The Extravagance of God's Love

Jill asked me to contribute to her blog while she and Devin get some well deserved and, I'm sure, much needed, R & R. I'll try to fill in for her every couple of days while they are away, but I am sure you will all agree, she is a very tough act to follow. That said, I'll do my best..

Our church in Wichita is blessed with a wise and wonderful pastor who can make the Bible come alive when he leads us in our Monday night Bible study. He has such a rich knowledge of the Bible and the history, geography, and the ancient and modern customs of the Holy Land that he always leaves us wanting more. Sometimes listening to Pastor Larry can seem like you are trying to sip water from a fire hose - there is just so much you can't take it all in.

Last Monday, we were studying the Passion Story and, among other things, we talked about the meal Jesus shared with his disciples in the village of Bethany in house of Simon the Leper (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 12). In an offhand comment, Larry said the essence of the entire Gospel can be found in those passages. He called it an example of the "extravagance of God's love". He also threw out the word "prevenient", "foreshadowing", "justification" and several other terms in quick succession.

That really started me thinking - what does that mean - "extravagance of love?" The term extravagance usually implies wastefulness, imprudence, or excess. I've been pondering Larry's comment for the last two days and I think I am beginning to see what he meant.

In the passages, Jesus is in the man's house eating when a woman enters and begins washing his feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair. Then she pours a precious perfumed oil over his feet or head (depending on the passage). Some of those present object because the oil could have been sold and the funds used to help the poor. The oil was spikenard - a rare perfume imported from India that was burned in the Temple and used in burial rituals. It would have cost the equivalent of an entire years wage for an average worker - at least tens of thousands of dollars in today's money. Jesus rebukes them, telling them that the woman has saved this ointment to prepare him for his burial. In Luke, Jesus then tells a parable of two debtors who are forgiven their debts by their master. The debtor who owes the most and is forgiven the most is the most grateful. In the verses immediately following, Judas leaves the group to betray Jesus.

So here it is what I've come up with - Jesus is foreshadowing his own death - telling those present that he will be crucified in the near future, though none of them seem to grasp what he is telling them. The woman, who is identified as a sinner, is forgiven of her sins by Jesus - something only God has the power to do - and thereby Jesus affirms his own divinity. The parable of the debtors makes the point that those of us whose sins are the greatest are those most in need of forgiveness and also those who will appreciate God's grace the most. The oil, normally used to prepare a body for burial, is used in advance of need. For us Methodists, this is a example of the "prevenient grace" John Wesley identified and wrote about. In other words, it is the grace of God working in our lives even before we are aware we need it or know of it.

And the most important part of this story is the knowledge of what is to come - the betrayal, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. God's love for us is so great that it is "extravagant" - wasteful by human standards - wasted on those who deserve it least - so great that he sacrificed his own son to save us. I think of how devastated I would be to lose one of my own children - how scared we all were when Kristen was diagnosed with AML and with what tremendous faith and by the grace of God she and her family faced it.

I have a hard time getting my head and my heart around that kind of love, but like the debtor in the parable, I am so very grateful for it. Peace....