Day 41 – Wasteful

Wasteful - Banjul 2002 (DS)

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 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. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. (John 12: 1-7)

Why this waste? Because this is how God loves. Divine love has no interest in restricting itself to what is ‘necessary’. It is no use looking to the events of this coming we
ek for a proportionate, costed response to the needs of the world. It is not means-tested, not tied to productivity or deserving. The generous sacrifice of Jesus cannot be summed up in sober moral equations or legal judgements. God’s love is simply not sensible like that. It is beyond measure, poured out in overwhelming excess over an ungrateful, uncomprehending world. Mary knew this. In her gift to Jesus, she mirrored the wastefulness of God. She was loving as God is loving. Her love was poured out like God’s and for God, beyond thought of cost and beyond any notion of what is sensible.

(Extract from Dust & Glory by David Runcorn)

Prayer

Jesus, may all my living reflect your extravagant, wasteful love, and may those whose paths I cross catch just a little of the fragrance of your presence.