April 6, 2025
John 12:1-8
Introduction
Who are the poor Jesus is talking about? What do you think Jesus meant when he referred to “the poor”? What does it mean to be poor? And lastly, when you think of those who are “poor”, whose faces do you see?
Often we think of poverty as only a financial matter, and the people are those on the other side of the tracks, or the other side of the world who look like the faces of children in the pictures organizations use to solicit donations. Sometimes the “poor” are those who are unemployed and unhoused, holding a cardboard sign at a traffic light. Or maybe we think of refugees and migrants lined up at the border.
It’s these ideas and images that come to mind when we hear the last line in today’s Gospel, “You always have the poor with you….” and think about the economically poor because we tend to understand poverty mostly in terms of finances and quantity. And that’s not wrong. But the reality is, when Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you…” it should go much deeper than a simplistic definition of poverty. Being poor, being impoverished, can also mean the inability to smell the beauty all around us and within us.
Move 1
Now to be clear, neither I nor Jesus, want anyone to ignore or diminish the needs of the economic poor. Jesus is certainly not saying poverty is a hopeless situation about which we should do nothing. In fact, Jesus is very clear about his and our responsibility to the poor. He declares himself to have been anointed to “bring Good News to the poor” (Luke 4:18). He says the poor are to be invited to our banquets (Luke 14:13). And in each of the other three Gospels Jesus says, “Sell what you have and give to the poor.” (Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22). The poor are a chief concern of Jesus.
What I am suggesting, and what I believe Jesus is saying in verse eight, is that a strictly financial understanding of poverty is too small of an understanding. Which begs us to ask, if there is not just economic poverty, what other kind of poverty is there? And Jesus answers that question within the context of what Mary has done with the expensive nard, and the reaction it elicits from Judas. Jesus is telling us there is financial poverty and there is also inner poverty, spiritual poverty, a bankrupt soul.
Which means that when Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you…” he is talking about all those who fall into those definitions and scenarios I mentioned, but also Jesus is talking about anyone and everyone…including you and me.
Move 2
Have there been times when you didn’t have enough, and you were living a “bankrupt life”? You didn’t have enough to pay your bills; you didn’t have enough to put gas in your car to go to work and buy lunch; you didn’t have enough to pay for books for class; you didn’t have enough to be part of a friend’s wedding, you didn’t have enough to send your kid on the class trip or get them the “must have/but everybody has one” item.
I’m willing to bet we all have experienced not having enough at some point or another. But I wonder too, have there been times when you had enough— more than enough material funds and goods—but you were still impoverished, still living a “bankrupt life.” Only this time it was with a feeling of emptiness, as if something was missing? And you knew more stuff was not going to fill that emptiness. That’s a whole other kind of poverty, of bankrupt life, isn’t it? That’s inner poverty, and no amount money can fix it. This kind of “bankrupt life” is not a financial problem or even a worldly problem—it’s a soul problem. And that is exactly what Jesus is talking about when he says, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” Jesus knows Judas’ heart and soul. And Jesus knows ours too.
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In what ways is your life impoverished today? I’m not asking about your bank account, finances, or how much stuff you have. I’m asking about your soul. What is your personal poverty today? In what ways are you living a “bankrupt life”?
Or maybe a better question to ask is… How does your life smell?
Move 3
Personal poverty… living a bankrupt life… not being able to smell… that’s what’s going on with Judas. Everything he says and does reveals an impoverished soul, and he is unable to smell the fragrance filling the house. All this poverty is revealed in his question “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” Judas is thinking only about external quantifications surrounding his self-interests and not looking at the poverty within himself.
Look at what led to Judas’ question. Mary “took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” It’s the fragrance of Mary’s presence in this moment that sets Judas off. It’s the fragrance of love offered to Jesus—all that she is and all that she has. It’s the fragrance of generosity and holding nothing in reserve. It’s the fragrance of extravagance. It’s the fragrance of vulnerability and openness as Mary wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair. It’s the fragrance of knowing that the meaning and fullness of life are held in this one moment, knowing moments like this are sacred, so don’t let them pass by.
This fragrance that fills the house is the fragrant perfume of beauty—and within this fragrant perfume of beauty is commitment, faithful devotion, understanding, hopefulness, and a love that will never end. This fragrant perfume of beauty is not an object outside us, rather it’s an experience in which we participate. This beauty connects us to the infinite, it reveals meaning, and reminds us we are a part of something larger than and beyond ourselves. This fragrant perfume of beauty heals and changes lives because this beauty is less about the eyes and more about the soul. And Mary can smell, and live that beauty, because she dared to release it. Jesus can smell that beauty because he shared it first. But Judas can’t smell it anymore because his life is bankrupt, and his soul is impoverished.
