A sermon preached by the Reverend Sarah Grondin at St. Jude’s Anglican Church Oakville, on Sunday, April 6, 2025 the Fifth Sunday in Lent.
I speak to you in the name of our loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I’d like you all to humor me for a moment… and take a great big breath in through your nose.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Now I want you to take another big breath through your nose, but this time I want you to pay attention to the scents around you. I’m not asking you to sniff your neighbour, because that’s a little weird, I just want you to notice the smells around you while you sit here in this sacred place.
Sometimes during the week, when it’s quiet and there’s no one else around, I like to come and sit in a pew for a while. I intentionally keep the lights off, because I don’t want the visual distraction, and as I kneel down I try to empty my thoughts, and I take long deep breaths in through my nose.
Now deep breathing is good for all sorts of things, like calming stress and anxiety, and some weeks that’s definitely part of it… but the main reason I do that while in my pew, is because the smell of wood and candles unlocks all kinds of positive thoughts and emotions for me.
The smell of wood and candles brings up feelings of home, safety, and peace for me. It brings back memories of so many important people I’ve met over the years, and memories of special moments that have taken place in a sanctuary steeped in those smells.
I think our sense of smell is often overlooked as being a core part of our experiences and memories… And I think this is especially true when think about the various aspects involved when we participate in worship.
If I were to ask you what helps you to feel more connected to God, for some it might be things you can see… like the beautiful stained glass windows, the inscription on the arch, or the cross on the reredos.
For some people it might be the things you can hear… the sounds of the organ, the choral singing, the oral repetition of familiar prayers, or the blessing given by the priest at the end of the service as you head back out into the world.
I’d be surprised if more than a handful of people mentioned anything about smell. But there’s a significant amount of research that tells us our sense of smell is uniquely linked to memory and emotion, because the olfactory bulb, which processes smells, has direct connections to the amygdala and the hippocampus, which are the parts of our brain that are responsible for emotion and memory. All of our other senses send information to something called the thalamus first, and then it gets relayed from there to emotions and memory.
I know you likely weren’t expecting a Biology lesson this morning, but for those who have heard me preach regularly, you should know by now you just never know what you’re going to get!
In today’s reading from John, we’re invited into a deeply intimate moment between Mary and Jesus. We find ourselves at the home of Lazarus, where Mary anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfume, and wipes his feet with her hair.
In doing so, Mary performs an act of profound love. She doesn’t just give Jesus a simple gift. She pours out something precious—something valuable and rare. The perfume, worth a year’s wages, is not just any kind of offering; it’s a symbol of the entirety of her devotion, and her wild and extravagant love for her Lord.
Mary then uses her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet. Biblical scholars like to argue over whether or not there is something erotic in Mary’s actions, but I think it’s pretty hard to hear the story today without at least raising an eyebrow.
At the very least, Mary’s hair suffuses the act with a profound intimacy, drawing attention to the tactile element of the anointing. It’s an expression of deep love that those watching would hardly ignore or find ordinary.
As commentator Matt Skinner has noted, “The whole scene offends at least one of the onlookers, and Judas breaks in. Does he regret losing the chance to steal from the 300 denarii, or is Mary’s lavish love too disturbing to watch? Perhaps Judas and his hardened heart just couldn’t stomach a wild love like Mary’s.
The intimate and sensuous nature of this passage encourages us to think about the gospel in ways beyond words, speaking, and reading. Does grace have a scent? And if so, what does grace smell like?
Think of the way the fragrance of that perfume must have lingered in the room. The scent of Mary’s perfume, poured out in love, must have filled every corner of the house, as it enfolded Jesus and all his senses as he headed towards Jerusalem.
In this encounter between Mary and Jesus, we’re presented with a moment where the power of smell becomes a symbol of grace, anointing, and sacrifice.
The smell of grace: The outpouring of grace isn’t always understood or appreciated. Judas was blind to the grace being offered before him, while Mary saw the worth of Jesus and responded with an act of love that would always be remembered.
Just as Judas couldn’t see the beauty of Mary’s sacrifice, we too may face moments when the grace we receive, or the grace we offer, is met with misunderstanding or scorn.
But the fragrance of grace isn’t diminished by those who fail to recognize it. In fact, it’s often in the most extravagant, costly expressions of grace that we witness the deepest aspects of God’s love. The fragrance of grace isn’t something we can escape once it touches us. When we encounter the grace of God, it does something profound in us; it changes us. It marks us, it fills us, and it compels us to pour out our lives in worship to God and service to others.
Take a big breath in through your nose and let the smell of grace in.
The smell of anointing: Mary’s act of anointing teaches us something important about our relationship with God. Mary doesn’t just offer Jesus whatever’s convenient; the perfume that she anoints him with costs her dearly. And by doing so, she teaches us that love isn’t something that can be rationed or measured. It’s reckless in its generosity.
John doesn’t tell us what Mary is thinking when she anoints Jesus, but in Jesus’ rebuke of Judas we’re reminded that Jesus’ hour is near and his body has been anointed for death. Through Mary’s anointing she’s offered all that she has and all that she is in the service of her Lord.
Take a big breath in through your nose and let the smell of anointing in.
The smell of sacrifice: To Judas, the pouring out of the perfume was a waste, an indulgence that could have been used more “effectively.” But in Jesus' eyes, this was an act of worship, a sacred offering, and a foreshadowing of his own sacrifice.
The room-filling fragrance of Mary’s perfume reminds us that true discipleship is costly, and that through our worship and self-giving love we too are called to make sacrifices, to love extravagantly, and worship fully with all of our senses.
Take a big breath through your nose and let the smell of sacrifice fill you.
At the start of my sermon I mentioned that smell is the sense most directly connected to our memories and emotions. But unless we attend a church where incense is used we rarely have the opportunity to think about the connection between our sense of smell and our worship, and what it might mean to worship God fully with all of our senses.
So this morning I invite each of you to follow your nose, and to engage your sense of smell as you contemplate God’s word, and the call it places on us.
What does grace smell like to you? Maybe it’s the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread
that feeds those who are hungry. Maybe it’s the smell of a fabric softener that washes clothes for the naked. Or maybe it’s the smell of candles and wood that draws us into this sacred space where we can rest in God’s presence.
Whatever it is, let us never forget that this abundant grace we’ve received isn’t something to be kept hidden or hoarded, but something to be freely poured out, like Mary’s offering of costly perfume, filling the world with the fragrance of its transforming power.
May the smell of grace transform our hearts, our relationships, and our communities.
Go and spread the smell of God’s grace and don’t be afraid to follow your nose. Amen.
