May the words of my lips and the meditations of my heart be glorifying to you, O Lord our God.
I absolutely love biblical stories about dinner parties. They just feel so…real. So human. Like they could have been written today, in 2022. Biblical dinner parties are awkward and tense, loving and caring, and always dynamic. In these stories, someone inevitably says or does something that makes everyone else’s’ heads turn with a questioning look. The dinner party in our Gospel reading today is no different. Our Gospel reading brings us to Bethany and tells us of a dinner had by, what sounds like, a dysfunctional family. Just look at the characters:
Sounds slightly awkward, right? My kind of party. To make matters more tense, the dinner party in our Gospel reading takes place just 1 week before Jesus, the unifying person of this group, is to be arrested and, eventually, murdered by the state. Jesus knows this, but the others don’t. So, Jesus is likely feeling pressured to teach because time is short. And teach he does – this time, about his impending death and our responsibilities afterward. Have you all ever had that experience – perhaps at a family dinner – when one of your family members makes an off-the-wall comment? Everyone looks at this person, head askew. Some folks awkwardly laugh. Some fall quiet. Someone eventually speaks up. Insert Judas here to our biblical dinner party. Folks are sitting around, chatting and prepping food, and Judas has the nerve to criticize Mary after she thoughtfully cleansed Jesus’s feet with extremely expensive oils. I’m going to guess some folks awkwardly laughed wile others fell silent after this unnecessary criticism. Jesus, however, isn’t having any of it on this particular occasion. Jesus speaks up. He says to Judas, “Leave [Mary] alone. She bought [the perfume] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”[1] Two things become clear from this exchange: (1) Jesus values, respects, listens to, and honors women (2) Jesus knew he was about to die, but he did not let his impending death impact his mission on earth to prepare his followers for life after his death. In this statement Jesus was saying, “Listen. For time is short.” Jesus seemingly drawing attention to himself instead of the poor likely sounds odd. For his 3 years of public ministry, Jesus always stood up for the poor, the oppressed, and the downtrodden in solidarity for liberation. In fact, he began his public ministry declaring that this was his mission on earth.[2] But now Jesus seems to be saying, “Don’t worry about the poor, worry about me.” …So, what’s up with that? Well, time was of the essence. This dinner party occurred 1 week before Jesus was to be betrayed by Judas and turned over to the state; 1 week before Jesus was to be publicly murdered; 1 week before the prophecies of old would be fulfilled; 1 week before Jesus’s disciples were responsible to carry on the ministry he embodied…a ministry that we, too, have inherited as members of the Body of Christ. So, I can imagine Jesus felt some pressure to drive home some important points for this group to internalize. It isn’t that Jesus is saying, “I don’t care about the poor.” Jesus is saying, “Listen to me, for time is short. Learn now for after I die, you must bring Good News to the poor, liberate the oppressed, and set the captives free. You must continue this work on earth to make God’s kingdom come here, as it is in heaven.” In his admonition of Judas’s criticism, Jesus is telling folks that they can – and must – both revere the Lord and care about justice. To be a follower of Christ is to care about justice. Jesus told this to people who he loved deeply; people who played key roles in continuing to tell the loving, liberating, and life-giving story of God after Jesus’s death. He needed them to listen to him then because time was short. And these people who comprised the dysfunctional family that had gathered for a dinner party 1 week before their friend, the itinerant preacher, would be murdered by the state, were not the people who would have been expected. And a new thing was being done in each of them through Christ.[3] At this party, you had:
Jesus united this unexpected bunch in a shared mission to create God’s kingdom here on earth, even after his death. So, who are you at the awkward dinner party of the dysfunctional family? Whoever you are, did you listen? Though we have been given the gift of time through Christ’s death and resurrection, we must still listen to the voice of God and continue Christ’s liberating work in our world. A new thing has been done in you through Christ, too, and now we have the opportunity to carry this mission of love and liberation forward as a family, maybe even a dysfunctional one, but united by a shared purpose in Christ.[4] Amen. [1] John 12:7-8. [2] Luke 4:17-19. [3] Isaiah 43:19. [4] Isaiah 43:19. |