A sermon preached at Kowloon
Union Church on Sunday 10 March 2013 by Dr. Hope S. Antone.
The scripture readings that day was Matthew 26:6-13.
6Now
while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, *7a woman came to
him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his
head as he sat at the table. 8But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said,
‘Why this waste? 9For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum,
and the money given to the poor.’ 10But
Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has
performed a good service for me. 11For you always have the poor with you, but you will not
always have me. 12By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me
for burial. 13Truly I tell you, wherever this good news* is proclaimed
in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’ (Matthew 26:6-13, New Revised Standard
Version)
Although it is two days
after March 8, I would like to greet everyone this prayer and wish, which is
not only for International Women’s Day (IWD) but for every day of our lives: May you have a violence free day!!!
The story of a woman’s
anointing of Jesus is usually read and preached on during the Lenten
Season. It is very significant for IWD
because it is a story of a woman who dared to do something outside the box and
against the cultural norms of her time.
All the four gospels have an account of the anointing of Jesus by a
woman. Except in John where the woman is
identified as Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, she is nameless in the
accounts. In Luke, she is labeled a
“sinner”, “a woman who had lived a sinful life”.
Matthew (like Mark)
narrates that a woman with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume (oil or
ointment, or nard) has come to where Jesus is reclining at the table, and pours
the perfume on his head.
Extra-biblical sources
tell us that alabaster was a semi-transparent
white stone (usually from Egypt)
and a very costly piece of decoration which people preserve in their
houses. Alabaster jar was mostly used as a decorative piece by kings. Nard
was a very costly ointment from a plant in the Himalayan Mountains,
believed to be so valuable since it got better with age. We are told that an alabaster jar of fragrant nard was usually something passed on from
mother to daughter as a family heirloom.
Other sources say it was
a custom for young Jewish girls to spend a huge amount on a jar of perfume,
which they would break on their wedding day to beautify themselves with. By doing so, a bride declared to her groom
that she was offering her best, her entire life, to him. We are also told that the
ointment/nard/perfume was kept in alabaster bottles that were specially sealed
to prevent evaporation. In order to use
it, the neck of the bottle had to be broken and the ointment used all at
once. Used in hospitality, one would
gently put a few drops of the ointment on the head of every guest.
But according to Matthew
and Mark, this woman poured the perfume on Jesus’ head! Some people who were there (the disciples,
according to Matthew) got angry, saying, “Why this
waste? 9For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum,
and the money given to the poor.”
Both Mark and John mention it could have been sold for more than a
year's wages (of a common laborer).
Jesus' reply
to them was: “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. 11For you
always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12By
pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. 13Truly I
tell you, wherever this good news* is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will
be told in memory of her.”
We
can pick up a few key points from this story:
First,
this story is a reminder for all of us on the
need to have a sincere heart. Jesus’
words, “For you always have the poor with you”, have baffled/confused many
people. Some evangelists have used such
words as an excuse not to do anything about the plight of the poor. But I think what is happening here is that
Jesus saw through the disciples’ so-called ‘concern’ for the poor. Concern for the poor can simply become a
fashion, an outward form, but the true spirit could still be missing. We know
how politicians running for office would champion the cause of the poor during
their political campaigns. They may
sound very convincing but wait what happens when they are in office. In a similar manner, we church-going
Christians may have mastered the language of justice and fairness, of being on
the side of the poor; but Jesus can see through all that for what is more
important is what’s in our hearts. Do we
have the true spirit that would eventually guide our commitment and
action? As was shown in this story,
Jesus can see through our hearts.
Second,
this story is also a reminder for all of us on the need to have a clear understanding of Jesus’ mission. Just as Jesus could see through the hearts of
his disciples, he also saw through the heart of the woman. You know it is quite lonely for any leader to
be so driven by a vision or a passion – which no one from among his or her
followers is able to comprehend. Jesus
did his ministry on earth for three years with his close disciples following
him, learning from him. Yet they never
did understand him. Some of them
expected him to be a political leader who would make Israel great again, like David
did. Some of them hoped to be seated on
his left and right in glory. When Jesus
talked about his impending suffering that would lead to his death and then
resurrection, Peter said, “God forbid it, Lord.
This must never happen to you.”
Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are
setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” [Mt. 16:23]
For Jesus, only this woman truly understood the meaning of his mission
and messiahship and the consequence of his servanthood.
Third,
this story is also a reminder for all of us on the need to take the side of the vulnerable.
Jesus clearly defended the woman’s action as she was being subjected to
the disciples’ anger and scolding. It
was not enough that they made such pro-poor statement about the waste that she
created. They scolded her for her
action! Jesus took the side of the
woman, who was here a victim of bullying, belittling, and, harassment. You remember the story about little children
being brought closer to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and the
disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them. I can imagine that those who brought the
children were the women (mothers, sisters, and maybe aunts and grandmothers). By taking the side of the woman, Jesus was
declaring, “No more bullying, belittling, devaluing; no more exclusion,
harassment, discrimination. And that is
what he expects of all his disciples today – to put an end to anything that
violates or denigrates the human being.
Finally,
I think this story is a reminder of the power
of memory to connect us to the past,
to shed light on the present, and to guide the future. Jesus declared that whenever the good news is
proclaimed in the world, the woman’s action would be told in memory of her. How do we
memorialize the act of this woman whose name we do not know?
In
memory of her means not only the biblical woman, but all the women like
her - whose names, services and actions remain unknown, unrecognized,
uncelebrated; whose causes and struggles for freedom, equality and human rights
have contributed to where we are now. In
memory of her includes the women who continue to be victims of belittling,
harassment, abuse, violence, and to challenge tendencies to blame them for
their predicament. Remember 23-year old Jyoti Singh Pandey,
a victim of gang rape in India 8 days
before Christmas? The lawyer of the
alleged rapists blamed her and her friend for being outside that night of
December 16.
In memory of her means not letting the
women’s struggles and causes go in vain.
Like Cristina Morales Jose, who
protested against human rights violations in the Philippines – she asked for
food for the victims of the typhoon Pablo but she was given bullets; Liu Xia, a
poet and artist in China who is under house arrest; and 15-year old Malala
Yousafzai who campaigned for girls’ rights to education in Pakistan.
In memory of her means for us today, being part of the present struggles
and advocacies for social change and transformation. Last Valentine’s Day, some
of us participated and many probably were among the spectators of the One
Billion Rising movement – where women (and men and children in support of them)
all over the world went to the streets, to sing, dance and demand an end to
violence against women. In celebration
of IWD, many of us signed online
petitions calling for an end to rape and to every form of violence against
women and girls. These are all important
activities to make our voices known that there should be no more rape, harassment,
violence! We always claim that Jesus
died once and for all to give us salvation.
That salvation means that by dying for us once and for all, Jesus is
declaring that no one deserves to suffer again.
Jesus has already taken and embraced all our suffering – so no one
deserves to suffer anymore. The woman
who anointed Jesus must have understood that.
And if we too understand that, then we will also strive to be part of the
movement to create a culture of justice and equality starting at our homes, and
into our workplaces and communities.
In
memory of her means remembering that the women's movement is not for
women alone, should not end with women only.
The struggle of women for recognition, equality and
humanization is part of the overall struggle for change and
transformation. It is part of the wider
vision of a much better world, the reign of God on earth. Thus, our vision should embrace the women of
other faiths, and all peoples who are marginalized and dehumanized, including
those of other sexual orientations, those with disability, and all those who
are regarded as different. This is the
reason why I chose the song, “A Place at the Table” (lyrics by Shirley Erena
Murray of Aotearoa New Zealand) because it captures the larger vision that we
all should uphold and aspire to. We
should all strive to make life more beautiful, more just, more equitable, more
embracing, more loving for everyone. May
it be so indeed….
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Monday, March 11, 2013
