A Relational God

In our world of remoteness ... remote learning, remote social interactions, remote meetings, disconnected people ... I wonder if we are missing something?  There is a story from John 12 that highlights one thing that I believe Jesus would like to speak into our culture and our current society.  It is the story of Mary, Lazarus' sister, also sister of Martha.  Last week we heard a little about the two sisters.  Martha was the worker bee ... the doer ... the "get the dinner on the table" kind of girl. I am sure the entire household appreciated Martha.  She is "hands-on" like me.  Maybe we are both a little too much that way.

As the story in John 12 flows forth, Martha was serving dinner, probably giving orders, arranging the table settings, and being the "kitchen general."  Mary is much more in tune with the attitude and magnitude of what is happening.  Jesus is being sought by all of the leaders in the community.  They are plotting to kill him.  I even wonder if Mary is picking up on Jesus' expectant mood as He enters His last week of walking this earth as a non-resurrected person.  He knows some of what is about to happen.  The Scripture says "Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus' feet (John 12:3)."  When Mary did this, the entire house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  Mary also, in a very personal and intimate act, wiped the perfume on His feet with her hair.

In a house filled with disciples, those who followed and loved Jesus, and friends, one might expect a reaction of approval and even reverence.  But Mary is roundly criticized.  Judas, the disciples' treasurer, Jesus' future betrayer, and a man with his own agenda, says the nard should have been sold and the money (it was worth over $50K in modern dollars) given to the poor.  While Scripture says Judas only wanted to have control of this money, and didn't care for the poor, he does highlight the conflict that arises when the practical collides with the irrationality of relationships.  Let's unpack that a bit.

First, God is explicitly relational in His word.  What is the greatest commandment?  "Love God with your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37)."  And, this is followed by the command to love your neighbor as yourself.  God cares how we relate to Him and to other people.  He even cares about our relationship to ourself!  

Second, God is very impractical when it comes to relationships.  What are we spending Lent and the Easter season remembering?  We remember a god who loves us so much that He died for us, still sinners, so that we could be reconciled with Him and live with Him eternally.  There is NOTHING practical about that, unless God really loves the people He created.  But then, love isn't practical.

Finally, Mary's very intimate act (which Jesus endorses) is an expression of her irrational love for Jesus.  And, in a world where we rationalize behavior toward others as transactional, Jesus reminds us that His followers are born again through a rationale that is not of this world.  Peter's confession that Jesus was the Son of the Living God came from divine inspiration.  Paul expresses (1 Corinthians 1) that following Jesus would seem like foolishness to the logic of the world ... but Paul encouraged us to believe anyway.  Martyrs lost both logic and their lives, because Jesus was more important to them than another breath.

This story challenges us and haunts us.  And this is especially true when Jesus commands us, "Love as I have loved you (John 13:34)!"  Relate to others like Jesus related to us.  I know this is a hard command while the world tells you, "treat them like they treat you" ... "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" ...  they, them, etc.  Jesus said, from a cruel cross, "Forgive them (that includes all of us who helped nail Him there) for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)."  He wants a relationship with you!  How will you respond to that?