Love Him Back ~ John 12:1-7 ~ Fifth Sunday in Lent

I was at the grocery store this week, picking up a few things.

I went to the express line, and after a few minutes in line, I came to the conclusion that the sign overhead was an unfortunate contradiction in terms.

While I was waiting, I noticed the male customer ahead of me.  He’d just put on the belt ten cans of Cesar brand premium dog food.   I’m talking prime rib, Filet Mignon; a five star feast for Fido.

Then, he put five TV dinners on the belt—which were on sale this week for eighty-eight cents.  And a Twix bar…

I thought to myself, “the dog will be eating better than him tonight.”

But later that night I saw a commercial on TV for that same dog food—and you know what their slogan is?  “Love them back.” 

As silly as this looked to me, it wasn’t silly to him.  He loves his dog—and he was treating his dog to the best. 

What we see happening in today’s Gospel is not all that different…

A woman named Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with a bottle of costly perfume, and wipes his feet with her hair.  This perfume wasn’t just Chanel No. 9; this was worth nearly a year’s wages.

All the while Judas Iscariot looks on disgust…  “What a waste!” he complains.  Judas sees only the dollars and cents—that he could have taken for himself…  He has no love for Jesus—even though Jesus continues to love him, later washing his feet and eating the Passover with him—all while KNOWING that Judas will betray him.  He doesn’t understand Mary’s gesture as an act of extravagant love.  Love isn’t something Judas understands.

At the same time, it’s important for us to understand WHY Mary does what she does…  She’s not trying and win Jesus’ love.  She does this because Jesus loves her.  Jesus cared for her and her sister when their brother Lazarus died.  He wept for them.  And Jesus raised her brother from the dead.

And Jesus loves YOU just the same.  His body and blood he poured out on the cross because you are precious to him.  Your sins are washed away, and you are forgiven and loved.  And he will raise you up on the last day.

So what other ways have you been blessed by Jesus’ love?  What good gifts has Jesus given?  What prayers has he answered?  Has he helped you through trials and tribulations that you didn’t think you’d make it through?

Jesus’ love isn’t something we merely sing about or hear about.  Since we are baptized into Jesus, his love is our life.  We are given the gift of faith to witness this love every day.  

So the question is: do you love him back?

Anyone can answer yes to that question, because Jesus is easy to love.  But does your LIFE reflect your love for Jesus?  Do you love Jesus with all your might, all your heart and with all your might?  Do you love Jesus with your time and your money and your energy?  Love that is not expressed in LOVING ACTS towards the one you love really isn’t love at all.

Last week, I stumbled upon what has to be the stupidest show on television.  It’s called Guinness World Records Gone Wild.  It’s about people who attempt to set or break world records—and not the kind that improve society.  These are stupid records.  One hour I spent watching people smash watermelons with their heads, and throwing refrigerators.  I stayed tuned to the very end to watch a man dive thirty feet off a platform into a wading pool full of marshmallows. 

And I thought to myself later, “what a spectacular waste of time for a few laughs.”  And with everything happening in my life and in the world, couldn’t my hour have been better spent participating in what is truly precious and valuable in my life?

One of the biggest obstacles to living in passionate devotion to Jesus is that we lack faith that our acts of love are going to yield anything meaningful for us.  Why pray when I’m so tired?  Why read the Bible if I won’t understand it?  Why go to church when I’ve got other things to do?  Why help others if I won’t solve all their problems? 

If we really love Jesus, these should all be no-brainers.  But much of the time, we rationalize ourselves out of these acts of devotion—without even thinking.  We comfortably ASSUME that Jesus will still love me if I do these things or not.  And he will.  But that’s not the problem.  The problem is: DO YOU LOVE JESUS?

In these times of scarcity, there’s part of us that can’t help but cringe at the fortune being spilled on Jesus’ feet.  But Mary has no regrets—and neither will we if we follow her example.  In Mary we witness the JOY of loving Jesus.  Whether it’s passionate devotion, self-denial, compassionate service, or the forgiveness of others; when we love Jesus OUTWARDLY and give that which is most precious and even most SCARCE to us for Jesus’ sake, we won’t be sorry.  The joy of the Lord is ours when we love Jesus this way. 

As we grow in faith and knowledge of Jesus, it won’t be long before we’ll count as RUBBISH everything else that distracts us away from him.

We waste ourselves and our lives on so much that is fleeting and gone; laughs and cheap thrills last for a moment; material things we eventually throw away or sell for pennies at a yard sale.

Jesus Christ is no cheap thrill.  He is the life and light of the world.  In this world of sin and pain, joy can be ours if only we will rest ourselves in him.

This Lenten season we journey with Jesus to discover anew his love for us in the life he gives for our sake.  Now is the time for us to empty out the rubbish, so that Jesus may fill us with the love claims us and the love that saves us.

The best news you will ever hear is that Jesus loves you.  So rejoice—and love him back.