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<DIV><FONT size=4>The poor will always be with you, the tasks of changing the
world will not go away, but Jesus endorses your right to pull out from time to
time to seek intimacy with God, to worship and to be refreshed and renewed
before you return to the workface.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html">http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nathan Nettleton, 1995</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Each time we gather for worship, in laying aside our
compulsions to remake the world as we think it should be, and just become part
of a congregation who indulge in this wasteful and unproductive celebration of
God; we are in fact, almost incidentally, offering a great gift to the world.
Because if you want a glimpse of heaven just picture the intimate communion
between Mary and Jesus at that dinner party and you’ll realise that worship
itself brings at least one little bit of the world more in tune with that
picture. And more than that it sends us back out to the poor who will always be
with us with a greater ability to love instead of just a social obligation to do
charity.<BR><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Frederick Buechner said, whether our worship is “a Quaker
Meeting, a Pontifical High Mass, the Family Service at First Presbyterian, (or)
a Holy Roller Happening — unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in
the proceedings, the time would be better spent doing something useful.”
(<I>Wishful Thinking</I>, HarperSanFrancisco 1993, p.122)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html">http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nathan Nettleton, 2001</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4>As we gather at this table, it is Jesus who gets to his knees
and washes our feet. Receiving the bread and wine, we receive his gifts of
himself, lavished upon us with an abundance that these morsels can only hint at.
And the proof that we "get it" will come when we are found on our knees, with
bowl and towel, and with joy and freedom, lavishing the love we have received on
the Christ we meet in the broken victims of a violent world. And at that point,
the giving and the receiving all become one in Christ, for we too are the
victims, and as uncomfortable as it might sometimes make us, others will serve
Christ in ministering love to us. And while Jesus could say to Mary and Judas,
"you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me" , now
in the giving and receiving of his love in compassionate service of others, we
find that the poor with us and Jesus with us have become one and the same thing,
and no gift is too costly and no devotion to outrageous.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html">http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nathan Nettleton, 2007</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Jesus speaks more to us, to those who wonder if Mary's
apparent recklessness sets a dangerous precedent. When he says, "You always have
the poor with you," he does not diminish the seriousness of poverty and the
imperative for charity. Possibly he alludes to Deuteronomy 15:11, which
<I>commands</I> generosity toward the poor precisely "since there will never
cease to be some in need on the earth." As punctuated by the anointing for
burial, Jesus looks toward his death, contrasting his impending departure with
the perennial opportunity to serve the poor.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=3/21/2010&tab=4">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=3/21/2010&tab=4</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Matt Skinner, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Anointing was the last step before burial, but not for
executed criminals. Perhaps in v. </FONT><A
onmouseover="window.status='Click here to read the text'; return true"
onmouseout="window.status=' '; return true"
href="http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=John+12%3A7"><FONT
size=4>7</FONT></A><FONT size=4> Jesus means that Mary bought the perfume so as
to have it ready for his burial, that what she did has a meaning she does not
realize, and that the perfume is not wasted. Perhaps v. </FONT><A
onmouseover="window.status='Click here to read the text'; return true"
onmouseout="window.status=' '; return true"
href="http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=John+12%3A8"><FONT
size=4>8</FONT></A><FONT size=4> says: the poor are constantly in need, but
Jesus’ impending death is unique.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/clnt5m.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/clnt5m.shtml</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The parallels are Mark 14:3-9 and Matthew 26:6-13. Luke
records a similar event in 7:36-50.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Verse 1</EM>: “the home of Lazarus”: “Home” is not in the
Greek. </FONT><FONT size=4>
<DD>Sanders, J.N. <I>The Gospel according to John</I> London: Black 1968
</DD></FONT><FONT size=4> offers <EM>"where was Lazarus</EM>."</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Verse 7</EM>: Mark 14:6-8 is fuller and much clearer in
meaning: “‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good
service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness
to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what
she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial’”. So if John
borrowed from Mark, he had not only abbreviated his source, but also obscured
the meaning.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/clnt5l.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/clnt5l.shtml</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
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