[Propertalk] Lent 5c Reflection

Sat Apr 6 10:42:34 EDT 2019

Women with hair coverings may not necessarily embrace this gospel. Our local Episcopal Convent underwent a transformation a few years back to require no longer the headdress of a nun.  Amazing hair appeared. A new breath of life was breathed into the convent it seemed.  The nuns were a bit more 'like us'. I wonder how our clothing may be a barrier to others, especially religious clothing. Do we not struggle with the same issues, the same shortcomings, and yet still work for the common good.  What about other religions; how do we see them as really "us"...? Their hair adornment, or complete covering may not at all be a sign that they are not just the same flesh and bone as us. My histology professor is completely draped, this week in black, perhaps in mourning of the events in New Zealand, her fellow companions.  Are we a bit less concerned?  Are we a bit less friendly.  Are we sharing the gospel in deeds if not words? Maybe a tip of our hats is in order?Joe Parrish, in gratitude for Allison's post. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Allison Dean <aaclinedean at gmail.com>
To: prcl-l <prcl-l at googlegroups.com>; Propertalk <Propertalk at stsams.org>
Sent: Sat, Apr 6, 2019 10:10 am
Subject: [Propertalk] Lent 5c Reflection

Another rare reflection probably going to be preached via hospital radio tomorrow as the noise of drills and hammers construct a temporary hospital chapel below our current one in preparation for a move the week after Easter.  Barbara Brown-Taylor and Kathryn Matthews were the inspiration for me this week.  Comments and thoughts welcome as it is a bit different from what I would normally prepare.

Allison Cline-Dean,Lead Chaplain,East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation TrustBased at Colchester Hospital, Colchester, Essex, UK

Isn’t it odd how scents can triggermemories?  Remember the smell last summerwhen the first rain came down after the six weeks of heatwave – the odour asthe rain hit the ground?  Earthy, damp,unmistakable, wonderful.  It was a long,generous rain for parched ground and crops as well as for children wanting tojump in puddles!   And then there are perfumes and after-shave colognes.  When I smell Chanel No. 5 I think of acertain person who is no longer with us – a crusty, to the point lady with aheart of gold and she loved Chanel No. 5. She would not leave the house to go and clean the school without aspritz of her Chanel – she was subtle in the application yet the fragrance lefta trail as she walked by.   As werecall certain scents that trigger memories, our gospel invites us to experience God’s extravagantgenerosity as portrayed by Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with the fragrant nard.This story is also used by the otherGospel writers but in different ways and in different contexts.  John is the only writer who statesthat the woman is Mary.  These 12 versesare the turning point in John’s gospel.  Thisis where Jesus, the popular itinerant rabbi leaves the world behind and headsfor Jerusalem where in six days time he will be brought before Pilate andeventually crucified.  Jesus knows thatwhen he came to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead that he left the safetyof the lands across the river and put himself in the position where variousofficials can plot his arrest.  He hasjumped from the fat into the fire – he knows he is no longer in a safe place.Yet before Jesus heads for Jerusalemhe attends a dinner party thrown by Martha in Bethany, just on the edge ofJerusalem, to celebrate Lazarus’ raising from the dead.  It was a lavish party because the men werereclining at tables.  This was not just asimple dinner amongst friends around a table with people seated on chairs orsitting on the floor.  No!  This is a dinner where there is theequivalent of a chaise longue for each guest. Martha would be bustling around the kitchen ensuring that the very bestfood and wine was being prepared and served. This was a celebration.  This wasa lavish banquet with an abundance of food – Martha’s way of thanking Jesus forbringing her brother Lazarus back from the dead.  The men reclining gives us a foretaste of theLast Supper in a few nights time. And in the midst of it all, Mary entersthe room with a beautiful alabaster jar, breaks the neck of it, and the pungentsmell of spikenard permeates the room and the house, going into all the corners.  It is a musky, sharp scent halfway betweenmint and ginseng, according to Barbara Brown-Taylor.  It is in contrast to the four day old “stench”that Martha spoke of when Jesus told her to take him to Lazarus’ tomb.   Possibly this jar was the last veryexpensive bottle left from having anointed Lazarus’ body before it went intothe tomb.   Or this bottle of spikenard may have been Mary’sdowry, started by her parents when she was born, added to by relatives over theyears, each time a little more put in the alabaster jar and then re-sealed withwax.  However, the heady scent would havebeen quite a contrast to the smell of the empty tomb so recently vacated by Lazarus. Afterbreaking the neck of the bottle, Mary kneels down, loosens her hair, and beginsto anoint Jesus’ feet.  She uses all thenard, rubbing it into the crevices and cracks of Jesus’ feet with her hair.  Mary breaks all the rules with this lavish,generous, and extravagant gift.  Just as Jesus breaks down the barriers, so Mary too breaks rules and boundaries.She doesthings not acceptable in polite company in that culture and time: she unbindsher hair, loosens it as women did only for their husbands or when they were inmourning; she pours expensive balm on the feet of Jesus (his feet, as one wouldanoint a corpse, not a king; a king would be anointed on the head).  And Mary touches Jesus even though she's asingle woman – again, not "appropriate" - and then she wipes his feetwith her hair.  (Kathryn Matthews)Mary does not hold back the bottle – she uses all the ointment at greatcost to herself, and in effect, prophecies as to what will happen in the nextfew days.  . . . “Jesus began hisministry with an extravagance of excellent wine at a wedding feast, so hisministry comes to a close here in an extravagance of expensive ointment, apassionate display of love and caring that even the woman who offers it doesnot fully understand.” (Barbara Brown-Taylor, Bread of Angels).I wonder if, as Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Last Supper afew evenings later, reclining at the table, if they recalled that evening withLazarus, Martha, and Mary.  As Jesus washedthe feet of his disciples after the Last Supper, were he and the disciples drawnback to those moments when Mary bent over Jesus’ feet and washed them.  In that single act did Mary give Jesus theidea for the new commandment that he gave the disciples that night as he washedtheir feet:  Love one another, as I haveloved you. Mary’s demonstration of her love for Christ gives us much food forthought this week.  Mary’s love shows usthe lavishness and generosity of God’s love and mercy for each of us.  In that onesingle extravagant act, Mary shows the disciples, Jesus, Martha, Lazarus, andus what it means tolove our Lord so much that we break open our hearts to those around us and toour world – to give of ourselves and not count the cost.  In that moment of lavishly anointing Jesusfeet, foretelling of his death and burial, Mary demonstrates how an extravagantgesture of love and generosity can transform a situation. A generousspirit offers forgiveness and healing, a spirit of kindness offers healing andhope and speaks words of encouragement, a spirit of freedom gives out of theabundance we live in so that others have enough to live.  (Kathryn Matthews).  This is a story of contrasts – Mary’s generosity vs. Judas’miserliness.  Mary’s love against thefear that others in the room are experiencing. It is a story that shows us just how extravagant, generous, and lavish God’slove is.  God’s love is not stingy, it isnot miserly, it is not fearful, and it won’t run out.  God invites us to open our hearts, our minds,and spirits, in the midst of an world filled with fear, violence and politicalmachinations, and experience God’s extravagant, generous, and lavish love anointingus, pouring into our spirits, giving new life and new hope, filling us with thefragrance of Christ.  When we are filledwith God’s love, “There is no reason to fear runningout--of nard or of life either one--for where God is concerned, there is alwaysmore than we can ask or imagine--gifts from our lavish, lavish Lord.”  (Barbara Brown-Taylor)_______________________________________________
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