The other day, I found myself gleaning sweet potatoes on a farm. It was the first chilly day we’ve had in a while, so the weather was crisp and the bright, unblocked sun provided a welcomed warmth on our backs. We worked in this field for about 2 hours. Squatting down, digging up roots, pulling off potatoes, placing them in buckets – squat, dig, pull, place, repeat. At some point during this process, I looked down at my hands. Caked in dirt, I noticed cracks were starting to form where the dirt had dried to my hand and then broke as I clenched my fist around the roots and the potatoes. My dirty, cracked hands needed cleaning. They needed replenishment. They needed protection. They needed oil.
This process made me think of others who have cracked skin. Of contemporary day laborers whose hands are cracked from working in fields for low wages, of enslaved persons throughout our nation’s history whose backs would have cracked under the hot sun while they labored with no reprieve, and of migrants’ cracked feet after walking thousands of miles to start a new life in a new country. Cracked hands, cracked backs, and cracked feet all need cleaning. They need replenishment. They need protection. They need oil. And what of our internal cracks? Our brokenness, addictions, and spite that all cut into our well-being and chip away at us from the inside out? Our emotional and spiritual cracks need healing, replenishment, and protection. They need oil. Oil. Such an interesting substance; and a drop goes a long way. Wars are fought over oil. Salads are dressed with oil. Lamps are lit by oil. [PAUSE] oil makes things holy. Oil is what we have here today. We will use it to mark the forehead of the newly baptized after she has been baptized with water in the name of the Holy Trinity. But why do we anoint the newly baptized with this oil, known as the Chrism? Are not the water and God’s name enough? The saints and sinners who have come before show us that we are not the first generation with cracks, in our skin and our souls, that needs to be replenished by the oils of Life. There once lived a man named Aaron who served as Moses’s mouthpiece and prophet.[1] While the Israelites wandered in the desert after fleeing Egypt, God commanded Aaron and his sons to be the priests, or the religious leaders of the community. They were to be anointed with oil on their heads. Yet, these men would not be ordained until the tabernacle had been built. First, the Israelites labored. They sewed vestments, cut wood, built altars – sewing, cutting, building. At some point in this process, they probably looked at their bodies. Their fingers were likely bloody from sewing, bodies sore and scratched from the wood, arms tired from building. Their cracked hands, cracked backs, and cracked feet all needed cleaning. Replenishment. Protection. Oil. The time then finally came to consecrate Aaron and his sons as priests. They were brought to the tabernacle entrance, Aaron in the vestments and his sons in tunics and anointed with oil[2] so “that they may serve [God] as priests.”[3] The oil poured over their heads transformed these men into “a perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come.”[4] The oil cleansed them after their labor, restored them in unity with God, and protected them as the LORD’s children. They were outwardly refreshed and inwardly renewed. God formed the royal priesthood with Aaron and his sons, the same priesthood into which we all are admitted when baptized with water and reminded of when anointed with oil. Aaron and his sons were trusted and marked with oil as Christ’s own, for ever. Sheep, too, benefit from oil. Shepherds commonly poured oil over the heads and bodies of their sheep to protect the sheep from bugs. Certain bugs lay eggs in sheep skin, cracking the skin when they’re laid and when they hatch. These bugs cause the sheep to fall ill and die…much like the darkness of this world that creeps into our skin and cracks us from the inside out. The sheep need cleaning. They need replenishment. They need protection. They need oil. So, shepherds poured oil on the sheep to both heal and protect them. David writes of God in Psalm 23 that “The LORD is my shepherd…you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”[5] We are the sheep of God’s pasture[6] and Christ is our good shepherd who cares for us and sacrifices his life for us.[7] By being God’s sheep and receiving oil when baptized, we are brought into God’s pasture as members of the royal priesthood. Sheep are protected and marked with oil as Christ’s own, for ever. Christ, himself, was anointed with oil. On one journey, Jesus and the disciples walked to Bethany. There, they were invited to eat with some Pharisees. Likeand the migrants, their feet would have been cracked from the dirt and their skin cracked from the sun. They needed cleaning. They needed replenishment. They needed protection. They needed oil. So, Jesus and his disciples entered the Pharisee’s home and dined.[8] While there, Mary met them. As the story goes, she either anointed Jesus’s head or his feet with her jar of oil.[9] She poured oil on Jesus, cleansing, replenishing, and protecting his skin. The Pharisees recoiled in repulsion. They called Mary a sinner.[10] Rebuked her. Attempted to crack her spirit and create a chasm between Mary and Jesus. But, the oil repelled this attack. To the Pharisee’s claims, Jesus replied: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house…You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”[11] Mary’s oil brought her closer to Christ. The oil cleansed Jesus, replenished Mary, and protected their relationship. In anointing him, she too was anointed, because Christ abides in us and we in him.[12] By loving much, Mary taught us how to be Christ. The precious and blessed oil enabled living together in unity.[13] This woman lived her faith, and was marked as Christ’s own for ever. So, back to the oil. Why do we use it, and isn’t water enough? Well, yes. Water and the name of the Holy Trinity are enough. That is baptism. The Chrism helps us remember. It is a reminder that we are part of a long line of saints and sinners with skin which needs to be replenished by the oils of Life. It is a reminder that, like Aaron and his sons, we were all admitted to the “perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come.”[14] It is another sign of God’s grace at work in our lives. The oil heals and replenishes our cracks, external and internal, with new life, seals them for new use, and protects us from future ailments. All that is needed is a little drop. Because, when marked with this little drop of oil at baptism, we are anointed into the royal priesthood, set aside as holy, protected from sickness, and unified with Christ.[15] Oil is both a remembrance and a call to action. In baptism, we are charged to go and be the Church, or be Christ Anointed, shining Christ’s light onto all and living a life faithful of our calling.[16] Having a superabundance of inward healing, it is our responsibility to seek out those who need this same ointment – the oil that marks us as Christ’s own for ever – and continue Christ’s ministry of bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to captives, helping the bling see, and freeing the oppressed.[17] Because our cracked skins have been replenished by oil in baptism, we now must look for the cracked hands, cracked backs, and cracked feet that need cleaning. That need replenishment. That need protection. That need oil. May we leave today and show off our healthy skin – the world needs it. Amen. [1] Exodus 4:14-16 [2] Exodus 29:7 [3] Exodus 40:12-14 [4] Exodus 40:15 [5] Psalm 23:1, 5 [6] Psalm 100:3 [7] John 10:14-15 [8] Luke 7:36 [9] Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3, John 12:3, Luke 7:37-38 [10] Luke 7:39 [11] Luke 7:44-47 [12] 1 John 2:27 [13] Psalm 133:2 [14] Exodus 40:15 [15] BCP, 307 [16] Ephesians 4:1-6 [17] Luke 4:18 |