Reflections for Youth - Jesus, Mary, and the fancy guest towels.

Growing up, my brother and I were very aware of "The Law of the Fancy Guest Towels."

My mother had these pretty, fancy hand towels that she put in the bathroom when guests were coming to stay or visit with us. We always joked about which visitors were "special enough" to get to use the fancy towels.  And of course, we were absolutely forbidden from using them to dry our hands.

My mother also had a few fancy tablecloths that she would bring out on holidays or when we were having company for a meal.  We had a hardly-ever used dining room in the house I grew up in.  It was the front room in the house that had the shiny wood table and the china cabinet that contained the dishes we also only used on special occasions.   When we ate together as a family, it was usually at the smaller table in the breakfast nook by the kitchen.

At our house, when you saw mom with the fancy table cloth and setting the table in the dining room, we would always joke and say "who's coming over?"

I am reminded of these things this week as I read our Gospel lesson from John.

Read John 12: 1-8

Days before Passover , Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem and they stop for dinner at the Bethany home of Martha, Mary, and (the recently risen from the dead) Lazarus.  Martha serves the meal and Mary appears with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils and begins to anoint Jesus' feet with the oils and dry them with her hair.

So, basically while Martha is serving the meal Mary is busting out the fancy guest towels and table cloth for Jesus.

The passage tells us that Judas (who will be the one to betray Jesus) is there and jumps all over Mary for wasting such expensive oil  He tells her she could have sold the oil and given the money to the poor. John's scripture reminds us here that Judas is probably not saying this because he cares so much about the poor.  It's because Judas was in charge of the common funds of the disciples and very concerned with money (not to mention a thief and embezzler.)  Had Judas come to my house while I was growing up he probably would have been contemplating how much he could get for my mom's fancy towels and tablecloths on the black market.

Jesus tells Judas to back off. He tells Judas to leave Mary alone. He recognizes that Mary is anointing Jesus with this very special oil because she is celebrating Jesus's life and anticipating and honoring the day he will be buried.

"You always will have the poor with you. You don't always have me." says Jesus.

Mary brings out her version of a fancy hand towel or table cloth because she wanted to celebrate and acknowledge the joy of having the Messiah in her home.  Messiah (and the Greek version of the word Christ) mean "the anointed."   Back in the time of Jesus the Israelite would anoint the person who was going to be the next king.  In just a few days, Jesus will be arrested and crucified. If there was ever a house guest deserving of the fancy towel/table cloth combo  - Jesus is definitely it.  I have no idea what an equivalent to Mary's expensive oils would be today, but she used the most expensive thing she had to honor Jesus.

This isn't the first time that expensive ointment is brought to Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew says that the magi brought Myrrh to Jesus at the beginning of his life and now here Mary anoints him near the end of it. Judas whines about such an expensive item being wasted but Jesus reminds us that God's love is worth way more than money.

Without words,  my mother was telling the guests in her home that they are special and welcome. Mary, also without words,  was showing her love for Jesus and his message of God's grace and peace.

So here is what I am thinking about this week:
How can we show our love for Jesus in our everyday life?
How can we emulate Mary's generosity to God and the people we love?
Are we bringing our our fancy towels and tablecloths for God?