Holy Monday

harbarger theory: the poor need nard



I'm gonna try to post each day this week. This is Holy Week (the week just before Easter) and it's a powerful week. Of course we celebrate the big days like Maundy Thursday (the first communion service ... ever!), Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion) and the REALLY big day, Easter (the day of the resurrection), but the other days are powerful as well.



Today, the bible reading is John 12:1-11. Here is a link to it on Bible Gateway. It's about the instance where the woman breaks into a dinner party and pours an obscenely expensive jar of ointment on Jesus' feet. Nard, in Jesus' day, was the kind of ointment that only vastly wealthy women could afford to use. We don't know how this woman got it (some scholars suggest that she was a high-priced hooker ... but we don't know). But, she extravagantly shared this expensive potion on someone that she felt was worth it!



Judas (who is described as dipping his greedy little fingers into the Disciples' money bag) complained that this Nard could have been sold for a whole bunch and the money given to the poor. Jesus responded that we'd always have the poor, but they would only have him for a little longer. Not surprisingly, he was right. Jesus indeed left them when he died (and then resurrected, of course, and at that point didn't need freshening up!).



So, the question stands in my mind ... What do the poor need with Nard? Do the unwashed need some scent-management? Do the hungry need a little beauty treatment?



Here's what I think. We need to give Nard to the poor. You see, so often, when we have a food drive, we reach into the back of their cupboard and pull out some can of bizarre/out-of-date/unwanted stuff and give it to the poor and feel so good about ourselves. When we have a clothing drive, we give away the stuff we're too fat/too thin/too fashion-forward to wear anymore (our unwanted items) and we give it to the poor and feel so good about ourselves.



What if ... we gave them the Nard? What if we gave them the GOOD stuff? What if we found a way to effectively "anoint the poor with Nard?" What if we gave them good food, real jobs, decent clothing, genuine respect, actual eye contact, true compassion? What if we treated them like Jesus did? What if we treated them as if they were Jesus? What would that look like?



Yea, yea, yea ... we need to be good stewards of our resources. We need to stretch out dollars to meet as many needs as possible. I know all that. But ... is there a way to be a good steward AND treat the poor as if they were Jesus? I think so. I'd love to spend time in conversation and THEN action trying to do exactly that!!



What if we started a Nard Initiative where we acted like Christians toward the poor? Hmmmm

harbarger theory: the poor need nard