In 2020 Seattle dollars, Mary pours out $100,000 worth of perfume on Jesus’ feet. Why? And when Judas questions her choice, citing how much further those dollars could have gone if given to the poor, doesn’t he have a point? Yep. But come along for this sermonic ride, exploring the honoring of bodies, and averted public shaming, and loving God with one’s all, and the many flavors of scarcity mindset, and Tanya Tucker’s gorgeously defiant “If your heart is in them flowers, bring ‘em on…”
Sermon begins at minute 3:54
John 12:1-8
Hymn: Voices Together 30 Jesus Calls Us. Words and Music - ©1989 Iona Community / WGRG (North America) Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.
Resources:
- “Bring My Flowers Now” by Tanya Tucker, with Brandi Carlile, 2019. [watch music video]
- BibleWorm podcast: Episode 351 – The Poor Will Always Be with You, Amy Robertson and Robert Williamson, Jr.
- For those interested in exploring Elizabeth Schrader’s research on Mary the Tower: 1. Schrader’s scholarly article “Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?” (2016) and/or 2. Diana Butler Bass’s sermon text and audio “All the Marys” (2022)
- “Seattle’s median household income soars past $100,000 — but wealth doesn’t reach all,” by Gene Balk, Seattle Times, September 25, 2020. [NOTE: this median income figure is newer, though still a few years old, and higher than the number quoted in the sermon.]
- Deuteronomy 15, NRSV
- All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon