Is Christmas OK?

Gospel: Mark 14:3-7, 9

Is Christmas o.k.?

Do we do it wrong? Have we missed the boat on Christmas? Have we got our priorities wrong? Have we forgotten the true meaning of Christmas? Is Christmas o.k.? Or does it need repair?

To hear some people, you might think it does. Some people say—and ministers say it loudest—that we don’t do it right.

Some people say we are too materialistic at Christmas. Every store has a sale. The merchants are frantic. We worry about what we can buy. We worry if it is OK to buy. Some of us worry we won’t get what we want. Some of us worry we’ll get too much. The part of our minds that likes to think about Things goes into high gear.

Some people say we are too hectic at Christmas. We feel sometimes like we are stuck on an endless journey. Work, pack, ship, repeat. So many parties to go to. So many parties to plan. So many decorations to hang. So many cards to send. So little time, so much to do. Sometimes we feel like the White Rabbit in Alice and Wonderland, running around late, late, late. Late.

Some people say we are too extravagant at Christmas.

Some people say we miss the true meaning of Christmas. We are celebrating, after all, the birth of Jesus. This is Christ’s birthday. Where is Christ among the Christmas trees, where is Christ among the Santas, where is Christ among the crowds of shoppers? Where is Christ among the presents and the parties?

That’s what some people say. Some people say we do it wrong.

It is hard to disagree with what some people say, especially when sometimes those “some people” are us.

But it is hard to agree, too. Christmas can be a confusing time. We are confused about how we feel. Especially in these days. When we listen to our hearts, we hear two voices. One voice speaks about anxiety. The other voice speaks about joy. When you listen to your heart, which voice calls you the loudest?

Do you hear the voice of Christmas anxiety? That voice tells us that we are harassed, apprehensive, and manipulated. That voice agrees with what “people say.” That voice makes us feel guilty, poor, and overwhelmed all at once. That voice says we do Christmas wrong. That voice tells us about things, and money, and time. That voice is dismayed at the extravagance of Christmas.

Or do you hear the voice of Christmas joy? That voice reminds us of the pleasure of thinking hard about the people we are buying gifts for. That voice reminds us of the friends and neighbors who come to all those parties. That voice reminds us of the pleasures in making food for others, and for eating food made for us. It tells us of generosity and the gratitude behind all that shopping and shipping. That voice says we do Christmas right. That voice tells us about people we love. It tells us about things that we are blessed to do. That voice delights in the extravagance of Christmas.

Which voice do you trust? They both speak loudly at Christmas. We get confused. We begin to doubt our own feelings. How can we take such pleasure in all this materialism? Particularly in these hard and perilous and sometimes sorrowful times. How can we be so excited at all this running around? It’s a horrible state, for it makes us feel bad about feeling good. It makes us feel bad about feeling joyful.

Why have we become afraid to delight in extravagance?

We are afraid to be extravagant because people scold us. They scold us as they scolded the woman in today’s Gospel reading.

That nameless woman approached Jesus. She broke open a jar of very costly ointment. She anointed Jesus. How extravagant was this? A denarius was the pay for a day’s worth of labor. The jar, valued at 300 denarii, was worth a year’s wages. She gave a gift that cost a year’s wages, a year’s salary. Imagine that. Imagine giving a gift that cost your whole year’s salary. Imagine spending that much on perfume. What a waste!

What a waste, said the men who were there. What a waste, they scolded the woman. How unreasonable! Whatever made her do it?

People scolded the woman for spending unwisely. Think of the poor, said the men who were there. This jar could have been sold and the money given away.

But the men were hypocrites. There have been and will be many hungry mouths to feed, said Jesus. Did the men feed the poor yesterday, will they feed the poor tomorrow? Were they concerned or were they crabby? Did they love the poor or did they resent the woman? Good question. Could it be that their hearts were filled not with generosity? But with jealousy?

Sometimes the voice we hear sounds a lot like the scolding men. Were they right to scold the woman? Do you agree that her extravagant gift was both wasteful and misguided?

No one knows anything about the woman in this story. We don’t know her name, her wealth, or her status. We don’t know how she knew Jesus. All we know about her is the way she gave her gift to Jesus. We know three things.

One, she gave from love. It doesn’t say so in the text, but how else can we explain that she came to a house uninvited, to give a gift worth a year’s salary, in the face of being scolded and rebuked?

Two, she gave intimately. This was a special gift from her alone to him alone. It was a gift made thoughtfully, carefully, with Jesus in mind. By her gift she and Jesus shared something no others had. She anointed Jesus; she touched him and honored him with her gift. She blessed him by her gift. And she was blessed in turn by his acceptance of it. The gift joined the two in generosity. The gift joined the two in gratitude.

Three, she gave extravagantly. She was not cautious or careful. She was not reasonable. She listened to the voice of joy.

And what did Jesus do? Jesus welcomed her. Jesus brushed aside the anxious voices. Jesus welcomed her and approved her love, her intimacy, and her extravagance.

This Christmas we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. Jesus is God’s very costly gift to us. To all people. Unreasonable and unexplainable. God gives Jesus to us as the woman gave to Jesus, in love for us, and in intimacy that binds each of us to God, and in extravagance.

Let’s put Santa Claus back into Christmas. Toys and homemade gifts, cider and cookies, lots of laughter and stuffed tummies are in the spirit of Christmas.

They spring from our love for other people. They come from our intimate and special affection for friends and family. They come from our sense of God’s good extravagance.

Christmas is o.k. This is time for celebration. This is the time for presents, parties, and, if you like, expensive perfume.

Quiet that anxious voice.

Welcome that joyful voice.

Leave care and caution for other days. Trust the voice that moves your heart toward people you love.

In the coming days, think extravagantly, give lovingly, and go with joy.

Praise be to God. And amen.