Extravagance – – – sometimes – (today) – is held – suspect. What do they really want? Why are they being so nice? What are they doing this for? What is the real reason behind it? What are their underlying motives? What do they seek? I know they want something…
Don’t you think it is an issue of “trust?”
We are or can be a critical bunch aren’t we? Cynical and cynicism also comes to mind.
Back in the 20’s and 30’s when everything was really, really cheap, there was this little limerick, the point of which was the “extravagant cost” of “a meal” at that time. It is almost 100 years old.
It goes like this:
“There was a young girl named O’Neill,

Who went up in the great Ferris wheel;

but when half way around

She looked down at the ground,

and it cost her – her eighty-cent meal.”
Ok, so it is timing. My timing must be off…it was “way funnier” when I read it – the first time!
.80 cents – “an extravagant meal” – you wish!
In the case of our Gospel text for today the “extravagance” has to do with the absurd amount and the cost of the oil that was used to anoint Jesus.
We are talking one year’s worth of work and one year’s full salary.
But at the very same time, the extravagance also has to do with “the extravagant love” that Jesus had…in being willing to – lie down his life for his friends.
A self-emptying if you will. A life given for others… A life lived for others.
It also has to do with the extravagant “love of our God” and how much he cares for each and every one of us – that he “willingly” gave his ONLY son to die for us. That this – was a part of “his plan” for our salvation…
According to the text there was even “an aroma of extravagance” that filled the whole house…or the place – where Jesus was. The smell permeated everything!
It almost seems like this was meant to be some kind of a “sensory event.” So, …that we are supposed to lift our noses ever-so-slightly – and smell the fragrance filling the air…and the whole house…with it…
But there is more.
John is a master writer and a master story teller, we already know that.
This “beautiful aroma” of Mary’s perfume is also meant to contrast with a “foul smell or stentch” in the story.
The “miserable words of Judas,” in despising and poo-pooing her devotion, are words that stink, particularly when we hear what his heart was like when it came to money:
“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.
I tell you, “extravagance” is all over this text…except in the heart of Judas.
Then it occurred to me that we are also dealing here with – the extravagance of Mary’s gesture. Her extravagance shocked people then, because it was way overboard. It was unheard of. It was totally unacceptable behavior. It was shocking…and disconcerting. It was considered to be an “improper” act and some have even said downright “erotic.”
Finally, it seems to me that Mary in this text – demonstrated an extravagance of unswerving devotion to Jesus.
She didn’t care. She was unconcerned. She was totally and completely devoted to Jesus and that was that.

When we are talking about “extravagance” – we are actually talking about a “lavish-ness” almost “a waste-fulness” – freely bestowing this on others…an “unrestrained excess.”
So to me, it begs the question as to “how extravagant are you?”
How much of “you” – are you willing to “freely give away” for the good of others?
What is it that you lavish on others?
And of course, the opposite of extravagance is: to be meager, cheap, stingy, scanty, frugal — to be the opposite of being generous and to provide only grudgingly.
So where do you fall?
What kind of a person are you? But remember the focal point of today is on extravagance. So, how extravagant are you?