John 12:1-8 “Words are not enough”
6 April 2025 Lent 5
All Saints, Waterloo
By: Stephen Murray

The Revd Stephen Murray, originally from the Anglican Church of Canada, is Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Anglican Church in Belgium.

Have you ever been at a family meal where there’s so much tension in the air you could cut it with
a knife? Twenty years ago, ‘Auntie So-and-So’ had a fight with ‘Cousin What’s-his-name’ and
neither has ever apologized?

It’s that same feeling as Jesus shares a meal with his closest friends… as if a bomb could explode
at any moment… and then - BOOM! - it does in the most profound way.

Jesus had gone to Bethany for one last visit with his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Going
around the table, we’ve got a strange group:

There’s Lazarus – who up until a few days ago… was dead!!! So, Lazarus would have been quite a
sight! We know that Lazarus’ resurrection was THE moment that changed Jesus’ status in the
eyes of the religious authorities. He went from ‘pesky prophet’ to ‘serious threat’ on their “most-
wanted list.”
Because of this, Jesus knows that his days are numbered.

Also at the table are Lazarus’ sisters: Martha – typically portrayed as a ‘busy-body’, and Mary – the
supposed flighty ‘dreamer’. This time both are at the table, and for us, men and women eating
together seems perfectly normal, but at the time, this fact itself conveyed a radical message… so,
this was no ordinary meal!

Last, but certainly not least, there was Judas, who often gets smeared as “the bad guy” BUT…
Judas was more like Jesus’ loyal guard dog, always at his side. And unlike Peter and the other
disciples, Judas never wavered. He was never afraid and always ready for the revolution to start.

There were probably others at the table, but this group is already strange enough. Finally, supper
gets served and everyone starts to eat. Probably, nobody would have even noticed that Mary had
disappeared… UNTIL… she came back carrying a clay jar. The room went silent. What was going
on? She knelt at Jesus’ feet and there was a loud crack as she broke the neck of the jar. The smell
of the perfumed oil would have filled the room. And then… right there, in front of everyone… Mary
did four remarkable, scandalous things:

First, she loosened her hair, which respectable women didn’t do in those days.

Second, she poured the oil onto Jesus’ feet… Anointing someone’s head was a symbol of
kingship… but anointing their feet was a symbol of death.

Third, she touched Jesus. Again, physical contact between men and women was considered
nothing short of scandalous.

And finally, she wiped off the oil… with her hair!!! How intimate is that?!?!

We might describe Mary’s actions as: ‘loving’ or ‘faithful’. But then, we are forgetting how
scandalous her actions would have been at the time. Most people in the first Century would have
described what Mary did as: WRONG, with a capital ‘W’:

For starters… the cost of a jar of perfumed oil was the same as a person’s annual income!
Besides, Jesus already knows that Mary is his friend. So, WHY then, this unnecessary public
display of affection? What Mary has done is: lavish and luxurious. It is extravagant and excessive.

Which is why Judas uses a different ‘W’ word: “A WASTE,” he calls it, “A waste of money!”

Isn’t that what we have also been taught as good Christians – to never be too lavish or luxurious,
not to be too extravagant or excessive with our love??? Giving to the poor gets us bonus points in
heaven but loving excessively… well, that’s just… a waste!?! Or so we’ve been taught.

Jesus disagrees. He says, “Leave her alone… You will always have The Poor… but you will not
always have me.” Which is a sad statement, but true. Our world does seem to always have an
abundance of The Poor and too little of Jesus in it.

But let’s be clear… it’s not that Jesus doesn’t care about The Poor. It’s that Mary’s actions were
prophetic, they ‘revealed the truth’ – that there is nothing cheap or thrifty about Jesus’ life… His
love for us is also lavish and luxurious. It is extravagant and excessive, always giving us more than
we deserve. And just like that clay jar, Jesus will also be broken, offered and poured out for us.

Jesus told his disciples many times that he was going to die. They repeatedly rejected it. “Don’t be
ridiculous!” they said. “What a waste that would be!”

But they could not see that Love is never afraid of death. Mary sees it. She gets it. She
understands that sometimes words are not enough to express our love. Sometimes, we love so
much, it can only be expressed through lavish, extravagant acts that seem crazy to others.

Fast forward, at another special meal, Jesus’ disciples would remember Mary’s actions when he
took off his towel, wrapped it around himself, got down on his knees and washed THEIR feet.
Reminding them – and us - of this important lesson: sometimes… words are not enough.
Sometimes only lavish, extravagant, outrageous actions can truly show our love.

