used for.

But I do think that Jesus is defending Mary's

open response in the face of fear.

Jesus approves of the story that Mary is trying to tell with her actions.

 

The narrative that Mary tells us one that flies in the face

of the one that the empire has been telling.

It stands in rebellious opposition to what the

chief priests and the Romans empire expect.

They expected that after their threats,

Jesus and his disciples would scatter apart, run away,

lock themselves in their houses and stop doing what they were doing.

Judas expects that Jesus would lash out in violence and defense

against the Romans and those who plotted against him.

 

People think, that Jesus and Mary and the rest of them

will live by the first lens, because so many do.

That there isn’t even another option.

But Jesus, and Mary, and those who live

by the gospel lens know that there

are other ways to live.

  

We in the community of Christ live between these

two versions of the story every day.

We hear the story of the grasping and grabbing of the

market system every day. We hear the story of

violence and defensiveness and contempt.

It bombards us in advertising, and on the news

and in our business and the way most people live.

But we know that there is another way.

 

There was a Canadian Man who was born in

a small coastal town in England.

His mother lived and died there.

He intended to return there when he retired,

but before he could do that, he found out he had

a terminal illness. He was widowed, and he had no children.

So he donated all of his substantial money to the town,

telling them he wanted it to go towards volunteer

efforts that beautify their city.

And with that money, over the last few years,

volunteers have planted over 150 thousand

daffodil and crocus bulbs all over the town.

They bloom every year now there in the spring.

 

And early on, in the war in Ukraine.

A Russian soldier was captured by Ukrainian

soldiers. He was not beaten or threatened,

he was not intimidated.

He was given something to eat, and a glass of tea.

Then the Ukrainian fighters used their phones

to call his mother and let her know he was okay.

 

When we’re at our worst, we live by the lens of the world.

And when we’re at our best, we live by the lens of the Gospel.

  

We come together in the church

to learn to live our lives in the way of Jesus.

And to practice looking at the world through the lens of the Gospel.

 

The lens that sees hurt and fear and still opens our lives to strangers

That sees war and violence and still reacts with peace and forgiveness,

The lens that sees inflation, but still gives to those with more need.

The lens that sees grasping and grabbing,

and still responds with openness and vulnerability.

 

Mary’s simple, calm act of openness and devotion

is a rebellion against the civil and religious power that threatens them.

Her act of humility is a presentation of another reality,

another lens, another story.

This is the story of the gospel.

 

In the face of death, of threats, of hating and

scheming in the world around her,

Mary has the courage to fill the house

with the fragrance of generosity and love.

 

May we all have the courage to follow Mary’s footsteps

and to follow in the footsteps

of those who have followed Christ,

Who went to die on the cross

but still shared a word of forgiveness

for those who killed him.