One thing I ask of the Lord, it is the one thing I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27:4
There is such a clash of old and new in the story that we share from the Gospels today, a clash made obvious in the reading from Hebrews. At first we can easily see the human perspective. Whatever Judas’ motives, or rather regardless of how pure they might have been, he said what many of us would say today. Especially those from a ‘waste not, want not generation’ or even a social gospel context. In the Church, many of us are more worried about keeping money safe, than spending it generously. We are saving for a rainy day and missing the fact that the rains have been and gone and we are in drought, indeed facing a famine. We might not want to align ourselves with Judas (who does?) but perhaps, this Holy Monday, we need to ask ourselves are we more in tune with him than with Mary?
Mary’s actions are extravagant – most certainly. And in our ‘britishness’ we might struggle to comprehend these actions. They are intimate yet public, they are sensual yet humility driven. She takes her nard, worth a small fortune, and pours it on the feet of Jesus, wiping his feet with her hair. It is an outpouring of worship, of love, and for Jesus – recognition. Jesus defends her actions wholeheartedly, not because he doesn’t care for the poor. Rather her actions are pure, motivated by love and a sense of perspective that there is more to this life than what we see.
The author of Hebrews speaks of the old covenant and the new covenant, and this new covenant opens up such blessings for us. And we are loved by God, whose generosity knows no bounds. Surely, this should motivate us, like Mary, to give, but not to save or help, but to worship God. To thank him, to anoint him, to praise him for his generosity and love towards us. Yes those gifts may be used by others to build his kingdom, to share his mercy, to help those in need. But first and foremost, our giving should be about worshipping, thanking, praising God. When our perspective changes from what we give to God as if having a debt to pay, to worshipping God, suddenly we are free to be generous. Our hearts are bigger, and we know what is to be truly blessed.
For this reason Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people. Those who are called by God can now receive the blessings he has promised, blessings that will last forever. They can have those things because Christ died…
Holy Monday – let’s consider who we worship and how we worship him? What motivates us? Jesus died for you – why? What does Scripture say to you about his why and how does that challenge you as a disciple of Christ?
Collect/Prayer:
Almighty and ever-living God,
In tender love for all our human race, you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take our flesh and suffer death upon a cross. Grant that we might follow the example of his great humility, and share in the glory of his resurrection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 36:5-11
Hebrews 9:11-15
John 12:1-11
No comments:
Post a Comment