Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve – but
Didn’t
a sermon based on John 12:1-8
by Rev. Randy Quinn
You’ve probably heard about the man who went to see his doctor. He
told the doctor that he had been having headaches and his ears were ringing
constantly. Not only that, he had also been experiencing some dizziness.
The doctor did some testing and
could find nothing wrong so he sent him to a specialist who did some more
testing. There was blood work and CAT scans and MRI’s. The specialist did some
research and called a few of his colleagues before meeting with the man and
giving his opinion.
“It seems you have a very rare
disease that is almost always terminal. Based on the extent of your headaches
and dizziness as well as the ringing in your ears, I don’t think you have more
than a year to live. There are no known treatments, so if I were you, I’d get
my affairs in order.”
The man was stunned. It had never
occurred to him that headaches and dizziness along with ringing in his ears
could be symptoms of such a serious disease.
But he followed his doctor’s
orders. He began to get his affairs in order. And while doing so he thought of
all the things he had wanted to do “some day.” There was that trip to see the
Great Wall of China and the dream of one day setting foot on Antarctica. He had
always wanted to see Easter Island in the South Pacific and just once he wanted
to be at the world’s corner – where the Northern and Southern hemispheres meet
the International Date Line.
He sold his possessions and began
to make reservations for all of those trips and more. He had never married, so
he invited family and friends to join him on one or more of the trips – all at
his expense. His parents went with him to Africa and his nephew went with him
to Antarctica. He decided to bring his sister and brother-in-law along with him
on the cruise ship that crossed the equator at the 180th meridian.
That cruise ship required guests
to wear tuxedos for a few of their dinners so he went to a tailor and had one
custom made. He figured he could be buried in his tuxedo so it may as well be a
nice one that fit well. The tailor very carefully measured him. Waist: 36.
Inseam: 36. Sleeves: 36. Neck: 16 ½.
The man stopped the tailor and
asked him to measure his neck again. It was still 16 ½, maybe 16 ¾. The man
protested saying he had always worn a size 15.
The tailor stopped and thought
about that for a minute. He measured again and then said, “I suppose I could
make it 15, but if you wear a shirt that tight it will probably give you
headaches and make your ears ring, and you’d probably get dizzy.”
J
People who seriously confront
their own mortality live life differently than the rest of us. Just ask Kirk
who is living with ALS or Elaine who is in the last month of her chemo regimen.
I stand in awe of the courage with which they face each new day. And at the
same time I know their courage arises from facing their own mortality –
something I could do and so could you, but we don’t.
We choose to live as if there is a
tomorrow rather than accepting today as the only gift we have received from God.
In our text for today, Mary has
realized this gift and decides to celebrate. I don’t know where she got the
perfume and I don’t know how long she had been saving it. John does tell us
that it was worth about a year’s wages – no small amount even at minimum wage.
Mary realizes the perfume is
nothing next to the gift of life, so she uses it all.
You see, this dinner includes her
brother who was once dead. (That story was told to us by John in the previous
chapter, making it appear as though this were a celebration dinner.) Many
people probably came just to see if Lazarus could really eat, to hear his voice,
to touch his skin. The men who had unwrapped his grave cloths were probably
there as well as skeptics who weren’t sure he ever really died.
Lazarus was a living miracle. The
room was probably filled with the silence of their awe and amazement.
But Mary begins to explore the
priorities in her own life and concludes there is nothing more important than
giving thanks to God for the gift of life – the gift of her brother and the gift
of this day.
Patrick Willson tells about
meeting an older man in the checkout line at a Farmer’s Market while he was a
seminary student.
Willson was curious about the assortment of vegetables in the man’s basket –
some of which he didn’t even recognize.
The man explained that after his
wife died 15 years earlier he began to experiment with Chinese cooking. Among
the things in his basket were bok choy and fresh ginger. The only problem was
there was no one with whom he could share his newfound joy of cooking.
About then they noticed that a
younger woman in front of them was taking some flowers out of her basket. It
seems she didn’t have enough money for both the produce and the flowers.
The man quickly grabbed the
flowers, nodded to the clerk as if to say he would pay for them and ran after
the woman. He gave her the flowers.
“I do hope she doesn’t think I’m a
dirty old man,” he said when he returned, “but I so seldom have an opportunity
to give somebody something that will make them smile.”
He understood what Mary
understood. Life is too short to not enjoy it.
Too many of us, on the other hand,
are more like Judas. We see it as a waste. Many of us don’t even come to
church unless we can see something in it for us. We’re frugal with our money;
we’re frugal with our time. And the extravagance of Mary bothers us.
When I met with Kirk a week or so
ago, he and Kay spoke about the wheelchair accessible shower they were going to
install in their home and the new lift van they were going to purchase. For
some it may look like a waste. To them it is the only way to celebrate what
life they have been given.
Jesus may have recognized the
wastefulness of Mary’s extravagance, too, but he also knew that the Law of Moses
said “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to
be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land”
(Dt 15:11).
It is as if he knew she would no
longer be the same person. She was giving away all of her wealth in gratitude
for the gift of today. Tomorrow may be another gift, and after Jesus was dead
and buried and rose again there would be yet another gift. Mary would never
accumulate material wealth again as she lived eternally in the present and
honored the presence of Christ in her every action and activity.
Much as I’ve seen Elaine living
each day throughout her fight with cancer. No matter what her future holds, she
is certain that God will be honored in the way she lives. Every encounter with
another person is seen as an opportunity to experience God’s blessings and to
share God’s blessings.
Her priorities have been changed.
We all could do that. We all
should do that. And if we seriously faced our own mortality we all would do
that. But few of us are willing to take the risk of living so much in the
present that we can give as freely as Mary. Yet Mary, like the late Mother
Teresa who did the same thing with her life, teaches us by example that there is
great reward for those who will take that step of faith.
There will always be opportunities
to serve Christ by serving our neighbor. Mary’s story begs us to do some
self-examination and determine when we have been extravagant with God’s grace
and when we have been misers.
May we find ways to respond to
God’s grace so that others may be blessed.
Amen.
