How do you say “Thank you?” How you express adoration and praise to God?
For me, my first love is words. Some friends recently introduced me to the online daily word game called “Wordle” in which you have to guess the 5 letter word in six tries or less. I’m hooked. And so, it is probably no surprise that my first method of saying thank you to God is through words -- whether it is through the words of scripture, prayers, sermons, stories or poetry.
Music is another way that I – and we, as Lutherans, love to praise and adore God. As members of our choir and other lovers of music probably know, 16th century Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the letters SDG on the bottom of each of his compositions. SDG stands for Soli Deo Gloria, “To God Alone Be the Glory.” Bach and others have composed music for the glory of God and people ever since have delighted in singing and playing music to thank and praise God.
The words and the tunes of music, preaching and proclamation all depend on our sense of hearing in their praise of God. But as I started to think about our senses – I wondered – what other senses do we use to glorify God?
Visual artists depend upon gift of sight to proclaim their praise and adoration of God. The artwork on your bulletin cover, the Stations of the Cross artwork in our windows, the images on your prayer cards and the cross that hangs from our Chancel are just some of the ways we use visual art to glorify God within the sanctuary.
But this, of course, is not the only place where we see God’s glory praised. We also see God’s glory in God’s own creation – the mountains and valleys, streams and deserts. Sometimes we seek to capture it in photos and other art forms.
In addition, I would also include prayer shawls in my list of art work created to glory of God. Prayer shawls are not only beautiful to look at, but since only softest yarn is used to make them –they also feel beautiful. Another one of the senses! When I bring a prayer shawl to someone who is hurting, usually they respond with a word of thanks – but then, as I wrap it around their shoulders, I can see their body relax as they snuggle into the soft warm embrace of the prayer shawl, and I remind them that they wrapped in the prayers of this congregation and the love of God. And they feel that.
In our Gospel today, there is only one line about Martha, but it reveals another sensory way we can say thank you to God. “Martha served.” Martha’s love language was food, and she prepared a feast for Jesus. And this gift, the gift of food, a gift that we can taste, is a gift that Jesus also gives. In his first miracle at the wedding of Cana, Jesus gave an abundance of wine. And, on a hillside, Jesus gave the gift of bread and fish to the 5000 people who gathered there. And at the last supper, Jesus gave the gift of bread and wine, his body and blood, to his disciples and now to us. Jesus welcomes us to “taste and see” the glory of God.
We say thank you and give glory to God through the gift of sound, sight, feeling, and taste. But what about smells?
When we were little girls, my cousin and I were playing in our grandparents’ room one day when we discovered our grandmother’s lily of the valley perfume. Grandma was a bit indulgent with her grandchildren and so whenever we were over, she would share some of her perfume with us – putting a little bit of the perfume on our wrists and behind our ears. She was busy in the kitchen but we knew that she wouldn’t mind if we just helped ourselves to some of her perfume. We did and thought it smelled glorious. And so we put on a little more and then… as we were pouring it out, a little spilled. Maybe a lot spilled. We smeared it on our hands and our arms like lotion, trying to clean up the mess so that no one would know. But of course… the smell of 1968 Lily of the Valley perfume was all over the house in just a matter of moments.
Smells are powerful.
Likewise, the smell from the perfume that Mary poured over Jesus’ feet must have been overwhelming– a whole pound of nard, poured out on Jesus’ feet. Washing feet was the common practice. So why does Mary anoint Jesus’ feet with an extraordinary amount of costly perfume?
In the Old Testament, anointing is reserved for special occasions such as the coronation of kings. You may remember the prophet Samuel anointed the shepherd boy David as the next king of Israel and in the 23rd Psalm, honor is bestowed as “you anoint my head with oil.”
Our Gospel story comes shortly after Jesus has raised Mary’s brother Lazarus from the dead and right before Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So perhaps Mary anoints Jesus’ feet out of her great gratitude for the return from the dead of her brother Lazarus. And, if she knew that Jesus was the Messiah, which means “anointed one” why shouldn’t she anoint, the Messiah, the anointed one, especially before he rides into Jerusalem?
But Mary may also know that raising Lazarus from the dead is going to cost Jesus his life. Jesus says that Mary has provided this anointing oil in preparation for his burial. This is the other use of anointing oil. Dead bodies were not embalmed. Instead, people – usually women - anointed them with sweet smelling oil and covered them with spices to cover the smell of death.
Mary’s act of anointing surely filled the house with an overwhelming fragrance and her act of wiping his feet with her hair, touching him – something forbidden for women who were not a wife, mother or daughter – would not have gone unnoticed. And it wasn’t.
Judas fixates on the cost of the nard – and the waste of it. It was extravagant… but it wasn’t wasteful. For Mary – in contrast to Judas - shows us the way of discipleship.
Notice that Mary did not utter a word. She did not sing a song or cook a morsal of food. These may have been considered more “acceptable” ways of giving thanks and glory to Jesus. Instead, she offered up all that she had, pouring out a pound pure nard, the cost of which would have been about $30,000, a year’s wages and used her hair, in the most tender and intimate way that she could, to anoint Jesus’ feet. It was a bold smelly witness of her love and devotion to Jesus as her Lord.
How do you and I proclaim our love of Jesus? How do we say thank you Lord? How do we use each of our senses to proclaim, to sing, to touch, to taste, to touch and to smell God’s love for us – and our love for Jesus?
Could we seek to be as audacious in our love, as bold in our praise and as creative in our witness to Jesus as is Mary?
Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, may the sight of beauty, the embrace of care, the taste of forgiveness, the sound of joy and laughter and the most lovely smells remind you of God’s presence and may you employ all of your senses to proclaim your love and adoration of Jesus. Amen.
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran April 3, 2022 Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane