Dead Men at the Table

The Rev. Joseph Winston

March 25, 2007

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
Not to put a too fine point on it, “How does one have a polite dinner conversa-
tion with a dead man at the table?”
Just a few days before, Lazarus of Bethany was deathly ill. His two sisters
Mary and Martha, both of Bethany, were concerned about his health and they sent
word to their common friend Jesus with the simple message, “Look! Lord your
good friend is weak.” Jesus received this word and stayed two extra days before
He and the other disciples set out for Bethany.
When the group finally got there, Lazarus had been dead four days.
After first meeting with Martha and the Mary outside the cemetery, Jesus fi-
nally arrived at the tomb. Deeply upset by the death of a dear friend, Jesus asked
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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for the stone to be removed from the grave. He then prayed to His Father and He
called Lazarus back from the dead.
Today’s Gospel lesson is a continuation of this same story. It is a little later.
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are giving Jesus a dinner party and they have invited
some people over to celebrate Lazarus’ newfound life.
So, what does one say to a dead man at the dinner table?
The awkward conversation might have been stared by one of the other dinner
guests. “Well, Lazarus how was it up there? I mean, I think that you went up there
didn’t you? Because if you didn’t, then God just got it all wrong.”
Maybe Lazarus’ sister Martha desperately wanted to know how their mom and
dad were doing. “Did you have a chance to talk with Mom and Dad? How are they
doing? Is everything ok? Did they have anything to tell you? What did you say
Lazarus? Did Mom really tell you that you caught that cold and died because you
stayed out in the rain? What do you mean that you are just joking? I’ve never liked
you when you tease me like that.”
Perhaps Mary wished to know about pain and suffering that is so prevalent in
this world. “Did you see anyone that was hurting or who was crying? Was there
anyone who was sick? Who was taking care of all the people who were missing
their friends and family?”
Even though Lazarus was alive and his friends and family were celebrating his
newly given life at this dinner party, the stench of death hung in the air. Some of the
Jews who came along to the tomb did not like what Jesus had done at the grave so
they reported back to the authorities. They said, “The dead live.” Caiphas, the man

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in charge of the temple, wanted Jesus dead for this and many other reasons. For
Caiphas, it was a simple equation. If Jesus lives, then Rome will kill us. However,
if Jesus is killed by Rome, then we will live. That is not all. The leaders have
decided that lazarus has to go also. His life is a too good witness to the power of
Jesus.
At the dinner party, only Mary of Bethany and Jesus were aware of the un-
pleasant smell of rotting flesh. Mary took a year’s worth of income and purchased
nard, a dark and earthy perfume with both bitter and spicy overtones, for Jesus’
death. She anointed Christ’s feet with this oil. Soon the fragrance of this expensive
oil filled the room and briefly provided relief from the stench of the grave. Then
she wiped her Lord’s feet with her hair.
Even today, this sort of behavior is outrageous and in the ancient world, it is
scandalous. Feet in the Middle East were subject to the harsh dry ground. Property
owners had sandals to use as they tread to and fro. Everyone else had to walk in
their bare feet. Common courtesy required that the guests would have their feet
cleaned before they came into the house. In rich households, this task of scrubbing
the dirt off of feet was delegated to the slaves. They were responsible for taking off
the sandals, washing the feet, drying them, and optionally offering a salve to sooth
the owner’s feet. Everyone else was on their own. Washing would have occurred
near the door in a small bowel of water. Drying would have been accomplished
with a towel and any ointment would have been inexpensive olive oil.
As one of the people who threw the party for Jesus, Mary’s actions are com-
pletely inexcusable. She has transformed herself from hostess to slave, from an

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honorable woman into a whore, from someone with wisdom to a complete fool.
The woman who is giving the dinner does not get down on her hands and knees
and wash any man’s feet. This work is left to the slaves. By doing this, Mary shows
the world that she is Christ’s slave. In the time of Christ, respectable women do
not uncover their hair in the public nor do they wipe perfume from men’s feet. In
her own way, Mary proclaims her love of Jesus. The spending of nearly forty four
thousand of today’s dollars on perfume seems to be a complete waste of money
(2003 US Census). This has always been the attitude of Judas and his followers.
They forever forget the depth of God’s love for the world. Mary of Bethany, one of
the model disciples in the Gospel according to St. John, says otherwise. Through
her expensive gift of love, we see how much she values Jesus. Jesus agrees with
her extravagant purchase.
When Mary poured the perfume on His feet, she told those at the table that
Jesus was as good as dead. She anoints Him for His funeral, which will happen
in less than a week. Jesus reinforces this point because He reminds everyone at
the Table that He will soon leave them. She does all of this because the dead man
Jesus is deserving of her respect. He brought true life not only into her existence
but also into the lives of her sister Martha and brother Lazarus.
Up until the day that we die some of us will deny that we are mortal. We
refuse to believe that we might be the dead man at the table. Our willing partner
in our deadly deception is technology.2 Viagra, Botox, face lifts, tummy tucks, and
hair dye are but a few examples of how we use technology to fool ourselves into
2
?, .

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believing that we are immortal. Pop a pill and feel better. A few cuts of the knife
and look better. Of course these affects never really last. The medicine wears off
and the skin ages. So, we must start over the vicious cycle once again.
This ever-youthful world is the vision of humanity given to us by corporations
who are more concerned over their bottom line than our well-being. If you just
believe them, they will provide you a savior. Be warned it will cost you. In ex-
change for your youth, the multinational companies will first want your cash and
finally when you have nothing left to give them, they will spit you out and leave
you to die.
Unlike the business world that only wants you for what you can give them, the
God that we worship requires nothing for the life that we are given. Your daily
existance both today and tomorow is freely given to you by God. You owe God
nothing. This amazing exchange of eternal life for no work on our part is simply
impossible to believe.
But this is exactly what God gives you. You have been given a life that never
ends. Every one here will never die.
How then are we to resolve the fact that everyone around that dinner table
in Bethany some two thousand years ago is dead? Mary is dead. Martha is dead.
Even Lazarus is dead. How do we deal with the certainty that you will die and that
I will die?
We have been given a sure sign that stands in the face of death: Jesus. He not
only is raised from the dead but Jesus raises others from the dead. When we die
and when we are placed in the ground, we will be good and dead. There will be no

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life in us. What happens next is a miracle. Just like for Lazarus, Jesus will cry for
us, Jesus will call for us, and we will walk away from our death into everlasting
life with Him and the rest of the believers.
The Table that we share here today reminds us of this one basic fact. We are
dead but we will live because Jesus lives. These are the words of comfort that
come from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Jesus is coming to
take this dead one at the table with Him.
All around us are men and women who have no hope for the future. They are
scared to death of what is happening to them and to the people all around them.
No one has invited them to the Table.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”3

3
Philippians 4:7.