“The Measure of Success” John 20:19-31

What is the measure for success?  

According to the standards employed by this world, “success” is always “measured” in some way.

A successful company employs large numbers of people or makes huge profits.  Numbers are the measure.

          A product or brand name is successful if it can somehow infiltrate large areas of daily life.  Name recognition is the measure. 

You are successful if you are able to push out competitors.  The wielding of influence, position and power is the measure.  

          Those are the measures of success, or so we are told by this world on a regular basis.

          If you want to see a practical example of that just look to Oprah.  (We only need to use her first name, it is a trade mark in itself.) 

This is what we measure our own lives against far too often, the name we make for ourselves, our ability to influence, generate numbers.   And when we measure ourselves against that kind of vision of success, guess what?  

There aren’t very many of us in the room that measure up!

          Now I want to give you a different measure of success. 

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Judeans, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”    After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

          The scene is Sunday Evening, the day of Jesus’ resurrection. 

The people gathered are Jesus’ core disciples, minus two.   

          Judas has killed himself.

Thomas, the “twin or the “two minded one,” for reasons never disclosed is not gathered with the others.

          On the day of resurrection, when the best, most successful thing for Jesus to have done in the eyes of the world would have been to make a big production of his resurrection with trumpets and fanfare on the streets of Jerusalem.  Jesus instead chooses to appear quietly in a little locked room to not even the full complement of his disciples. 

Is this a success story?

          Yes! 

But to see it as a success story, you will have to stop measuring Jesus by the success standards of this world.   

Yes, this is a success story, but to see it in that light you will also have to stop measuring yourself by the standards of this world. 

That’s a hard thing to do. 

There is so much pressure to conform to the world’s standards.   So much pressure is placed upon us all to evaluate ourselves, our actions, our accomplishments, and our defeats by this world’s standards. 

          That is, after all, what has prompted the disciples to retreat behind these locked doors.  They are doing self-assessment, and they are failures! 

They are afraid of their fellow Judeans.

They are afraid of what those people out there will say about them, do to them.  

The people in the locked room were the same people who had followed Jesus when he entered Jerusalem triumphantly waving palm branches and announcing him as “Son of David”. 

They had perhaps looked successful then, entering Jerusalem, just sure the fulfillment of Jesus’ power was at hand.

At last, a “King like David.”    At last, the underdogs and little guys get to call the shots!

          But the trial and crucifixion had changed all that.  

The old guard of the Temple, the Romans, Herod, the Sadducees and Pharisees – they were the success stories in the eyes of this world the end.   

They got to hold on to their power. 

They had eliminated all threats, even this so called “Son of God.”   

They are still firmly in control of their temple, their city, and their province.  

In the eyes of this world, — by every measure of success in it, — they had won.

          The disciples are huddled licking their wounds like the losers that they are behind locked doors.

They had given three years of their lives, and for what?   To end up with reputations as people who had followed a crucified Messiah?  

In the end, they couldn’t even follow Jesus properly. 

When the heat was on, when the soldiers came, when they were questioned about their association with him, instead of dying as martyrs by his side, they had deserted him!  They had denied him and failed to trust in even one thing he had said or told them!

          And now, this failure in the eyes of the world, Jesus, appears to them.  He breathes his Spirit on them, and says, “as the father has sent me, so I am going to send you.”  

          Hear that for what Jesus says – and hear it afresh!  

You will be sent in the same way that God sent Jesus! 

You also will be sent out, not as some triumphant conqueror, but like Jesus was, and he was NOT seen as a success story in the eyes of this world!

          It’s essential that you hear this, because it is central to understanding the measure of success for the Christian.   

          Success is not what this world makes it out to be, and not what we aspire to!   

Success in God’s Kingdom is not about measuring up to this world’s standards or even using this worlds standards for measurement.  

Instead, success is measured by working in the hearts of people. 

Success is about breathing the Spirit of God into defeated people’s lives!

          Success is measured in the willingness of a person to be used by God to achieve God’s goals for this world, and for God’s Kingdom.  

Success is measured by the ability to influence others so that they commit themselves to God’s eternal purposes and love.

          That is what Jesus is doing in a locked room. 

He comes as a failure among failures and breathes God’s Spirit upon them.  