Today, take a look at the people gathered at this table… only slightly less strange than the group
gathered in Bethany two millennia ago. We come here with our own stories of life and death and
resurrection. And through our own experience of faith, we have come to realize Mary’s truth
–sometimes, words are not enough. Sometimes, the greatest gift we can offer is to pour out
ourselves in acts that might seem lavish or extravagant so that we can begin to express our love…
like Mary did. Like Jesus did. Like God does.

And that is why we can say, “Thanks be to God.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lent seems to be hastening by at a rapid pace, because we're already at Lent 4 or Refreshment Sunday, or Laetare Sunday (one of the only two rose Sundays in the church year),

The old introductory versicle, taken from Isaiah 66, used to be,

Laetare Jerusalem et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam…

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be ye glad for her, all ye that delight in her: exult and sing for joy with her, all ye that in sadness mourn for her.

Refreshment Sunday traditionally means we get a break, a pause in the period of fasting, that's why in some churches the liturgical color of the day isn't purple or violet but rose instead - even though, you’re not expected to fast on Sundays anyway.

Another name for this particular Sunday is Mothering Sunday, the day when we thank not only mothers for the incredible jobs they do, but also all in a position and profession of care. It was the time when staff in service of rich households was allowed to return to their mother parish where they had been baptized, and visit loved ones; they would go 'a-mothering', picking wild flowers along the way to give to their mothers.

Traditionally, on this Sunday, the organ or piano could play a solo, flowers were allowed on the altar, weddings could be solemnized, etc.

So, a break from the Lenten discipline. A time to reflect on the time of reflection. We’re half way into Lent.

While the seasons of the Church are a blessing to remind or prepare us, they're of course not set in stone; every day is the right and ideal day to start over again, every day God forgives and renews ('a daily regeneration'), every day we're encouraged and inspired to pick ourselves up by our boot straps, dust ourselves down and start afresh.

The Gospel, the Good News of God, incorporates many wonderful messages and one such message is: keep going, keep trying, keep retrying, it's worth it!

It's worth it to keep the faith.

It's worth it to keep believing in God, in people, in yourself.

It's worth it to keep hoping that the World will become a better place, that the Church will keep reforming and welcoming and affirming, that nations will learn peace and justice, that we will increase in trust and patience, that we will strive for democracy and the rule of Law, that we will eradicate poverty, pollution and economic exploitation.

It's worth praying, learning, singing, praising, celebrating, etc...

It's worth living!

One of these celebrations, these moments of pause, these places of refreshment, undoubtedly the most important of all celebrations, is Holy Communion, or Eucharist or Mass, or the Lord's Supper...we’re allowed to use, and do use, various words for this incredible celebration and moment.

Joseph B. Wirthlin, an entrepreneur from the USA, wrote,

Many in the world are searching, often intensely, for a source of refreshment that will quench their yearning for meaning and direction in their lives. They crave a cool, satisfying drink of insight and knowledge that will soothe their parched souls.

In the Church we know about such a source.

Almost all Christians in the world celebrate this holy Sacrament, this free gift from God; next to Holy Baptism, Holy Communion is pivotal for the faith life of the Church. It is its very core, its engine - if you will.

Whoever comes to him shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in him shall never be thirsty.

The Bread of heaven…the Cup of salvation…

In other words, whoever comes shall be refreshed by Christ himself.

Christ coming to us, physically, intimately, lovingly; Christ truly present with us and for us; in, with and under the elements of bread and wine, 'given for you.'

This is my body, this is my blood..whoever has part of this, has part of me.

I will renew and refresh you.

Carl Olof Rosenius, a Swedish lay preacher, for his part, wrote,

Christ has planted his table like an oasis along our pathway, in order that when we become weary with travel, weak and hungry in our souls, discouraged and wounded because of our steps, stumbling, and falling, we may enter there and be refreshed with the living bread of life.

My body, my blood.

It must have caused quite a stir and quite a few frowns within the first Christian communities as well as the societies around them; flesh and blood?

What's this preacher from Nazareth talking about? What does he mean?

Even now, it often makes people nervously giggle or dismiss Christianity completely.

Was Jesus a vampire? Was Jesus a cannibal?

It's a historic fact that the Romans accused the early Christians of practicing cannibalism during their so-called love-feasts.

But that's to misunderstand the meaning of the Sacrament: God so close that you can literally smell, taste, see, touch him - even hear him as the words of Scripture are spoken: 'given for you’.

Christians, however, had a good counter-argument against the charge, namely that cannibals kill their victims and consume dead flesh, but Christ’s body was a resurrected, living body, and therefore Christians mostly certainly weren’t cannibals.

'I AM,' God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, 'I am very existence and I exist here today for you, all that I am is yours! All I am, is you!'

In John’s gospel Jesus identifies himself with the great I AM no less than seven times. Again, it must have caused quite the stir. Christ was rather good at stirring things up, at making things new, making people consider matters from a fresh perspective.