Move 4
When have you smelled the fragrance of beauty? In what ways is it filling your house today? Is it the perfume with which you are anointing others and the world today? In what ways might you be nose-blind to that fragrance today? To not smell the fragrance of beauty all around is to live an impoverished life. Judas is the personification of that impoverished bankrupt life. Judas is nose-blind to the beautiful perfume of life all around him. When Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you, he is speaking of those who are unable to smell the fragrance of beauty. And that’s not a judgment or criticism of Judas. It’s a diagnosis. A diagnosis of Judas, and a diagnosis that sometimes we too are nose-blind to the fragrance of beauty.
Every time I am nose-blind to the fragrance of beauty in my life my life is bankrupt, and my soul impoverished. When I am indifferent and turn away from the needs of another, or the pain of the world, my life is poor. When I am skimming the surface of life, distracted and preoccupied by the trivial I am impoverished. When I am too busy or self-absorbed to be truly present to another, to listen with interest and care, I am living in a poverty where no amount of money can fix. When I make judgments, compare myself to others, or live as if life is a competition, I am poor. When I define myself by my griefs and losses, failures, and regrets, my soul is filing for bankruptcy. When I turn away from my own beauty and goodness, or my deepest callings and longings that drive my life I am living in poverty. When I see myself as only what I have done, or left undone, or what has happened to me, I am living an impoverished life. When I betray myself, turn away from my truest self, and deny the life that wants to enter the world through me I am bankrupt. When I refuse to claim the beauty and goodness that is in me, share my gifts, answer the call that won’t let me go, I am living in poverty.
I don’t want to live an impoverished life… and I don’t want you to either. I want us to smell the fragrant beauty all around us. I want us to smell the fragrant beauty of each other… and I want us to smell the fragrant beauty that comes from our own lives.
Conclusion
If you heard last week’s sermon about there being no need for a bath and have made a correlation to today’s “how does your life smell?”, I’m glad. There is an intended implicit struggle I’m trying to elicit because this season of Lent has been about us awakening to, and recovering, the fragrance of beauty in ourselves, each other, and our world. And to awaken and recover the fragrance of beauty we have to look at the poverty of our life and then take a deep breath. If you are not smelling the fragrance of beauty, ask yourself why not? What might you need to do, change, or let go of? And no, it’s not because I said you don’t need to take a bath, it’s because your life has gone bankrupt and your soul is impoverished. It’s because you are living like Judas and not living like Mary.
And if you are living like Judas then you need to stop. Take a deep breath, and begin to embrace the sacred opportunity of each moment—and not let it pass. We need to let it fill us to overflowing, inspire us to risk vulnerability and intimacy, and give us courage to love while holding nothing. Because when we do that, we let the fragrant beauty of life with Jesus anoint us, which then anoints others, until soon the room, and even the world is filled with the Christ-like smell of beauty.
How does your life smell? Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, April 6, 2025, Lent 5
Gracious God, receive our thanks for the gift of your son, who came into the world that we might have eternal life, that the world would not be condemned, but saved—saved from its woeful and fallen ways.
But keep us mindful, this gift of salvation can be received here and now, today—that we can be saved and delivered from the apathy that so often invade our souls.
Keep us mindful that your son has shown us the way to guard and protect our spirits from the hardness of judgement, greed, scarcity, and hate, by enabling us to see the world as you see it—as a place of beauty, as a place worthy of grace, redemption, and new life.
Keep us mindful the poor and the poor in spirit are all too often the same, and they are often us—but that your son can guide us through dim valleys, to where our cups and our spirits are overflowing with your goodness, mercy, and love.
Holy God, Jesus told us we would always have the poor, but that we would not always have him. We give thanks that we do always have Jesus in the Holy Spirit, but keep us mindful that our souls, and the souls of others, can forget, can become hardened, can get lost in the dim valley if we fail to take hold of the sacred moments when we chose to be fully open, vulnerable, committed, and faithful to who you have called us to be.
So open our hearts to what you reveal and give when we dare to risk such a way of life, for we know it will always be a life of abundance, a life that is full and never deficient or bankrupt of hope, peace, joy, or love. And then give us the courage to never believe your abundance could run out, so that we know with faithful certainty, when we share these blessings with others, there is always enough.
We ask that you would hear now the prayers of our hearts as we share them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the precious name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying, “Our…”