He opens the disciple’s eyes to see that the world does not need a quick fix, or a powerful ruler. 

What this world needs are people who are willing breathe the Spirit of God into everyone they meet.

          I want to ask you a few important questions as you consider the matter of being a successful follower of Jesus.  

How many of the “successful” people (at least in the eyes of this world) at the end of the story of Jesus are still around? 

          Have you met a Sadduccee lately?   

Been to the house of a Pharisee?  

Do the Romans still rule in Palestine? 

Is a descendant of Herod still upon the Throne of Judea?    Is there even a Judea?

Everyone who was seen as successful in the world’s eyes at quelling the rabble-rouser Jesus has disappeared into history’s pages.

          But today, people still tell their story about Jesus, and how he breathed life into them.  They continue to follow him, imperfectly as they might!

People still read the words of Peter, James and John – those failures —  who received the Spirit and who went on to witness to the Son of God made flesh.  

Who was successful in the end? 

Those who used this world’s standards of measurement, or the ones into whom God’s Spirit had been breathed?

          Beloved in the Lord, don’t get caught in this world’s trap of being “successful.”  It will lock you up tightly behind doors that you cannot begin to open on your own!  

You may never appear to be a success in this world’s eyes, and God says, “That’s O.K.”  

That’s not what God is interested in!  

God doesn’t care if you make the fortune 500 list, or if you command corporations and boards and wield earthly power.

          What God wants are disciples who will breathe the Spirit of peace and life into others.   

          What God desires are followers who will work from within, people who will love deeply, give hope to others generously, and point toward eternal purposes and to arcs of justice.  

          That’s what makes the Resurrection a success story! 

Jesus coming again, and again, and again to breathe God’s Holy Spirit into people who feel like failures!

Jesus transforming defeated people into “sent ones,” sent just as Jesus was, not to find glory and power, but to find the lost and to meet them in the places in which they hide, or are hidden.   

Jesus sends us to breathe the Spirit into others, who feel just as much like failures as we often do. 

God gives that Spirit to us to breathe into the least of this world, and it is to them like receiving CPR, a breath of life.    

One moment death is all that is expected, — and the next?

Hope!  Possibility! And, the promise of life!

          What is the measure of success?  

It is the measure of your willingness to be a servant, a disciple of Christ. 

It is the measure of the degree to which you  will pass on the breath of life that you yourself have received on to others! 

Success is measured one person at a time, as you pass the peace of Christ on to those who are gasping for breath behind locked doors, in this “success obsessed” world.

“Who Will Listen to the Women?” Luke 24:1-12

Who will listen to the women?

          I am accustomed to pointing to the women in Jesus’ final days and in the resurrection accounts as exemplary disciples and witnesses.

          While the disciples flee in terror for what might happen to them, the women are the ones who stand steadfast by Jesus’ side throughout.

They can do so, however, by virtue of their relative anonymity.  They are able to stay at the foot of the cross and witness the crucifixion, because of their lack of status, and their ability to blend in and be invisible.

I mean, who pays any attention to women?   That’s the attitude in the 1^st century.  No one (except significantly the gospel writers,) pays any mind to them hanging around in the dirty business of the execution.

 They are also the ones who can make their way to the tomb on that Easter morning primarily because, again, no one is going to pay any attention to them.  They can pass unseen through the streets to the tomb amongst doing the “women’s work” chores of the day of gathering water, baking bread, etc.

So, while they are witnesses, they are just not in the eyes of anyone in the 1^st century reliable ones.   In the male dominated culture of the day, just because you are a witness to extraordinary events does not mean that you will be listened to.   

Who will listen to the women?

We are told by Luke that to those closest to Jesus, the disciples themselves, were told this story by the women that day, but Luke says, “it seemed to them an “idle tale.”  

The women see the proof of the resurrection. 

They behold the stone rolled away.

They have an encounter with the messengers from God dressed in white who ask, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here but has risen.  Remember how he told you…”  

They remembered Jesus words, Luke says, and ran to tell the disciples.

But, you know —women! 

That’s what must have been going through the minds of the Disciples.   “An idle tale” is the phrase used to describe their witness to the Resurrection, and it is indeed a demeaning phrase. 

“Idle tale… gossip… hearsay…. prattle…. You know how women are.” 

