CAREFUL LISTENING; FAITHFUL RESPONDING

Today we find Jesus in Bethany, the village where he raised Lazarus from the dead, the area from which he withdrew after learning of the plot to kill him, the place to which he now returns for a dinner given in his honor.

Lazarus, alive and well, is sitting at table with Jesus.
Martha, waitress of waitresses, is serving them.
Mary, disciple of disciples, is anointing Jesus’ feet.

According to another gospel writer, Luke, this is not the first time Mary sits at Jesus’ feet. In an earlier incident, Martha complains to Jesus about her sister’s unorthodox behavior – sitting at Jesus’ feet – as a disciple would – instead of doing what Martha thinks a woman “should” be doing. Jesus doesn’t put Mary in her place, so Martha questions whether Jesus cares that Mary isn’t helping her. Then she tells Jesus to tell Mary to get up and help her. But, like Mary, Jesus does not do what Martha expects. “Martha, Martha,” he says, “you are worried and distracted by many things” (Lk. 10:41). Mary, he adds, has “chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Lk. 10:42).

Mary chooses the better part – listening to, and learning from Jesus. Mary not only listens to what Jesus says, she “listens” to what he does.

When, in the midst of a seemingly hopeless situation, he raises her brother Lazarus from the dead – Mary listens.
And she hears that death has no power over Jesus.

When he withdraws from public after the religious leaders decide to put him to death, Mary listens.
And she hears that he and he alone decides when he will lay down his life.

And when he reappears in public six days before the Passover, Mary liatens.
And this time she hears that his time is near.

Mary listens closely to Jesus’ life. And her careful listening leads to a faithful response. Today that response involves preparing Jesus for burial. Taking a pound of expensive perfume, she anoints Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair.

Judas immediately complains, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (Jn. 12:5). Why not sell it and get almost as much as a laborer would get in a year? And why not take the money and share it with those in need?”

Those who do not listen well are easily distracted – even by good and important issues.

But Jesus does not allow Judas’ comment to distract him. He again agrees with Mary’s actions. “Leave her alone,” he says. “She bought it 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.” (Jn. 12:7)

Because the distraction of Jesus’ response to Judas’ statement may be easier to think about than his impending death, the distraction needs to be cleared away. Specifically, for those who have not been listening to Jesus’ life, Jesus’ reply sounds as though he does not care about the poor. And for those who do not want to listen, his words are used to justify not sharing what they’ve been given with the poor. But those who listen know that Jesus, like God, cares deeply about the plight of the poor. The way he feeds the hungry, heals the sick, liberates the oppressed and welcomes the marginalized all point to how deeply Jesus listens to those in any kind of need.

Jesus listens to the poor, but he also listens to the brokenness of the world in which he lives. . . and he realizes that:

Some will always have more, and others will always have less than they need.
Some will seek gain – even if it is at the expense of others.
Some will try to build their lives around what they own, even if it corrupts their souls.

Jesus listens to the poor, and he listens to humanity’s brokenness, but he also listens to God. And those who listen to him understand that his life is shaped deeply by God’s word. . . so they will know that he knows the second half of the statement he makes about the poor. And they will know that not only does he know the second half of the statement, he practices it. Because his faith is in God – the same God, who in Deut. 15:11, reminds the Israelites that, “since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’”

Still, countless persons have gotten caught in the web created by Jesus’ response to Judas. They spend an inordinate amount of time arguing:
“If we always have the poor with us, why bother to give?”
Or, on the other side,
“That doesn’t excuse us from taking care of the poor!”

But, some argue,
“Well, it’s their own fault they’re poor.”
On the other hand, still others say,
“The poor are poor because of greed and injustice in the world.”

Their argument goes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth . . .while generations die in that web.

Of course, it is crucial for us to do our part in minimizing poverty. But God, without dissecting to death why and how and when and where some people became poor, stay poor and will probably always be poor, says plainly for all to hear, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.” For those who have difficulty listening, God is even more explicit, “do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. . .” (Deut. 15:7b).

Even though poverty is, for many, a matter of life and death, this story is not primarily about the poor. Jesus’ focus is on another matter of life and death – his own. He reminds those who will listen that his time is drawing near. “. . . you do not always have me.” (Jn. 12:8b).

“You do not always have me.”

What’s it like for us to know we are about to lose someone we love?
How do we face life without them?
Who will be there for us?

No wonder it’s easier to allow even important issues to distract us from Jesus’ approaching death.

But Mary – the outsider, a woman, viewed as property, an unofficial disciple – has been listening.
But Judas – the insider, a man, the one who controls the finances, an official disciple – has not.

While Judas listens to his own needs and tries to get Jesus to meet them,
Mary listens to Jesus’ needs and considers how she can fulfill them.

While Judas’ betrayal of the poor foreshadows his betrayal of Jesus,
Mary’s act of anointing Jesus’ feet foreshadows Jesus’ own act of washing his disciples’ feet.

Mary, that careful listener, allows her actions to be shaped by what she hears. And, in the process, she reveals what faithful discipleship involves. So even before Jesus shows his disciples what it means to be a disciple, Mary has understood the meaning of faithfulness. Born out of a careful listening to Jesus’ life, Mary is able to act, not as her family or society dictates, but out of faithfulness to Jesus. She is able to put aside distractions and criticisms to care deeply for Jesus in the final days of his earthly life.

Mary, that unlikely disciple of an unlikely Messiah, invites us to listen – to listen carefully to Jesus’ life, and to respond – to respond faithfully to what we hear.