Mary took about half a litre of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3
Lazarus had just been restored to life, after 3 days in the grave. No wonder Mary was so extravagant in her actions. When something very special has just happened in our lives, it’s easy to be extravagant in our responses. But in ordinary times? How about we just settle for generous. Generous in allowing people the benefit of the doubt. Generous in not jumping into full on defensive, if we feel that we have been criticised. Generous in trying to practice kindness as we can, without it being all about us. We don’t want to overwhelm the other person.
What about in times of grief and sadness? How about we just settle for being faithful, being real, and being honest. That means we let the sadness happen, without trying to minimise or deny it, and without letting it swamp us. Being faithful means that we tell Jesus how we are, and we find at least one other person who is able to hear us and support us. We let go telling ourselves that we can mange it all, and we can just charge on through. We keep attending worship, even though that can be very painful, and we keep up our daily physical activities and out connections to others.
When can we be extravagant? When we can afford it. When the other person or people are happy to receive it and won’t feel that they are now indebted to us. When it’s offered freely, with no strings attached. Be kind, be faithful, and sometimes, just sometimes, be extravagant, because that is how God is to us.