That is what is implied if not outright spoken.

Even Peter, when he goes to check out what they report is only really amazed that the tomb is empty. 

Peter gets no men dressed in white, no reminder of Jesus’ words. 

It will take more than “idle women’s words” to convince him.

What will it take?  

Well, the women know, though no one will listen to them! 

It will take a living encounter just like they have had!  

The women have had an encounter with the living God, (or at least God’s messengers.)

They are not terrified for their lives, they are instead terrified at the truth of it all, that all Jesus said back in Galilee is coming to pass.  

He is risen, he is not here!   

The women have this incredible news to share, but they now discover that no one will take them seriously, see them as reliable!

What will it take for the disciples to finally believe; for this story of a resurrected Lord to be more to them than just “an idle tale?”   

It will similarly take their own encounter with the Risen Lord. 

If you go on in Luke’s Gospel, (as we will in a couple of weeks,) we’ll hear those stories.  The story of two men on their way to Emmaus, and how the Risen Lord walks with them, and opens the scriptures to them, and is made known to them, revealed as alive with them and present in the breaking of the bread. 

They will have an encounter with the Risen Lord, through Scripture, through fellowship, and in the Sacrament, and when they meet him there, their hearts burn within them.

Those men who are despondently making their way to Emmaus will be listened to!

If you go on in Luke’s Gospel, you’ll hear about Jesus meeting the disciples, sharing a little fish with them. 

They will have an encounter with the resurrected Lord, and in that encounter, Jesus will again open the scriptures to them, and open their minds to understanding.

That is how it is with idle tales. They are easy to dismiss in the moment, and perhaps easy to dismiss because you doubt the reliability of those who tell them.

I mean, really, what do you expect the Pastor to say on Easter morning? 

Of course, the Pastor is going to talk about Jesus being raised, but really, how reliable a witness is he?  

You know he makes his living doing this! 

It’s all just a pretty story, a fantasy that we wink and nod at and like to believe.  Like the Easter Bunny, Chicks, Peeps, — Jesus rising from the dead.   

Idle tales abound for us.  Or, as we have grown accustomed to hearing… “Fake News.”

But here is the thing about what at first seems to be an “idle tale” from unreliable witnesses.  

They will hammer at you over time!

It is easy, dear friends, to dismiss the reality of a Resurrected Lord if all you do is stick your head into the tomb once, or into the church occasionally, but God is relentless and in Luke’s Gospel it is Jesus and God who is constantly on the look-out for us, coming to meet us.

The real power of the resurrection is not found in an empty tomb, or in the waft of lilies that assault you today.  

The real power of the resurrection is to be found in the fact that Jesus can and will show up in your life anywhere, and will seek you out!  

Jesus will show up when you least expect him.

Jesus will show up when you need him most.

He will often appear when it is least convenient to have him around, reminding you of what it is that you should be doing in this world.

Jesus will even show up when you can’t imagine him being interested in showing up at all right now, or in this place, or at this time.

The Resurrected Lord Jesus will find you in the midst of you doing service for others.  You might think you are doing good for someone else, but suddenly become aware of the Christ in that person that you are serving.  

That “cup of cold water thing,” promised back in Galilee, happening right before your very eyes.

And you might even voice that.   “It felt like we served Jesus today!” 

But to those around you that tell it to, it may seem as an “idle tale.”   Just you getting all emotional, or wrapped up in the moment.

You know how it is…

The Risen Lord can find you as the scriptures are laid open and you and discover things you hadn’t noticed before.  

You may even voice that.  “Jesus really spoke to me in this study today.”

But it will seem to others as an “idle tale.”  Just you getting carried away in a flight of fancy.

The Risen Lord can find you in the opening of your minds to new possibilities, new thoughts, new understandings of how God may be at work now in this culture, which may be very different from what God was doing 2000, or 1500, or 500, years ago.

But when you voice that you may be seeing Jesus at work in some new thing, those whose eyes are set on the old will dismiss it as an “idle tale.”  

“That can’t really be of Jesus….its so…. Different.”

New wine require new skins, old skins will simply burst… I think Jesus mentioned something about that somewhere back in Galilee.

The Resurrected Lord will come to you in the midst of prayer.

That Risen Lord can come to you through the witness of others.