'Come to me,' God speaks to each of us, through the bread of life, 'cling to me, feed and drink from me; I am your resting place, your place of love and renewal, of refocus, of refreshment, and a pause in all what troubles or ails you, a moment of reflection, even during this time of reflection.'

Here we are in the midst of Lent and our Gospel reading deals with the very Lenten concept of repentance, in Greek ‘metanoia’ meaning to change: mind or behavior. I say a Lenten concept because some of us give up or take on different things during Lent in order to help us change our attitude and behavior to one another, to our world, or to God.

And as we look at our Gospel story this morning could I just check something with all of you?

Could I check that there is nobody here this morning who thinks, like those that Jesus is talking to here, that suffering is linked to sin, that bad things only happen to bad people who do bad stuff?

We all know, don’t we, that bad things happen to good people, that indeed bad and good things happen to good people and that good and bad things happen to bad people. There is no clear connection between how we live and the good or bad fortune we enjoy in life. The world is more complicated than that and, although, of course, we all make choices with good and bad outcomes, there is still a randomness to what happens to us which eludes rational explanation.

In other words, let’s agree, shall we, that suffering, illness, misfortune, death are not sent to punish us; that if we see someone who is ill or suffering, we do not have to conclude that they somehow brought this on themselves. And you don’t need to take my word for it. It’s what Jesus is saying here.

‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you;

Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you;

So, I’m glad we have cleared that up!

Researching this passage, it seems that no one knows what particular atrocity by Herod Jesus is referring to here. There were many horrors, and this seems to have been a particularly cruel and ghastly act. So, we have an example of persecution on grounds of ethnicity and then a description of an apparently random accident, a building that collapses killing 18 people. Such things are happening all over our world today. Human beings persecute one another because of perceived differences and innocent passers-by die in accidents because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But just because there is no direct link between suffering and sin doesn’t mean that there aren’t things we need to repent of, that there aren’t things we need to change in our lives, things we can improve, things that, if we change, won’t necessarily change our lives’ events, won’t stop bad things happening, but will enable us to live more fruitful lives. And we can understand different things by the term ‘fruitful’.

Which brings me on to the second part of the passage - Jesus’ transition from the randomness of violent death, severing any link between sin and suffering, but still highlighting the need for repentance because nobody is perfect - to his parable of the fig tree.

Fig trees, as the gardeners among you will know much better than I do, are tricky to deal with. They are both hardy and sensitive. They require particular conditions of weather and soil composition, specific nutrients. They can live to over 100 years old and sometimes, they can appear to be dead or dying, but can with care and skill be resuscitated, brought back from apparent death and coaxed to bear fruit.

There are seasons for a fig tree which are difficult to fathom, even for an experienced gardener. But an experienced gardener knows the importance of patient tending and of not giving up. A lack of fruitfulness isn’t the tree’s personal fault. All the conditions I just mentioned are independent of its control. And just because it isn’t bearing fruit in the traditional form of figs doesn’t mean it is useless or will never achieve anything again. Under the ground it is spreading its roots, nourishing the soil, waiting for its season to bear figs again.

The parallel of the fig tree is open-ended. We are left hanging, not knowing what its fate will be. Will it bear fruit the following year or is it for the chop? And how is any of this relevant for our lives?

What I conclude is the following:

Having, with relief, concluded that we do not control all that happens to us in our lives, good or bad, some self-examination and repentance for the times when we get it wrong is always a good thing. We have nothing to lose by being honest about our mistakes and shortcomings. Lent is a good time for this as we think about the ways in which we could change in order to grow.

Additionally, there are seasons in our lives. We have times when we are fruitful and times when we are, like the fig tree, spreading our roots underground, being more introspective, waiting for our moment to bear fruit again. You might be thinking to yourself that you aren’t feeling very fruitful; maybe you are lacking in energy, or purpose, maybe you are feeling depressed, unproductive, hopeless. Maybe you are saying to yourself: that’s me, that barren fig tree.

The good news of our Gospel today is for any of us who sometimes feel like that: just because we do not feel very productive at the moment does not mean that we are dead, or useless, or deserve to be cut down. We might not all be dashing around saving the world, full of energy and purpose. Sometimes it’s enough to just sit in our chairs looking out at the world, with our cup of tea, sending out a few prayers and kind thoughts. Sometimes that is all we can do. Don’t judge yourself by what the world considers to be fruitful, says Jesus: just wait, just be. And then, when the time is right, a bit of digging, a bit of manure, a bit of repentance, a bit of making peace with the randomness of our lives’ events - and then next season, or the one after that, just watch that fig harvest grow!

Amen.

Jane McBride is a member of All Saints and serves on the Vestry