Session 4: Anointing With Oil (Lotion and Deodorant)
A couple of weeks ago I took a pilgrimage with my school to Cyprus. While I was there, we visited a monastery in the Troodos mountains. After spending some time in prayer, I was browsing through the gift shop and came across a small bottle of anointing oil. It had a beautiful fragrance that was unlike anything I have ever smelled. I knew that it would fit in my carryon bag, so I purchased it to use when I visited the sick or the dying.
When I returned home, my daughter had other plans. She smelled it and instantly fell in love with the fragrance. She dabbed some on her wrists and behind her ears and I thought that would be the end of it. Then a week or so later, I picked up the bottle and noticed that it was about a quarter of the way gone. I looked over at her and she gave me this sheepish grin and pretended to know nothing of its sudden disappearance.
I told her that it was meant for the sick and the dying. Those that needed prayer and taken care of. She said, “I know mom, but it smells so good, that I can’t help but dab some on each time I get ready to leave.” I realized that it made her feel beautiful and special, even though it was intended for another purpose.
It made me remember when I was a teenager, and we were incredibly poor. My mom would buy this jar of deodorant that was just a stinky nasty cream in a jar. You would dab some onto your fingers and then rub it into your armpits. I hated it and it stunk, but it was all we could afford. We all shared this one vat of it, and she would say, that we were fortunate to even have deodorant. I would have longed to have a perfume or a lotion that made me smell beautiful, simply because there is a sense of dignity that comes with those small luxuries. Let us face it, when we have extraordinarily little, things that make us smell good or feel good are one of the first things we cut out of our lives when trying to survive. These gifts we bring today for the kits are just as meaningful and valued more than anything else in the personal dignity kits for those that have so little, because they are a luxury, and having these items helps keep us from being set aside or avoided due to smell.
Scripture
6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of extremely expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Matthew 26:6-13 [NIV]
When that woman approached Jesus and poured out the contents of her alabaster jar, she was acknowledging his worth, his importance and pouring out her love for him. At some point he had seen her in a way that gave her a sense of personal dignity and worth and now she was pouring out her worship upon him.
Everyone got bent out of shape because after all this was supposed to be used for another purpose. It was not meant for trivial things, which seemed wasteful. But Jesus stops them and reminds them that this was not trivial, the sacred existed even in this seemingly wasteful act. He said she was preparing him for his burial, and we know in hindsight that this was necessary to happen before his death, because the grave never held him long enough for the women to put the burial oils and perfumes upon him in death. Afterall, they were going there to do just that when they found the empty tomb of our risen savior.
Discussion Questions
1. Imagine you are a disciple, and you have just witnessed this act of worship. What would your response have been at the moment? And why?
2. Do you believe that your response is different because you have the luxury of seeing the entire picture? Or do you struggle with the same things the disciples did in that moment?
3. How do we reconcile the needs of the poor and yet the woman’s need to pour out her heart in worship? Do both sides of the argument in this passage show the value of human dignity? Why or why not?
4. This woman had perfume in her alabaster jar, what would be in your alabaster jar? What would be a great sacrifice for you to pour out in worship?
5. Would you be worried about what others might think or say if you were to pour out the contents of your “alabaster jar?” Why or why not?
6. Have you ever sacrificed something of great worth in a moment of worship? If so, what was that experience like? If not, what do you imagine it would be like? Is there something you feel God is putting on your heart to pour out in an anointing on him?
This story has always been a struggle for me. I grew up so poor and my heart cries out with the disciples more often than not. I think watching my daughter “waste” the anointing oil that I intended for the sick and the dying, has done a lot to raise the story off the pages and help me see the inherent worth in the act of this woman’s worship. It really presses the issue of personal dignity and value in unconventional and on the surface seemingly impractical ways. It is my prayer that you will continue to wrestle with this story as I do and recognize the worth of people over things, even when it does not make sense in a logical way.
I hope that those of you who have chosen to take this time to give up something for Lent to be replaced with prayer and reflection and free up resources for deeper giving are sensing Jesus’ presence in these times. For those of you who have not yet made this decision, please keep in mind that it is not too late to begin. Again, be reminded that no one is keeping score. Next week you will bring a hand towel and a washcloth. Please make sure that they are NOT kitchen towels or dishcloths. They need to be actual bathroom hand towels and wash cloths.
Closing prayer
Anointed Jesus, we confess that at times we struggle with what looks like wastefulness in our desire to be good stewards of all that you have entrusted to us. Help us to discern when our offering needs to be poured from our own alabaster jars, of that which we treasure and value deeply. Help us to not be worried or ashamed as to the reactions of others, but to pour out our worship in an anointing unto you as we acknowledge the lavish love and personal dignity that you have given us amid a world that quickly jumps to judgement and condemnation. Accept our worship and the offerings of our hearts. Amen.
Leave a Reply