He can at times even speak to others through your own words and your own actions without you even being aware of it.

And those you speak such word to will say, “Your words where the words of Christ to me.”

But even then, you may shake your head disbelieving.  “Surely me speaking as Christ to you is just an idle tale!”

This is the amazing thing. 

This part at least Peter gets right, even if he doesn’t listen to the women.

Jesus is not where you think he should be!   Which leads you to wonder; just where is he, and where could he be?  

You begin to wonder just where Jesus may show up next, and when he meets you, you find yourself becoming a witness yourself.

Look for him, this week, not in the usual places, but in the everyday encounters that you will have.  

Look for the Resurrected Lord in your workplace, your home, your trip to the store.  

Listen intently to the words of those whom you meet along the way.  

Do not dismiss the testimony of others as an “idle tale” when they speak of their own faith experience, witness to you of what they have seen, and known, and felt.

This is the truth of the Resurrection. 

Jesus is loose upon the earth, and no witness to his resurrection and power should ever be lightly dismissed – not even and especially your own!   

He will come, you know, to find you, show himself to you. 

And so, like the women and Peter and all the witnesses, prepare to be amazed and prepare to also be used as a powerful witness to others.   This is no “idle tale” that we tell, and you are indeed the witnesses to it, every day. 

“Is This Really A Triumphal Entry?” Luke 19:28-40

Is this really a triumphal entry into Jerusalem? 

That is how we have long celebrated it, based upon the melding together of the synoptic Gospels, but recently I read some background that made me think of Luke’s telling of this story in an entirely different way.

We begin this Sunday with what looks like a standard triumphal entry. In antiquity the conquering ruler or royal official would arrive seated on a horse or donkey, signaling it was not his war chariot.  He comes not for battle but in peace.

We read about Jesus’ entry, hearkening back to Zechariah’s prophetic words.

But the scholar Brent Kinman points out that there was a protocol to be observed in these entry ceremonies in the Greco-Roman world.  

The approaching king or ruler was to be met by religious, social and political officials from the city, far in advance of his entry.  

Greetings were then to be exchanged, speeches made, acknowledgement given of the approaching King or dignitary’s legitimate reign and his right to enter the city with all due pomp and circumstance.

In Luke’s Gospel, from the very beginning EVERYONE has known or had opportunity to know who Jesus is and what claims are his due.

He was born in the manner of Caesar, of a miraculous conception, hailed by prophecy and set for the rise and fall of many.

Jesus announced that the time was fulfilled, his Kingdom is at hand.  He quotes Isaiah and announces the “acceptable year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus begins then to establish that reign, he performs the “things that make for peace.”  He heals, forgives, casts out demons, and proclaims actions that speak of justice and is known far and wide.

Herod knows about him.

The Temple authorities know about him.

Since chapter nine, Jesus has made his intention to go to Jerusalem clear. His face set toward there.

So then, is this really a Triumphal entry?  

No one greets him outside the city.

None of those who should make speeches on his behalf, welcome him.  There is no royal entourage to greet him, just his own disciple  who had to go into town to borrow a donkey, then begin marching in waving branches and announcing him.  Along the way a few people join.

If anything, the officials who should have greeted Jesus, instead try to hush this entry up, which is what prompts the statement: 

“I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out!”

Creation itself cries out for a King like this to come, but this is not the king that any of us want.

It is not the kind of king that we will go out of our way to welcome.

Jesus is put to death because, well, we want him dead, removed from the picture of our lives.
          Why would we want that? 

Because of what he calls us to do, what he tells us is the “Father’s will,” what he says will “make for peace. 

It all ends up being just too much for us.
          “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The rich man asks in Luke, and Jesus tells him “sell your possessions, give to the poor and follow me..”
          “If someone asks you to go with them one mile, go with them two.”
          “If they ask for your coat, give them your shirt as well.”
          “Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.”
          “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on this earth…..”
          “If anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow.”
          This is why Jesus has to die.  What he calls us to do is just too much for us. 

Having him around complicates my life.    

I happen to like storing up treasures for myself. I am very fond of both my coat and my shirt, thank you.  Deny myself?  I can’t even practice self-restraint at an “all you can eat buffet!”    

