There are a lot of folks that come to the door of my office looking for help. Some of it is financial, although most of it has to do more with the giving of advice, or just some time and a listening ear. Sometimes responding to those requests is hard - our financial resources are limited, as is my time. I've got a lot to do, after all.

So, sometimes, when I hear Jesus say: "the poor you will have with you always," I think to myself that is most certainly true; and since they are always there - since there is always a lot more need than I can ever begin to address - that I have to be cautious in handing out my limited resources to others. What is really important, after all, is my response to Jesus. Like Mary, I need to focus on my relationship with him. I can't do that and everything else, too!

When I get to thinking that way, however, I revisit this story - because it does, in fact, talk about my use of the gifts God has given me in helping others.

The setting of this story is one of worship. It is six days before Passover - a week before Jesus' death. It is the end of the Sabbath. Mary, Martha and Lazarus - Jesus' closest friends - are gathered with him and the disciples. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead. Mary, who had accused Jesus of not caring about her brother, is sitting at his feet, rather than at the table. Normally, a servant might at that point wash Jesus' feet as an act of hospitality. But instead, Mary takes an alabaster box of spices that cost her a whole year's wages, breaks it open, and bathes his feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. Normally one anointed a person's head, but Mary feels unworthy of this. Rather, she takes the servant's spot and, rather than merely bathing his feet with water, she anoints them with the most costly perfume she can find, not sparing a drop. It is an act of love for her, trying to let Jesus know what he means to her, trying to atone for her disbelief in him. It is an act of worship, for the one who brought her dear brother back to her - back to life.

In the midst of this act of worship, however, we suddenly hear the voice of Judas, accusing her: "With the money we could have gotten from this, we could have taken care of the needs of a lot of poor people!" John also notes that he wasn't really concerned about the poor, but about himself. But it is in this context that Jesus says, "You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."

As the early church looked back on this event, it realized that Jesus was saying something important about its life and its concerns. The fact was that the early church was comprised mostly of the poor. So when Jesus says, "you will always have the poor among you," it was a statement of the condition of the church. In fact, Jesus says elsewhere that, in the poor, we meet him. Jesus says here that, "you will not always have me with you." And he tells Judas that Mary is anointing him for his burial. After his rising, however, where will we see him, but in the church, in the poor, and in the needy!

Do you see what he is telling us? Our response to others is an act of worship. It is not simply response based on need. It is not a response of simple Christian compassion. Our response to others is an act of worship, directed finally toward our Lord. And the only fitting response we can make to Jesus is that of extravagant love, for the one who gave himself so extravagantly for us. Each time we are asked to respond to a person in need, we are sitting again at Jesus' feet. The gifts that we possess are the alabaster jar in our hands. And the question before us is how we will spend these gifts - will we put away the perfume, just do what is considered normal - get enough water to wash his feet - or even ask someone else to do it for us? Will we put a little dab of perfume on them - after all, that's all that's necessary, isn't it? Or will we give ourselves and our gifts extravagantly to him?

There is one other note in this text. It says that the smell of the fragrant perfume filled the room. A little water would have cleaned his feet - it would have been enough to do the job - and would be more than many would do. But it wouldn't have filled the room with perfume. A little dab of perfume of his feet would have been nice. He might have even smelled it. But it wouldn't have filled the room with fragrance. The room John writes about isn't just one in which Jesus happened to be sitting that day. It is our life. Our extravagant worship of Jesus, he says, fills our life with the perfume of God's grace.

There are a couple of ways in which we can give to others:

• Some, of course, won't give at all. There's is the attitude, "What's mine is mine."

• We can give stingily, only giving what is necessary. That is the response of the thankless heart. It's giving that produces little benefit - either for the giver or the receiver. The giver hates to give it, and the receiver feels like a beggar.

• We can "give until it hurts." We swallow hard and give a little more than necessary, believing that we might get some benefit from it eventually. Usually, it hurts pretty early on, so we stop giving - and so receive very little benefit from it. Our giving improves, but the way we feel about it doesn't. People and their needs are still seen as burdens to be borne, and we don't look forward to being the one to help them.

• We can see giving as an act of worship, and give extravagantly. We give the person who needs a little time as much time as they need - and maybe more - because in doing so we are worshipping Jesus. We respond to the beggar at the door with extravagant care and hospitality, knowing that we are engaged in an act of worship. And at the end, we feel better for it, and are thankful for the opportunity. It feeds us, strengthens us, and draws us closer to Christ - because we have not simply been meeting needs, but performing acts of worship. We have been drawn into the presence of Christ himself.

No - we cannot meet all the needs of the world. We are not asked to. But we can meet the needs of those at our door - those who come to us for help - those who are "among us." In caring for them, we are not merely meeting needs. We are not merely showing Christian compassion. We are worshipping Christ. As he was so extravagant in giving his life for us, let us be extravagant in our love for one another. And may the sweet fragrance of our gifts fill the church with his presence.