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“What Will You Do For Love?”
Mark 14:1-11
March 24, 2007
Rev. Tonya Arnesen

Being in love makes you do crazy things. Say things you don't normally say. Spend more time in front of the mirror.  You drink out of the same straw; use the same toothbrush.  You write poems even though you're not poetic and find yourself singing lyrics to sappy songs.  Being in love makes you do irrational things.  You hold hands while trying to eat burritos.  You find a way to fit two people into a bucket seat.  Being in love can be excessive.  Pragmatic questions like, "Does this make sense?" just don’t apply to people who are madly in love.

But something can happen, the longer we are in love.  We grow up.  Love deepens and changes.  And slowly but surely, we begin to replace costly expressions with practical ones, we exchange extravagant for sensible, spontaneous for responsible, and lavish for useful.

It's not that we stop loving. It's just that as love matures, so do our ways of expressing it.  We are apt to become prudent and conservative, not given to extravagance. We are much more comfortable when we’re in control. We want to be economical, not excessive.

We suddenly see extravagance as silly foolishness reserved only for the young at heart.  Lavish expressions of love are seen as wasteful and careless. And without realizing what is happening, we may even begin to ask, “What have you done for ME lately?” – expecting love to serve us rather than looking for ways that we can serve love. 

Consider how this change is reflected in the Christian life.  For the brand-new Christian, it doesn't matter what we're singing or what’s being preached – they’ve got tears streaming down their faces. When an altar call is given, they’re the first one out of their seats.  They give sacrificially, study the Word with passion.  They joyfully, eagerly share their faith with anyone who will listen.  They're excessive.  They're extravagant.  They are lavish in their expressions of love for Christ.

And how do some seasoned Christians respond?  We smile benignly and whisper knowingly, "Oh, they'll get over it.  Their newly-found faith is a novelty now, but they'll soon get a shot of reality and start acting a little more practical."  And unfortunately, some do.  They find their composure, get realistic, become practical, and settle in.  They stop "wasting" their energy on extravagant love for Christ.

Which sets the context for this Gospel story.  Jesus is spending a few leisurely hours in what was probably his favorite place.  You know, when Jesus needed some R & R, he usually headed for Bethany to visit his dear friends.  In this scene, he’s at the home of Simon the leper – but Bethany is also the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.

But the Good Friday clock is ticking, and Passover is just a few days away. According to Mark 10:33-34 Jesus has told His disciples, "When we get to Jerusalem the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and teachers of religious law. They will sentence Him to die and hand Him over to the Romans. They will mock Him, spit on Him, beat Him with their whips, and kill Him. But after three days He will rise again.”

With a forecast like that, we might imagine there was great tension around the table.  No one feels much like celebrating.  Then, out of the blue, some woman bursts into the room.  She comes carrying an alabaster jar full of pure nard, a very expensive ointment.  And before anyone can stop her, she does something completely irresponsible:  she doesn’t just uncork the bottle and pour our a few drops – she breaks the neck of the bottle and pours its entire contents on Jesus' head.  The marvelous, rich fragrance fills the house.

You may be thinking, "What's the big deal? How expensive can a little bottle of perfume be?"  Well, let’s get some perspective.  When I want perfume I simply drive to the department store and choose what I like.  But in Jesus’ time, perfume was a luxury.  And pure nard was extremely rare.  It was much more than a commodity – it was a valuable – like diamonds or platinum.  The few who were fortunate enough to own even a tiny amount of nard, would have stored it away as a kind of retirement plan.  Like a "nest egg" to fall back on, when times got tough.

With that in mind, Mark says that the woman had a bottle of pure nard that was worth more than 300 denarii. In Jesus' day that was nearly an entire year's wages.  If we figured (conservatively), that our average family income is about $35,000, then Jesus has just received a $35,000 bath.

No wonder the disciples were so upset!  They were living hand to mouth –and they’d just watched this dotty woman take her entire life savings and squander it in a fit of passion.  The disciples "rebuked her harshly" (14:5).  In other words, they lit into her!  “Are you crazy, woman? That’s about the dumbest thing I've ever seen!  In a matter of minutes the aroma of that perfume will be gone, and for what purpose?  What was accomplished?  That perfume could have been converted into cash to buy blankets and soup for the poor.  $35,000 buys a lot of bread!  After all, the world needs food, not fragrance.  It’s OK to express a little love for Jesus, but you didn’t have to go overboard. Couldn't you express your appreciation with a Hallmark card?  That would have been a much more prudent use of your resources.  What a colossal waste!

The disciples waited for Jesus to join in their indictment.  And he did have an indictment – but it wasn't for the woman.  It is for the disciples.  "Leave her alone!” he said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me." (v. 6).

It appears that Jesus and his disciples have conflicting views on the value of extravagance.  The disciples view extravagance as wasteful.  Jesus sees extravagance as an expression of love.  Did Jesus really need that much perfume? Even if it was for His upcoming burial, did He really need a $35,000 bath?"  No. Jesus didn't need it.  But that’s not the point of the story.