What Jesus tells us is that we are not the most important thing in the world, our neighbor is!
          What Jesus tells us is that how we choose to live will have a direct effect upon the lives of that neighbor, and of everyone else around us.    

The choices you and I make, will have impact on others.  

Jesus is God’s presence among us and that makes us uncomfortable.

Jesus reminds us that we are not “gods” in and of ourselves, much as we want to be.

          Jesus comes reminding us that it is God’s very nature to be constantly reaching out in love. 

We like that part about God when we are the recipients of that love, those blessings when they come our way.  

But when Jesus invites us to do that with him, to be about this “reaching out in love” to own neighbor, stuff, we balk.

It is expensive!

It is personally and emotionally costly! 

Such love will entangle us in all sorts of complicated areas!
          And so, the only solution for that uncomfortable feeling that we get whenever Jesus is around, is to get rid of the one who makes such claims upon us or ignore him and his claims. 

We get rid of the source of God’s interference in our lives, once and for all, so that we can finally doing whatever it is that we please.

And, what we please to do to such a man who calls us to love our neighbor, as God loves us, is to crucify him.
          Every snide comment I have made at the expense of my sibling becomes a hammer blow to the nails.
          Every time I choose my own good, my own comfort, my own insistence at the way things “need to be” without thought to others is a spear thrust into Jesus’ side.
          Every harsh word spoken thoughtlessly about others is a curse hurled from my lips at the Jesus who hangs upon the Cross.
          This is how it is.  — This is who we are.   — This is why Jesus has to die.  

We put Jesus on that cross to end his insurrection against us, to silence his claims and aims upon this world, so that we can get back to “business as usual” in this world.

Making our own kingdoms, behaving like our own “little gods,” and living lives that are uncomplicated by “the things that make for peace.”

This is why we tell this story, again and again.

We need to see our own complicity in it, to face it, and to remind ourselves how easy it is to decide to follow any and everything else, but Jesus and the way of the Cross. 

We find it easier to do any and everything else, but follow Jesus and do the things that would make for peace!  

We need that reminder, that though we tried to do it 2000 years ago, and we will try to do it still, the rocks and stones of this creation cry out still for a King like Jesus and for the things that would make for peace.

“What is that Smell?” John 12:1-8

I know of no other bible stories where there is the potential for your nose to get the kind of work out that it does in this one.   Just think of all the possibilities.

          Jesus and the disciples are gathered at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus for dinner.  So, the first layer of aroma has to be that of the food present for the banquet. 

Savory lamb roasted over the fire.  

Fresh bread from the hearth.

Wine, olives, dates and figs – all spread before the disciples for a feast of celebration at the raising of Lazarus.    

          Which gets us to the next possibility for aroma; what about old Lazarus?  When last we heard of him, Martha was talking about the stench of death!  He had been in the tomb for 4 days, his body anointed with Nard and Myrrh.  She was afraid to have the stone rolled away! Now that person is seated at the table!

The stench of the grave does not go away easily, so consider what it might be like to sit at table with Lazarus?

As long as we’re on the subject of smelly, what about Jesus’ feet?  He has traveled long and hard on the road leading down to near Jerusalem, and there is no mention here of foot washing when he entered the house. 

Here is Mary now, sitting at those feet!

And then we are told that she does the remarkable, unbelievable, difficult thing to understand.  She produces a pound of pure nard, an aromatic ointment used for embalming, or anointing, and she smooths it onto Jesus feet, wiping it off with her hair.

It is a remarkable thing because here she is, a woman, touching a male; Jesus, in this most intimate of ways.

It is an unbelievable thing, because of the precious nature of this substance.  300 denarii worth of perfume – a year’s wages, all slathered on Jesus’ feet.

It is a difficult thing to understand because we know of no one in biblical times ever anointing feet, except in funeral embalming practices. 

And there is another odor in the air, one that Judas picks up.  It is the odor of waste and misappropriation. 

We know what that is about.   We still use that kind of language. 

“Something about this just doesn’t smell right.”  We say, when we are suspicious of another person’s actions, or motives.  

This Nard could have been used in a far better way in Judas’ assessment.  It could have been given to him to be sold to feed the poor.   (As broker of the transaction, usual fees would apply.)

There are so many scents that vie for our attention in this Gospel lesson that it can leave one with what I like to call “mall candle store syndrome.”

