Jesus understood that the authorities were taking measures to stop his ministry.  In fact, worse than stopping his ministry, they were plotting to kill him and they had involved one of the disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot.

The scene of today’s scripture is Bethany, a tiny suburb of the capital city of Jerusalem.  Six days before Passover, the Passover on which Jesus would die.  Jesus and his disciples are in the home of their friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. 

After supper, Mary got up and brought out a jar filled with perfume and poured it on the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.  It was a gift from her heart.

The fragrance filled the entire room.  The disciples looked up from their small group conversations and saw what was happening.  Judas spoke up.  “Why is she wasting that much perfume in such a way?  Such extravagance is not called for.  That bottle of perfume would have sold for a year’s wages.  That money could have gone to help the poor!” 

John adds an editorial comment:  “Not that Judas cared for the poor, but he was the group’s treasurer and a thief.  He often helped himself from the funds.”

Jesus said, “Judas, if you don’t mind, this evening is my opportunity to relax with my friends.  Don’t try to focus the attention on your good ideas.  The poor will always be with you, but I won’t.”

In our world today there are many who are in need.  There are those who need an education, those who need food, those who need a home, those who need clothes, a job, health care, fresh water, and the list goes on and on.

When the focus is on the problem, we can at best only think of band-aids to fix the situation.  Our solution is often to let the government figure it out.  Our action then is to criticize the government, which is a distraction from the real problem.

Jesus knew the problem with the poor would always be around because it was approached in the wrong manner. 

Jesus knew the problem was not poverty.  The problem was the entire system.  In fact the religious needed the poor, the sick, and outcast to make themselves look good when they dropped coins into their begging cups.  

Suppose everyone had the same status in God’s eyes.  Suppose the religious believed that everyone is a child of God deserving respect and consideration.

The religious needed the poor to make them look good because the religious were the central figure of their own existence.

That evening, Mary was focused on Jesus and the joy of his presence.  Judas was focused on his good idea.  His idea, worthy of the attention of the group, was superior:  giving to the poor.

If Judas had really been concerned with the poor, he would not have been sitting there the best dressed, with a full stomach, ready to make his purse grow even fatter.

Jesus saw Judas’s action as a distraction.  His comment distracted the group from savoring those fleeting moments with Jesus.

The church, in its desire to help the poor, must never distract attention from the One on whom it is built, Jesus Christ.

We understand the reason for poverty is not a short supply but greed.  Leaders are greedy for their own power.  The world will always have the poor because Judas is controlling the purse strings of the resources.

So what can we do about today’s scripture?  In our day, Judas is still in control of the purse strings.  We have many politicians who are in that profession simply for their own glory, for their own benefit and the benefit of those who have made campaign contributions to their elections.

They make big promises about how they are going to serve the people, and how they are going to support the poor, make sure children have every opportunity to learn and grow and to fulfill their potential.  But when it comes right down to it, they will vote in favor of their own interest, which will get them reelected.

We have people in power who are voting to cut education spending in favor of keeping their own jobs.  While many legislators and lobbyists eat in five-star restaurants, no one cares that the school lunch is mostly junk food with the life cooked out of it, filled with artificial ingredients and robbed of its nutrition. 

Even though there is a terrible obesity problem among our children and young people, which will drive up health care costs in the future, we refuse to allow school lunch cooks to do more than open precooked garbage provided by government supplies.  And now breakfast garbage is provided as well as lunch garbage. 

No one will take on the school lunch program.  It is just too big, it is just too involved, it is just too complicated, too many people have their hand in that purse.

We are concerned about helping the child’s brain develop and hoping the child will learn while the child’s body is starved for nutrition.  When will we figure out that a child’s brain is part of a child’s body?  The quality of the food going into the child’s body will affect the performance of the brain.  Is that so difficult a concept to understand?

If health care costs are really a concern, shouldn’t we be educating children about how to fuel their bodies and offering better choices than the cheaply manufactured junk we call school lunch?

Yes, there are some things being done. Vending machines of sugary snacks are closed during lunch at some high schools.

Why are those machines there?  Those vending machine companies pay the school big money to have those machines in the school.  The school needs the money, so there you have it.  It all boils down to Judas once again and the money.

Betraying Christ is about what is going in every aspect of our society.  Everything boils down to who has the money and the temptation to use what we have to benefit ourselves only. 

We say budget cuts are the reason so many teacher associate jobs are being cut, music and drama departments are being shut down, teachers are being laid off, and retired positions are not being filled. 

Do we just hope the government gets it figured out?  We allow Judas to keep the purse.

If we really want to live a life that honors Christ, giving Christ our best as Mary did that night after supper, let’s take a look at our resources and how we are using them.
 
What are we going to do about the school budget cuts?
What can we do?  Can we fund the missing money?  Perhaps not, but we can fund some of the adult presence needed in the classroom.
 
How are we going to support those teachers who once had an associate and 22 students but now have 26 students and no associate?  What are we doing to help educate those children?

“Well, my kids are grown.  I don’t have kids in school.  It is none of my business.”
Yes, it is our business if we want to honor Christ and help take the purse away from Judas.

The best gift you have to offer is your time.  If you can read, you can help.  The Oskaloosa School System needs you.  You can go and listen to a child read.  You can go and help a child work through a few math problems.  You can provide some of that one-to-one time the teacher can’t.   You can be one more set of eyes on the playground.

I’m not saying you have to do it every day, but what if you did it for two hours a week?  What if you went two mornings each week?

“But I have a full-time job.  I can’t volunteer at the school.”  If that is the case, contact a teacher and say, “I’d like to help, what can I do for you?  Are there things I can help you do in preparation for school, things to cut out, or papers to grade, bulletin boards to decorate?  Maybe something needs to be built.”  Not all the teacher’s work happens in the classroom.

And every one of us can be praying for the teachers and for the students and their families at this crucial time in the children’s lives.  

Most of our actions are just distractions from the real problem.  The real problem is that we let Judas control the purse strings.  We let the government figure it out.  We complain that things aren’t what they should be.  Our focus is not on Christ and what he taught. 

Our actions are only distractions we allow to keep us from seeing that we are the answer to many of the challenges in our society.
 
I urge you today to let Christ be the focus of your attention.  When you begin to really enjoy his presence you will be motivated to take action to take the purse away from Judas.
 
You have the power to help those who need help.  You have a mission that will draw you toward honoring Christ.  What is it?  What are you doing with your power?

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