Lent 5 (John 12:1-8) “You do not
always have me.”
The ethos of
love is extravagance. The ethos of sin is scarcity.
John, the
beloved apostle, comments that Judas lived from the place of scarcity in the
presence of divine abundance. He lived from that place that says there will
never be enough. There will never be enough for everyone so I must take what is
my right to have in order for me to meet my needs and my desires.
Despite the
outpouring of God the Father’s grace through God the Son by the power of God
the Holy Spirit, Judas and so many others missed the reality of abundance. The
effect of separation on the soul is the fear that there will not be enough for
me.
There will
not be enough grace so I must prove to God I am worthy of his limited blessing.
I must be righteous so God will give me the blessing and withhold the blessing
from lesser people.
There will
not be enough money so I must do whatever I can to acquire wealth so I will
have what I need to meet my needs and satisfy my desires.
There will
never be enough natural resources so I must make sure I exercise ownership and
control so I will have what I need and what I want.
There will
never be enough security so I must exercise my will to power to ensure I
dominate others and I have the means to destroy them before they destroy me.
This line of
reasoning is grounded in the fear that there just isn’t enough for everyone. It
is the belief that God created a world of limitation and scarcity. In this
world there are winners and losers, there are the strong and the weak, there
are the righteous and the unrighteous. Judas believed he had the inside track
with God. He missed the reality of who God is.
Mary had
clearer sight. She listened to Jesus and heard his words. She observed Jesus
and recognized his nature. She witnesses the great miracle when Jesus restored
her brother to life. And, she recognized the reality of God in the abundance of
love.
It is the
real presence of divine love embodied in Jesus that set Mary free from fear and
free from scarcity to participate in the divine abundance of love. Her act of
devotion is astonishing. The perfume is worth a year’s salary for an ordinary
worker.
Judas is
scandalized in the presence of such abundance. He pretends he has a concern for
the poor but he is really horrified by the outpouring of love and devotion in
such a tangible and material way.
The contrast
between Mary’s sense of abundance and Judas’ sense of scarcity reveals the
conflict of fear and faith, law and grace, possession and love. Jesus reminded
his generation and he reminds ours that God creates abundance and human beings
create scarcity.
The
principles of scarcity are threefold. The principle of fear says: I have a God
given right to get mine lest I miss out and others take what I want and need.
The principle of self- will asserts the demand: I have the God given right to do
it my way. The principle of pride says: God is on my side. These three
principles of scarcity produce a world of conflict in which there is no room
for faith, no room for hope, no room for love and no room for Jesus. The world
of conflict is a world of winners and losers, of wealth and poverty, of
dominance and submission.
Mary shows
us a different way. It is the way of faith and hope that proceeds from and brings
forth the abundance of love.
As Jesus Himself
is the abundance of infinite and eternal love so those who embrace Jesus
partake of that infinite and eternal love. There is no scarcity in that love.
Mary
certainly had the means to share her personal wealth with Jesus. What makes her
choice radically different from the choice Judas made and so many others make
is her willingness and delight to pour forth her wealth in the extravagance of
love. She saw in Jesus the perfect mirror of divine holiness and the perfect
mirror of human potential.
At that
moment, Mary chose love. In choosing love she chose Jesus. And, in choosing
Jesus she chose divine abundance. This was her moment. This was her hour of
decision. Jesus would not see her again. She would not experience his physical presence.
This moment here
and now is always the time of choice. There will not be another time or place
for us to meet Jesus and delight in his real presence in the same way this moment
holds. This moment is all moments as Jesus comes from the timeless realm into
time to meet us and to set us free from time to experience eternity.
Judas drew
back from divine abundance in Jesus through fear of scarcity and the prideful
assertion of his own will to power to get what he believed was his right.
Mary opened
her mind, heart and will into the place of divine abundance. She gave according
to her means- and indeed we hear that she gave from the place of wealth. Like
the poor widow who gave two coins that valued a single penny she gave from the
place of extravagance. That place is the infinite and eternal love of God. That
place is Jesus here and now and forever.
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