“Extravagant Generosity” Mark 14.3-9

This is an outrageous story.  Women didn’t dine with men as a rule the culture of Jesus.  The men would gather for the meal and the women would eat in the kitchen.  Besides that, Jesus was an important teacher.  This would likely have been a special event.  But that didn’t stop this particular woman.  She broke into the dinner party, uninvited, to pay her respects to Jesus.  Her unannounced entry into a room full of men was outrageous.  To make matters worse, she next broke open a very expensive bottle of oil (perhaps some kind of perfume or lotion), and lavished all of it upon Jesus.  Besides the fact that she broke into this “men only” dinner and went right up to Jesus and touched him, she wasted a lot of money!  That is what really seems to have gotten people’s attention, the waste of money!

We read that the oil she used to anoint Jesus cost about one year’s worth of wages.  That may not translate easily for us so just think in terms of an average person, not a wealthy person, and what they make in a year.  The reason I say that is it probably makes the act more outrageous.  Someone like Donald Trump can blow through one year’s wages for someone special.  Trump could blow an entire year’s wages and while we would think that outrageous, Trump would never miss the money because he has so much.  On the other hand, normal working class people are really going to miss one full year’s worth of wages, even if it is given for a worthy cause.  But if it is just dumped on someone’s head, well, that is outrageous.  The good people present remark that the oil could have been sold for the equivalent of on one year’s wages and used to feed the poor.  Instead, this party crashing woman just dumps a year’s worth of wages all over Jesus.

Of course, we do read later, in verse 8 that she is anointing Jesus for his burial.  In spite of that, people are critical of her for being so extravagantly generous!  They criticize her for doing something meaningful for Jesus!  The extravagance of her action toward Jesus is alarming to those who witness it.  Apparently she has seen something in Jesus that she feels compelled to respond to in a very dramatic way.

Perhaps she sees in Jesus the extravagant grace of God being lived out.  Perhaps she sees in Jesus radical extravagance that ultimately leads him to give his entire self away for others (see Philippians 2.5-11).  She obviously wants to do something in return for Jesus so she blows an entire year’s wages on this one symbolic act, anointing him for his burial, in advance.  She wants to respond to him and what he is doing and she doesn’t care what others think of her for doing so.  Her generosity is outrageous.  It is called wasteful.

When people questioned her judgment they said that the oil should have been sold and the money used to feed the poor.  Jesus responds by saying that they will always have the poor with them but they won’t have him around much longer.  This statement has caused some trouble for the church because it seems to indicate that we will never eliminate poverty, according to Jesus.  That may be one way to look at the matter.  Another way may be to read the statement as Jesus saying that we will always have ample opportunity to be generous toward others in the future!

Can you imagine being so generous as to have people question your judgment?  Can you imagine being so generous that people question whether or not you are acting in your right mind?  While I do know very many very generous people, I don’t know anyone who has been so generous at any one time as to be considered lacking in judgement.  I don’t run around with the types of people who can just give away one entire year’s salary in one act of generosity!

Could anything or any one inspire you to give away that much money at one time?  Think about it.  Is there anything or anyone that could possibly inspire you to be that generous?  I am not even sure that Jesus inspires that kind of generosity from people today.

Some people do give large sums of money to churches or other religious and charitable organizations.  But those are not “average” people.  Those are people who can give away that much money precisely because they don’t miss it.

Christians sometimes lean too heavily on the understanding that “Jesus paid it all”, and so all we have to do is believe.  Does that mean, though, that Jesus paid it all so we don’t have to do anything?  We are taught that grace is free.  There is nothing we can do to merit grace.  We certainly cannot purchase it.  It does come through faith in God through Jesus.  Jesus gave his life for the sake of others.  That isn’t something we can repay.  But, does that mean we don’t respond?  How do you respond to God’s generosity toward you?

Think of generosity not as repayment to God or Jesus for what they have done for you.  Think instead about generosity as response rather than repayment.  None of us can ever repay God for the gift of life and all its blessings.  We can though respond to God’s generosity by acting in similarly, though. God was so generous with Jesus as to change the course of world history.  Surely then there must be some way that we can be generous that would startle our friends and neighbors.  I am not saying that you need to do something foolish like give away a full year’s salary.  But how many of us ever think about cultivating an attitude of generosity that is so bold it makes people sit up and notice that living our faith as response to God really matters?

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