It’s just too much to take in, so move on, hurry past it the way we do a Mall candle store.

But we can’t do that, because the end of the Lazarus story is the last of the seven signs in John’s Gospel. 

Everything in the gospel leads up to the final point that this author wants to make before Jesus goes the way of the cross. 

And so, of all the possible things for our noses to follow, we need to look closely at the actions of Mary here.  

After puzzling over this for quite some time, I think I have a clue, and it has to do with that foot to hair thing.

No one in the ancient world anointed feet, except in death. 

Washing them, yes that was a mark of hospitality mentioned many times, but anointing?  That was reserved for death and Jesus does acknowledge that is exactly what Mary is doing. 

“Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.  He says. 

That would explain the anointing of the feet, the preparation for the hasty burial about to happen.  

But it does not explain why she would wipe the nard off with her hair.

To understand that you may want to look at other “anointings” in the ancient world.  People did anoint heads with oil and perfumes, and it was done as a sign and symbol of commissioning.

Aaron and his sons were anointed and commissioned to be priests over the Israelites.

Samuel anoints the head of Saul to mark him as King over Israel.

Samuel also anoints the head of David, to mark him as Saul’s successor.

In the 23^rd Psalm the Psalmist talks about having his head anointed with oil, and that what follows is a life of blessing and service. 

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

The anointing of the head is a sign of receiving a commissioning from God. 

So, what is going on when Mary anoints her own head with the ointment from Jesus’ feet?   

Is she receiving now, her own commissioning from the feet of Jesus? 

Jesus talked of the importance of following and being a servant. 

He will in short order wash his own disciple’s feet and tell them that this is what they must do from now on. They must be servants of one another.

Jesus talked of choosing the difficult way, the narrow path, the journey toward the cross.  He invites those who follow him to choose this way, to take up their cross and to follow. 

He has, in the Gospels, displayed an unswerving path toward Jerusalem, to accomplish the work of the Messiah, which means, by the way, “anointed one.” 

What Jesus does all along the way is heal, forgive, feed, bless and challenge.

So, what is going on here?  

Well, this does suddenly smell suspiciously like an anointing!

It is not just Jesus’ feet being anointed, but also Mary taking the way of Jesus’ feet upon herself.

It is as if with her extravagant act of devotion and love she says “Let the pathway that your feet have trod be upon my head, and upon my mind.  Let me follow in the way of these feet.”  

Is this also what Judas really smells? 

Does he smell someone who understands what it means to follow Jesus, and is uncomfortable with that?

Is he uncomfortable that of all people, a woman should get this, understand this, let down her hair and enter into this kind of intimacy with Jesus?

Mary will give extravagantly without thought of herself and will take upon herself the path that Jesus has made known, the path of the disciple.

Judas will take another path.  One that will involve those denarii that he is so concerned about, figuring cost benefit out for everything.

Whenever we read John’s Gospel, we must be mindful that John is very comfortable in the world of symbol, double meaning, and with conveying deep truth through the use of signs.     

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it is intriguing to consider.  

How does that smell to you?  

And more importantly, what will you do with that thought?

This is what Mary did for Jesus in the wake of all that Jesus had done for her. 

This is what she did in response to the time he had spent teaching her and restoring her brother to life. 

She is no stranger to being at the feet of Jesus, of course, but now instead of learning and listening, she does something for Jesus, which ends up smelling suspiciously like an anointing for herself as well, the beginning of continued service.

The real work for Mary is yet to come.  It is not what she will do for the Jesus who reclines before her, but for the Resurrected Lord whom she cannot see or touch.  

She will be a witness to the resurrection. 

She will share the stories of what God has done for her. 

We do not know the full extent of what she will do now that she has taken the way of Jesus’ feet upon her own head, but then, that is the way it is for all of us.  

There is no promise when you serve Jesus of finding fame, glory, reward or notoriety for yourself.  

There is only a promise of life. 

A promise that what you do for others will live long after you have gone and will be told of you.   

This is the anointing we have received, as disciples from Mary’s actions. 

Will we take the way of Jesus’ feet be upon our own head, upon our own mind? 

Will we let it guide our very lives until we too, are comfortable letting down our hair and doing extravagant things out of gratitude to Jesus, who has done all things for us?