You always have the poor with you, but you do not always
have me. I always have Jesus. Jesus is an ever present companion. His love is manifest in many ways in this
world. The Holy Spirit is a constant
presence in the world. The Glory of God fills the earth! Jesus, what do you mean that “you will not
always have me?” It seems self-contradictory.
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| A beautiful sunrise with the moon in the south. |
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A paradox is a self-contradictory statement.
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You can save money by spending it
·
Youth is wasted on the young
·
I can resist anything but temptation
·
Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too
crowded
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Deep down, you are really shallow.
This passage of scripture has always seemed like a paradox
to me. I have always kind of agreed with
Judas. Why on earth wouldn't you want to
sell that perfume that was worth nearly a year’s wages of a laborer and give
the money to the poor? It seems like
Jesus himself would agree, since he often talked about feeding the hungry and
clothing the naked. But there is more to
it than that. If our faith was merely
about social services then, yes, selling the perfume would be the only option
but there is something deeper happening here.
This past week the Roman Catholic Church named its 266th
pope. There was a notification on my
phone from ABC News that white smoke was coming from that famous chimney on top
of the Sistine Chapel. I turned on the television and watched the coverage that
ABC was offering. The pope is not our
leader of course. We are members of the
United Methodist church. We have our own
structure and our own bishops but not only is the pope the leader of a
denomination he is also a world leader.
It matters what the pope does and says even if we are not Catholic. So I prayed for this Christian leader. I prayed that the conclave of Cardinals would
be led by the Holy Spirit to elect a leader that would do his part to help the
world fully realize God’s will for humanity.
I was watching and waiting like millions of others to see who was going
to emerge from behind those curtain-draped doors onto that balcony. I found the whole thing really quite
exciting. Then to fill time, I suppose,
the commentators on ABC started talking about the cardinals choosing someone
based on political leanings and agendas.
One of them was criticizing the previous pope and was wondering out loud
if the next one would be ‘as bad.’ It really threw a wet blanket on the whole
event for me. All the questions and
observations they were bringing up were fair and appropriate but it seemed to
be the wrong time. It would be like
watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve and discussing the new tax code for
the coming year. It’s like they were
missing the moment.
Have you ever done that?
You get so focused on the details that you miss the event all together?
I see parents do that a lot. We spend so much time trying to capture video of
our kid’s special moments we forget to enjoy the moment and fully celebrate
with them.
We worry so much about getting the dishes clean that we miss
the party happening all around us. We are
so distracted by our sin that the abundant life that Jesus offers seems like a
distant promise.
This passage of scripture is not actually a paradox. It makes perfect sense when you understand that
everyone works out of their own nature.
Just like the commentators on ABC news.
They are trained to analyze a situation, find the conflict, and try to
make it relevant to the average person.
They are not trained to recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit or to
stand in reverent awe of the mystery of God. And I shouldn't have expected them
to.
Jesus told Judas, “You always have the poor with you but you
don’t always have me.” But we don’t
always have Jesus, or rather; we don’t always let Jesus be in charge. We don’t have him when we have selfish intent
in mind. We don’t have him when we are being deceitful. And we don’t have him when we are doing harm
to our community.
It was six days before he Passover. Six days before he was to give his life. He
stopped and he had dinner with his friends. They were celebrating Lazarus’ new
life. Jesus was about to go to Jerusalem to give his life. He was prepared to die. But he was there to
celebrate with his friend. That’s love.
Martha served. Of course she served, that’s what she
does. That’s love.
Mary blew 10 months’ worth of wages on some perfume for
Jesus because that’s what she does. That’s love.
We operate out of our gifts. We use our gifts to serve God. And
we serve God by serving our community. The failure, the brokenness in this
story found in Judas. He interrupts this web of intertwined love and community
and celebration with his brokenness; with his selfishness; with his
deceit. Jesus stops it in its tracks. He
says, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of
my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”
He wasn't saying that we should neglect the poor. He was stopping Judas in his
lie. Of course Jesus is concerned for
the poor. But he is also saying that this is a unique moment in your lives and
in history. He is about to give his life. Mary is honoring Jesus in the way
that she knows how. Jesus is the incarnate God. God made flesh. He is God with
us. And he is about to sacrifice his life for us. She is honoring him in his
earthly body. And Judas’ words were dampening the moment. And Jesus stopped it,
in effect saying, ‘no, I will not let you do this.’ This moment is bigger than
the amount of cash this perfume is worth.
This is bigger than your temporary gain.
He is telling Judas, ‘don’t worry; you will have ample opportunity to
steal later. But this moment: let it be holy.’
It is easy to take a holy moment and sully it with our sin
and earthly concerns. Conversely when we
invite Jesus in; when we honor Jesus in the way that we are gifted to do
so. Ordinary moments can be transformed
into holy moments.
So how is it with you today?
How has God gifted you? How can
you use your gifts to honor Jesus Christ and make ordinary moments into holy
moments?
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