Dear Rehoboth,

I’m sorry this is getting to you a little late, but as many of you know I was traveling yesterday and was unable to ramble on Monday morning, so instead I am rambling on Tuesday. But, all the same here are a few of my thoughts on this week’s gospel message. I don’t know if anyone can read this passage and not be confronted with Jesus telling us that there will always be the poor with us. What is Jesus saying here? The first thing that pops into my head (which is never right) is that Jesus is telling us we need to pay more attention to people’s souls than their bodies. After every tragedy, there is the terrible debate that rages on social media in which people call out Christians for only offering thoughts and prayers and not doing anything visible to affect changes. The argument goes something like “instead of sending thoughts and prayers to victims of a mass shooting why don’t you vote for legislation that would make it harder for them to happen.” But, if we read this passage on the surface, Jesus seems to be saying there are so many people having a tough time let’s just focus on prayer and study cause that’s all that matters. Jesus seems to be saying there will always be poor so why bother with them. 

But, if I read through the gospels, I see Jesus caring a whole lot for those that are sick and hurting. Jesus is caring for those that have been in broken families, for those that have lost loved ones. He has cared for the poor on multiple occasions. Our scripture for this week starts by reminding us that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Everyone dies, but Jesus cared enough to save Lazarus. This week our task will be to ponder what this statement means because it cant mean that we are not supposed to care about the poor. 

As I sit here rambling, I think that a discussion of the poor being with us is secondary in this text. I believe we need to ponder what Jesus means, but frankly, I think Jesus would say that Jesus is with us in the faces of the poor. What has struck me as I read this text a few more times is that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Smell is important to us as humans. A smell can bring you back to time and a place. As I was in Minnesota, it was warming up, and the ground was thawing and the smell, I can’t describe it, but the smell of spring you might say brought me back to my times playing baseball. Or the smell of cookies makes me remember my great grandmother. The power of smell is in full effect in this passage. We are reminded of Lazarus death and told of Jesus death, and the smell that those two events will have and we told that the smell of Mary’s perfume is filling the house. This week I want us to wrestle with the role that smells play in our Christian life. What are good smells as Christians and what are the bad smells? And during lent I believe this passage is reminding us that good and bad smells are both there. The perfume doesn’t mask the death of Jesus, but it accompanies it. There are smells of abundant life in this world but that smell of death is there as well. That is what I am pondering this week. Let me know what this passage makes you smell.

Peace and Grace,

Pastor Lee