Now listen carefully – I don’t want you to miss this point:  for the disciples, following Jesus had become a business to be budgeted rather than a Savior to be loved.  Their love for Jesus was mature now – extravagance was no longer a part of their vocabulary.  Extravagance was wasteful.  Excessive was impractical.

Perhaps they couldn’t appreciate the woman’s lavish expression of love because they’d forgotten what it felt like to be a new believer.  It had been a long time since they had dropped their nets, left everything behind to follow Jesus.  They had lost sight of the fact that love can be excessive and illogical.  They had forgotten the crazy things we do for love.  

What would you do for love?  Imagine your son becomes very ill and you take him the doctor, who says he has a rare, incurable disease and has only two weeks to live. What would you do for love?  Imagine that your wife is having severe headaches and upon further examination the doctor says that she has a brain tumor and has little time left. What would you do for love?

What would you do if you knew the most precious person in your life only had a few days left?  Most likely, you’d look for ways to express your love – and because words are not always sufficient to convey our deepest feelings, you might look for ways to SHOW your love. 

So, when you remember that your son has always wanted to go to Disneyworld, you empty your savings account and book a flight to Orlando for the whole family.  Money is no object.  Price is no concern.  You want to see the look of joy on your boy’s face as he first glimpses the Magic Kingdom.

When you remember your wife loves roses, you go and buy 1,000 long-stems, as a way to say, 'I love you.'  You spare no expense.  Why?  Because of the context.  When there’s nothing at stake, it might seem irresponsible to take a trip you cannot afford; but when it's life and death, it doesn't seem so trivial.  A dozen red roses might have been sufficient for your wife’s birthday, but when it's life and death, you have to say 'I love you' in more dramatic, extravagant ways.

Let’s imagine the context of our story from Mark.  It’s probably fair to assume that Jesus is no stranger to this woman.  Most likely, she has had a life-changing encounter with him; has become one of his followers.  If that is the case, then she may have overheard him tell his disciples that He is going to Jerusalem where He will die.  And unlike his disciples, the woman believes him, because she knows Jesus always tells the truth.  She knows his days are numbered – it’s a matter of life and death – so she looks for a way to express her love and gratitude to Him. 

In an act of uncalculated risk, she offers Jesus the most extravagant expression of love she can imagine – her rare and precious perfume.  She breaks the bottle and anoints his head, not counting the cost.  She does it, not because Jesus needs anything from her, but because she wants to say, “Thank you Jesus!  I love you Jesus!”  And because Jesus understands her heart, he does not chide her, but defends her, saying, "She has done a beautiful thing to me."

Well, this kind of spontaneous expression of love was the last straw for Judas.  It made him angry – he didn’t see the logic.  Following Jesus had become impractical and far too costly for him.  And that was the difference between the unnamed woman and Judas.  Judas appreciated Jesus for what Jesus could offer him.  But the woman did more than appreciate Jesus – the woman loved Him.  And that determined her response.

I hate to say it, but there’s far too many of us who settle for admiration or appreciation of Jesus.  Either we’ve never really loved him, or we’ve lost the passion of that love.  So we carefully measure our response to the Lord, lest we seem too extravagant.  We count the cost of sacrifice, to stay within our comfort zone.  We guard our resources as though they actually belonged to us.  We withhold our gifts and talents, as if we created them.  We preserve our dignity by refusing to be too lavish.

Then we file into the sanctuary on Sunday morning, like so many alabaster vases. Contained.  Encased.  Contents hidden.  Self-sufficient.  We’re not bad-looking vases, but there is no hint of fragrance in our lives.  We keep Christ’s presence bottled up and contained.  And when worship is over, the beautiful, cold, alabaster vases get up and march into the world, keeping the gospel contained – and we fail to make any real impact on the world.    

Friends, this may be hard to hear, but I hope you’re listening:  Alabaster jars need to be broken!  Only when the vase has been shattered, can the fragrance get out.

You may say, "Whoa, pastor – that’s just toooo scary.  I’m not sure I want to be that vulnerable."  Of course it's scary.  Brokenness as an expression of love is scary.  It's much more comfortable to keep up that cold alabaster front.  And it’s certainly less costly.  But allowing ourselves to be broken – yielding ourselves to Christ, is the only way to truly, fully express our love for him.  Duty is good, but love is beautiful.

What will you do for love?  Are you willing to be broken and spilled out?  That’s a lavish, extravagant, costly kind of love, but it is the only kind of love that can change our world. 

The irony of Mark’s story, is that Jesus – the recipient of this costly expression of love, was preparing to offer the most extravagant, lavish, impractical expression of love in the history of the world.  In complete abandon, just like that jar, He would yield fully to God, and be broken and spilled out for us. 

Why would he do that?  Because he loves us!   So . . when it comes to serving Jesus, is there any gift too costly?  Any price too high? 

I used to pray that when I go to heaven and meet God face-to-face He would say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Now I pray that when I stand before my Lord Jesus, he will smile upon me and say, "You have done a beautiful thing to me."

Rev. Tonya M. Arnesen

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