She Did what she could
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This morning, I will based our reflection on the Gospel of , which reads…
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?
5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.
8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.
9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” [1]
Friends, you know something?
For some who is not familiar with the Gospel, they would think that our practises are very strange, even for times like this.
If you had notice at the beginning of the service, I started the service by declaring that the purpose of our gathering today is to “praise God and to witness our faith as we celebrate life”…
For some of us who are not familiar with our faith, you must be thinking to yourself, this is a funeral…
What is there to celebrate about?
Well, friends, there is indeed reason to celebrate today, because we are not focused on death, but on life…
We acknowledge that death is an enemy and not a friend.
That will remain true whether you are Christian or not…
Death will always be an enemy and something that is never welcome here or anywhere…
It is an enemy because it destroys life that is in contrast to what we stand for… life… salvation…
And it is an enemy because it is direct opposition to God, the creator and author of life…
We acknowledge that death is an unfortunate consequence of the fall of mankind…
But we can celebrate today, because there is another reality that surpasses that of the reality of death…
Which is that our Lord Jesus Christ had overcome death and has provided us with life everlasting…
We are here to celebrate because our hearts and minds are focused on the reality the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us by saying in ““I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies”.[2]
We are able to celebrate today because the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that because of what Jesus Christ had done on the cross,
death had lost its power over us so that we can declare
“O death, where is your victory,
O death, where is your sting?”
And the answer is that though death may be here temporarily,
Death has been swallowed up in the victory which is won by Christ…
And just like the precious perfume that was broken and the fragrance filled the room,
Through Christ’s work on the cross, where his body was broken, humanity had been impacted by this action,
And all of us have received the grace that prevenient grace that came from him,
And gave us all access to the justifying and sanctifying race…
Death had lost its sting because Christ our conqueror had conquered our ancient enemy, death itself…
So this morning, we are here not to focus on what we have lost,
but on what we have gained through the victory of Jesus Christ
through which we are holding on to a hope not with a question mark,
but a hope with an exclamation mark
and one that we are looking forward to the future in which we will be reunited once again…
In other words, we can celebrate because this separation we are experiencing now from Mdm Ng is not a permanent goodbye or farewell…
But more of a see you later…
It is the understanding of the truth that Mdm Ng has already received Christ into her life and because of that is alive, in God’s presence,
Described in as a place in which had no more tears, no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and because of that we can rejoice with Mdm Ng
and because of that, even though we are sad, we can be comforted and celebrate…
Another thing that we who are unfamiliar with our faith may find it hard to understand is why the extravagant waste of money?
This was exactly what one of the disciples asked one another “why this waste of perfume?”
To understand the reason for the disciples’ query, we perhaps must know a little more about this perfume Mary used…
It is understood that this alabaster vial probably contained perfume imported from India and was worth a year’s income of a day labourer.
Now, a day labourer earned about twenty cents a day, which is equivalent to about sixty dollars for a year's work.
With the inflation of today, we are looking at the equivalent of a gift worth thousands of dollars.
To some it was a waste.
To Mary, it was the expression of an extravagant love. In this act we see the splendour of a giving, generous heart.[3]
Earlier, I talked about God’s extravagant love for mankind which was expressed climatically through the cross…
And while we do not know for sure whether what Mary did that day was in preparation for the cross,
We do know that Mary, together with her sister Martha and their brother Lazarus were very close to Jesus and had experienced the love of Jesus in a special way…
And we do know that this extravagant act of breaking the perfume bottle was a devotional act, in response to the love Jesus had showed her…
Because of the love, humility and sacrifice, Jesus, the Son of God had shown and poured in the life of Mary has he did in the lives of so many other,
Mary internalised and allowed these virtues of love, humility and sacrifice to pour out of her into the lives of those around her as well…
And that perfume bottle that was broken was symbolic of her life, which allowed the fragrance to fill that room,
Mary’s life was also a life broken and poured out and because of that, those around her were able to experience the fragrance…
In the same way,
Because Mdm Ng had the love of God poured into her life,
Through her, many of us have felt the love of God in our lives…
She was a was a “Bringer of Light” to her home, neighbourhood, church, and her friends.
<got illustration?>
Through the simple acts of this godly woman, many lives are touched and she is the visible face of the unseen God to many of us…
And perhaps for those of us who have not felt the touch of God may not understand the reason for the sacrifices she made,
We may question why bother trying to be good in this world?
It’s just like the disciples asking… “why waste the perfume?”
However, for those of us who had been touched by God and understand the concept of eternity…
And perpetuality of our actions, we will understand that what we do can have a long-term effect in the world that continue to touch many lives for many years…
Arland Williams, a bank examiner with the Federal Reserve System in Atlanta, who was aboard the ill-fated Boeing 737 that crashed shortly after taking off from Washington’s National Airport, January 13, 1982. It was later found out that when a helicopter lowered a line to survivors, Williams indicated he was trapped because his seat belt was jammed and passed “the line on to other injured persons.” By his not grabbing the rescue line, thus saving valuable time, other passengers were saved.[4]
Many people lived because of the heroic act of Williams and will continue to remember him…
Similarly, the story in our passage today talks about how “wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her”…
As we celebrate and remember the life of Mary, this godly woman, we are fulfilling what Jesus said of her two thousand years ago…
In that light, the broken perfume bottle isn’t wasted…
It continues to impact many even today…
Similarly, though Mdm Ng’s journey on earth has ended,
She will continue to live on in our memories, and we will remember how she has impacted our lives,
And we will continue to do so until the day we are reunited on the other shore. Amen.
[1] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .
[2] Jim Henry, A Minister’s Treasury of Funeral & Memorial Messages (Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 30.
[3] Jim Henry, 31.
[4] G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 49.