Sermon for St. Andrew’s Picton

Lent V: extravagant gifts (2007)

-the movie Chocolat is set in a small town in France that took the whole Lenten exercise of austerity and sacrifice very seriously

-the movie opens with the villagers gathering in the local church on the first day of Lent where they are reminded of their Lenten responsibilities

-the need to spend time in personal reflection, the need to avoid sweets and deserts, the need to repent of all immoral thoughts and actions

-yet unbeknownst to any of the faithful, while all are at worship, a couple of strangers arrive in town whose ways will challenge all of their Lenten traditions

-a woman and her child rent a vacant shop and within a week have opened a chocolaterie

-well, the mayor of the town, the keeper of the local traditions is incensed that these strangers dare to flaunt their chocolate in the midst of the Lenten fast

-well, the stage is set for a battle between the righteous faster and the extravagant chocolate chef

-before long the villagers one by one line up at the church to confess how they have fallen into temptation by partaking of her various chocolate delicacies

-the mayor does all that he can to ensure that her business closes

-yet her hospitality, her extravagance brought healing and strength and reconciliation in the lives of those whom she encountered

-in the end, the mayor loses the battle that he has raged against the woman and her extravagant ways

-when the town gathers in the church to celebrate Easter, the priest reflects that it is not what we give up that indicates what is in our hearts but what we give

-for me this  story builds on the stories that we have been reflecting on, stories such as the wedding at Cana, the feeding of the five thousand, the prodigal son

-all stories that hold up the tension that exists between a vision of abundance versus a vision of scarcity

-today’s gospel lesson follows suit

-it tells of  an extravagant act of love but this time on behalf of Mary, the sister of Lazarus

-now if you recall the story, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead

-he was a friend of the family which also include Mary and Martha

-he is dining in their home and in the middle of the meal, Mary approaches him and anoints his feet with a very expensive perfume

-it was worth, in fact, the amount that a labourer would make in a year

-and immediately, in response to this act of utter extravagance, Judas, the disciple who would betray him chastises her for wasting the perfume which could have been sold with the money going to the poor

-so I ask you--some of you with Scottish Presbyterian heritage behind you...what comes to mind when you think about the word extravagant

-for me, the word makes me think of wasteful

-I can almost hear both of my parents using the word extravagant and meaning wasteful--it was not a good thing to be extravagant

-and so I am careful not to be extravagant either

-and definitely in a society where there seems to be so much waste, so much extravagance I am even more firm in my intentions not to be wasteful

-yet Jesus praises Mary's act of extravagance and so I wondered what examples of such extravagance would help us to think in a more positive way about what it means to love with extravagance

-and you know what came to mind??

- that song back in the 70's by the group Tony Orlando and Dawn

-tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree; it's been 3 long years if you still love me

-this guy had been in jail and was writing a letter to his girlfriend before he was released from prison

-he wanted her to give him a sign that she wanted him back

-if the yellow ribbon wasn't on the oak tree outside of her house, he would pass on by

-well when he arrived he hoped to see that yellow ribbon tied to the oak tree as a sign that she would take him back

-but what did he see instead---100 yellow ribbons

-wow, what a wonderfully extravagant act of love-under the circumstances 1 ribbon would have been a bit stingy don't you think?

-today's passage challenges us to think about an act of extravagant love as, in fact, an act of discipleship

-a bottle of perfume worth a year's wages simply broken over Jesus' feet

-is it any wonder that Judas' was taken aback to say the least

-what a waste

-but for Jesus it was a wonderful gift—a gift driven by love and devotion, a gift given without counting the cost

-and he praised Mary for her act of devotion--for her act of discipleship

-I stumbled across a couple of stories this week in an internet discussion about this passage. They are stories I think that we will be able to relate to as think about the contrasting visions of scarcity and abundance. Here is the first:

Winnie was a new member in our church, our only black member. We were having a retirement celebration after church for Sandra, who'd been the church secretary for 30+ years and who was retiring because she was dying of bone cancer.
Sandra was tiny, frail, weak, bald. Most members of the church had not seen her in this condition, not having seen her for the several months of her chemo. We were shocked at her appearance when her daughter brought her into the fellowship hall. We held back, not wanting to infect her, or cry over her, or hurt her, or make a scene. But Winnie, large, overpowering Winnie walked right across the fellowship hall and gave Sandra a big hug and told her how much she loved her. Mind you, Winnie had never met Sandra before.
We -- scared, reserved, white Presbyterians -- were horrified (inwardly, of course). What is Winnie doing? What would Sandra think?! We knew the purpose of this party was to surround Sandra with our love -- from afar, reservedly, with a plaque and a clever poem. She would see the tables of food lovingly prepared and see the pretty centerpieces so perfectly arranged and from that she would know how much we loved her.
Now I see Winnie, very like Mary in this passage, just doing what is in her heart, and shaming me for not doing the same, but holding back. We all loved Sandra so much, why didn't we run across the room and fall on her and risk crushing her with
our hugs, and risk crying uncontrollably in public?
On how many occasions do respond like the people in that room holding back, when shameless, embarrassing outpourings of love are what is required.

Here’s the second one:
You reflections on your mother's friend who won't use her perfume because it is too expensive reminds me of my great aunt. She was a stingy woman, with little joy or gratitude in her. She was a school teacher in the country and when her students would give her a gift at Christmas it was often a jar of strawberry jam or blueberry jelly.
She would thank the child and say, "I'll save it for a special occasion." When she
died my Mom and her sister went down cellar and found shelves full of spoiled preserves. Think of all those hours and hard work picking the wild blueberries or straining the chokecherries. What a sad waste.

So here we are again at a crossroads in our Lenten adventure where we are confronted with two competing visions, one of abundance, extravagance even because in God’s kingdom there will always be enough.

And one of holding back, saving, waiting for the right moment that never comes.

So when faced with these options, let’s consider again our Lenten questions: what kind of people do we want to be?? What kind of church do we want to be?

One of these visions reflects the vision of God that Jesus came to share with us. The other vision belongs to those who live in fear, who live without gratitude, who see only scarcity…who see only “not enough to go around”.

Perhaps I’ll close today by holding up all of these stories once again. As I refer to each one think about who you are and who you yearn to be.

Think about your experience of this faith community; think about how you would like others to speak about this faith community.

-there’s the woman who brought new life to a small community by creating delicious chocolate treats and sharing her time, her listening ear, her generous heart while the mayor was yelling in the background, “Thou shalt not!”

-there’s the girlfriend who wanted to embrace her boyfriend with devotion in a way that would restore his hope and so tied 100 yellow ribbons on a tree so that the message would be clear

-there’s Winnie, a stranger who embraced the dying one when her friends were too afraid

-and then there is that aunt who couldn’t break open a jar of fresh jam and enjoy a gift

-we may not be comfortable with acts of extravagant love but this is discipleship, says Jesus

-this is how you imitate me; this is how you show people that you belong to God

-and in God’s kingdom that which is given in love is never wasted, in fact it is multiplied beyond our comprehension